Bandits Get Three Points over the Weekend

Published on February 10, 2003 under ECHL (ECHL)
Jackson Bandits News Release


BANDITS ON THE RADIO – The Bandits are once again teaming up with ESPN Radio 930 to bring you 22 Bandits regular season away games. Mike Frazer is the Voice of the Bandits bringing you all the play-by-play action. Next broadcasted game is Friday, February 14th, as the Bandits travel to play the Augusta Lynx.

BANDITS MOMENTS –

TICKETS – Bandits season tickets are still available by calling the Bandits office at 352-PUCK. In addition, 20-game plans, Bandits Books, discounts for groups of 8 or more and birthday party packages are all available by calling the Bandits. Special holiday and gift offers are also available. Tickets for individual Bandits home games are available at the Coliseum box office, all BeBop Record Shops, and TicketMaster charge-by-phone by calling 355-5252.

CAR GIVEAWAY - The Bandits are teaming up with Gray-Daniels Auto Family for a chance for some lucky Bandit fan to win a new car. For the rest of the season, Bandits fans can use their parking stubs to enter into the contest, and hopefully win a new set of wheels to travel to home and away games in style.

BANDITS RECAP –

Bandits 3, FLORIDA 2 – John McNabb scored a goal and assisted another to lead the Jackson Bandits to a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over the Florida Everblades. McNabb scored his team-leading 25th goal with 6:47 remaining in the third period to give his club a 3-2 lead. He assisted Jeff Bes, who tied the score at 2-2 with his 15th tally 4:40 into the third. Sean O'Connor sparked the rally with his ninth of the season 47 seconds into the second for Jackson, which erased a 2-0 Florida lead. Tyrone Garner held the Everblades scoreless over the final two periods and finished with 28 saves to preserve the win for the Bandits, who improved to 4-2-2 on their current 13-game road trip. Marty Johnston and Don Smith both tallied to give Florida 2-0 advantage after 20 minutes. Rob Zepp made 30 saves but could not protect the lead for the Everblades, who had their four-game home winning streak snapped.

Bandits 2, FLORIDA 5 – Ryan Murphy netted a pair of goals to help the Florida Everblades defeat the Jackson Bandits, 5-2. Murphy, who has scored two goals in a game five times this season, tallied a power-play goal 2:14 into the contest and scored his 21st of the season with 3:51 remaining in the game. Laurent Meunier, who assisted on the second goal by Murphy, scored the deciding marker, a power-play goal that provided Florida with a 3-0 lead. George Awada chipped in with three assists for the Everblades, who improved to 13-4-6 at home. Rob Zepp turned away 29 of the 31 shots he faced for the win. Jeff Bes and Eric Fortier were the goal scorers for Jackson, which fell to 8-12-3 on the road.

Bandits 3, COLUMBUS 4 (OT) – Josh Olson would put two goals past Columbus goalie Matus Kostar, but it wouldn't be enough as the Columbus Cottonmouths beat the Jackson Bandits by 4-3 in overtime. Left wing Jeff Zehr would put the Cottonmouths up 2-0 by putting two goals past goalie Adam Hauser. The Bandits would retaliate when Sean O'Connor put a blast past Kostar, then Josh Olson would put an even-strength and a power-play goal past Kostar to put the Bandits up 3-2. However, the Cottonmouths would tie the game up with a power-play goal by Andrew Long to push the game into overtime, and then it would be J.J. Hunter to put the lid on the game and give the Cottonmouths the 4-3 win.

BANDITS MATCH-UPS –

Augusta – The Augusta Lynx will play host to the Jackson Bandits on Friday. The Lynx currently hold last place in the Southeast Division with a 11-7-2 home record. The last time these two teams met, Jackson beat Augusta 5-4 on November 27th. The Lynx are led offensively by Andrew Williamson, and in between the pipes by Colin Zulianello. Game time is 7:35 p.m.

Pee Dee – The Pee Dee Pride will play host to the Bandits on Saturday. The Pride currently hold 3rd place in the Southeast Division with a 17-4-3 home record. The Pride are led offensively by Matt Reid, and in between the pipes by Ron Vogel. Game time is at 7:30 p.m.

BANDITS BITES -

PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Josh Olson put up 2 goals in Sunday's loss to Columbus and also racked up three assists over the weekend to be the Bandits' Player of the Week. The 22-year old native of Roseau, MN was selected as a 6th round draft pick by the Florida Panthers in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. Josh finished out the weekend with a total of five points and was a –1.

ROAD TRIP – The Bandits are getting ready to hit the road for their 4th annual road trip away from the Coliseum. Due to numerous events at the Coliseum, the Bandits will have to spend 20 games on the road, taking them a whopping 9,411 miles this year. Even traveling at a smooth 70 mph all the way, it would still take over 134 hours to complete this journey. The longest leg of the trip comes February 7,8, and 9 as the Bandits travel to Florida for two games then to Columbus for one. The Bandits are on the road from Tuesday, January 14th until March 13th, and will not have another home game until March 14th against the Baton Rouge Kingfish.

BANDITS ON THE ROAD SO FAR - The Bandits have their second of the longest two legs of the road trip this weekend, and so far, the Bandits have held up fairly well despite their 4-3-3 record.

Offensively, the Bandits have been on a roll putting up 29 goals (20 even-strength, 8 power-play, and 1 shorthanded). On the even-strength, Mike Vigilante has come up big by putting three in the back of the net, while on the power-play unit it's been John McNabb, Sean O'Connor, and Eric Fortier all with two power-play goals a piece. McNabb so far snagged the only shorthanded goal. They have put 326 shots on goal, scored 29 times for an 11.2 shooting average, and played in front of 38, 262 people.

In between the pipes, the Bandits have stopped 297 of 317 shots so far with Adam Hauser stopping 138 of 153 and Ty Garner stopping 159 of 174. Garner has allowed fifteen goals (9 even-strength, 0 shorthanded, 5 power-play, and 1 extra attacker), while Hauser has allowed 15 goals (9 even-strength, 2 shorthanded, 4 power-play, and 0 extra attacker). Hauser currently holds a 2-2-1 record with a 1.09 goals against average and a .901 save percentage, while Garner has a 2-2-1 record with a 1.07 goals against average and a .913 save percentage on the road trip.

The Bandits have gone 8 for 48 on the power play and only allowed 9 out of 50 chances on the penalty kill, which is impressive when you look at the fact that the Bandits have had 86 penalties for 249 minutes so far this road trip.

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ECHL Stories from February 10, 2003


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