The Exeter Ice House

Two weekends ago, the NH Jr. Freeze departed for a 2 game series with the South Jersey Raptors. The Freeze mounted 2 huge road comebacks vs. the high scoring Raptors squad over the weekend resulting in 7-7 and 4-4 ties. At the conclusion of the second game, Freeze forward Cody Blevins was cheapshotted with a viscious cross check to the back of the neck. Blevins was unconscious for several minutes and sustained a neck injury. The team bus was parked at the emergency ro0m until 11:00pm in Sewell, NJ as concerned coaches and teamates awaited Blevins' prognosis.

Fortunately, Blevins did not sustain any permanent damage but was sidelined for 2 weeks. Blevins made his return to the ice for a 3 game road trip vs. the Maine Moose. His number 26 jersey was cut off of him during the ambulance ride to the hospital and will temporarily sport the number 7. The significance of 7? He arrived at the rink in Hallowell, ME 7 seconds after warmups ended, he slammed home the Freeze's first goal only 7 seconds into the game, and he finished the night with, you guessed it, 7 points.

Blevins racked up 3 goals and 4 assists to lead the Freeze in scoring. The Blevins - Brandon Burbank (2G, 2A) - Dave McCormick (1G, 3A) line tallied a total of 15 points (6G, 9A) in the 8-5 Freeze victory. Defensemen Rick Gaeta (1G) and DJ Tanner (1G, 1A) added goals from the points. Jason Aguiar was extremely busy, stopping 59 of 64 shots while making some spectacular saves to hold off the Moose. The Freeze were outshot 64-51 in the shootout at KIA.

Another highlight of game one of the trifecta was the return of Steven Hansmar to the Freeze lineup. Running short on D-men for the early part of the season, Hansmar's presence was felt immediately. The 6-4 defenseman from Malmo, SWEDEN, shook off the game rust Friday night and notched an assist in his first game back. He spent much of the night dialing in his cannon of a shot and by game 3 of this weekend, he is expected to light the lamp as he did last season.

Game 2 will take place at 7:00pm on Saturday with game 3 at 10:00am on Sunday.