COLUMBUS, Ga. The Columbus Cottonmouths had two exciting one-goal victories this past weekend over the Knoxville Ice Bears, defeating the defending SPHL champions by scores of 4-3 on Friday night and 2-1 on Saturday afternoon. This weekend, the Snakes will play their first games of the season away from the friendly confines of the Columbus Civic Center. The Cottonmouths travel to northern Alabama on Friday to face the Huntsville Havoc, who is currently tied with Columbus for the early lead in the SPHL standings. On Saturday, the Snakes will travel to the Florida Panhandle to face the Pensacola Ice Flyers for their first-ever meeting. The Ice Flyers currently have the third-best winning percentage in the league behind Columbus and Huntsville. Both games will be broadcast on B2 Networks with both a video and audio feed, with a nominal fee for each game. A free audio-only broadcast of the games is also available. Details can be found at www.cottonmouths.com.RECORDS AND STATS
Last Week: 2-0-0
Record: 3-1-0, 6 pts Place, SPHL)
13 GF, 9 GA
30.0% PP SPHL); 100.0% PK SPHL)
LAST WEEKS TRANSACTIONS
10/26 Released G Steve Bounds
10/26 Signed G Chad Rycroft
UPCOMING GAMES AND PROMOTIONS
Friday, November 6 Columbus at Huntsville, 8:35 PM EST Season vs. HSV: 6-7-2)
The Snakes renew their rivalry with the Huntsville Havoc on Friday night at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Ala. The two teams are currently tied atop the SPHL standings with identical 3-1-0 records. Led by former CHL Cottonmouth All-Star Randy Murphy, the Havoc return several players from last season, including last years league MVP in Travis Kauffeldt. Forward Justin Rohr leads all Huntsville players with seven points so far on the season off five goals and two assists and was named the SPHL Player of the Week for the first week of the season. Two new goaltenders man the Havoc net from last season, with Mark Sibbald currently ranked second among all SPHL goaltenders between the Snakes duo of Chad Rycroft and Ian Vigier) with a 1.50 goals-against average and a save percentage. GAMES AND PROMOTIONS November 7 Columbus at Pensacola, 8:05 PM EST Meeting vs. PEN)
For the first time since 2004, a Columbus hockey team will play in Pensacola as the Cottonmouths will face the Pensacola Ice Flyers on Saturday night. The Pensacola Civic Center, affectionately known as The Hangar by its hockey fans, has sentimental value to Snakes head coach Jerome Bechard as he skated in his final professional game there in 2003. Head coach Todd Gordon, who was the head coach of the Ice Pilots for that game and also for all three seasons that the Cottonmouths were their competitors in the ECHL, has returned to take the helm of the Ice Flyers. Gordon has assembled a roster with familiar names to SPHL fans, the most familiar to Snakes fans being center Lorne Misita. Misita currently leads all Ice Flyers with five points on the season off three goals and two assists. Other notable Pensacola players include forwards Trevor Karasiewicz of Huntsville, Richmond, Pee Dee, and Winston Salem), Chris Rebernik Knoxville), and Taylor Hustead City); defenseman Jesse Baraniuk and goaltenders Chad Collins and Ryan Scott
COTTONMOUTHS WEEK IN REVIEW
Friday, October 30 Knoxville 3 at Columbus 4 2,271)
The Snakes jumped out to a 2-0 lead over Knoxville Friday night courtesy of power play goals off the sticks of both Tims on the roster: Hockley, then Green. Knoxville charged back with three unanswered second-period goals before Kyle Lundale tied the game in the middle frames final minute. The tie game in the third period set the stage for Ryan McCarthys heroics in the games final 70 seconds, putting home a rebound off a Craig Stahl shot to give Columbus the victory over the Ice Bears. McCarthy also assisted on Lundales goal, while Joey Martini was also a multiple-point scorer for the Cottonmouths with a pair of assists. Goaltender Ian Vigier picked up his second win in as many starts on the young season, stopping 31 of 34 shots on goal for Columbus. Dan Earles, playing in his first game of the season for Knoxville, stopped 35 of 39 shots on goal in the losing effort in net for the Ice Bears. The Snakes power play continued its torrid pace, going 3 for 7 on the night, while the penalty kill also continued its perfection, stopping all six of Knoxvilles chances with the man advantage.
Saturday, October 31 Knoxville 1 at Columbus 2 1,913)
Rookie forward Levi Lind had a factor in both Columbus goals, assisting on the first and scoring the game-winner in the Snakes 2-1 win over Knoxville on Saturday afternoon. All the scoring for both teams was done in a 5:13 span in the second period as goaltenders Andrew Gallant of Knoxville and Chad Rycroft of Columbus matched save for save during the rest of the contest. Rycroft, playing in his first game of the season after winning the goaltending job for the Snakes over rookie Steve Bounds, stopped 32 of 33 shots in the win, while Gallant had 30 saves on 32 shots on goal for the Ice Bears. Both teams were scoreless on the power play with Knoxville having five power play chances compared to three for the Snakes.
THREE STARS OF THE WEEK
1. F Levi Lind Lind assisted on the game-tying goal and scored the game-winner Saturday against Knoxville.
2. F Ryan McCarthy McCarthy provided a carbon copy of Linds effort the night before, assisting on the game-tying goal and scoring the game-winner in the last 70 seconds of Friday nights win over the Ice Bears.
3. G Chad Rycroft Rycroft turned in a strong performance in his first game of the season, stopping 32 of 33 shots on goal for the win over Knoxville on Saturday. His 1.00 goals-against average and save percentage currently lead all SPHL goaltenders in the young season.
• Discuss this story on the Southern Professional Hockey League message board...
• Digg this story
• Add to Del.icio.us
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.