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Trashers maintain first place in UHL's toughest division

December 6, 2004 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Danbury Trashers News Release


The Trashers long streak without a loss finally came to an end when they fell to Port Huron by a 5-3 final on December 4th, but from November 14th until December 3rd, the Trashers went 20 straight days without a loss as they went 8-0-1 over a nine-game stretch as they earned 17 of a possible 18 points.

The streak witnessed the Trashers' move to the top of the very tough Eastern Division, where all four teams have a .500 or better winning percentage. Danbury's 33 points currently ties them with Rockford for the most points in the entire league.

Home ice dominance has been an important factor for their success this season. The Trashers were the first team to reach 10 home wins and are currently 11-2-1 on their home surface.

TRASHERS WEEK IN REVIEW

TRASHERS EARN SHOOTOUT VICTORY OVER PORT HURON TO REBOUND FROM PRIOR LOSS

December 5th, 2004

It was a fitting end to a long week as the Danbury Trashers grinded out a 2-1 shootout win on Sunday night over Port Huron at the Danbury Ice Arena thanks to shootout tallies by Brent Gretzky and Mike Bayrack. Josh Tatayrn scored the only goal for the Beacons in the shootout phase.

After a scoreless first period, the Trashers took the lead on a hardworking goal by Doug Christensen from Brent Gretzky and JF David at the 7:45 mark of the second period. Chris Slater tied the game at the 0:45 mark of the 3rd period from Gabriel Proulx on the power play from a hard ripped blue line shot.

Stu Dunn stopped 35 of 36 shots in regulation while Scott Stirling added another win to his belt with a 26 save performance.

Danbury improved their mark to 16-7-1 (33 points) to maintain a three-point lead in the Eastern Division. The Trashers return to the ice on Wednesday at 7:35pm at Richmond. Fans can tune into the webcast with Phil Giubileo at DanburyTrashers.com.

TRASHERS NINE GAME UNBEATEN STREAK COMES TO END WITH 5-3 LOSS TO PORT HURON

December 4th, 2004

The Danbury Trashers saw their franchise-high winning streak and undefeated streak end at the Danbury Ice Arena in a 5-3 loss to the Port Huron Beacons. In front of a crowd of 2,378, the Trashers lost their first game in nine games, and snapped a seven-game winning-streak.

Port Huron's David Beauregard opened the scoring at 9:17 of the first with a goal from Gaberil Proulx and Joe Sewell. All three would continue to have productive nights from there on out. Sewell scored his first of the game at the 11:50 mark, with Beauregard and Andrew McPherson assisting.

Jeff Daw's first goal of the season for the Trashers' at 1:49 of the second, to bring Danbury within one, assists went to Brent Gretzky and Bruce Richardson. With Mario Larocque in the box for a double minor (Cross-check, Roughing, 5:15) the Beacons scored in the last seconds of the four minutes to give them a 3-1 lead. Josh Tataryn netted his 12th of the year from David Wyzgowski and Proulx. Danbury would kill nearly nine minutes of penalties in the second frame, while Trashers' backstop Guillaume Lavallee was peppered with 23 Port Huron shots.

The Beacons made it a 4-1 game 11:08 into the final frame with a goal from Andrew Shier, from Malcolm MacMillian and Proulx, but the Trashers began a rally with a Mike Bayrack goal at 13:37 (Richardson, Larocque) and Daw's second of the game (Gretzky, Bayrack) at 18:58.

With Lavallee pulled for an extra attacker, Port Huron's Sewell scored on the empty net to make it a 5-3 Beacon's victory. The win was only the Beacon's second road win of the season.

TRASHERS ROLL OFF 7TH STRAIGHT WIN WITH 5-1 DRUBBING OF RIVERDOGS

December 3rd, 2004

In case you were wondering, the Danbury Trashers are the hottest team in the UHL. On Friday night they capitalized their stronghold on the Eastern Division with a 5-1 win over the Riverdogs at the Richmond Coliseum.

Danbury needed just 1:25 of the first to score as John Morlang's 9th of the season gave the Trashers an early 1-0 lead. Mark Turner scored Richmond's only goal of the night at the 13:21 mark of the period to tie the score at 1-1 after one period.

The Trashers then erupted for three in the second as Brian Herbert scored his first of the season at the 3:36 mark of the period, followed by a Doug Christensen goal just 22 seconds later.

Starting Richmond goaltender Jeff Sanger was pulled after Christensen's goal for Ryan McIntosh, but the former Elmira goaltender had problems with Mike Bayrack, who scored at 12:51 of the second and again at the 7:03 mark of the third period to wrap up Danbury's barrage. PJ Byrne assisted on both of Bayrack's goals for his first two points of the season.

Scott Stirling picked up his 12th win as he stopped 27 of 28 shots, while Sanger and McIntosh combined to stop 41 of 46 Danbury shots on goal.

CHRISTIANSEN NETS TWO, GRETZKY SCORES AND ADDS AN ASSIST AS THEY LEAD DANBURY TO 6TH STRAIGHT WIN WITH 5-3 DRUBBING OF KALAMAZOO

December 1st, 2004

It was a bumpy road in Danbury on Wednesday night as the Trashers faced Kalamazoo for the first time in franchise history. Despite taking a three-goal lead in the 2nd period, the Trashers had to hang on as they finally scored an empty net goal in the final seconds to seal a 5-3 win over the Wings.

Danbury jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead on goals by Brent Gretzky and Doug Christansen, who would both finish with multi-point nights.

Kalamazoo finally netted a goal by Sean Starke at the 15:52 mark of the first as the Trashers finished the period with a 2-1 lead.

Danbury scored twice unanswered in the 2nd period on tallies by John Morlang and Brad Wingfield, but the night ended prematurely for Winger as Josh Elzinga slewfooted him with 25 seconds remaining in the period. Wingfield eventually was diagnosed with a broken leg and was operated on after this game (official news added 12/06/04'see below).

The Wings pulled to within one goal in the 3rd period on a power-play tally by Yannick Carpentier and an even strength goal by Gray Shaneberger before Christiansen's empty-netter, his 6th of the season.

Scott Stirling stopped 21 of 24 shots in the win as the Trashers improved to 14-6-1 as their unbeaten streak is extended to eight (7-0-1) games.

DANBURY PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Scott Stirling
Goaltender
Norwood, MA
Statistics from 12/01 to 12/05: 3-0-0 Record 1.66 GAA
.937 Save Percentage (69 saves, 74 shots)

The UHL/Southern Sports Supply Goaltender of the Month was off to an outstanding December start as he was victorious in his three appearances in goal for the Trashers. After facing a number of power plays in last Wednesday's 5-3 win over Kalamazoo, Stirling allowed only one goal in each of his last two starts. He also earned his second shootout win of the season as Port Huron managed just one shootout goal in Danbury's 2-1 win over the Beacons on December 5th.

Mike Bayrack
Forward
Edmonton, Alberta
Statistics from 12/01 to 12/05: 3 goals, 2 assists, 5 points, +2 plus/minus

Bayrack continues to score points in bunches as he tallied five points in four games this past week, including a pair of multi-point games on December 3rd (2 goals vs. Richmond) and 4th (1 goal, 1 assist vs. Port Huron). The multi-point games were his 5th and 6th of the season, which lead the Trashers' organization.

INJURY UPDATE/TRASHER TIDBITS

- Brad Wingfield suffered a broken leg as the result of a slewfooting incident by Josh Elzinga during Danbury's 5-3 win over Kalamazoo on December 1st. Wingfield was operated on following the game and will be out for approximately 12 months. He is set to undergo intense rehabilitation after his leg heals and will eventually return to the Trashers' lineup next season.

- Scott Stirling's recent stretch in net has been a remarkable one. As the bedrock in goal, the UHL/Southern Sports Supply goaltender of the month for November has extended his unbeaten streak to over one month with a 8-0-1 mark over his last nine starts with a 1.88 GAA and .937 save percentage. His last loss occurred on the road in Quad City on November 6th. He also added his first assist of the season on Danbury's final goal in their 5-3 win over Kalamazoo on December 1st.

- During the course of the Trashers recent nine-game unbeaten streak, the club outscored their opponents by a 33-18 margin. Over the seven game winning streak that was part of the unbeaten streak, the Trashers failed to lead the game only once, when Richmond scored first in Danbury's 4-2 win on November 26th.

- Garrett Burnett was added to the Trashers' roster prior to their 3-2 win over Port Huron on Sunday night. The NHL enforcer led Anaheim with 184 penalty minutes in 39 games last season. He did not accrue any penalty minutes in a fight-free 2-1 shootout win over the Beacons on Sunday December 5th.

- Over the past 10 games the Trashers are 8-1-1 and have featured a very balanced scoring attack. During that span five players had at least seven points, while Brent Gretzky netted 10 points on three goals with a +7 rating. Six players had at least three goals, led by Doug Christensen's five over that stretch. As a club, the team is +65 in the plus/minus department over the last 10 games. Only Jim Duhart had a minus, as he was ‘2 in three Trashers appearances prior to his trade to Flint.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN'TRASHERS BEGIN LONG ROAD TRIP ON WEDNESDAY'EVENTUALLY RETURN HOME ON DECEMBER 17TH AGAINST ELMIRA

The longest Trashers' road trip of the season begins this Wednesday as Danbury faces their division rivals from Richmond at the Richmond Coliseum at 7:35pm. Following the game the team will venture directly to Flint where they will face the Generals, also at 7:35pm. Saturday the Trashers will be in Kalamazoo at 7:30 before they conclude their long road swing on Sunday night in Fraser, Michigan against Motor City at 7:30pm.

The Trashers return to the Danbury Ice Arena on Friday December 17th as they host a pair of games against Elmira, which is also the final weekend of home games until after Christmas. The Trashers have a number of holiday themed events taking place that weekend (see below).

DANBURY TRASHERS ANNOUNCE HOLIDAY PROMOTIONS FOR DECEMBER 17TH AND 18TH GAMES VS. ELMIRA JACKALS INCLUDING FIRST ANNUAL FOOD DRIVE

DANBURY, CT'The Danbury Trashers, proud members of the United Hockey League have announced a number of special holiday weekend promotions in conjunction with their home games on December 17th and 18th against Elmira, it was announced by Team President A.J.Galante.

The centerpiece of the weekend's activities is the first annual Trashers' Food Drive, where any fan that donates an item to the drive prior to the 7:30pm game on Friday, December 17th will receive a limited edition Danbury Trashers Christmas Ornament (while supplies last). Patrons will receive one ornament for their entire donation, not per item.

All items will be divided and donated to the New Street Homeless Shelter of Danbury, the Salvation Army and the Dorothy Day Homeless Shelter. Patrons are encouraged to donate any non-perishable food items with an emphasis on canned soup, tuna and personal toiletries (i.e. travel size toothpaste, soap, shampoo, deodorant, etc.).

The 7:00pm game on Saturday December 18th will feature the ‘Teddy Bear Toss', with the proceeds benefiting the local Toys for Tots. Fans are encouraged to bring a teddy bear or other stuffed animal to the game to throw onto the ice after the Trashers score their first goal of the evening.

The first ‘Skate With The Trashers' event for season ticket holders will also take place following Satuday's game. All season ticket holders will receive a ticket to take the ice after the game to meet and skate with the players for approximately 45 minutes. Non season ticket holders may participate with a five-item donation to the Trashers' Food Drive on Saturday night. All participating fans must bring their own skates or rent them at the Danbury Ice Arena in order to take the ice.

Tickets for all Danbury Trashers home games are available on the Internet at DanburyTrashers.com, by calling 866-565-PUCK, ext. 116 during business hours or in person at the Danbury Ice Arena on weekdays from Noon-6pm, Saturday's from 9am-5pm and Sunday's from 11am-5pm.

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