Bats Ready for 2nd Round

Published on April 3, 2003 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Austin Ice Bats News Release


Setting the Stage: The Austin Ice Bats of the Central Hockey League have moved into the Final Four of the league's 2003 President's Cup Playoffs, after a four-game first-round series victory over New Mexico. The Bats will now face Laredo in the best-of-seven Southern Conference Finals, starting Thursday at Chaparral Ice Center.

The Ice Bats finished the 2002-03 regular season with a franchise-best 46-14-4 record. The 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. In the final two weeks of the regular season, the Bats clinched a playoff berth, their second-straight Southeast Division title, the Governors' Cup for the league's top overall regular season record, and home ice advantage throughout the playoffs.

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: After dropping the first game of their best-of-five opening round series against New Mexico, the Bats won three straight to advance, including two overtime wins in Albuquerque.

Game 1: New Mexico took advantage of ample power play opportunities to post a 4-3 win in the series opener March 21st at Chaparral Ice Center.

The Scorpions took a 3-0 lead, then held off the Bats at the end. After a scoreless first period, New Mexico connected on three of five power play chances in the second. With the Bats defense failing to clear the slot, Ben Gorewich scored first, 1:48 into the second period. Arturs Kupaks followed with a man-advantage score at the five-minute mark, and Peter Ambroziak made it 3-0 at 16:51.

The Bats got on the board 32 seconds after the Ambroziak goal, when Dan Price strapped a defender on his back, swooped below the right circle and backhanded the puck at a sick angle under the crossbar. And they almost made it a one-goal game, on a Brett Seguin shot that hit the crossbar in the final seconds.

The Bats did get back within one on a Gerald Tallaire goal 43 seconds into the final period. But a mere 1:26 later, the Scorps got a big goal from Tyler Baines, who pulled up in the slot and shot through traffic for the game-winner. On the power play in the final minute, the Bats pulled goalie Matt Barnes for a two-skater advantage. And Tallaire cut the deficit to one with 18 seconds left, deflecting home a Mike Gaffney pass. But the Scorpions held on for the win.

Despite ten New Mexico power play chances, the Bats outshot the Scorpions, 29-27 for the game. Tallaire had two goals and Gaffney three assists in a losing cause.

Game 2: The Bats came back with a dominant effort in Game Two, posting a 2-0 shutout win on March 22nd. The Bats never gave the Scorpions room to breathe in squaring the series.

The Bats scored the first goal 5 ½ minutes into the opening period. His shot blocked, defenseman Pat Brownlee got the puck back, and swung it to the right wing for a Brett Seguin goal. The Bats outshot the Scorps 12-4 in the first. Enjoying an even larger 18-7 shot advantage in the second, the Bats had chances to blow the game open. But Scorpions goalie Luciano Caravaggio made terrific saves, including a stop on Gerald Tallaire's odd-man rush try with three minutes left.

Seguin's goal was the only score until Tab Lardner redirected in a power play goal with 5 ½ minutes remaining. Bats goalie Matt Barnes did the rest, stopping all 16 shots faced. Caravaggio stopped 35 of 37 shots in a heroic losing effort.

Game 3: Fortune smiled on the Bats in Game Three, as they took their first series lead with a 2-1 overtime win last Friday in Albuquerque. Austin got off to a sluggish start, and had to kill three Scorpion power plays in the first ten minutes. The Scorpions hit a post and a crossbar in the first five minutes, and then were awarded a penalty shot when it was ruled Bats defenseman Darryl McArthur closed his hand on a puck in the crease. Bats goalie Matt Barnes stopped Tyler Baines' penalty shot, and the first period ended scoreless.

New Mexico finally got one in with 26 seconds left in the second period, as Peter Ambroziak slammed in a puck that bounced into the low slot. It looked like the single goal would hold up, until the Bats got a huge break. With 6 ½ minutes remaining, defenseman Mike Rees dumped the puck on net from the blue line, and it hopped over the right pad of Scorps goalie Luciano Caravaggio into the net.

The lucky bounce inspired the Bats, and they poured it on for a 13-3 shot advantage in the third. But Caravaggio responded, and the game went to overtime. At 7:39 of OT, a centering pass glanced through the crease and low into the left circle. Brett Seguin jumped on the loose puck, and shot it into an open net for the game-winning goal.

Barnes stopped 26 of 27 shots to again outduel Caravaggio, who stopped 32 of 34.

Game 4: The Bats closed out the series Saturday night, again tying the game late, and winning in overtime, 3-2. Darryl McArthur put the Bats on the board 11 minutes in, threading a shot from high in the left circle through traffic into the upper left corner. Just after that, New Mexico's Arturs Kupaks hit the crossbar on a tying attempt, and the Bats led 1-0 after one.

The Scorps tied the game seven minutes into the second, on Jasmin Roy's power play tip-in. The teams were stagnant over the first ten minutes of the third, combining for just four shots. But at 11:07, the Bats turned the puck over deep in their zone, and New Mexico's Andrew McPherson centered to a wide-open Adam Robbins.

Exactly four minutes after Robbin's goal, the Bats won a face-off at center, and scored on tic-tac-toe passing from Gerald Tallaire to Mike Gaffney to Brett Seguin on the wing. Again, the tying goal ignited the Bats and they nearly won the game with 19.5 seconds left in regulation, but Scorps goalie Luciano Caravaggio snuffed Tallaire's point-blank shot.

The Bats ended the series 1:52 into overtime. Off another face-off win by Seguin, Tallaire doubled back against the right wall, and fired home the game-winner from close to the boards. Tallaire also had two assists to lead scoring, while Seguin and Gaffney had two points each.

Bonus Hockey: The Bats are now 5-7 in playoff overtime games over the course of franchise history. Prior to their two opening round wins, the Bats were 0-6 in playoff OT under Coach Brent Hughes. The Bats also won two overtime games in the first round of the 1998 WPHL playoffs, but ironically, lost that series to Fort Worth.

For the Record: The Bats set or tied a couple of league records during the regular season. The Bats are the league's all-time best defensive team, their team goals-against average of 2.17 setting a new CHL mark, surpassing Odessa's 2.29 mark from last year. Also, Bats goalie Matt Barnes tied the league record with eight shutouts. His save percentage of .934 was just 1/10th of a percentage point off the league mark.

As for franchise records, this year's team rewrote the book. The Bats set franchise marks for most wins and total points, fewest losses and overtime/shootout losses, fewest goals allowed and top penalty-killing percentage. The Bats also set team records for longest overall and home winning streaks, and tied the team record for consecutive road wins. Individually, Barnes set team records for victories, goals-against average, save percentage and shutouts.

Player Plaudits: The Ice Bats finished the regular season with the CHL's top goalie tandem. The CHL's Most Outstanding Goalie for the season, and a four-time Goalie of the Week, Matt Barnes led all league goalies with a sparkling 1.96 goals-against average, and .934 save percentage. At 33-10-4, he also led the league in wins and with a league record-tying eight shutouts. Meanwhile, counterpart Peter Brady finished 4th among league goalies, at 13-4, with a 2.29 GAA and .926 save percentage.

Center Kelly Smart finished among the top dozen league scorers, with 29 goals and 42 assists. And he led the team with 7 game-winning goals, 9 power play goals and 4 shorthanded goals. Dan Price (27 goals, 37 assists) was second in team scoring, and led the league at +35. Defenseman Darryl McArthur and forward Gerald Tallaire tied for second at +32. And forward Shawn Legault led the team with 251 minutes in penalties, but also had 27 points in 40 games.

Playoff Plaudits: In the post-season, the S-T-P Line has led the way for the Bats. Brett Seguin ranks 7th in the league in playoff scoring, with three goals and three assists. Gerald Tallaire and Dan Price are both in the top 15 with five points each. Mike Gaffney ranks 4th among d-men in scoring, with five assists. And as he was during the regular season, Matt Barnes is the league's top playoff goalie, at 3-1, with a 1.69 goals-against average and .929 save percentage.

The Envelope, Please: In addition to winning CHL Most Outstanding Goalie honors, Matt Barnes was also a finalist for the league's Most Valuable Player award. Darryl McArthur was a finalist for Most Outstanding Defenseman, while Brent Hughes finished second in CHL Coach of the Year voting.

Roster Flights:

Arrivals: As allowed by CHL rules, the Bats have added two amateur players to their playoff roster. Brent Hughes (no relation to the coach) is finishing up play in the Tier II playoffs in Canada. The 5-7, 170-pound forward played major junior last year in the Ontario Hockey League. This season, he is playing with Georgetown of the Ontario Provincial Junior A League. Sal Lettieri, a 6-1, 200-pound defenseman, just finished his third year at York University in Canada. His team was eliminated from the playoffs on March 22nd.

Potential Bite Victims: A Finals-worthy opponent, Laredo finished with the second-best record in the league, and second to the Bats in the Southeast Division. The expansion Bucks were 41-17-6 during the regular season, and moved into the second round by outlasting Southwest champion Odessa in five games.

The CHL's most prolific offense, Laredo averaged over four goals per game for most of the season, before settling for a 3.95 average at the end. But the Bucks are also underrated as a defensive team, allowing opponents just 2.88 goals per outing, the league's fifth-best mark. Laredo finished in the middle of the pack on specialty teams—17.2% on the power play, and 84.2% on the penalty kill.

Laredo winger Chris Grenville finished 4th in league scoring with 40 goals, 50 assists, and a league-most 16 power play goals. Explosive winger Eric Schneider spent a lot of time on South Texas highways, back and forth between Laredo and its AHL affiliate in San Antonio.

Ultimately, that might have cost Schneider the scoring title and even MVP honors, as he finished with 38 goals and 43 assists in 44 games. Schneider also scored six shorthanded goals, and was 2nd in the league at +32.

Center Dave Gilmore got hot at the end, finishing in the league's top dozen scorers, with 27 goals and 44 assists. Gilmore finished the season with an 11-game point streak, although that paled in comparison with the remarkable 26-game scoring streak Schneider put together earlier in the season.

Also the beneficiary of some time at the AHL level, skilled defenseman Michel Periard had 53 points, including 18 goals, the latter tops among d-men. Defenseman Serge Dube also added 46 points. And when the Bucks needed toughness, they turned to David Myson, who collected 32 major penalties.

Both goalies were solid, with veteran Lance Leslie seeing the bulk of the time over the second half, but newcomer Marc-Andre Leclerc working in steadily down the stretch. Leclerc actually finished with the better numbers, 6th in the league at 13-4-3, with a 2.46 GAA. But Leslie has won championships before, and will be battle-ready after finishing the regular season at 28-13-3, with a 2.81 GAA.

Averaging almost 6,700 fans in their new arena, the Bucks enjoyed the CHL's top home ice advantage, with a 26-4-2 record at the Laredo Entertainment Center. They were 15-13-4 on the road.

In the post-season, Periard leads the Bucks with 3 goals and 2 assists. Grenville and Gilmore have four points each. Leclerc is 2-0, with just four total goals allowed. Despite a 1-2 mark, Leslie has a 2.11 GAA.

The Series: The Bats won seven of ten games in their first season of play against Laredo, winning all four games played in Austin. 3-3 in Laredo, the Bats handed the Bucks three of their four regulation home losses. Here are highlights of the season series:

Oct. 19 @ Austin: Bats 3, Laredo 1

Bats raise championship banners, then win home opener... Price scores 2 goals, Barnes stops 19 of 20 shots... Bats outshoot Bucks 44-20.

Nov. 29 @ Laredo: Bats 3, Laredo 2

Bats win first of back-to-back games after Thanksgiving... Bats quickly retaliate after first two Laredo scores, and McArthur scores game-winner early in third. Bats kill 6 of 7 Bucks power plays.

Nov. 30 @ Laredo: Laredo 2, Bats 1

Bucks claim second game, hanging on after leading 2-0 on Kotsopoulos and Periard goals... Bats nearly tie in final minute on power play... Barnes 38 saves in loss.

Dec. 31 @ Laredo: Bats 4, Laredo 3

Bats outshot 57-17, but Barnes' 54 saves steal New Year's Eve win... Smart hat trick paces Bats to 4th straight post-Christmas win.

Jan. 10 @ Austin: Bats 4, Laredo 3 Tight-checking game opens up in third period... Smart scores twice as Bats win 8th straight.

Jan. 14 @ Laredo: Laredo 5, Bats 3

Bats' 10-game win streak snapped in front of 8,000 at Kids Day matinee... Laredo leads 3-0, but Bats score two second period power play goals, setting up chippy finish... Schneider leads with 1 goal, 2 assists.

Jan. 18 @ Austin: Bats 5, Laredo 2

Bats get revenge, as Tallaire collects hat trick, Smart 2 goals... Bats 3 for 6 on power play.

Feb. 11 @ Laredo: Bats 3, Laredo 2

Bats lead 3-0, but Laredo scores goals 24 seconds apart in third, and teams battle it out over final 7 ½ minutes... Gaffney leads with 2 goals, 1 assist... Barnes stops 32 of 34 shots.

Feb. 21 @ Austin: Bats 2, Laredo 0

Bucks suffer first shutout loss ever, and serious dent to Division title hopes... With 23 saves, Barnes ties league record with 8th shutout.

Mar. 4 @ Laredo: Laredo 2, Bats 0

Bucks outshoot listless Bats 14-2 in first, en route to victory... Leclerc earns shutout with 17 saves... Brady stops 33 of 35 shots in loss.

Comments from the Coach:

On the first round: "I think the outcome was what we expected. We knew it would be a tough series going in. We didn't get nearly the offensive chances I thought we'd get, and I don't think we played as well as we could have in Albuquerque. I'm not sure if it was the altitude, or a good effort on New Mexico's part. But we found ways to win, as good teams do, and we found a way to score timely goals. The S-T-P line has really stepped up for us, even though they know teams will come at them checking hard. And our penalty kill got better after we allowed the three power play goals in Game One. A little bit of that was having to kill ten power plays in that first game. We know we're not going to kill them all, but we did a good job of staying out of the box over the last three games.

On the Laredo series: "They're a high-powered offensive team that we did a pretty good job shutting down this year. I'd hesitate to say we owned them, even though we did win seven of the ten games against them. All the games were close, and it took some great goaltending on our part to win some of those games. But we did give them three of their four losses at home, so we should have confidence in our ability to play there. We just have to continue to play our game, and shut down their high-scoring offensive attack.

Cave, Sweet Cave: Because of the unavailability of the Travis County Expo Center, the Ice Bats will play the first two games of the Conference Finals at Chaparral Ice Center, I-35 just south of Wells Branch. With the installation of temporary seating, Chaparral Ice is able to accommodate just over 1,000 fans. Tickets for the first two games of the series are on sale now by calling (512) 927-PUCK, with limited general admission seating available.

Assuming neither team sweeps the series, the Bats' playoff run will return to their normal home, the Expo Center, beginning April 11th. The Bats posted a 24-7-1 record at home this season, among the best in the CHL. For this season, improvements at the Travis County Expo Center included all-new glass surrounding the rink, and climate control for the first time ever. In addition, the team unveiled its "Kids Zone," an all-new interactive fun center for kids.

In the Air: The Ice Bats have reached agreement for all playoff games, home and away, to 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. Currently on the site, fans may vote for their favorites in the Texas Dodge Dealers Post-Season Player Awards, which will be handed out at a post-season event at Dave & Busters.

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 April 3, 2003


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