The Springfield Jr. Blues are a Tier II junior

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team in the

North American Hockey League The North American Hockey League (NAHL) is one of the top junior hockey leagues in the United States and is in its 50th season of operation in 2024–25. It is the only Tier II junior league sanctioned by USA Hockey, and acts as an alternati ...

's Midwest Division. The team plays their home games at the Nelson Center in

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its population was 114,394 at the 2020 United States census, which makes it the state's List of cities in Illinois, seventh-most populous cit ...

History

Founded by John D. O'Laughlin and Al Jennings, the franchise joined the North American Hockey League for the 1993–94 season. Springfield had previously been home to multiple semi-pro teams the

Springfield Kings Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queensl ...

and Springfield Capitols. The team has made numerous appearances in the NAHL playoffs and were back-to-back

Robertson Cup The J. Ross Robertson Cup is a Canadian ice hockey trophy. It is awarded annually in junior ice hockey to the champion of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs. It was donated by John Ross Robertson to the Ontario Hockey Association in 1910, an ...

National Championships in 1996 and 1997. Due to the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

that curtailed the 2019–20 season, the Jr. Blues suspended operations for the 2020–21 season.

Season-by-season records

References

External links

Official site
North American Hockey League teams Jr. Blues Amateur ice hockey teams in Illinois Ice hockey clubs established in 1993 1993 establishments in Illinois {{Illinois-sport-team-stub