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9-0 Bats Can Make History

November 12, 2002 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Austin Ice Bats News Release


Setting the Stage: The Austin Ice Bats of the Central Hockey League have started the 2002-03 CHL regular season with nine straight wins, in defense of their Southeast Division and Southern Conference titles. The team's 9-0 start is the best opening streak in franchise history, and assumed to be the best in league history.

The Bats enter this week's play with a four-point lead over San Angelo in the Division race. Austin will play three games in as many days this weekend, facing Divisional foes San Angelo and Corpus Christi, and Northern Conference opponent Fort Worth. With victories in all three games, the Bats would tie the league record for the longest overall winning streak.

With a 44-15-5 regular season record last year, the Ice Bats defeated San Antonio and El Paso en route to the team's first-ever appearance in the President's Cup Finals. There, the Ice Bats fell just one step short of the CHL's ultimate prize, falling to the Memphis RiverKings in five games.

A look back: The Ice Bats continue to flex their defensive muscle, shutting down Fort Worth and Oklahoma City last week to keep their unbeaten streak going. Friday's 2-1 victory at Fort Worth was a tough win though, against an always-gritty Brahmas team. Fort Worth came out the aggressors, outshooting the Bats 7-1 over the first ten minutes. And for the first time this season, the Bats surrendered the opening goal, with Craig Johnson putting the Brahmas on the board 6:47 into the contest.

The Bats' number-two line turned the tide with a solid forechecking shift, and that inspired the top line to tie the game with eight minutes left in the period. Gerald Tallaire jumped on a puck bouncing around just outside the crease, and slapped home the game-tying rebound goal. The Bats took the final seven shots in the period.

The Bats defense took control the rest of the way. After a scoreless second, Kelly Smart tipped in Shawn Legault's centering pass for the game-winner 48 seconds into the third period. The Brahmas, already skating three players short at the start of the game, lost defenseman Adam Davis to injury in the second period. But they saved up enough energy for one final charge.

With an extra skater over the final minute, Fort Worth almost tied the game. But their would-be goal with 29 seconds left in regulation was waved off, with the whistle having been blown before the puck slipped between goalie Matt Barnes' pads. Barnes stopped 17 of 18 shots.

Last Saturday, Austin goalie Matt Barnes recorded his second shutout over Oklahoma City this season. Barnes stopped all 28 shots faced in a 2-0 home win.

After an even, physical first period ended scoreless, the Bats controlled the second, outshooting the Blazers 14-6. Kelly Smart opened scoring at 9:39 of the second, tipping in a Tab Lardner shot for a power play goal. Two minutes later, Blazers goalie Boyd Ballard denied the Bats on a 3-on-1 rush, but to no avail. A couple of minutes after that, Randy Ponte centered to newcomer Matt Sharuga, who tucked the puck past Ballard off an Oklahoma City defender.

Barnes shut out the Blazers the rest of the way, even down two skaters in the final two minutes. The Bats also killed off all seven Oklahoma City power plays, in front of a Bat Cave crowd of over 6,000 fans.

Roster Flights:

Additions: Last Saturday, the Bats claimed off waivers from Corpus Christi, and signed forward Matt Sharuga. Sharuga, who played with the Bats as a rookie in the 1999-2000 season, has spent the last two full seasons in Corpus. He scored 25 points in 62 games last year, and had a goal in eight games with the IceRays this season before he was released. Sharuga paid immediate dividends, scoring a goal for the Bats in Saturday's game.

Departures: To make room for Sharuga on the roster, the Bats on Saturday released forward Jaroslav Kresac.

Special Delivery: With another impressive performance Saturday, the Bats continue to boast the CHL's top penalty kill, allowing just three power play goals on 62 chances (95.2%).

Player Plaudits: Already twice honored as CHL Goalie of the Week, Bats goalie Matt Barnes continues to lead the league with staggering numbers. With two more wins last week, Barnes ran his record to 8-0, and his 0.87 goals-against-average and .968 save percentage lead all goalies with more than a single appearance.

Center Kelly Smart ranks 3rd among league goal scorers, and in the Top 20 in overall scoring, with eight goals and five assists. Winger Dan Price is second in team scoring with seven goals and three assists. Forward Tab Lardner ranks 4th in the league at +11. And forward Shawn Legault leads the team with 51 penalty minutes, but is also +7 with six points.

Potential Bite Victims: The Bats will play three physical teams this week, including two in their division. At 7-5, San Angelo is four points behind the Bats, with three more games played. The Saints have bedeviled opponents offensively, averaging 3 ½ goals per game, and 21.2% on the power play, both second in the league. Chris Peach is tied for the league lead with 17 points, while Troy Mann has 16 points, including six power play goals. Corri Moffat is the top scoring defenseman in the league, with 14 points, and swift forward Jarrett Metz has 13. What the Saints need to put it all together is consistency in defense and goaltending. Goalies Scott Reid (3-1, 3.42 GAA) and streaky James Ronayne (4-4, 3.57 GAA) have split duties. And like last year, San Angelo has a big home-road disparity—they're 6-2 at home, 1-3 on the road. The Saints host Odessa Tuesday night.

Potential Bite Victims, continued: Another team searching for consistent defense, Corpus Christi is now 4th in the Division, at 5-5. The IceRays have scored 3.3 goals per game, and they lead the league on the power play (22.4%). But their penalty kill ranks last (74.7%). Rob Giffin is 6th in league scoring with 15 points, including a league-best 12 assists. Layne Roland has 14 points. Leading goal scorer John Sicinski has 8 goals and 3 helpers, and d-man Brett Colborne has added 10 points. Always willing Kenny Goetz ranks 3rd in league penalty minutes, with 90. But goalie Brent Belecki (3-4, 3.58 GAA) needs help to keep the wolves off the doorstep. 4-2 at home, the IceRays play a home-and-home series against Laredo, before finishing up a "three in three" against Austin.

Fort Worth is looking for warm bodies, at 3-7, last in the Northeast. Already limited by injury, the Brahmas last week were forced to suspend sniper Kyle Reeves amid reports that Reeves had left the team. Veteran Joe Van Volsen leads the team with 11 points, and Chad Woollard has ten. But that's about it, and while the Brahmas are improving defensively, they still rank 15th, allowing four goals per game. John Murphy does lead the league with 112 penalty minutes. And goalie Matt Mullin (2-3, 2.37 GAA) has played well, but counterpart Jason Fricker is 0-2 in four appearances since acquired from Oklahoma City. 2-3 as a road team, Fort Worth is at Oklahoma City Friday, and hosts Memphis Saturday before coming down to the Cave.

The Series: The Bats are 12-8-2 lifetime against San Angelo, formerly known as the Outlaws. The Bats struggled with San Angelo last year, recording a 4-3-1 mark in the season series.

The Bats have dominated the other two of this week's opponents. Austin is 34-13-1 lifetime against Corpus Christi. And the Bats have won 11 of the last dozen meetings, including their 2-1 win November 2nd at Corpus.

The Bats are 34-15-1 against Fort Worth, and with last Friday's 2-1 win, have now claimed 9 of the last 10 meetings.

Comments From The Coach:

On last week: "We won ugly to start the weekend, then played a great hockey game on Saturday. Friday in Fort Worth, we tried to win by just showing up. As a team, the thing we need to apply is, hard work and determination is what has won us games. Even with the skill and goaltending we have in our room, we still have to play hard to win. I didn't think we were ready to play that game.

"But Saturday was a great 60 minutes. There's a lot of confidence back and forth... Barnes has confidence in our team, and our defensive corps has confidence in him. He knows once he makes the first save, there haven't been a lot of rebounds or third shots on net. In sports, you hope the good times just carry on. We know we'll have our ups and downs, but we've really meshed together defensively. Take out the Wichita game, and we've put up some phenomenal numbers. When you allow eight goals in eight games, that's phenomenal.

On this week: "I remind the guys daily that we can't rest on our laurels. We're not blowing teams out, we've earned everything we've gotten. So there's no room for error. San Angelo is an improved hockey club, and we had some trouble against them last year. They're a team we can't overlook.

"All these divisional games are four-point hockey games. Every team is looking at us as the number one hockey team, and they all want to beat us. Whoever beats us, other teams will look at and say, ‘How'd they beat that team?' I expect three pretty rugged games this weekend.

"Right now, I'm going to see how it all plays out, but we can play Barnesy in net all three games if we need to. With the schedule the way it's been, and a couple days off this week, we feel he's still fresh if we decide to do that.

Cave, Sweet Cave: After winning the WPHL attendance title four times in five seasons, the Bats placed second in the CHL last season, averaging nearly 5,000 fans per home game. Friday night is Dollar Rent A Car Bumper Sticker Night, with bumper stickers to be handed out to 3,000 fans.

Sunday is another Time Warner Cable Family Day. Fans can purchase a package of four tickets, four Pepsis, four hot dogs and a game program for just $48, and a post-game skate with Ice Bats players follows the contest. Also, inflatable "Cheer Stix" go to 3,000 fans, courtesy of Archstone Communities.

For the first time in franchise history, the Ice Bats will play all 32 home games on weekend dates—Friday and Saturday nights, and Sunday afternoons. For this season, improvements at the Travis County Expo Center include all-new glass surrounding the rink, safety netting in end zones and corners, and climate control for the first time ever. In addition, the team has unveiled its "Kids Zone," an all-new interactive fun center for kids.

Season tickets and corporate partnerships for the 2002-03 Ice Bats season are on sale at the Ice Bats office. Season tickets are available in full season, 16-game and 10-game plans. Free Belfry Club membership is included with all full season packages, and free parking with all full season and 16-game plans.

Individual game tickets are also available through the Ice Bats office or through all Star Ticket outlets, including all Austin-area Albertson's locations. Ticket prices remain the same as last season, and range from $11 to $21, depending on section, with discounted rates for groups of 15 people or more. To charge by phone, fans may call the Ice Bats office at 927-PUCK, or Star Tickets at 469-SHOW. On-line ordering is available through www.startickets.com.

Helping Out: At this Sunday's game, fans can help the Ice Bats and Time Warner Cable to "Fill a Cable Truck" with baby needs for area families. Fans who bring items like new baby clothes, diapers, and bottles, will receive a free reserved level ticket to the game. All donations go to In-Kind, Inc., an organization helping local disadvantaged families.

Cool Cash: Ice Bats fans can get their hands on a grand, with State Farm Bank's "Shot of a Lifetime" promotion. Fans who stop by their participating Austin-area State Farm agent can register to be on the ice at an Ice Bats game, with a chance to skate away with $1000 or other Ice Bats prizes. The contest will take place once a month, beginning at the game this Friday, Nov. 15th at the Expo Center.

In the Air: All Ice Bats road games will be broadcast on News Talk 1260, KWNX-AM, presented by State Farm Bank. The Texas Dodge Dealers Warm-up Show begins 20 minutes prior to opening face-off. The broadcasts are also available on the worldwide web, through the Ice Bats website. Ice Bats Director of Broadcasting, Media/PR Glen Norman is in his fifth busy season providing all the play-by-play action.

Bats in Cyberspace: Bats fans can learn the latest about their team by logging on to www.icebats.com. The official website of the Bats was designed and built by Syndetic Design.

Home or away, Bats fans will be able to 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.

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Central Hockey League Stories from November 12, 2002


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.

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