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Mississippi RiverKings

Weekly RiverKings news and notes

January 3, 2007 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release


Coming off two big wins at Youngstown, the first place RiverKings start the new year with two more road tests this weekend with games at Oklahoma City and Tulsa before coming home for a 5:05 game on Sunday with Corpus Christi. In the first five games of this stretch of seven consecutive road games, the RiverKings are 3-2-0 and have seen their lead in the Northeast Division grow to six points. So far this season, the RiverKings are 2-0-1 versus the Blazers and 3-0-0 versus the Oilers with all three games with Tulsa going past regulation. Sunday's game will be the second and final one between the RiverKings and the Rayz, with the RiverKings owning a 4-0 win at Corpus from the first meeting in November.

COMING UP

Friday, January 5

Memphis RiverKings (19-6-3, 41 pts, 1st NE Div) @ Oklahoma City Blazers (15-8-4, 34 pts, 2nd NW Div) 7:35

Radio: Sports 56 WHBQ (AM 560)

Webcast: riverkings.com

TV: chltv.com

Saturday, January 6

Memphis RiverKings (19-6-3, 41 pts, 1st NE Div) @ Tulsa Oilers (12-11-4, 28 pts, 4th NE Div) 7:35

Radio: Sports 56 WHBQ (AM 560)

Webcast: riverkings.com

Sunday, January 7

Corpus Christi Rayz (14-12-5, 33 pts, 2nd SE Div) @ Memphis RiverKings (19-6-3, 41 pts, 1st NE Div) 5:05

Radio: Sports 56 WHBQ (AM 560)

Webcast: riverkings.com

TV: chltv.com

Promotion: Post Game Skate with Players

Featured Non-Profit: Bodine School

Tuesday, January 9

Tulsa Oilers (12-11-4, 28 pts, 4th NE Div) @ Memphis RiverKings (19-6-3, 41 pts, 1st NE Div) 7:05

Radio: Sports 56 WHBQ (AM 560)

Webcast: riverkings.com

TV: chltv.com

Promotion: First 1500 fans receive WMC TV Channel 5 RiverKings CheerStix

Featured Non-Profit: Ryan's Hope

WEEK IN REVIEW (2-1-0)

Tuesday, December 26

Bossier-Shreveport 4 Memphis 2 @ Bossier City

Goalie John DeCaro stopped 34 of 36 shots to help the Mudbugs to the win. Rick Kozak and Travis Banga each scored power play goals to account for the RiverKings' goals. Kozak started the scoring at 10:58 of the first. Bossier-Shreveport scored the next two to make it a 2-1 score. That score would last through the first and second periods. Banga's goal tied the game at 7:11 of the third period, but Karlis Zirnis scored what would be the game winner at 13:52. Daniel Pegoraro slipped in an empty netter to round out the scoring with 1:05 left. The RiverKings outshot the Mudbugs 36-23 for the game and 30-11 in the second and third periods.

Friday, December 29

Memphis 6 Youngstown 5 SO @ YNG

Phil Aucoin tied the game late in the third and Travis Banga finished it with the shootout clincher in the rollercoaster win. Rick Kozak had his third two-goal with Derek Landmesser and Ryan Held also scoring for the RiverKings. Jason Sessa finished with three assists. For Youngstown, Brad Patterson had a hat trick while Chris Richards scored a pair. The game was tied four times with Youngstown rallying from a 2-0 hole in the first and the RiverKings having to rally from one down in the third to force the OT and then the shutout. The Steelhounds had the shots advantage at 31-25. The RiverKings went three for six on the powerplay while Youngstown went two for six.

Saturday, December 30

Memphis 5 Youngstown 3 @ YNG

Ryan Campbell had a hat trick while Travis Banga finished with a goal and three assists. Louis Dumont also scored to give the RiverKings a four point weekend in Youngstown. Campbell's second goal on a pin-point feed from Banga broke a 3-3 tie at 7:49 on the third. His empty netter with five seconds remaining sealed the win and completed the hat trick. Defenseman Jason Tessier assisted on three goals and Larry Sterling earned his 18th win of the season.

Northeast Division Standings (Through 1/3/06) TEAM GP W L OTL PTS WPCT GF GA PIM HOME ROAD L-TEN STREAK Memphis 28 19 6 3 41 .732 104 87 754 11-3-3 8-3-0 7-2-1 2-0-0 Bossier-Shreveport 29 15 9 5 35 .603 75 68 844 10-3-0 5-6-5 7-1-2 0-0-1 Youngstown 28 14 8 6 34 .607 103 96 733 7-3-3 7-5-3 5-3-2 0-1-1 Tulsa 27 12 11 4 28 .519 110 105 888 4-5-2 8-6-2 3-5-2 0-1-0

BANGA WINS PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARD

The Central Hockey League announced on Tuesday that RiverKings center Travis Banga has been named the Oakley CHL Player of the Week. Banga scored three goals and had five assists in three games last week. This is the third time that he has been named the player of the week in his career, earning the distinction once in each of his first two seasons. For the season, Banga leads the team with 17 goals and 36 points. He is also sixth and seventh in the CHL in those categories, respectively. He has been exceptionally productive the last 12 games. He has registered at least a point in 11 of those games, has eight goals and 12 assists for a total of 20 points in that span, and has a four game goal streak. This is the second weekly award this season for the RiverKings. Larry Sterling was the Oakley CHL Goalie of the Week for Week Two of the season. Sterling also won the monthly goalie award for October and November.

STERLING AND TESSIER ADDED TO ALL-STAR TEAM

Coach of the Northern Conference All Star Game Chris Stewart added RiverKings goalie Larry Sterling and defenseman Jason Tessier to the 2007 All-Star roster last Friday. Tessier will be making his third all-star appearance (2002 with El Paso and 2005 with Rio Grande Valley), while it will be the first All-Star game for Sterling. They join defenseman Derek Landmesser who was announced as a starter on Wednesday. The 2007 CHL All-Star Game will be played on Wednesday, January 17 at the CenturyTel Center in Bossier City, LA. It was also announced that Landmesser has also been tabbed by Stewart to be the Northern Conference Captain.

RIVERKINGS HERE AND THERE

Larry Sterling has set a new career high for wins in a season with 18. His previous single season high was last season when he won 16 games with the Fort Work Brahmas.

Travis Banga has a career high matching four game goal streak. He has 5 goals in those four games. He has also added 5 assists for a total of 10 points in the last 4 games. Banga has also notched at least 1 point in 11 of the last 12 games.

Ryan Campbell's hat trick on Saturday was the first of the season for the RiverKings and the first since Brad Wanchulak scored 3 times versus in a win over Youngstown on March 3 of last season. It was Campbell's second career hat trick. His first coming last season on 12/3 at Colorado.

The RiverKings' game on Sunday will be just their 5th this season versus a Southern Conference opponent. So far, the RiverKings have gone 3-1-0 against southern teams. In total, the RiverKings play only 12 of their 64 games out of the Northern Conference with 32 of the 64 games this season coming within the Northeast Division.

Jason Tessier matched a career high with his 3 assists in Saturday's win at Youngstown. Fellow D-man Steve Makway tied a career high with 2 assists on Saturday.

Derek Landmesser has 99 career goals, 60 of those coming in a RiverKings jersey.

The RiverKings just finished a 9-3-1 month of December. It was the team's second best December in their 15 year history, trailing only the team's 11-2-2 record in December of 2000.

RiverKings players that had big Decembers include: Banga-20 pts (8 goals/12 assists); Ryan Campbell-16 pts (7 goals/9 assists); Rick Kozak-14pts (11 goals/3 assists).

This weekend will be the second of the RiverKings' five 3-games-in-3-nights stretches.

Starting Friday, the RiverKings will play 6 games in 9 days.

RIVERKINGS IN THE COMMUNITY THIS WEEK

Wednesday, January 10-Newspaper in Education appearance at L.R. Jackson Elementary in West Memphis, AR 1:15

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR FACE OFF FIELD TRIP GAME ON JAN 23

The RiverKings are proud to once again host area students for the 4th Annual Face Off Field Trip on January 23 at 10am, but we need YOUR help. Face Off Field Trip provides students not only the chance to attend a professional hockey game, an event many students might never have the chance to attend, but it is also a unique educational opportunity. Volunteers for the Face Off Field Trip will miss little if any of the hockey action. Interested individuals should be available to stop into the DeSoto Civic Center Monday January 22 sometime between 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. for an instructional meeting where pizza will be served. Volunteers must be available to help the day of the event, Tuesday January 23, from 7:30 a.m. until approximately 1:30 p.m. To sign up to volunteer please contact Cristin Franklin at 662.342.1755 .

KWAC SELLING CD-ROM HOCKEY MANAGER GAME WITH CHL TEAMS

Experience what it would be like to be the general manager of a team in the CHL with Sega's NHL Eastside Hockey Manager 2007. You can also be general manager of teams in the NHL, AHL, European leagues...in total, over 20 leagues and over 45,000 players and staff are at your disposal. The game is a CD-ROM that you can use on your desktop or laptop PC. The sale of the games will serve as a fundraiser for RiverKings With A Cause and can be purchased for $20 dollars at the KWAC table behind section 118 during games.

RIVERKINGS PROGRAMS ARE TRUE COLLECTORS ITEMS THIS SEASON

The RiverKings Game Day Program is a must purchase when you come to a game. There will be 13 different editions printed throughout the season with several updated features from edition to edition, including a different cover each edition, an updated schedule with game results and updated player photos for any future roster changes (great for player autographs). The program has also gotten into the spirit of the team's 15th anniversary. Each program edition will have a different RiverKings history story that goes back and profiles a former player or coach from past RiverKings seasons. To go even farther back, each program edition will also have a feature about when hockey was here in the 60's when the Memphis Wings and South Stars called the Mid-South Coliseum home. A program sells for $2 and includes a game-day insert with rosters and notes about that night's game included. The game-day insert sells for $1 by itself. Programs are sold at the main west entrance to the DCC arena before the game and also at the two merchandise stands before and during the game.

KEVIN MCCLELLAND SHOW OFF UNTIL JANUARY 23.

The RiverKings radio show, the Kevin McClelland Show on Sports 56 WHBQ will be off until Tuesday, January 23 live at Beef O' Brady's from 6 to 7 pm. Also, remember to e-mail your questions to jim@riverkings.com by 4pm on the day of the show and you could win a $10 Beef O' Brady's gift certificate if your question is selected as the Email Question of the Week. Stop by Beef O' Brady's for a great meal and listen to the show. Host Jim Erickson will talk with the coach and RiverKings player guests. Beef O'Brady's is located at the corner of Goodman and Malone in the Shops of Southaven in Southaven.

HEAD TO BUFFALO WILD WINGS AFTER EVERY HOME GAME

The new Buffalo Wild Wings on Airways Blvd. in Southaven is the "Official Post-Game Hangout of the RiverKings." Fans are invited to the post game party after every RiverKings home game. Grab some great wings, a post game beverage and talk with the players.

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A RiverKings game is even more fun when you come as a group. Groups of 15 or more save up to 30% on the box office rate, plus every person in the group receives a player mini bobblehead. Call 662-342-1755 for more information.

Don't miss the next Kevin McClelland Show on Tuesday, January 2 LIVE from Beef O' Brady's in Southaven from 6-7 on Sports 56 WHBQ.

RiverKings Single-Game Tickets for all 2006-2007 home games are on sale now at the DeSoto Civic Center box office and at all TicketMaster locations and at ticketmaster.com.

UPCOMING PROMOTIONS: Sunday, January 7 --- Post Game Skate with Players; Tuesday, January 9 --- WMC TV Channel 5 CheerStix to first 1,500 fans; Friday, January 12 --- Cellular South Darrell Stoddard Mini Bobbleheads to first 1,500 fans; Post Game Skate; Friday, January 19 --- RiverKings Drawsting Backpacks to the first 1,500 fans; Post Game Skate

After every RiverKings home game, the party heads to the new Buffalo Wild Wings on Airways in Southaven, the official Post Game Hang-Out of the RiverKings.

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