Bats Begin Defense of Titles

Published on October 16, 2002 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Austin Ice Bats News Release


Setting the Stage: The Austin Ice Bats of the Central Hockey League begin defense of their Southeast Division and Southern Conference titles this weekend, with the beginning of play in the 2002-03 CHL regular season. The Ice Bats will christen the opening of the new Ford Center in Oklahoma City on Friday, before returning for their home opener Saturday night against Laredo.

After achieving 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.

Among last season's individual achievements, the "S-T-P Fuel Line" of Brett Seguin, Gerald Tallaire and Dan Price dominated league scoring, taking three of the top four spots in the CHL scoring race. And Daniel Tetrault was named the CHL's Most Outstanding Defenseman.

A look back: With most of their regulars sitting on the sidelines, the Ice Bats lost their only game of the exhibition season, falling 4-2 to Laredo last Saturday night at the Cave. Jaroslav Jabrocky scored two goals to lead the expansion Bucks. Jabrocky's goal with 1:22 remaining in the second period posted Laredo to a 3-1 lead. Ice Bats newcomer Jaroslav Kresac trimmed the lead to one with 2:39 left, but the Bucks scored an empty net goal with just one second remaining. Ice Bats starting goaltender Matt Barnes stopped five of seven shots in one period, with Peter-Emmanuel Brady stopping 11 of 12 shots in two periods of effective relief.

Roster Flights:

Departures: Ice Bats Coach Brent Hughes was forced to make some tough decisions to get his roster down to the league-mandated 18 players by Wednesday evening. Released were forwards Alec Dennis, Matt Kohansky and Mike Olynyk, and defenseman Pat Glenday. (A complete season-opening roster is attached to this release).

Potential Bite Victims: Oklahoma City presents a formidable task for the Ice Bats' first game of the season. The Blazers, defending Northwest Division champions with a 35-22-7 record last season, return all of their top eight scorers. The League's all-time leading scorer, Joe Burton suits up for a historic 11th and final season. Center Marty Standish (82 points) finished 7th in CHL scoring last year, while Burton (80 points) was 8th. Then the Blazers added All-Stars Blair Manning and Jonathan Dubois off the roster of the San Antonio Iguanas. Hardy Sauter, the league's top scoring defenseman last year, and Peter Robertson head up an otherwise young blue line corps. Goalie Aren Miller (20-13-3 last year, 2.95 GAA) hopes to pick up his play just a notch, and that could lead the Blazers to their third CHL title. And the always intimidating Oklahoma City crowd has a chance to swell even a bit further, as the Bats are fodder for the first-ever regular season game at the new 18,400-seat Ford Center. It's a daunting, but welcome challenge.

Expansion Laredo is very much an unknown quantity under veteran Head Coach and former NHL player Terry Ruskowski. The Bucks brought a young, European-laden team to the Bat Cave for their exhibition game. But their roster could soon change, after Laredo this week signed an affiliation agreement with the NHL Florida Panthers and AHL San Antonio Rampage. For now, forward Chris Grenville is a proven talent, and Slovakian Jaroslav Jabrocky (say that three times fast) impressed in camp. A young defensive corps will lean on veteran goalie Lance Leslie, who has played the past two seasons in Lubbock, sporting a 16-13-5 record and 2.81 GAA last year. The Bucks will have a chance to come together early as a young team, as they don't play a home game in the new Laredo Entertainment Center until November 1st.

The Series: The Bats won both games last season against Oklahoma City in the first year of the series between the teams. Both wins came at Oklahoma City, 3-1 last December 15th, and 4-2 on January 29th.

The Bats will see expansion Laredo for the first-time ever in the home opener Saturday.

Comments From The Coach: On training camp: "I thought training camp went really well. There was tons of competition, and we have a lot of character guys, guys who are good in the dressing room. I would have liked to play at least another exhibition game, but we just couldn't arrange it. It made for some big decisions on talent coming at the last moment. It's really the first time we went down to the wire in naming our team, that's how close everyone was. That's bad for me, but good for the team. I think we'll be strong contenders again this year."

On this week: "We're going into Oklahoma City looking to find an identity and play our game. We didn't play Oklahoma City that much last year, only a couple of times. So we're going in a little bit blind.

But it's a tough task. Doug Sauter has another really good team, and with a new facility that's sure to be jammed with their fan support, I think a lot of the guys will be a little awestruck. Hopefully, we'll get by that quickly, and get that first goal to kind of break the ice."

"Then coming back home with a game under our belt, it'll be a thrill to see our banners go up. I know it'll be exciting for the ten guys back off last year's team. Hopefully, we can do it again, and add one banner a year down the road."

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. Saturday is Miller Lite Opening Night and jammed with excitement. Fans will want to arrive early, as the Bats unveil championship banners to mark the team's Conference and Division titles. Free magnetic schedules will go to 5,000 fans.

In addition, it's the first of regular "Live Music Nights," to take place each Saturday. Local favorites "Sun Vocina" will perform live, and singer Patrice Pike performs the National Anthem. The team will also unveil its "Kids Zone," an all-new interactive fun center for kids.

For the first time in franchise history, the team will play all 32 home games on weekend dates—Friday and Saturday nights, and Sunday afternoons. For the coming season, improvements at the Travis County Expo Center include all-new glass surrounding the rink, safety netting in end zones and corners, and climate control for the first time ever. Season tickets and corporate partnerships for the 2002-03 Ice Bats season are on sale at the Ice Bats office. 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.

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 will be able to 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.

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Central Hockey League Stories from October 16, 2002


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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