The Elite squad struck first, but fell to the Islanders Hockey Club 5 - 3 on Saturday night. Dylan Taylor was able to put the puck in the back of the net with just under 5 minutes remaining in the 1st period when the Islanders failed a clearing attempt and it was picked up by Liam Andersen, who fed it to Sean Ferus and it went off the skate of Dylan Taylor into the back of the net

Alex Speckhart was able to make it 2 - 1 when he was able to squeeze the puck between Islanders' goalie Mike Varveris' pads and the goal post. 

The Islanders then had three unanswered goals in the 2nd period which swung the momentum their way. Alex Speckhart put his second goal of the night between the pipes when he was able to beat Varveris stick side half way through the 3rd period, but just under a minute later, Jason Melanson of the Islanders made it 4 - 3. Conner Dalton put in the empty net goal with just 10 seconds remaning in regulation.

The Islanders move to 4 - 0 on the season, while the Pics move to 0 - 1 on the season. 
The Pics will face the Bridgewater Junior Bandits on Saturday at 4:40 pm at the Olympia. Eric Richardson will provide the play-by-play on HockeyTV.

The Springfield Pics open their league schedule this weekend with the Premier’s away from the friendly confines of the Olympia, while the Elite, U16, and U15 open up their home end of their season.

PREMIER

The Premier squad open their season with four games over an extended weekend. They will be facing the Jersey Hitmen and the Utica Jr Comets twice. They will be facing the Hitmen twice on Saturday, once on 3:50pm and again at 9:00pm. They will then face the Comets on Sunday at 10:40am, and again on Monday at 10:30am.
The last time these teams met, the Pics beat the Hitmen 4 – 1 on November 16th, and the Pics and the Comets split their series, with the Pics on the winning end 4 – 3 on September 21st, and on the opposite end with a 3 – 2 loss on February 14th.
The Pics then travel to the Hollydell Ice arena, home of the Skipjacks on October 9th, then back up to Bridgewater for another showcase against the Rockets Hockey Club, The New York Aviators, and the P.A.L. Junior Islanders.
Rob Bonneau, when asked about this coming series was quoted at saying “We are looking forward to getting back to league play. We had an excellent training camp and look to get off to a good start as the division will be extremely competitive all season, and every game will be important.”

ELITE

The Elite squad has a lone game against the Islanders Hockey Club on Saturday at 8:20pm, with Pics broadcaster Eric Richardson having the call. The Islanders elected not to field an Elite team last season. The Islanders have already played 3 games so far, being victorious in all of them.
“We are fortunate that the league is letting us move forward with the season. We are looking forward to our first league game Saturday against a new IHC team which I expect to be just as skilled as our upcoming opponents. We have a mix of veterans, players who have moved up in the organization, as well as newcomers. The Elite team this year is a skilled squad, and anticipates getting back to Nationals, and hope to begin the run on Saturday”, Elite Head Coach Chris Beaudoin was quoted saying when inquired about this upcoming game and season.

U16

The Pics begin the home end of their season on Saturday and Sunday against the visiting Utica Junior Comets at 8:45 pm on Saturday and 5:30pm on Sunday. The Pics and the Comets did not face each other last season.

U15

The Pics face the visiting Utica Comets, as they go to battle on Saturday and Sunday. 8:05pm on Saturday and 3:30pm on Sunday. The Comets were successful all three times last season they faced the Pics. When asked about this coming series against Utica, Head Coach Vern Smith was quoted saying “We’ve got a real challenge ahead of us with a skilled Utica team. We will be forced to up the tempo of our game. We have a number of new faces, so it will be a test for many of our players.”

The Springfield Pics, proud members of the USPHL, announce the hiring of Chris Beaudoin as Head Coach of their Elite squad.

​In a statement, Beaudoin was quoted as saying, “I’m excited to be joining the Springfield Pics Organization for the 2020-2021 season as it is where I got my junior hockey started.  The Pics helped me get to the next level and I’m looking forward to continuing that tradition with the players this year.”