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A New Era of RoadRunners Hockey Begins

March 26, 2007 - ECHL (ECHL)
Phoenix RoadRunners News Release


'RUNNERS REWIND: The Brad Church era of RoadRunners hockey began Saturday in a thrilling affair as the Fresno Falcons edged past the Phoenix RoadRunners 4-3 in the lone game of the week. Still with 55 points, the RoadRunners remain in fourth place in the West Division and eighth overall in the National Conference. Phoenix is four points ahead of both the #9 seed Utah Grizzlies and the #10 seed Long Beach Ice Dogs. Despite the loss, the RoadRunners reduced their magic number for clinching a playoff berth to 11. The top eight teams in the National Conference advance to the 2007 Kelly Cup Playoffs.

Saturday, Jason Tejchma tallied a pair of goals and the Fresno Falcons erased a 3-1 deficit in the second period with three straight power play goals to defeat the Phoenix RoadRunners 4-3 before a crowd of 6,304 at US Airways Center.

The RoadRunners and Falcons each traded goals in the first period. Phoenix (25-35-5) opened the scoring at 12:40 on the power play as Brian Yandle buried the loose puck from the right-wing circle behind Fresno goalie Scott Stirling to give the RoadRunners a 1-0 lead. Fresno (34-24-8) evened things up when Brady Leisenring snapped a shot over the glove of goalie Cody Rudkowsky at 17:21 on the power play to tie the game at 1-1.

Phoenix jumped out of the gate in the second period with two quick goals. Lance Monych banged home his own rebound off the side of the cage through Stirling at 2:12 giving the RoadRunners a 2-1 lead. Chanse Fitzpatrick made it 3-1 when Olivier Latendresse found him wide open in the slot off a Fresno turnover, and Fitzpatrick snapped the puck behind Stirling at 6:43. The Falcons stormed back with three unanswered goals to take the lead going into the second intermission. Tejchma cut the deficit to 3-2 when he tipped Brian McConnell's centering pass by Rudkowsky at 9:15 on the power play. Tejchma scored his second straight power play goal at 14:26 beating Rudkowsky over the left shoulder. Rob McFeeters capped the scoring for the period slipping the puck through Rudkowsky's pads from the left-wing circle at 17:22, also on the power play.

Despite out-shooting the Falcons 10-7 in the third period, the RoadRunners could not tally the equalizer.

Phoenix out-shot Fresno 36-29. Rudkowsky stopped 25 shots but took the loss to fall to 8-18-2 on the season. The RoadRunners went 1-8 on the power play while Fresno was 4-8 with the man-advantage.

ROADRUNNERS HEAD TO CHURCH: Brad Church made his head coaching debut Saturday. Church, 30, becomes the second Head Coach in RoadRunners' ECHL history following the resignation of Ron Filion Thursday. Prior to joining Phoenix as an Assistant Coach on July 24, 2006, the Dauphin, Manitoba native closed out an illustrious 10-year professional playing career in 2005-06 by capturing his first professional championship as a member of the Kalamazoo Wings of the United Hockey League. Selected by the Washington Capitals with the 17th overall pick at the 1995 NHL Entry Draft, Church spent a bulk of his playing career in the American Hockey League with the Portland Pirates, the Capitals former primary affiliate. Church made his NHL debut with Washington on Dec. 16, 1997 against the New York Islanders, and appeared in two games with the Capitals that season.

YANDLE BACK ON THE SCORE SHEET: RoadRunners defenseman Brian Yandle tallied his first goal Saturday since Nov. 19, 2006 against Long Beach. Yandle missed 39 games from Dec. 7 through Mar. 13 due to injury. The rookie from Milton, Mass. has four goals and 12 points in 21 games this season.

THANK YOU FANS! On the strength of their third largest crowd of the season Saturday of 6,304, the RoadRunners finished the home portion of the regular season by welcoming 133,609 fans to US Airways Center in 2006-07. Phoenix raised their average attendance from 3,694 in 2005-06 to 3,711 in 2006-07 and enjoyed the five largest crowds in their two-year history at US Airways Center during the final two months of the regular season. The largest crowd to ever watch a RoadRunners game at US Airways Center was 7,096 on Jan. 12 vs. Idaho.

A LONG JOURNEY AHEAD: The RoadRunners will finish the regular season with a season-long seven-game road trip beginning Wednesday in Bakersfield. Following their stop at Rabobank Arena, Phoenix will travel to Stockton (Friday), Fresno (Saturday), back to Stockton (Sunday), back to Phoenix (Monday), and then to Victoria (Tuesday, Apr. 3) for a three-game series Apr. 4-7 to end the year. Their seven-game trip will span a total of five cities, 13 days, and 3,291 miles.

NEWS & NOTES: Defenseman Clayton Barthel notched his first professional point in his first pro game with an assist Saturday...The RoadRunners finished 15-19-2 at home and are 25-42-5 in two seasons at US Airways Center...Center Olivier Latendresse has two goals and two assists in his last four games...Center Tyler Redenbach made his RoadRunners' debut Saturday following his assignment by the Phoenix Coyotes from AHL San Antonio Friday.

"10 MINUTES IN THE BOX" ON 106.7 KWSS-FM: Join your favorite RoadRunners at 9:10 a.m. each and every Wednesday for "10 Minutes in the Box", a new weekly segment devoted entirely to your Phoenix RoadRunners on 106.7 KWSS-FM and online at www.kwss1067.com. "10 Minutes in the Box" will air weekly as part of the "Driving with Gass" radio show hosted by Kevin Gassman, which can be heard Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.

WATCH THE 'RUNNERS LIVE IN '06-07: The RoadRunners have teamed up with B2 Networks to bring you live action of Phoenix RoadRunners hockey in 2006-07. RoadRunners fans will be able to click the "Watch Online" link at www.phxroadrunners.com to view and listen to the game. These broadcasts are available to fans for a charge of $6 per game. All 36 RoadRunners home broadcasts will be available in addition to over 25 road games in Alaska, Idaho, Las Vegas, Stockton, Utah, and Bakersfield. A cable or DSL Internet connection and Windows Media Player 9 are required to view the games.

UP NEXT: The RoadRunners play four games in five nights this week as they visit Bakersfield Wednesday, Stockton on Friday, Fresno on Saturday, and Stockton once again on Sunday. Catch all the action live at www.phxroadrunners.com beginning with "RoadRunners Countdown" 20 minutes prior to face-off. Information on season tickets, half-season packages, and flex plans for the 2007-08 season of Phoenix RoadRunners Hockey are available by calling (602) 462-GOAL.

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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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