Jason Gregoire: Lincoln's Star

For some of you, it may be a secret to who this kid is. Well, that's probably because you haven't seen him play. He's had multiple surgeries on his ankle, and is currently playing in his 17th game this season. To start the year off, Jason notched 2 goals and added 6 helpers in his first 4 games. Then the injury bug bit, and he missed a ton of games. There have only been 3 games in which Jason has not recorded at least a point. So far, he has 25 points in 16 games, and as of now, can add another three to his total. An interesting fact to note is that Lincoln is 13-3-0 when Gregoire is in the lineup, and a not so great 13-12-3 with him out of the lineup.

This kid was definitely a diamond in the rough find for Steve Johnson. A recent article in the Journal Star mentions that Johnson received a tip from someone about Gregoire, and Johnson then drafted him, not ever seeing him play. That speaks volumes in my eyes. To decide to draft a kid whom you have not seen is quite the risk, but this one definitely turned out for the better.

Lincoln is currently on a 4 game winning streak and Gregoire has pumped in 8 points along the way. Jason boasts a +20 rating, good for 6th in the league. That's an excellent +/- rating, and definitely shows he's not just a point getter. He knows how to play on the other side of the puck as well, and a player like that is a great asset. Jason also stays out of the box, only 8 PIM so far, and when you can have a player of Gregoire's caliber on the ice, you're going to be in for good things.

Jason has made his college choice of the University of Denver, and could enroll as soon as next fall. He's a great player, but I think he could definitely use another year in Lincoln. Imagine what this kid could do if he was healthy for the entire season. Scary thought.

After browsing his stats yesterday and noticing how valuable he seemed to be to the Stars, I felt it was necessary to feature him on my blog. Jason is a type of hockey player you'd want to have on your roster forever and build around him. He's also a type of player that you want everyone else to be like.

So congrats to Jason on the great season thus far, and for being the first player to get a full entry dedicated to himself.


I am thinking about doing a player spotlight for each team as time goes on, so I hope everyone would enjoy that.

And I leave you with this quote from Stars' head coach, Steve Johnson:

Not to say he's not fond of his guys. Johnson's just a big team guy — no penalty for that. That's why the compliment Johnson gave Stars forward Jason Gregoire after a recent victory was all the more impressive. “Our guys don't have to watch hockey on television to see how to play the game," Johnson said, “they can watch Jason Gregoire.”