ECHL Florida Everblades

Blades carry four-game win streak into five-game road trip

January 12, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release


ESTERO, FL - The Florida Everblades wrapped up their five-game home stand with a pair of wins over Mississippi this past weekend. The Everblades finished their most recent stint at home with a 4-1-0 mark. Overall the Everblades enter this week with a record of 23-8-2 (48 pts., 1st South Division).

THIS WEEK (All Times Eastern)

Tuesday, January 13 & Sunday, January 18 at Charlotte Checkers Game Times: Tues.: 7:05 p.m.; Sun.: 4:00 p.m.

GAME NOTES: The Everblades open and close a busy five-game road trip in Charlotte. The Everblades return to Charlotte for only the second and third times this season after suffering an 8-0 loss to the Checkers in Charlotte on December 28. The two games are the seventh and eighth of 19 games between the South Division rivals this season and are the second and third of nine at Time Warner Cable Arena. Head to head the next six games between the clubs will take place in the Queen City. This year the Everblades are 3-3-0 vs. Charlotte. The Checkers enter this week's action with a record of 18-15-2 (38pts., 3rd, South Division).

Wednesday, January 14 & Saturday, January 17 at Gwinnett Gladiators Game Times: Both games 7:05 p.m.

The Everblades make another visit to the Arena at Gwinnett Center on Wednesday and Saturday of this week. The games are the sixth and seventh of 13 between the clubs this year and the fourth and fifth at Gwinnett. The last time the teams met on December 27 the Gladiators collected a 3-2 come-from-behind win. Prior to that, the Everblades had won the first four meetings between the South Division rivals. The Gladiators enter this week's action on a hot streak having won four straight games and an overall record of 15-15-4 (34 pts., 4th, South Division). The Everblades hold an all-time record of 18-20-8 vs. Gwinnett and are 8-13-1 all-time at Gwinnett.

Thursday, January 15 at South Carolina Stingrays Game Time: 7:05 p.m.

The Everblades play their third and fourth games at the North Charleston Coliseum this year when they finish off a three-games-in-three-night's set against the Stingrays. Earlier this season the Everblades lost in overtime to South Carolina and defeated the Stingrays in a pair of games in Charleston. Overall the Everblades hold a 2-3-1 record vs. South Carolina. The last time the teams met South Carolina handed the 'Blades a 7-3 loss at Germain Arena on December 13. The pair of games are the seventh and eighth of 12 between the South Division rivals. South Carolina enters this week's action winless in their last three games but still in second place in the South Division with a record of 20-11-4 (44 pts.).

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Friday, January 9 vs. Mississippi Sea Wolves 3-0 Win

The Everblades recorded their third straight win and the team's sixth shutout of the year with a 3-0 win on Friday night at Germain Arena over Mississippi. Goaltender David Leggio picked up his third straight win and his third shutout of the year by stopping all 20 shots he faced. Offensively Colin Nicholson, Kevin Baker and Mark Lee scored the goals. The win improved Florida's record to 5-0-0 vs. the Sea Wolves this year. Florida's Special Teams: PP: 1-of-5; PK: 4-of-4

Saturday, January 10 vs. Mississippi Sea Wolves 2-1 Win

The Everblades made it four straight thanks to a late third period goal by Mark Lee that snapped a 1-1 tie. Lee's goal with 2:53 remaining in regulation completed a come-from-behind effort by the Everblades. Lee also notched Florida's first goal with a 5-on-3 power play marker early in the second period. Mississippi's lone goal against Anton Khudobin came late in the first period. Khudobin shut the door the rest of the way and finished with 33 saves to collect his first win since December 20. Florida's Special Teams: PP: 1-of-8; PK: 5-of-5.

EVERBLADES ITINERARY: (all times eastern)

Monday, Jan. 12: Travel Day to Charlotte

Tuesday, Jan. 13: GAME vs. Charlotte Checkers, 7:05 p.m. @ Time Warner Cable Arena

Wednesday, Jan. 14: GAME vs. Gwinnett Gladiators, 7:05 p.m. @ The Arena at Gwinnett Center

Thursday, Jan. 15: GAME vs. South Carolina Stingrays, 7:05 p.m. @ The North Charleston Coliseum

Friday, Jan. 16: OFF DAY

Saturday, Jan. 17: GAME vs. Gwinnett Gladiators, 7:05 p.m. @ The Arena at Gwinnett Center

Sunday, Jan. 18: GAME vs. Charlotte Checkers, 4:00 p.m. @ Time Warner Cable Arena

2008-09 EVERBLADES REGULAR SEASON NUMBERS

Quick Stats

Overall Record 23-8-2

Home Record 12-5-0

Road Record 11-3-1

Overtime Record 2-1

Shootout Record 1-1

Power Play 52-222 (1st)

Penalty Kill 198-226 (3rd)

Leading Scorers

Kevin Baker 27-20-47

Ryan Lang 10-18-28

Yannick Tifu 6-22-28

Ernie Hartlieb 11-16-27

Peter Metcalf 3-23-26

Danick Bouchard 13-9-22

Leading Goaltenders

David Leggio 2.32 GAA, 11-3-1

Anton Khudobin 2.64 GAA, 12-5-1

Plus/Minus Leaders

Ernie Hartlieb +10

Colin Nicholson +10

Ross Carlson +9

Doug O'Brien +8

Player & Goaltender of the Week Nominees: This week's Player of the Week nominee is Mark Lee who registered three goals in two games including the game-winner on Saturday night. This week's Goaltender of the Week nominee is David Leggio who won his only start with a 3-0 shutout over Mississippi on Friday night.

Special Teams Breakdown: Here's a look at the special teams of the Everblades and how it breaks down overall, home and away: Power play: 52-of-222 (23.4%) which ranks the Everblades 1st in the ECHL. At home the Everblades are 17-of-104 (16.3%) which ranks 10th. On the road the Everblades are 35-of-118 (29.7%) which ranks 1st in the league. Penalty Kill: 198-of-226 (87.6%) which ranks the Everblades 3rd in the ECHL. At home the 'Blades are 100-of-117 (85.5%) which is 6th. On the road the Everblades have killed off 98-of-109 (89.9%) which ranks 2nd in the league.

Another All-Star!: This past week another member of the Everblades was named to the American Conference All-Star squad. Everblades equipment manager Jason MacDonald was honored with his first All-Star selection to serve as the American Conference's equipment manager. MacDonald is in his third season with the Everblades. The Michigan native will join Everblades players Kevin Baker, Aaron Brocklehurst and David Leggio as representatives from Florida. The 2009 ECHL All-Star Game will be played on January 21 at the Sovereign Center in Reading, PA.

Roster Moves: The Everblades saw another call-up take place on Monday. Forward Colin Nicholson was recalled to the Albany River Rats of the American Hockey League. Nicholson, one of Florida's top penalty killers, heads to Albany with 13 points (6g, 7a) and a team-leading plus-10 rating in 33 games.

Carolina Hurricanes Jerseys: The white Carolina Hurricanes jersey the Everblades wore on January 3 in Florida's "NHL Game" with Charlotte, who wore N.Y. Rangers jerseys, are being auctioned off on-line. Fans interested in bidding can visit www.floridaeverblades.com and click on the home page story about the auction. The jerseys featured a patch for Autism Speaks and part of the proceeds will benefit Autism research in SW Florida.

Team Record Tied: With David Leggio's 20 save shutout over the Mississippi Sea Wolves on January 9 it put the Everblades overall shutout total for 2008-09 at six, which is tied for the most in one season by an Everblades team. The six shutouts in one season by an Everblades club has been done twice before, coming in the team's first two seasons. In 1998-99 Marc Magliarditi turned in five shutouts and Randy Petruk chipped in one. In the 1999-00 season Magliarditi and Jeff Maund each had three shutouts while helping lead the Everblades to the Brabham Cup that year.

Who's Hot: Here's a look at who's been playing well for the Everblades of late: F Kevin Baker has points in four straight games and 10 of the last 12 games (11g, 7a)...F Ryan Lang has points in three of the last four games...D Peter Metcalf has notched a point in seven of his last nine games (2g, 10a)...goaltender David Leggio has won his last three starts posting a 1.67 goals against average and has picked up the win in six of his last seven appearances.

Upcoming Milestones: Here are some milestones that Everblades players could reach this upcoming season: With three more goals defenseman Peter Metcalf will reach 50 for his career...forward Ernie Hartlieb is seven games shy of his 500th career game, and finds himself eight points away from reaching 200 as an Everblade...forward Ryan Lang finds himself six points away from the 200 point mark in his career...forward Mark Lee is 25 games away from the 300...defenseman A.J. Thelen will reach the 100 games played milestone by playing in 16 more games...defenseman Michael Grenzy is 17 games shy of his 100th career game... defenseman Doug O'Brien finds himself four points away from reaching the century mark.

Individual League Leaders: Nearly half way through the season, the Everblades' players and team find themselves at or near the top of the ECHL in several statistical categories. Kevin Baker is second in the league lead in scoring with his 47 points, and is second in the league in goals scored with 27. He currently is first in the league in power play goals scored with 14 and is tied for the league lead in power play points with 21...Danick Bouchard is tied for second in the league in game-winning goals with five, which leads all rookies...defensively Peter Metcalf is second in scoring among all blue liners with 26 points and is second among all d-men with 23 assists. He is also fourth in power play assists with 12... goaltending wise, both Anton Khudobin and David Leggio are currently tied for the league lead with three shutouts each...Leggio also ranks 8th best among all goaltenders with his 2.32 goals against average.

Ticket Information: Everblades 2008-09 group tickets and individual game tickets are on sale now! Fans can purchase tickets at the Germain Arena box office, which is open from 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets can also be purchased over the phone by calling TicketMaster at (239) 334-3309, or online at www.ticketmaster.com. For additional information, contact the Everblades office at (239) 948-7825.

On the Air: Everblades games, home and away, can be heard on 770 ESPN Radio and via the internet courtesy of Waterman Broadcasting by logging on to www.floridaeverblades.com or www.abc-7.com/sports. In addition, Everblades games can be viewed via the internet thanks to B2 Networks by logging on to www.b2live.com. Join the voice of the Everblades Kevin Reiter as he calls all the action! The Everblades pre-game show begins 20 minutes prior to game time.

Check out the Florida Everblades Statistics



ECHL Stories from January 12, 2009


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