Bats All Business After All-Star Win
January 29, 2003 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Austin Ice Bats News Release
Setting the Stage: The Austin Ice Bats of the Central Hockey League are 33-6-1 in defense of their Southeast Division and Southern Conference titles. The Ice Bats won their first ten games, the best opening streak in League history, and again won ten in a row coming out of the Christmas break. The Bats not only have the CHL's top record, but boast the best winning percentage in all of professional hockey, the NHL included.
The Bats currently lead Laredo by 13 points in the Division race, and will play five of their next six games at home. The Bats play three games in three days this weekend, with a Saturday game at Bossier-Shreveport sandwiched between home games Friday and Sunday.
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: Last Thursday, the top players in the CHL gathered for the Central Hockey League All-Star Game in Oklahoma City. Led by Bats Coach Brent Hughes, the Southern Conference All-Stars jumped out to a 7-1 lead, before holding on to beat the Northern Conference, 10-6.
The North led first on a goal by Don Parsons of Memphis four minutes in, but the South owned the game for most of the first two periods. Odessa's Sebastien Thinel scored twice in the first, and Laredo's Chris Grenville scored two of the four unanswered Southern Conference goals in the second. Bats goalie Matt Barnes allowed just one goal in net for the South, before replaced midway through the game.
Grenville scored twice more in the third to keep the South well in front, garnering MVP honors with four goals total in the game. Ice Bats All-Star Kelly Smart scored three assists, while teammates Darryl McArthur and Mike Gaffney recorded an assist each. More than 9,800 fans attended the annual CHL mid-season showcase.
A look back, continued: After the All-Star Game, the Bats picked up where they left off, blasting last-place teams in the Southern Conference. On Friday, the Bats returned home to take on an El Paso team operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Indeed, amidst reports that several players had been evicted from their apartments because of the team's failure to pay rent, the Buzzards had little to offer, and the Bats rolled, 6-2.
The Bats wasted no time, jumping out to a 3-0 lead. Tab Lardner scored on the team's opening shift 42 seconds into the contest, and again at the 3:44 mark. Darryl McArthur padded the lead with a power play goal midway through the first.
El Paso's Markus Forsberg put the Buzzards on the board with 1:44 remaining in the first, but the Bats roared away with three unanswered goals in the second. Brett Seguin scored on a rebound backhander, McArthur added another power play goal in the final two minutes, and Gerald Tallaire made it 6-1 with three seconds left on the second period clock.
Lardner scored twice with an assist, McArthur added two goals, and Kelly Smart garnered four assists. Bats goalie Peter Brady stopped 36 of 38 shots faced. The Bats scored twice on three power play chances.
On Saturday, the Bats' number-two line contributed three goals in a 5-1 home waxing of San Angelo. And again the Bats wasted little time getting on the board, as Kelly Smart came up with a turnover behind the net and centered to Tab Lardner for a 4-on-4 goal just 1:41 into the contest. Just three minutes later, Matt Sharuga cashed in on a scoring chance set up by a Mike Olynyk check, and the Bats led 2-0 after one.
The Saints got on the board with less than four minutes remaining in the second, on a Trevor Weisgerber power play goal. But Lardner provided the back-breaker with a shorthanded score in the final two minutes. Then after Bats goalie Peter Brady snuffed San Angelo's Steve Roberts on an early third period breakaway, the Bats put the game awayâwith Shawn Legault and Gerald Tallaire adding scores in the final five minutes. Lardner led scoring with two goals and an assist, while Smart added three helpers. Brady stopped 36 of 37 shots faced.
Amped Up: The Bats have scored at least one power play goal in each of their last five games, converting 10 of 29 chances (34.5%) over that span. As a result, the team's power play has jumped to 3rd in the league standings, at 18.2% for the season.
Hockey's "BCS?": With the best record in all of professional hockey, the Ice Bats sit atop the minor league poll conducted by the hockey website, In The Crease. The poll rates all teams at the AA level.
Wounded Wings: Left winger Jeff Greenlaw, who had been out since New Year's Eve to injury, returned to the lineup last Friday. Greenlaw missed ten games.
Player Plaudits: Three time CHL Goalie of the Week, and the November Goalie of the Month, Matt Barnes continues to set a record pace. Barnes leads all league goalies with a sparkling 1.70 goals-against average and .944 save percentage. At 24-5-1, he also leads the league in wins and with seven shutouts. Meanwhile, counterpart Peter Brady continues to climb the ladder, now 6th among league goalies, at 9-1, with a 2.38 GAA.
Center Kelly Smart ranks in the top 15 in league scoring, with 23 goals and 26 assists. He's also second in the league with 6 game-winning goals. Brett Seguin ranks second in team scoring, with 43 points. Seguin and Gerald Tallaire are the two hottest Ice Bats, each taking ten-game scoring streaks into this week.
Dan Price, Tab Lardner and Darryl McArthur are all +23, tied for third in the league. And forward Shawn Legault leads the team with 120 minutes in penalties, but also has 18 points in 21 games.
Potential Bite Victims: All three of this week's opponents have had some trouble putting the puck in the net. But then, it's been nothing but trouble for Fort Worth this season, still the only team in single digits in victories. At 8-29-4, the Brahmas are out of the playoff chase, and Coach Bill Inglis is just trying to build for the future and play spoiler. Fort Worth ranks last offensively, scoring just 2.24 goals per game, while allowing nearly two goals more per contest. They also are 15th on the power play, and 16th on the penalty kill. Nearly 40% of Fort Worth's goals this season have been scored by two playersâJoe Van Volsen, who leads the team with 42 points, and versatile Chad Woollard, with 23 goals and 17 assists. After that, there's a big dropoff. John Murphy is in the top five in league penalty minutes, with 211. Now that Matt Mullin has left the team, goaltending falls to Jason Fricker (2-13, 4.12 GAA). Fort Worth will bring a 4-16-3 road record to Austin for Friday's game.
Bossier-Shreveport has made a run, but at 18-16-7, they still have a couple of teams to jump over to get back into the playoff chase. Dan Wildfong continues to lead the team in scoring (37 points) and penalty minutes (178). Jason Campbell has added 19 goals and 15 assists, but with the trade deadline coming up, the Mudbugs could use some scoring depth. Goaltending has provided Bossier with victories, and Ken Carroll (13-10-3, 2.35 GAA) has been as good as advertised, ranking 4th in the league. 9-5-4 at home, the Mudbugs have an odd schedule this week. They'll host Indy in a key game Wednesday, play in Corpus Christi Friday, and then follow the Bats up the highway to Shreveport for their meeting Saturday night.
Defensive-minded Odessa continues to be one of the top teams in the Southern Conference. At 25-11-5, the Jackalopes have a 12-point lead in the Southwest Division. While they rank 14th on offense, scoring just under three goals per game, the Jacks rank 3rd on defense (2.56 goals allowed per game), and 2nd in both specialty teams categories. Mike Rutter is a top 20 scorer, with 14 goals and 30 assists. Defenseman Scott Hillman has 38 points and All-Star Sebastien Thinel, 34. Both goalies rank among the league's top seven. Mike Gorman is 19-9-5, with a 2.45 GAA. Matt Carney is 6-2, with a 2.35 GAA. Odessa, which shut out Lubbock, 3-0 on Tuesday, will host Amarillo and Laredo before finishing the weekend at Austin. The Jackalopes are 10-8-3 as a road team.
The Series: The Bats are 38-15-1 lifetime against Fort Worth, winning 13 of the last 14 meetings. That includes all five games this year, two of them played in Austin.
The Bats are 9-14-5 lifetime against Bossier-Shreveport, winning this season's only meeting by the narrowest of marginsâ1-0 on January 3rd in Bossier City.
Austin is 9-1-2 lifetime against Odessa, heading into the first meeting of the season. The teams split their two regular season games last year.
Comments From The Coach:
On last week: "The All-Star week was great. Oklahoma City put on a great show, and it was good to win one finally. The guys that went had a great time. It's a shame I couldn't have taken a few more of our guys with me, because a lot of guys were deserving. It was nice to come back and win the games that mean something. Friday, I wasn't as happy with.
I thought being off a little bit, we had to knock some rust off. But Peter Brady was the difference in that game. Saturday was a much better hockey game. We came out hard, and didn't take San Angelo lightly. Our offense was great all weekend, with a lot of chances on every line. And our power play has to be tops in the league over the last ten games or so.
On this week: "The schedule isn't the best this week, in that we have to go all the way to Bossier and then back for a 3:00 Sunday game. It's not horrible, but will definitely be tough. We can't overlook Fort Worth. They've come close, but just don't seem to get the wins... although they did beat Amarillo. Bossier is really starting to turn it on, and we know better than to count them out of the playoffs. And Odessa's a team we want to keep behind us. At times, they've been one of the top teams in the league, and if they play their defensive style, they can be really tough to score against.
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. This season, the Bats again rank among the league attendance leaders, with 21 of their 32 home games after January 1st.
Friday, Ice Bats trading card sets go to 3,000 fans, courtesy of State Farm Bank. Then Sunday is another Time Warner Cable Family Day. Fans may purchase a package of four tickets, Pepsis, hotdogs and a game program for just $48. A post-game skate with Ice Bats players follows the game.
For the first time in franchise history, the Ice Bats play all 32 home games on weekend datesâFriday and Saturday nights, and Sunday afternoons. For this season, improvements at the Travis County Expo Center include all-new glass surrounding the rink, 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. Prorated 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.
Fang's Gang: Youngsters now have a chance to sign up for "Fang's Gang" at their nearest Austin-area Wendy's location. Club members receive an ID tag and membership perks, like tours of the locker room, watching practice sessions, free tickets and merchandise discounts. Each month, "Fang's Gang" members will also be selected to go to lunch at Wendy's with their favorite Ice Bats players. The program is free to join.
Pucks for Yuks: Once again this year, the Ice Bats will be trading "pucks for yuks," at the Capitol City Comedy Club, Research Blvd. at Anderson Lane. Starting at 8pm on Wednesday, February 5th, Ice Bats players will appear on stage with the improv experts from the National Comedy Theater for a night of hilarious improv comedy. Also scheduled to appear is comedian Rick Overton, who has appeared on "Seinfeld," and in the feature films "Airplane II" and "Eight Legged Freaks." All proceeds go to benefit the Austin shelter SafePlace. For tickets or more information, fans may call the Capitol City Comedy Club at 467-2333.
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 can 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.
Central Hockey League Stories from January 29, 2003
- Bats All Business After All-Star Win - Austin Ice Bats
- Tonight's Game: Corpus Christi Rays vs. Laredo Bucks - Laredo Bucks
- Buzzards director of communications resigns - El Paso Buzzards
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