Bandits to Play New Orleans in Wild Card Game

April 1, 2002 - ECHL (ECHL)
Jackson Bandits News Release


Mississippi Coliseum to host one-game playoff Tuesday night

BANDITS RESULTS -
34-29-9 record, 77 pts., 4th place, Southwest Division (19-15-2 home, 15-14-7 away)
Tuesday, March 26 LOUISIANA 6, Bandits 3 - Richard Pitirri - 2 goals; James Patterson - 1 goal, 1 assist
Wednesday, March 27 Mississippi 3, BANDITS 1 - Mike Oliveira - 1 goal; Jim Vickers - First pro assist
Friday, March 29 Louisiana 3, BANDITS 0 - Mike Tamburro - 19 saves
Home team in CAPS

BANDITS IN ACTION - Southwest Division Wild Card Game
Tuesday, April 2 Bandits vs. New Orleans Brass (36-32-4, 76 pts., 5th, Southwest Div.) - 9 p.m.

BANDITS ON THE RADIO - The Bandits are once again teaming up with ESPN Radio 930 to broadcast all 72 Bandits regular season games. Mike Sheehan returns as Voice of the Bandits to bring you the play-by-play action. The NEXTEL PreGame Show begins the Bandits' coverage tomorrow at 8:45 p.m.

CHALK TALK - Don't forget that Chalk Talk with Derek Clancey airs this week on ESPN Radio 930 and on location at Buffalo Wild Wings on Spillway Rd. in Ridgeland. Join coach Clancey and Mike Frazer and a special Bandits player each week to catch up on the latest happenings with your Bandits! Please note that the show will either be on Wednesday or Thursday depending the outcome of Tuesday's Wild Card Game against New Orleans.

BANDITS RECAP -

LOUISIANA 6, BANDITS 3 - Richard Pitirri scored twice in the third period but Louisiana took a 6-3 win over the Bandits on Tuesday at the Cajundome. James Patterson had a goal and an assist for the Bandits. Mike Tamburro made 35 saves in goal. The IceGators led 2-1 after the first period and 4-1 after the second frame. Pitirri scored his first goal early in the third but the Bandits could get no closer.

MISSISSIPPI 3, BANDITS 1 - The Sea Wolves scored three unanswered goals for a 3-1 victory over the Bandits on Wednesday. Mike Oliveira broke a scoreless tie with a rebound goal early in the second period. Francois Fortier tied the game later in the stanza before Steffon Walby broke the tie with a pair of third-period goals. The Bandits outshot the Sea Wolves 46-24 for the game.

LOUISIANA 3, BANDITS 0 - The IceGators scored a goal in each period to blank the Bandits 3-0 in the regular season finale for both teams on Friday at Mississippi Coliseum. The Bandits again had a dominant edge in shots on goal, 43-22, but couldn't dent Louisiana goalie Marc Magliarditi. That margin included a 22-4 difference in the second period. Mike Tamburro made 19 saves in goal for the Bandits.

BANDITS MATCH-UPS -

NEW ORLEANS - The Brass won all five meetings from the Bandits this season, but the teams haven't met in Jackson since Nov. 3. New Orleans is led in scoring by George Awada, who recorded 60 points (29g-31a) on the season. Awada was followed by Mikko Sivonen (26g-30a-56pts) and Matt Demarski (30g-21a-51pts). Demarski was among five players added by the Brass in the days leading up to the ECHL's trade deadline on Feb. 27. Awada had six points (5g-1a) in five games against the Bandits. In goal, Ron Vogel (25-19-3, 2.61 GAA) has the better numbers but Paxton Schafer (8-6-1, 2.76 GAA with New Orleans, 13-15-1, 3.10 GAA overall) has played five of the last seven games for the Brass.

WILD CARD WINNER PLAYS LOUISIANA - The winner of tomorrow night's Southwest Division Wild Card Game will play division champion Louisiana in the Southwest Division Semifinals. The best-of-five series begins on Wednesday, April 3 at the Cajundome, home of the IceGators. The other division semifinals series pits the Mississippi Sea Wolves against the Pensacola Ice Pilots, which begins Wednesday in Biloxi. The Mobile Mysticks, Arkansas RiverBlades and Baton Rouge Kingfish failed to qualify for postseason play.

LOUISIANA - The Bandits were 3-4-3 against the IceGators this season as the IceGators claimed the final two meetings of the season last week. The IceGators won the Brabham Cup as ECHL regular season champions, setting league records for wins, points, home wins, road wins and team shutouts. Jay Murphy (39g-38a-77pts) and Cory Cyrenne (27g-50a-77pts) tied for the team lead in scoring. Chris Valicevic (11g-43a-54pts) and Corey Neilson (12g-40a-52pts) were the league leaders in top scoring defensemen. In addition to having the league's top offense, the IceGators were the stingiest team defensively. Goalie Frederic Cloutier (28-5-3) led the ECHL with a 1.84 GAA and seven shutouts while Marc Magliarditi (28-7-1) was third with a 2.26 GAA.

SCHEDULE FOR TUESDAY - Tuesday, April 2 Practice 10-11 a.m. The Ice Park, Lakeland Dr.
Game vs. New Orleans - 9 p.m. Mississippi Coliseum

TAMBURRO TURNS AWAY PENALTY SHOT - Bandits goalie Mike Tamburro became the third goalie in team history last Wednesday to successfully stop a penalty shot. Tamburro turned away Mississippi's Francois Fortier with his left pad. Fortier had been awarded the shot after being taken down from behind on a breakaway. Tamburro joins David Brumby and Marco Emond, who each denied penalty shots during the Bandits' inaugural season in Jackson.

VICKERS JOINS BANDITS - Defenseman Jim Vickers signed with the team as a free agent prior to Wednesday's game against Mississippi. Vickers, 22, registered an assist in his first pro game. This season, the 6-foot-1, 200-pound native of Aurora, Ontario posted 21 points (4g-17a) in 34 games at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. Vickers' father, Steve, played ten seasons in the NHL for the New York Rangers and won the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year in 1973. On an interesting side note, Vickers shares the same birthday as fellow rookie Nick Theriault (Feb. 27, 1980).

BANDITS BITES - This is the second straight trip for the Bandits to the Kelly Cup Playoffs. Last spring, they were defeated by the Mobile Mysticks three games to two in the Southern Conference Quarterfinals. Dave Stewart finished first in the ECHL with 325 penalty minutes in 63 games. For the first time since moving to Jackson, the Bandits failed to have a player take the ice in every game. The Bandits were the seventh-best defensive team in the ECHL, allowing 2.81 goals per game. The Chicago Blackhawks, the Bandits' NHL affiliate, currently have a record of 39-23-12-1 and 91 points, good enough for second place in the NHL's Central Division after yesterday's 2-1 victory over Minnesota. After four straight wins, the Blackhawks hold the fourth seed in the Western Conference. The Norfolk Admirals, the Bandits' AHL affiliate, have maintained first place in the AHL's Southern Division with a 36-25-12-4 record and 88 points. The Admirals had their eight-game winning streak snapped on Saturday at Philadelphia... They have clinched a playoff spot and currently hold the third seed in the Western Conference.



ECHL Stories from April 1, 2002


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