West Bend, WI – The West Bend Power look to regain consistency and get back in the win column this weekend when they travel to Peoria for the final two matchups against the Mustangs this regular season. The games on Friday, Jan. 12 and Saturday, Jan. 13 commence at 6pm and 7pm CST respectively.
No more complacency
The Power needs to find consistency in all aspects of their game. The Power came out the Christmas break with a weekend split with a 5-3 home win vs. Oregon and 3-1 lack of steady effort loss to the Wisconsin Woodsmen in Tomah. The road does not get any easier as the Power travel this weekend to Central Division heavyweight Peoria Mustangs.
Head Coach Jason Woods stressed the need to absorb the veteran presence across the team. “The keys for this weekend and the balance of the season is to lean heavily on the nine 2003’s on our roster,” Woods said. “This team needs to work together for one common goal and finish the regular season strong before heading into the Fraser Cup playoffs.”
Across the Aisle
Peoria holds the fifth place spot in the Central Division with a 10-22-2 record and 22 points. Despite their record, Massimo Polistina and Blake Mitchell are still the focal points of the Mustangs’ offense. In his third season with Peoria, Polistina consistently dishes points out to his teammates, notching team second 14 assists in his 33 games this year. Add his seven goals to the mix, Polistina takes second on Peoria with 21 points. After a stellar rookie season with the Yellowstone Quake, Blake Mitchell came home to Peoria to play for his hometown Mustangs. Mitchell’s presence has been felt immediately, leading the Mustangs with 11 goals, 24 points and 91 penalty minutes in 30 games. At the time of publication, Mitchell has already surpassed his season totals from the Quake of five goals, 12 assists and 17 points despite playing in in 15 more games in Yellowstone.
In net, Peoria has two solid goaltenders with excellent numbers, in stark contrast of the Mustangs’ overall season record. Rookie Travis Visvadra earned a .909 save percentage and 2.77 goals allowed average through 13 games even with a 5-7-0 record. Seasoned netminder Kason Yamada is the other half of this duo. Playing parts of four seasons in Peoria, Yamada has earned few call ups to the Springfield Jr. Blues of the NAHL. In 18 games this year, Yamada snagged a 4-8-2 record, .901 save percentage and 3.00 goals allowed average.
Broadcast Information
Frank Zawrazky returns to the headset on Jan. 20 when the Power returns home to Kettle Moraine Ice Center to take on the Wisconsin Woodsmen at 7:30pm for Autism Acceptance Night sponsored by The Threshold, Inc. and Packerland. The first 250 fans will receive a free Power mini hockey stick. All games this season, including this road series against the Peoria Mustangs, are streaming on NAHL TV.
