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Jackals Not In First Place For First Time This Season

November 29, 2004 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Elmira Jackals News Release


Week 7 Game Results:

11/24/04 DANBURY 3 - Jackals 0 Elmira, NY - The Danbury Trashers served the Jackals offense their first shutout of the season in a 3-0 pre-Thanksgiving affair Wednesday night at the First Arena. After a scoreless first period, the Trashers got on the board when Blake Bellefeuille redirected a Brent Gretzky shot from the point for a power play goal at 12:43.

In the third period Danbury again benefited from a deflection when Mathieu Wathier's slapper from the point hit defenseman Chris Shaw's leg and tucked itself inside the far post at 2:14. Elmira battled throughout the period, but the game's first star, Trashers goaltender Scott Stirling shined in goal, stopping all 34 Elmira shots for his second shutout of the season. The Trashers added an empty net goal at 19:09 courtesy of Brad Wingfield to cap the scoring on the night.

Stirling earned his 9th win of the year with a 34 save-shutout effort, while Hewitt put up a monumental 49 saves on 51 shots in the loss.

11/26/04 FLINT 3 - Jackals 1

Elmira, NY - The Flint Generals handed the Elmira Jackals their third consecutive loss in a 3-1 contest Friday night at the First Arena.

The Jackals jumped on top early in their first meeting of the season with Flint. Jason Sessa scored his UHL best eighth power play goal of the season at 12:32 of the first period from Greg Koehler and Jeff Antonovich; 1-0 Elmira. But that would be the only offense the Jackals would muster on this night. Flint leveled the score at 16:26 with a power play goal of their own courtesy of rookie Mike Kinnie and then claimed the lead at 19:05 when Rob Valicevic blasted a slap shot past Greg Hewitt from Bobby Reynolds and Colin Embley.

Flint added to their lead late in the second period when Valicevic scored his second goal of the game at 17:46 from Kinnie and J.P. Morin. Minutes later Hewitt twice made sensational saves, twice robbing Valicevic of his hat trick.

Flint goaltender Dan McIntyre posted his fourth win of the season by stopping 29-of-30 shots on the night; Hewitt again was spectacular, making 22 saves on 25 shots, many of which were high quality scoring chances.

11/27/04 JACKALS 9 - Richmond 2

Elmira, NY - The Elmira Jackals scored their highest goal tally of the season Saturday night as they annihilated the Richmond Riverdogs 9-2 at the First Arena.

Richmond actually had the lead twice in this game, although both times it didn't last long. First J.J. Wrobel stole a clearing attempt by Greg Hewitt and scored before the goaltender could recover for a 1-0 lead. Greg Koehler scored his 20th goal of the season to draw the game level at 8:40. Kyle Sheen made it 2-1 at 11:28, but the Jackals responded again from Eddy Lowe tie it at two. Jason Sessa scored on the power play at 19:05 to make it 3-2 Elmira after one.

The Jackals then unloaded for four goals in the second period. Carl Drakensjo scored at 8:35 and then three power play goals were added by Elmira. Twice scoring was Corey Foster, his first two goals as a member of the Jackals, and Eddy Lowe scored his second in the period to make it 7-2 Jackals after 40 minutes.

The Jackals were on cruise control in the final frame, but still managed to add two more goals to their total. Koehler scored his second at 10:50 from Derek Campbell and Drakensjo. Sessa finished off the scoring with another power play goal at 13:28 from Koehler and Foster for a 9-2 final score.

Greg Hewitt got his 10th win of the season stopping 20-of-22 in the game; Kevin Kurk replaced Hewitt for the last 10 minutes of the contest and stopped the only shot that was goal bound. Jeff Sanger got the loss after making 19 saves on 26 shots through two periods; Ryan McIntosh stopped 11-of-13 in the third period for Richmond.

11/28/04 RICHMOND 4 - Jackals 1

Richmond, VA - The Richmond Riverdogs scored four goals in the third period Sunday night to earn a come-from-behind victory 4-1 over Elmira. Spurned by a 9-2 thrashing the night before, the Jackals came out with an early lead at the Richmond Coliseum, Jason Sessa tipped home a pass from Derek Campbell at 11:01 of the first period; Greg Koehler also had an assist on the opening goal.

In the second period the Jackals thought they had a 2-0 lead when Eddy Lowe's fore-checking force a breakaway. Lowe's shot eluded goalie Jeff Sanger and appeared to hit the mesh netting behind, but was ruled to be no goal by referee Jack McCoy; despite celebration by the Jackals, the red light did not go on during the play.

Richmond had 20 minutes to mount a comeback and they did just that. The Riverdogs unloaded for four goals in the final frame, scoring their first three in a three-minute span early in the period. Jonathan Gagnon scored an unassisted goal off a bad giveaway to tie the game at 4:39. 14 seconds later Kyle Sheen forced another steal and similarly finished to earn Richmond's first lead of the game. At 7:32 Luch Nasato blasted one past a screened Greg Hewitt to put Richmond up two goals, and Francis Belanger added an unassisted goal to cap off the comeback.

Sanger made 17 saves on 19 shots for the win; Hewitt stopped 23-of-27 while being denied his 11th win of the season.

JACKALS PLAYER AND GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK: (WEEK 7)

Jason Sessa - RW 4 GP, 4 goals, 3 assists, 7 pts, -5

Jason Sessa successfully completed his first full week of UHL action after returning the previous week from a pesky ankle injury that kept him out of the Jackals lineup for four games. Sessa scored the Jackals only goals in a 3-1 loss to Flint Friday and a 4-1 loss to Richmond Sunday. Saturday the Long Island, New York native put up big numbers, scoring twice on the power play and adding three assists to give him a 5-point game. Sessa finished with 7 points on the week and currently leads the UHL in power play goals with 10 and game-winning goals with 4. The 27-year old is tied for fifth in the UHL in scoring with 25 points (13 goals, 12 assists) and he is tied for fourth in goals with 13.

Greg Hewitt - G 4 GP, 1-3-0, 2.86 GAA, 0.911 SV%, 113 saves

Despite going 1-3-0 during the week, Greg Hewitt played extremely well during Week 7. The Jackals goaltender posted a 2.87 goals against average and a 0.911 save percentage. In Wednesday's 3-0 loss to Danbury, Hewitt stopped 48-of-50 shots (not including one empty net goal), tying a league best for saves made in one game this year. Saturday in 9-2 win over Richmond, Hewitt only had to make 20 saves and was removed for the final ten minutes, thanks to the 7-goal lead. The London, Ontario native still leads all goaltenders in the UHL in games played (20), wins (10), minutes (1168), saves (614), and shootout wins (3).

JACKALS PLAYER AND GOALTENDER OF THE Month: (November)

Greg Koehler - C 14 GP, 14 goals, 11 assists, 25 pts, -3

Greg Koehler was hands down the best player in the UHL during the month of November. While the Jackals suffered injuries to key players including Trevor Burgess, Jamie Thompson, Alex Andreyev and Simon Poirier, Koehler elevated his game to help carry Elmira offensively in the absence of so many dynamic players. The Scarborough, Ontario native currently leads the UHL in scoring with 39 points, 11 points more than the second place player. Koehler also leads the league in goals (21) and shots (102), and he is second in the league in assists (18) and power play points (17). The 29-year old put up a league-best 13-game point-scoring streak, amassing 27 points in that period, which ended on November 24th against Danbury; that was the only game out of 14 in the month where the center did not register at least one point.

Greg Hewitt - G 13 GP, 5-8-0, 3.37 GAA, 0.898 SV%, 369 saves

Greg Hewitt continues to be the UHL's Iron man in goal for the Elmira Jackals. Hewitt leads the league with games played (20), wins (10), minutes (1168), saves (614) and shootout wins (3). Hewitt has played in all but two games for the Jackals thus far this season and he was the first goaltender in the league to pass the 1,000 minutes mark. The London, Ontario native posted a 3.37 Goals Against Average for November, with a 0.898 save percentage. With his current workload he is on pace to play in just over 72 games and log over 4200 minutes in goal!

JACKAL BITES:

* CATCH HIM IF YOU CAN - C Greg Koehler is currently leading the UHL in scoring. Koehler has 39 points and league best 21 goals through 22 games. He is 11 points ahead of his closest competition, Robin Bouchard of Muskegon (28).

* BACK IN ACTION - RW Jason Sessa returned from an injury and currently leads the UHL in power play goals (10) and game-winning goals (4). The 27-year old is tied for fifth in the UHL in scoring (25 points) and he is tied for fourth in goals (13).

* THE CHASE CONTINUES - C Greg Koehler is on top in the UHL in shots on goal (102), the first UHL player to pass the 100 shots mark this year. He has 8 more than Fort Wayne's Chris Grenville. Koehler is also second in the UHL in power play points (17) and assists (18).

* THE IRON MAN COMETH - G Greg Hewitt was the first goaltender in the UHL to surpass the 1,000 minutes played mark this season. He is tops amongst UHL goaltenders in Minutes (1168), Games Played (20), Wins (10), Saves (614) and Shootout Wins (3).

* IT'S ALL OVER BUT THE COUNTING - C Greg Koehler put up a league-best 13-game point-scoring streak, amassing 27 points in that period, which began on October 24th, but then ended on November 24th against Danbury; that was the only game out of 14 in the month where the center did not register at least one point.

NEWS AND NOTES:
Elmira Jackals Team Leaders:

Goals: Greg Koehler (21)
Assists: Greg Koehler (18)
Points: Greg Koehler (39)
Plus/Minus: Carl Drakensjo, (+5)
Penalty Minutes: Chris Shaw (80)
Power Play Goals: Jason Sessa (10)
Short Handed Goals: Carl Drakensjo, Jamie Thompson,
Eddy Lowe, George Pujacs (1)
Shots: Greg Koehler (102)
Shooting Percentage: Corey Foster (50.0%)
Saves: Greg Hewitt (614)
Wins: Greg Hewitt (10)
GAA: Kevin Kurk (3.25)
Save Percentage: Kevin Kurk (.904)

Jackals Jam

Don't forget to check out the next edition Jackals Jam on WENY-TV. Broadcaster Owen Newkirk and WENY Sports Director Neille Giffune will recap another exciting week of Jackals hockey, including an interview with Head Coach Todd Brost, a Jackals player profile, and skills segment with Owen and a Jackal. Jackals Jam airs every Sunday night at 11:00 pm on WENY-TV (ABC).

Coach's Show

Don't miss the The Elmira Jackals Coach's Show broadcast LIVE this Tuesday night from Patrick's Pub, 303 College Ave. at 7pm. Join Head Coach Todd Brost and Voice of the Jackals Owen Newkirk, along with defenseman Corey Foster and left wing Derek Campbell for the broadcast. Tune in on WiNGZ 104.9 FM or stream it online at www.jackalshockey.com - Fans are encouraged to email their questions for any of the Coach's Show participants to jackalshockey@jackalshockey.com no later than 3 pm on Tuesday.

2004-05 RECORD: 11-11-0, 22 points (8-6-0 home, 3-5-0 road), Third Place, Eastern Division

Week 8 Game Schedule:
December 3 7:30 pm vs. Kalamazoo Wings (9-7-0, 18 pts) Third Place, Central Division
December 4 7:30 pm vs. Richmond Riverdogs (9-8-1, 19 pts) Fourth Place, Eastern Division
December 5 5:00 pm vs. Adirondack Frostbite (11-6-3, 25 pts) Second Place, Eastern Division

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International Hockey League 2 Stories from November 29, 2004


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