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Bats on Road for Thanksgiving

November 26, 2002 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Austin Ice Bats News Release


THIS WEEK:

Wed., Nov. 27th, 7:05pm, vs. San Angelo Saints, at San Angelo Coliseum, San Angelo, Texas
Fri., Nov. 29th, 7:30pm, vs. Laredo Bucks, at Laredo Entertainment Center, Laredo, Texas
Sat., Nov. 30th, 7:30pm, vs. Laredo Bucks, at Laredo Entertainment Center, Laredo, Texas

Setting the Stage: The Austin Ice Bats of the Central Hockey League have started the 2002-03 CHL regular season at 13-1-1 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, before suffering their first loss in overtime.

The Bats enter play this week with a seven-point lead over Laredo in the Division race. The Bats end the calendar year with 11 of their remaining 14 games on the road. That includes three Thanksgiving Week road tests, at San Angelo 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 only two blemishes on the Ice Bats' record have come at the hands of Corpus Christi—a wild 6-5 overtime loss November 16th, and a 2-1 home loss last Saturday. Last week, the Bats and IceRays actually traded 2-1 games, with the Bats winning the first of a home-and-home series last Friday at Corpus Christi.

The Bats jumped into early penalty trouble against the league's top power play team, the same Corpus team that scored four power play goals against the Bats the prior week. But Austin killed a 5-on-3 Corpus power play in the first five minutes, and outshot the ‘Rays 12-2 over the remainder of the period. The Bats took the lead on Tab Lardner's goal at 13:11 of the first.

The IceRays' Rob Giffin tied the game on a tip-in at 14:44 of the second, but the Bats responded just over two minutes later. Austin defenseman Mike Rees shot the puck wide from the point, but Brett Seguin rebounded it off the end boards and threw it into an open net for a power play goal, his second straight game-winner.

Bats goalie Matt Barnes turned away all 13 shots faced in the third, including several with an extra attacker on late in the period. Barnes stopped 30 of 31 shots for the game.

A look back, continued: In Saturday's rematch at the Cave, it was Corpus goalie Brent Belecki's turn to shine, as he stopped 42 of 43 shots faced for the 2-1 win. It was also one of those games where the Bats just didn't "have it," with sluggish passing and less-than-physical defensive play by Austin helping the IceRays to build a 2-0 lead.

Corpus Christi's Layne Roland opened scoring, blowing around the Bats defense for a breakaway goal with 49 seconds left in the first period. Cosmo Dupaul added a shorthanded breakaway score midway through the second. The Bats could have been in a deeper hole, if not for goaltender Matt Barnes' spectacular saves early in the third. With Gerald Tallaire burying a Brett Seguin pass from the right circle 4 ½ minutes into the third, the Bats had a chance. But they failed to get over the hump against Belecki, and suffered their first home loss in front of nearly 5,900 fans.

Wounded Wings: Bats winger Shawn Legault has missed the last four games to injury, and will not play this week. Legault's long-term return is uncertain.

Player Plaudits: Twice honored as CHL Goalie of the Week, Bats goalie Matt Barnes continues to lead the league with a sparkling 1.36 goals-against average. At 12-1-1, Barnes ranks second in wins, shutouts, minutes and save percentage.

Center Kelly Smart is 3rd in the league in goals, 12th in overall scoring, with 12 goals and 9 assists. He also leads the league with 4 game-winning goals. Winger Dan Price is second in team scoring with eight goals and eight assists. Forward Tab Lardner is 4th in the league at +17, while Darryl McArthur and Pat Brownlee rank 2nd among d-men at +11. And forward Shawn Legault leads the team with 57 penalty minutes, but is also +10 with eight points.

Potential Bite Victims: The Ice Bats' penalty kill will get a workout against two potent power play teams this week. At 8-11, San Angelo had lost eight straight before righting the ship with a 3-2 win over Laredo last Saturday. The Saints' main vice appears to be gambling—with a run-and-gun offense, the Saints have allowed 3.84 goals per game, 15th in the league defensively. And their high risk, high reward power play (4th at 19%) has also given up a league-most 10 shorthanded goals.

Forward Chris Peach ranks 4th in CHL scoring with 25 points, while Troy Mann has 24, including a league-most 9 power play goals. Vet Corri Moffat ranks 3rd among defensemen with 17 points. Ironically, the Saints have also been penalized more than any other team, led by Kori Davison, with a league-high 139 minutes. Scott Reid seems to be settling in as the top goalie, at 4-5, with a 3.65 GAA. San Angelo is a respectable 7-6 in the building now dubbed the "Purgatory Palace.

After losing five of their first six games, all on the road, Laredo has used home ice advantage to build a 9-5-2 mark, seven points behind the Bats. The Bucks are 5-0 at home, and had won six straight overall, before last Saturday's loss to San Angelo. Laredo leads the lead on offense (4.06 goals per game) and ranks 3rd on the power play (19.4%).

That's where the Bucks' number-one line does a lot of damage, led by the league's top scorer in Eric Schneider (14 goals, 15 assists). Chris Grenville has added 22 points, including seven power play goals. Michel Periard is 2nd among defensemen, with 18 points, and center Dave Gove was averaging two points per game prior to sitting out on league suspension. Goalie Lance Leslie is off to a good, if not spectacular start, at 6-3-2, with a 3.13 GAA. Laredo tries to get back on the winning track at New Mexico on Tuesday.

The Series: The Bats are 14-8-2 lifetime against San Angelo, winning both prior meetings this year. The Bats shut out the Saints 4-0 at the Cave November 15th, then picked up a 3-2 win at San Angelo last Tuesday.

Laredo has gained a lot of confidence since the only prior meeting, which produced a 3-1 win for the Ice Bats in their home opener October 19th.

Comments From The Coach:

On last week: "The loss definitely puts things into perspective for our guys. Up to this point, although we'd earned our wins, the game started to seem easy. I thought we hadn't played that well our previous two games either, starting in San Angelo. Especially when you compare it to earlier. This week, we have higher expectations for our hockey club. As a group, hopefully we've been reminded that we can lose if we don't bring our best game.

On this week: "We've got a lot of divisional games coming up, but also six of our next seven on the road. San Angelo is a tough place to play. On weekdays, it's even harder, with not a lot of fans in the building. I thought we came out ready to go last time there, but we tapered off.

"Laredo will be an eye opener for our guys—a brand new rink and a pretty good team. They've improved dramatically since we saw them, so it'll be a good measuring stick. They're probably one of the hottest teams in the league.

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.

The team's next home game will be Friday, December 6th, one of only three home games in December.

For the first time in franchise history, the Ice Bats will 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, safety netting in end zones and corners, 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. 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.

Cool Cash: Ice Bats fans can get their hands on a grand, with State Farm Bank's "Shot of a Lifetime" promotion. Fans who stop by their participating Austin-area State Farm agent can register to be on the ice at an Ice Bats game, with a chance to skate away with $1000 or other Ice Bats prizes. The contest takes place once a month, with the next on December 6th at the Expo Center. And by the way, the Ice Bats congratulate Julie Myers of Austin, who won $1000 in the first running of the contest on November 15th.

Taco Bell Sidekick: Youngsters are invited to stop in at their nearest Austin-area Taco Bell location and register to be the "Taco Bell Sidekick" at the next home game. Winners will have access to the ice to help the Bats set up for the game, and will receive PA name recognition, four reserved tickets, an official T-shirt, and a team autographed hockey stick. The contest is open to all kids ages 7-15.

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.



Central Hockey League Stories from November 26, 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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