2-1 Ice Bats Face First Road Test
October 29, 2004 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Austin Ice Bats News Release
Setting the Stage: The Austin Ice Bats of the Central Hockey League began their ninth season of play, the 2004-05 campaign, with three home games last weekend against divisional foes. With wins over Corpus Christi and Rio Grande Valley, the Ice Bats are off to a 2-1 start after the opening weekend of play. This Saturday, the Ice Bats venture to Hidalgo for their first road test of the season, against the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees.
The Ice Bats are looking to rebound from a 28-30-6 season in 2003-04, as they missed the post-season for just the second time in franchise history.
A look back: The Ice Bats won two of their three games on the opening weekend of play. Last Friday night, the Bats scratched back from a 4-0 first period deficit to record a 6-5 overtime win over Corpus Christi, in the CHL opener for both teams. Benoit Genesse's goal less than a minute into overtime was the difference.
Delayed by bus breakdowns, the Rayz arrived late and the scheduled 7:35 game didn't begin until 9pm. When it did, Corpus ripped out to a quick four-goal lead. Corpus Christi's Jason Baird and Dominic Periard scored goals 30 seconds apart early in the period, while Derrick McIver and Greg Bullock added goals a minute apart late in the frame. Austin enforcer Dallas Anderson did his part to change the momentum, destroying Corpus' Britt Dougherty in a fight, and John McNabb put the Ice Bats on the board with four minutes left in the first.
The Bats were a different team in the second, outshooting the Rayz 19-9, and scoring a power play goal on Jonathan Jolette's slap shot from the point three minutes into the period. Baird scored his second goal in a scrum midway through, but the Bats got back into the game on Genesse's power play rebound, and a big shorthanded goal from Kelly Smart with 44 seconds left.
The Ice Bats completed the comeback with an Arturs Kupaks goal 11 minutes into the third. And then 47 seconds into overtime, Genesse took a Smart pass, maneuvered from the right wing into the slot and ripped in the game-winning shot. With two goals and an assist, Genesse led scoring.
Saturday night, the Ice Bats rode the scoring of their number one line to a 5-2 divisional win over Rio Grande Valley. The Bats jumped on the board 1:38 into the contest on their first shot, Arturs Kupaks' from above the right circle. Then after the Killer Bees tied the count, Austin scored again on its second shot, with John McNabb sweeping up loose change for a power play goal at 10:40. Despite getting outshot 17-4 in the period, the Ice Bats led 2-1 after one.
Kupaks scored a power play goal early in the second, and after Rio Grande's Jason Tessier made it a one-goal game midway through the third, the Bats sprinted to victory. Benoit Genesse scored his third of the season with six minutes left, and added an empty-net goal with 1:20 left. McNabb scored three points, as he and linemates Jared Dumba and Chris Richards accounted for three of the five Austin goals. Kupaks added two goals and an assist, and Genesse a pair of scores. The Bees outshot the Bats 34-23 for the game, but Austin was 2-for-6 on the power play, Rio Grande Valley scoreless on six chances. Bats goalie Matt Barnes recorded 32 saves.
The weekend concluded with the Ice Bats unceremoniously dumped, 6-2 by defending President's Cup champion Laredo. This time, the Bats were unable to come back from a 4-0 deficit.
Last season's CHL MVP, Jeff Bes put the Bucks on the board a mere 54 seconds into the contest, and scored again from the doorstep on a power play midway through the first. The Bucks stretched the lead on Brent Cullaton's shorthanded breakaway goal and an Adam Paiement score in the second. The Ice Bats got on the board on a Benoit Genesse 4-on-3 power play goal, but trailed 4-1 after two.
Ice Bats goalie Peter-Emmanuel Brady stopped another shorthanded breakaway attempt early in the third, but Laredo's James Hiebert scored on a breakaway shot 4-1/2 minutes into the period. Laredo's Igor Agarunov and Austin's John McNabb traded goals in the late going to round out the scoring.
Chippy throughout, the teams got nasty in the third, with three of the game's four fights taking place in the final frame. 162 minutes in penalties were dispensed, 37 of that coming against Austin enforcer Dallas Anderson. The Ice Bats and Bucks finished the day tied for first in the division at 2-1.
Roster Flights:
Departures: A casualty of the League rule that limits teams to four veteran players with 260 or more professional games, forward Gerald Tallaire was released last Thursday. The move trimmed the Ice Bats roster to 17 players for the opening weekend.
Testing Their Wings: If goaltending is the foundation of any good hockey team, the Ice Bats should be rock solid entering the 2004-05 season. The Bats welcome back two-time league Goalie of the Year Matt Barnes, who was 33-10-4 with a 1.96 goals-against average two seasons ago. Barnes took last year off to complete his education at Western Michigan University, but seems prepared to pick up where he left off. Challenging Barnes for minutes will be Peter-Emmanuel Brady, who allowed just five goals total in blazing to a 3-0 start last October, before a season-ending knee injury.
A major part of the team's defense will also be its offense, as the Ice Bats are blessed with plenty of talented depth at forward. Perennial top 20 scorer Chris Richards returns at center, as do versatile veteran Kelly Smart and spirited checking forward Mike Olynyk. Wingers Jared Dumba, acquired by trade, and John McNabb will also provide ample scoring punch.
Among the other newcomers, speedy Benoit Genesse was Rookie of the Year last season in the United League. Rookies Jeff Neufeld and Kris Knoblauch come from the Canadian college ranks, and will be counted on for their two-way play. And Dallas Anderson, assigned from the Ice Bats' AHL affiliate in Houston, is a more than capable enforcer who can also chip in offense.
One of the league's top offensive defensemen, Arturs Kupaks will provide scoring and power play expertise from the blue line. Fifth-year pro Mike Mohr has also arrived in camp, leading a young blue line corps. Second-year pros Ryan Leasa and Vinnie Jonasson join rookies Jonathan Jolette and the hard-hitting Brian Pasko to fill out the rest of the roster.
Player Plaudits: Second-year forward Benoit Genesse is the league's top scorer through one week of play, with five goals and two assists. Right behind him are veterans John McNabb and Arturs Kupaks (the top scoring defenseman), with three goals and three assists each. Forward Dallas Anderson has the league's early penalty minute lead, with 59 minutes in three games.
Potential Bite Victims: A lot of things went right for Rio Grande Valley last year, so there aren't a lot of changes for the Killer Bees entering this season. Finishing 32-24-8, the Bees made the playoffs in their inaugural season, before getting swept in the first round by Laredo. The team's top three scorers return, led by All-Star Bill Newson (30 goals, 29 assists), forward Matic Kralj (20 goals, 25 assists) and defenseman Jason Tessier. Also back are forwards Ryan Shmyr and Troy Linna, and d-man Sean Gillam, among the notables. Bees Coach Tracy Egeland then used his Lubbock connections to gather former Cotton Kings Derek Holland and Blaz Emersic, who returns after a year in the ECHL. As last year, the Killer Bees will count on their defense and goaltending. And the team's two biggest returnees are goalies Jeff Levy (top five at 25-17-5, 2.21 GAA last season) and Jacque Vezina (7-7-3, 2.49 GAA). 0-1 after last Saturday's loss in Austin, the Killer Bees will open the home portion of their schedule Friday against Laredo before their rematch Saturday against the Bats.
The Series: The Ice Bats are 5-7-1 against Rio Grande Valley after their win over the Bees last Saturday. Last year, the Bats were 4-2 against the Killer Bees in Austin, 0-5-1 in Hidalgo.
Comments from the Coach:
On Opening Weekend: "I was pretty pleased overall with our effort. We played pretty solid in two of the three games. Friday was tough, because a lot of time the advantage goes to the team that arrives late. I think we came out too over-anxious to get things going, and that led to some mistakes. Once we settled in, we played our game the last two periods. I was a little disappointed with the way we played in our third game at home against Laredo. That was a big game for us, but we made some mistakes early that cost us and took us out of the hockey game."
On This Week: "We've only got one game to prepare for, so I expect our team to be ready. As I've said, any given night, if we don't show up to play, we'll get beat in our division. We played a solid game last Saturday against Rio Grande Valley, but they're a good hockey club. We got the best of them then, but that doesn't mean it won't be a tough game this time. It was difficult for us to score goals there last year, and while I think we have more firepower this year, it's still early. We could score five goals one night, and two the next. We certainly want to win down there, having not won there last year."
Cave, Sweet Cave: The Ice Bats, who opened the season with three home games, will not return to the Expo Center until November 12th and 13th.
Friday, November 12th is Capital Metro "Antenna Puck" Night, with free antenna pucks to go to 5,000 fans. The UT men's hockey team will face Southern Methodist University after the Ice Bats game.
Saturday, November 13th is Armed Forces Appreciation Night, and the Ice Bats will wear special game jerseys to honor America's servicemen and women. SportClips will be on hand to provide haircuts, and anyone who receives a "military cut" will pick up a free ticket to a future home game. Also, the UT hockey team faces SMU starting at 4:45pm, and after the game, the "Bud True Music Concert Series" continues with a free post-game concert from Vallejo.
Season tickets and corporate partnerships are still available for the new season. Once again, free membership to the "Crown Lounge at the Belfry" is included with all full-season packages, and free parking with all full-season and 16-game ticket plans.
Individual game tickets are available now through the Ice Bats office at 927-PUCK, on-line at www.GetTix.Net, or at any of a dozen Pinky's Wireless locations in the Austin area, including Round Rock, Cedar Park, Killeen and San Marcos. Tickets are also available at all Texas Box Office locations, including all Austin-area HEB stores, or on-line at www.TexasBoxOffice.com.
To charge by phone, fans may call the Ice Bats ticket office at 927-PUCK, Get Tix at 1-866-4-Get Tix, or Texas Box Office at (512) 477-6060.
Individual game tickets range in price from $10 to $35, depending on section, with discounted rates for groups of 15 or more. Fans may call the Ice Bats ticket office at (512) 927-PUCK, or log onto the team's website at www.icebats.com for more information.
In the Air: Once again, all Ice Bats away games will be broadcast on ESPN Radio, 1530 on the AM dial. The station will broadcast all road games during the 2004-05 regular season and CHL Playoffs. The games will also be available on-line, through the station website at www.espnaustin.com. The Texas Dodge Dealers Warm-up Show begins 20 minutes prior to game time. Ice Bats Director of Broadcasting, Media/PR Glen Norman will handle play-by-play duties for a seventh straight season.
Bats in Cyberspace: Bats fans can learn the latest about their team by logging on to www.icebats.com. Home or away, Bats fans can also follow the action with real-time scoring on the website, courtesy of Pointstreak.com. Fans will be able to access a game box score in real-time, as well as those of all other CHL games being played.
Central Hockey League Stories from October 29, 2004
- Beaudy stones Rayz - Corpus Christi IceRays
- Bees Beat Bucks 5-3 - Laredo Bucks
- Bucks Game On TV Tonight, Local Bucks Shows Debut This Weekend - Laredo Bucks
- Oilers Vs. Brahmas - Tulsa Oilers
- Gorillas broadcast changes for the weekend - Amarillo Gorillas
- 2-1 Ice Bats Face First Road Test - Austin Ice Bats
- Killer Bees vs. Laredo Game Night Preview - Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees
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.
