Bats Begin Push After Changes

Published on January 28, 2004 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Austin Ice Bats News Release


Setting the Stage: The Austin Ice Bats of the Central Hockey League enter the final seven weeks of the 2003-04 CHL season with a 17-18-6 record. The Ice Bats begin this week trailing second-place Rio Grande Valley by two points in the Southeast Division, and in the race for the final Southern Conference playoff position. The Ice Bats look to jump back into second this week, with a home-and-home series against Corpus Christi and a home game against Indianapolis.

Last season, the Ice Bats earned a franchise-best 46-14-4 record, clinching their second straight Southeast Division title and the Governors' Cup for the league's top overall regular season record.

Defeating New Mexico and Laredo in the 2003 President's Cup Playoffs, the Bats earned their second straight Southern Conference crown and a berth in the Cup Finals. There, however, for the second straight year, the Ice Bats fell one step short of the CHL's ultimate prize, falling to the Memphis RiverKings in five games.

A look back: The Dodge CHL All-Star Game was held last Thursday night in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and customary to form, was a wide-open offensive affair. The Northern Conference All-Stars defeated the Southern Conference, 12-9, in a game of offensive spurts.

The South opened up with a pair of scores, but the North then ripped off five unanswered goals, capped by a pair from Indianapolis' Jason Baird, the second coming 35 seconds into the second period. The South stormed back to tie with three straight second period goals, including two from Laredo's Patrik Nilson. The North scored twice more, but Austin's Gerald Tallaire and Corpus Christi's Mike Tilson countered for the South, and the teams were tied 7-7 after two complete.

In the third, the North again took off, with unanswered scores from five different goal scorers. The South closed out scoring with a pair of goals in the final two minutes, but fell short. With a hat trick and one assist, Baird was the game's MVP. Nilson led the South with two goals and two assists. Tallaire finished with a goal and an assist.

A look back, continued: Last Friday, the Ice Bats returned to action from the All-Star break, but lost at home to Laredo, 4-1. Specialty teams play was the difference. The Ice Bats came out flying, outshooting the Bucks 7-1 in the early going, and 15-7 in the scoreless first period.

Laredo's Max Birbraer opened scoring 2:17 into the second period, but the Bats responded at 10:33 on a Jaroslav Jabrocky goal. Laredo specialty teams took over after that, first killing a 5-on-3 Austin power play, then capitalizing for consecutive power play goals from Mike Amodeo and Patrik Nilson. And the Bucks' Jeff Bes capped scoring, catching Austin goalie Jonathan Forest out of position for a wraparound goal midway through the final period.

Laredo scored twice on six power play chances, while the Bats failed to score on seven chances. Four Bucks had two points each, and Laredo goalie David Guerrera stopped 31 of 32 shots faced.

With second place on the line, the Ice Bats and Rio Grande Valley skated to a playoff-style atmosphere Saturday night, with the Killer Bees pulling out a somewhat controversial 3-2 overtime win.

Again, specialty teams were an early difference, as the Bees connected for power play goals from Mike Rees in the first and Roger Holeczy in the second. Rio Grande goalie Jeff Levy left the Ice Bats with opportunities of their own, but they were unable to cash in through two periods.

In the third, though, the Bats roared back with two goals in 50 seconds. Josh St. Louis spun off the left wall, put the puck on net, and followed up his shot for a goal 2:33 into the final period. Austin's Tab Lardner then tied the game on a backhanded shot from the right wing. The goals ended an Austin scoreless streak of over 185 minutes at the Dodge Arena.

The door opened back up for the Killer Bees with five minutes remaining in regulation. Austin's Mike Olynyk was called for a major penalty for slashing, and the Ice Bats had to kill all but 12 seconds of the penalty to get the game to overtime. Then a roughing penalty at the end of regulation against Rio Grande Valley's Kevin Mackie put the Ice Bats on the power play in overtime, but they too failed to score.

The game ended in strange fashion with 59 seconds left in OT. The Killer Bees threw the puck off the side of the Austin net, and it rolled behind the cage. The horn sounded, and the Bees took advantage of the ensuing chaos. Rio Grande's Jason Tessier threw the puck on net and Chris Peach tipped it home for the winner at 4:01.

Again, the Bats were scoreless on five power play chances, while Rio Grande Valley scored a pair of goals on six chances. Levy stopped 44 of 46 Austin shots.

On Sunday, the Ice Bats wrapped up a tough week with a 4-1 home loss to Fort Worth. Former Ice Bat Joey Bastien again came back to haunt his old mates, scoring midway through the first period. Fort Worth's Aaron Davis added a power play goal late, and the Brahmas led 2-0 after one.

Austin's Brett Seguin cut the lead in half midway through the second, putting in a power play goal off the glove of Brahma goalie Brent Belecki. But late in the period, the Bats gave up the puck in the slot, and Bastien centered to T.J. Warkus for the game's key score. The Ice Bats, who outshot the Brahmas 24-6 in the second period, didn't have much left after that. Fort Worth's Jeremy Vanin added an empty net goal. Belecki stopped 43 of 44 Austin shots.

Roster Flights: On Monday, the Ice Bats announced completion of a five-player trade with New Mexico, acquiring scoring forward Chris Richards and offensive defenseman Arturs Kupaks, along with the rights to forward Josh Tymchak. Richards, who ranks sixth in league scoring with 17 goals and 38 assists in 42 games with the Scorpions, is expected to jump-start the Ice Bats offense. A two-time All-Star, Richards represented the host Scorpions in last week's CHL All-Star Game. Kupaks, the WPHL Defenseman of the Year in 1999-2000, ranks among the top 15 league d-men this year with 24 points in 42 games, and is especially valuable as a power play performer.

In exchange, the Ice Bats traded to New Mexico veteran forward Shawn Legault, who ranks second in the league with 208 penalty minutes, and All-Star defenseman Daniel Tetrault, who had 23 points in 41 games.

Player Plaudits: Newly-acquired Chris Richards immediately takes over the team scoring lead. Forwards Gerald Tallaire and Brett Seguin are second with 38 points each. Brent Hughes leads all CHL rookies with a team-most 19 goals, to go along with 11 assists. And Jonathan Forest ranks among the top dozen league goalies, at 13-11-5, with a 2.50 goals-against average and .918 save percentage.

Potential Bite Victims: For revamped Corpus Christi, this week's home-and-home series with Austin is equally crucial. But the Rayz, 15-22-3 and 7 points behind the Bats, may need some time to learn to play as a team. Hired two weeks ago in Corpus, Coach Malcolm Cameron brought six new players with him from the Columbus Stars, the division-leading United League team he was coaching when it folded. The Rayz are 2-3 since then. They rank 16th in the league defensively (3.4 goals allowed per game) and 15th on the power play (13.4%) and penalty kill (80.3%). All-Star defenseman Mike Tilson leads the team with 10 goals and 21 assists, including 8 power play goals. Center Dan Shermerhorn has added 29 points and Jay Woodcroft 14 goals and 13 assists. Forward Brad Wingfield rates third in the league with 191 penalty minutes. After trading Brent Belecki to Fort Worth, Cameron has given goaltending chores to Greg Hewitt (2-3, 2.93 GAA). (Hewitt is one of the six new additions, also including goalie Craig Hillier, d-men Gary Zinck and Matt Medvecz and forwards Matt Noga and Gary Dunphy). The Rayz are 11-7-2 at home, just 4-15-1 on the road. They'll travel to Laredo before starting their series against Austin.

Indianapolis Coach Ken McRae made his reputation on defense as an Ice Bats assistant, but it's been offense that has carried his club this year. The Ice, 24-16-1, are 3rd in the Northeast Division, but have a two-point lead in the race for the final Northern Conference playoff spot. They've won seven of their last ten, thanks to an offense that ranks third in the league (3.32 goals per game) and their second-rated power play (20.5%). All-Star Game MVP Jason Baird is in the top ten in league scoring, with 18 goals and 33 assists. Bernie John leads all defensemen with 50 points. Forward Jared Dumba has 18 goals and 31 assists, Dave Gilmore 22 goals and 20 helpers, and d-man Mario Doyon 14 goals and 23 assists, including 9 power play goals. With all that scoring, there's less pressure on Indy's goaltending than last season, and Jeff Sanger (14-10, 2.77 GAA) and Brent Zelenewich (10-6-1, 2.68 GAA) have performed. Together, they have five shutouts on the season. 9-8 as a road team, Indianapolis hosts Bossier-Shreveport Wednesday, then makes a weekend swing to Bossier and Austin.

The Series: The Ice Bats are 42-18-4 lifetime against Corpus Christi, 2-2-2 this year. The teams have split their two games in Austin, leaving the Bats with a 1-1-2 record this year in Corpus. The teams last met January 8th and 9th, splitting games of a home and home series-- the Ice Bats won 3-1 in Corpus, and lost 5-3 the next night in Austin.

The Bats are 4-2 lifetime against Indianapolis, heading into the only meeting of the season. Last year, the Ice Bats won two of the three meetings for the second straight year.

Comments from the Coach:

On this week: "We acquired one of the league's top scorers and a very active defenseman this week. We addressed some areas of our game in which we were lacking, namely the offense and our power play. And hopefully, we reinvigorated our lineup. But while great players, these two new players can't win hockey games by themselves. It takes 18 men to win. Everyone on our roster has to step up and be accountable, and I have to believe that our team will do that."

Cave, Sweet Cave: Friday night is Trading Card Night, as the first half-set of Ice Bats trading cards goes to 3,000 fans. Between periods, the "Biggest Gut" competition may alternately provide groans and belly laughs. The Hyde Park High School Choir will perform the National Anthem, and the Crockett High School Band will perform, as part of Austin Community College's "Marching Band Series."

Saturday night, one lucky fan has a chance to shoot for a new Ram pickup, in the Dodge "Score-O" contest.

Tickets to all Ice Bats home games are now available at all Texas Box Office locations, including the Ice Bats ticket office and all Austin-area HEB stores. On-line ordering is available through www.TexasBoxOffice.com. To charge by phone, fans may call Texas Box Office at (512) 477-6060, or the Ice Bats ticket office at (512) 927-PUCK.

Individual game tickets range in price from $10 to $30, depending on section, with discounted rates for groups of 15 or more. For more information, fans may call the Ice Bats ticket office at (512) 927-PUCK, or log onto the team's website at www.icebats.com.

Hit the Road, Jack: Fans may stop in at Henna Chevrolet to register to win a trip for two on the bus with the Ice Bats as they go to Fort Worth Sunday, February 29th. The top prize also includes premium seats to the game in Fort Worth, a team-autographed jersey and hockey stick, and an official Ice Bats game program. Contestants must be 21 to enter. Henna Chevrolet is located on I-35 North, just north of Highway 183.

In the Air: For the second straight season, all Ice Bats away games will be broadcast on 1260 ESPN Radio, KWNX-AM. The station will broadcast all road games during the 2003-04 regular season and CHL Playoffs. All road games will also be available live on-line, through www.SportsJuice.com. The Texas Dodge Dealers Warm-up Show begins 20 minutes prior to game time. Ice Bats Director of Broadcasting, Media/PR Glen Norman will handle play-by-play duties for a sixth straight season.

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 newly re-designed by BeyondBeyond Design and constructed by webmaster Nathan Jones.

Home or away, Bats fans can also 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 January 28, 2004


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