Bats 'Guaranteed' to Rebound Friday

Published on January 15, 2003 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Austin Ice Bats News Release


Setting the Stage: The Austin Ice Bats of the Central Hockey League are 29-6-1 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.

After a loss Tuesday at Laredo, the Bats lead the Bucks by 11 points in the Division race. The Bats will play their next five games, and nine of their next ten at home, beginning with games this weekend against Memphis and Laredo.

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: The Bats stretched their post-Christmas winning streak to ten straight games, tying the franchise record, before falling Tuesday at Laredo. The Bats began last weekend with a 4-3 win over the Bucks Friday, their eighth win in a row.

The Bats led first on Kelly Smart's 5-on-3 power play goal with three minutes left in the first period. Laredo tied the game on an Eric Schneider score late in the second period. In the third, a tight-checking defensive contest opened up for a flurry of goals.

The Bats retook the lead when Smart slammed in a Tab Lardner centering pass seven minutes into the final period. Just 1:20 later, the Bucks tied the score again on a Morten Ask goal from the slot. But midway through the period, the Bats finally gained a two-goal advantage on scores just 38 seconds apart. Defenseman Scott McCallum hit Dan Price at center, and Price went top shelf for a breakaway score at 11:15. Brett Seguin then jumped on a loose puck to build the lead to 4-2.

The Bucks got back within one on a Dion Hyman goal with 4 ½ minutes left, but couldn't get over the hump. In addition to Smart's two goals, Price and Gerald Tallaire had two points each. With the win, the Bats stretched their lead back to 11 points over the Bucks.

A look back, continued: With all eight wins after Christmas coming by one or two goals, the Bats were due for a laugher. And Saturday they got it, ripping listless El Paso, 5-0.

The Bats scored twice in the first period, on Ryan Rivard's first pro goal, and a Gerald Tallaire slapper from the high slot. After that, it turned into a nightmarish birthday for El Paso goalie Blaine Russell. One of 30 shots faced in the second period, a puck caught Russell underneath the mask, and sent him to the ice for several minutes. The Bats then scored twice more on him in the period, with Matt Sharuga ripping a shorthanded goal, and Dan Price centering across the crease to Brett Seguin for a flip to the shelf. Rivard capped scoring 55 seconds into the third with a rebound off the post. Six players had two points each for the Bats, who outshot the Buzzards 53-37. Bats goalie Matt Barnes quietly stopped all 37 shots faced for his seventh shutout. The less-than-motivated Buzzards didn't even commit a single penalty.

On Sunday, the Bats were back in another close game, eking out a 3-2 win in snowy Fort Worth. The Bats built a 2-0 lead in the first 6 ½ minutes, on Darryl McArthur's goal from the slot, and a Brett Seguin deflection. In the second, Fort Worth goalie Jason Fricker poke-checked McArthur on another open shot from the slot, and the Brahmas took it the other way for a Chad Woollard goal.

The Brahmas tied the game on a Joe Van Volsen goal 3:46 into the third, but just 29 seconds later, the Bats won the game. Dan Price's odd-man rush goal from the right circle was the game-winner. The Bats kept the lead when it was ruled Fort Worth's Sean Hughes kicked in a rebound with 2:11 to go, and the would-be goal was disallowed. The "S-T-P Line" of Seguin, Price and Gerald Tallaire recorded two points each.

This past Tuesday, the Bats' winning streak ended at ten straight games, with a 5-3 matinee loss at Laredo. An energetic sellout crowd of 8,000 included more than 5,000 schoolchildren bused in for the game.

The Bucks scored first amidst controversy. On a play Bats goaltender Matt Barnes appeared to have smothered, no whistle was blown, and Laredo's Chris Grenville poked the puck under Barnes for a shorthanded goal 5:45 into the first. The Bucks scored twice more in the period to open a 3-0 lead.

The Bats stormed back on consecutive power play goals in the second, a Mike Gaffney slapshot, and a Dan Price rebound. Laredo's Tom Kotsopoulos scored from the slot six minutes into the third period, but the Bats got back within one at the midway point—on Brett Seguin's backhander through a Price screen. The Bucks then put the game away on Eric Schneider's breakaway goal with 6 ½ minutes remaining.

After that, play got chippy, with the teams bringing the youngsters out of their seats on three separate fights down the stretch. Schneider led Laredo with a goal and two assists.

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 Bats regained the top spot in the poll released last Saturday, knocking the East Coast League's Toledo Storm out of the top spot. The poll rates all teams at the AA level.

All-Star State: Ice Bats Coach Brent Hughes will be on the bench for the All-Star Game for a third straight season. Hughes will guide the Southern Conference All-Stars January 23rd in Oklahoma City, thanks to the Bats' league-leading winning percentage as of Christmas. Hughes led the CHL Southern Conference Team last season, and was Eastern Division coach at the WPHL All-Star Game two seasons ago.

Bats goalie Matt Barnes will start in goal for the Southern Conference squad, as selected in voting among league coaches, public relations personnel and media members. It will be Barnes' second All-Star appearance. Last week, Coach Hughes named three more Ice Bats to the Southern Conference lineup. Center Kelly Smart will make his second All-Star appearance, while defensemen Mike Gaffney and Darryl McArthur were named to the team for the first time.

Roster Flights:

Arrivals: Bats defenseman Darryl McArthur was called up last Wednesday to the Houston Aeros of the American League, top affiliate of the NHL Minnesota Wild. After playing two games with the Aeros, McArthur returned to the Bats lineup Saturday. Also, winger Shawn Legault returns this Saturday, after serving a 10-game CHL suspension—the result of a match penalty called against Legault in a game December 27th against Corpus Christi.

Wounded Wings: Left winger Jeff Greenlaw has been out since New Year's Eve to injury, and is listed as questionable for this weekend.

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 1.64 goals-against average and .945 save percentage. At 22-5-1, he also leads the league in wins and with seven shutouts, and he ranks 5th in minutes played. Meanwhile, counterpart Peter Brady continues to climb the ladder, now 8th among league goalies, at 7-1, with a 2.60 GAA.

Center Kelly Smart rates among the top 20 CHL scorers, with 20 goals and 19 assists. He's also second in the league with 6 game-winning goals. Winger Dan Price has tied Smart for the lead in team scoring with 19 goals and 20 assists. Forward Tab Lardner is third in the league at +20, while Darryl McArthur ranks third among d-men at +17. Forward Shawn Legault leads the team with 104 minutes in penalties, but also has 14 points in 18 games.

Potential Bite Victims: The Bats face two of the CHL's top challengers this weekend, both with prolific offenses. With eight straight wins, Memphis has retaken the top spot in the Northeast at 25-12-2. Second only to Laredo on offense, the RiverKings average 3.77 goals per game. But they could be a more well rounded team, as they rate 4th in the league on defense (2.82 goals allowed), and 5th in both specialty teams categories. Last year's MVP, Don Parsons is at it again—leading the league in goals and scoring, with 32 goals and 32 assists. Center Kahlil Thomas has 42 points. All-Star Derek Landmesser ranks 2nd among d-men with 39 points, and leads all players at +25. Another great young goaltender out of the Toronto system, Jean-Francois Racine is 17-4-2, with a 2.56 GAA, 5th in the league. Should Racine get called up, battle-tested Mark Richards (8-8, 2.97 GAA) stands ready. The defending President's Cup champions are finding the Northern Conference more competitive this year, one reason for Memphis' 11-10-1 road record.

Back to 11 points behind the Bats, Laredo is 22-10-4, and has won eight of the last ten. Still the only league team to average more than four goals per game, the Bucks continue to pile up impressive offensive numbers. Winger Eric Schneider remains 2nd in the league with 27 goals and 30 assists. Linemate Chris Grenville ranks 6th with 25 goals and 26 assists, and is now tied for the league lead with 12 power play goals.

Suddenly hot Dave Gilmore has 42 points, and Michel Periard 35, 3rd among defensemen. Laredo features a solid goalie tandem in Lance Leslie (16-8-3, 2.84 GAA) and Marc-Andre Leclerc (6-2-1, 3.26 GAA). Just 7-7-3 as a road team, Laredo hosts Lubbock on Friday, before their rematch at Austin Saturday.

The Series: The Bats are 3-1 in regular season play against Memphis, winning this year's only meeting between the teams. Mike Gaffney's overtime goal pushed the Bats past the RiverKings, 4-3 on December 15th in Austin.

The Bats are now 4-2 in their first year of competition against Laredo. The Bats have won both games this season played in Austin.

Comments From The Coach:

On last week: "Winning the ten straight was a great achievement for our guys. There've probably been games we shouldn't necessarily have won, but we've worked hard enough in other games to get the bounces. Laredo's always a tough game, and we were able to beat them last weekend. Saturday wasn't much of a test against El Paso. They brought a skeleton crew, and didn't bring much to the table. But Fort Worth played with a full lineup for the first time, and I thought played pretty well against us. We had to earn that game.

On this week: "Laredo came out flying on Tuesday and put three quick goals on the board. I thought our team battled back strong, and I was pretty satisfied with the way we played down there. Now we have two more tough hockey games at home this weekend. Memphis is still the defending champs, and everybody wants to beat them. That may be why they don't have the record they did last year, but they're a good team—definitely one of the top five in the league. Laredo is a young team that gets better and better. Both games will be difficult to win, and we'll have to play at our absolute best.

Our Guarantee: This Friday's game against Memphis is "Guaranteed Win Night," presented by Taco Bell. Simply put, if the Bats fail to win Friday night, all fans in attendance receive a free ticket to a future home game. Even if the Bats do win, fans will receive food coupons from Taco Bell. Fans just can't lose!

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.

In addition to "Guaranteed Win Night," Friday's game will also give one lucky fan a chance to win $1000, in State Farm Bank's "Shot of a Lifetime. Then Saturday, Ice Bats deluxe key chains go to 3,000 fans, courtesy of Austin Regional Clinic.

For the first time in franchise history, the Ice Bats play all 32 home games on weekend dates—Friday 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.

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.

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Central Hockey League Stories from January 15, 2003


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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