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Florida Everblades

Everblades Weekly

January 19, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release


ESTERO, FL - The Florida Everblades hit the All-Star break boasting the best record in the ECHL after sweeping their five-game road trip to push their overall winning streak to nine. Overall the Everblades enter this week with a record of 28-8-2 (58 pts., 1st South Division).

THIS WEEK (All Times Eastern)

Friday & Saturday, January 23 & 24 vs. Gwinnett Gladiators Both Games: 7:30 p.m.

GAME NOTES: The Everblades return home for a quick two-game home stand this weekend when they host the Gwinnett Gladiators for a pair of games at Germain Arena. The Everblades currently hold a four-game home winning streak heading into this weekend's action. Head-to-head the Everblades are an impressive 6-1-0 vs. the Gladiators this year and have won the last two meetings. At home the Everblades are 2-0-0 vs.Gwinnett picking up a pair of wins on November 8 & 9. In the seven games between the clubs this year the Everblades have outscored Gwinnett 28-9. The Gladiators enter this week's action with a record of 15-17-4 (34 pts., 4th, South Division).

UPCOMING PROMOTIONS:

Friday, January 23: Pack the House Night!: It's the Blades' annual attempt to set the regular season record for largest crowd! Come help welcome the Blades back home with a full house! Last season the Blades had just over 7,200 fans, and they'll see if they can top that this year!

Saturday, January 24: Beach Night: The Everblades are bringing the beach into Germain Arena! Fans are encouraged to look beachy on Saturday night as the Everblades convert Germain Arena into a festive beach atmosphere! The Everblades players will be wearing special beach themed jerseys that will be auctioned off live after the game! Thanks to Vitamin Water 1,000 beach balls will be given out after the game upon exit from the arena. Also thanks to our friends at Key West Express three lucky fans will win a trip to Key West!

Aside from the fun and excitement of the game, the Everblades are paying tribute to fallen Ft. Myers police office Andrew Widman by having the players wear a memorial patch on their jerseys. A portion of the proceeds raised during the jersey auction will go to Officer Widman's family.

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Tuesday, January 13 at Charlotte Checkers 8-2 Win

The Everblades opened their five-game road trip with their most impressive scoring outburst handing the Checkers an 8-2 loss at Time Warner Cable Arena. Although the Everblades were trailing 1-0 at the start of the second period, the Blades exploded for a five-goal second period, then added three more tallies in the third period. Mark Lee, Andrew Sweetland and Peter Metcalf led the way with four points each and other goals came from Danick Bouchard, Mathieu Roy and Kevin Baker. In goal David Leggio recorded the win stopping 19 of 21 shots. Florida's Special Teams: PP: 3-of-5; PK: 2-of-2

Wednesday, January 14 at Gwinnett Gladiators 4-2 Win

The Everblades ran their winning streak to six in a row with a 4-2 win at Gwinnett. After a scoreless first period the teams combined for five second period goals. The Everblades got scores from Ryan Lang, Steve McJannet, and Kevin Baker in the middle period. Ernie Hartlieb added an insurance goal in the third period. In goal Anton Khudobin collected the win by turning away 32 of 34 shots. . Florida's Special Teams: PP: 1-of-4; PK: 7-of-8.

Thursday, January 15 at South Carolina Stingrays 4-0 Win

The Everblades recorded a team record seventh shutout of the season on Thursday night with a 4-0 effort over the Stingrays. Goaltender David Leggio turned in his fourth shutout of the year, which leads the ECHL. Offensively the Everblades picked up goals from four different players as Matt Auffrey, Mathieu Roy, Andrew Sweetland, and Ross Carlson all scored. Florida's Special Teams: PP: 1-of-7; PK: 4-of-4.

Saturday, January 17 at Gwinnett Gladiators 4-1 Win

The Everblades pushed their winning streak to eight straight with a hard fought 4-1 win at Gwinnett. Florida jumped to a 2-0 first period lead on goals by Kevin Baker and Doug O'Brien before Gwinnett cut the lead to one midway through the third period. Mathieu Roy's short-handed goal with five minutes remaining in regulation took the momentum away and Ryan Lang's tally in the final two minutes sealed the win. In net Anton Khudobin recorded his third straight win by stopping 27 of 28 shots. Florida's Special Teams: PP: 0-of-7; PK: 7-of-8.

Saturday, January 18 at Charlotte Checkers 4-3 Win

The Everblades completed their five-game road trip in perfect fashion as the team gutted out a 4-3 win on Sunday afternoon. Ryan Lang opened the scoring with his team-leading third short-handed goal of the season in the first period. Doug O'Brien and Steve McJannet added second period goals and Mathieu Roy tallied the eventual game-winning goal early in the third period. David Leggio ran his personal career-high winning streak to six by making 27 saves. Florida's Special Teams: PP: 0-of-6; PK: 6-of-7.

EVERBLADES ITINERARY: (all times eastern)

Monday, Jan. 19: OFF DAY - ALL-STAR BREAK

Tuesday, Jan. 20: OFF DAY - ALL-STAR BREAK

Wednesday, Jan. 21: OFF DAY - ALL-STAR BREAK

Thursday, Jan. 22: Practice, 10:00 a.m. @ Germain Arena

Friday, Jan. 23: Pre-Game Skate, 10:00 a.m. @ Germain Arena

GAME vs. Gwinnett Gladiators, 7:30 p.m. @ Germain Arena

Saturday, Jan. 24: Pre-Game Skate, 10:00 a.m. @ Germain Arena

GAME vs. Gwinnett Gladiators, 7:30 p.m. @ Germain Arena

Sunday, Jan. 18: OFF DAY

2008-09 EVERBLADES REGULAR SEASON NUMBERS

Quick Stats

Overall Record 28-8-2

Home Record 12-5-0

Road Record 16-3-1

Overtime Record 2-1

Shootout Record 1-1

Power Play 57-252 (1st)

Penalty Kill 224-255 (3rd)

Leading Scorers

Kevin Baker 30-22-52

Ryan Lang 13-22-35

Peter Metcalf 4-28-32

Ernie Hartlieb 12-18-30

Yannick Tifu 6-22-28

Danick Bouchard 15-10-25

Leading Goaltenders

David Leggio 2.32 GAA, 11-3-1

Anton Khudobin 2.64 GAA, 12-5-1

Plus/Minus Leaders

Doug O'Brien +17

Ernie Hartlieb +14

Ryan Lang +12

Ross Carlson +11

Colin Nicholson +11

Player & Goaltender of the Week Nominees: This week's Player of the Week nominee is Ryan Lang who registered at least one point in each game, finishing with three goals and four assists and a plus-8 rating. This week's Goaltender of the Week nominee is David Leggio who was a perfect 3-0-0 this week including his fourth shutout of the season and a goals against average of 1.67.

Special Teams Breakdown: Here's a look at the special teams of the Everblades and how it breaks down overall, home and away: Power play: 57-of-252 (22.6%) which ranks the Everblades 1st in the ECHL. At home the Everblades are 17-of-104 (16.3%) which ranks 11th. On the road the Everblades are 40-of-148 (27.0%) which ranks 1st in the league. Penalty Kill: 224-of-255 (87.8%) which ranks the Everblades 3rd in the ECHL. At home the 'Blades are 100-of-117 (85.5%) which is 7th. On the road the Everblades have killed off 124-of-138 (89.9%) which ranks 2nd in the league.

Another Team Record Set!: With David Leggio's 24 save shutout over the South Carolina Stingrays on January 15 it put the Everblades' overall shutout total for 2008-09 at seven, which set a new team record for the most in one season by an Everblades team. The seven shutouts in one season by an Everblades club broke the previous mark of six which had been done twice before, coming in the team's first two seasons. In 1998-99 Marc Magliarditi turned in five shutouts and Randy Petruk chipped in one. In the 1999-00 season Magliarditi and Jeff Maund each had three shutouts while helping lead the Everblades to the Brabham Cup that year. This year Leggio has turned in four shutouts and Anton Khudobin has chipped in three.

Who's Hot: Here's a look at who's been playing well for the Everblades of late: Both goaltenders are hot right now as David Leggio is currently riding a career-high six-game winning streak from Jan. 2 - Jan. 18, posting an impressive 1.67 GAA in that span...Anton Khudobin is currently in the midst of a three-game winning streak from Jan. 10 - Jan. 17 and has an equally impressive GAA of 1.33 in those three games...F Kevin Baker has points in seven of the last nine games (7g, 3a)...F Ryan Lang has points in five straight games (3g, 4a) and in eight of the last nine games (4g, 7a)...D Peter Metcalf has notched a point in four of the last six games (1g, 6a) ...F Mark Lee saw his eight game point scoring streak end the other night, but has points in eight of the last nine games (6g, 9a)...F Mathieu Roy is currently riding a five-game point scoring streak (4g, 1a)...D Doug O'Brien has picked up four points in the last two games (2g, 2a).

Milestone's Reached: During their five-game road trip a couple players reached milestones in their careers. Ryan Lang reached three different milestones in his five-year career. On January 17 at Gwinnett the 28-year-old scored his 75th career goal and played in his 250th career game. The next night Lang picked up two points to bring his career point total to 201 (76g, 125a). It was his team-leading third short-handed goal in the first period of Florida's 4-3 win that put him at the milestone 200th point...Doug O'Brien also his a point milestone in his career with his goal on January 18 at Charlotte. The goal was the 26th of his career and gave him 100 points during his five-year career.

Ticket Information: Everblades 2008-09 group tickets and individual game tickets are on sale now! Fans can purchase tickets at the Germain Arena box office, which is open from 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets can also be purchased over the phone by calling TicketMaster at (239) 334-3309, or online at www.ticketmaster.com. For additional information, contact the Everblades office at (239) 948-7825.

On the Air: Everblades games, home and away, can be heard on 770 ESPN Radio and via the internet courtesy of Waterman Broadcasting by logging on to www.floridaeverblades.com or www.abc-7.com/sports. In addition, Everblades games can be viewed via the internet thanks to B2 Networks by logging on to www.b2live.com. Join the voice of the Everblades Kevin Reiter as he calls all the action! The Everblades pre-game show begins 20 minutes prior to game time.

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