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Bombers Weekly

February 11, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Dayton Bombers News Release


SWEET REVENGE: The Bombers welcomed the Mississippi Sea Wolves back to the Nutter Center on Sunday looking to avenge their loss from Friday night. Dayton came out firing, scoring two first period goals from Brad Bonello and Matt Beaudoin. Although the Sea Wolves cut the Bombers lead in half in the second period, Beaudoin netted his league-leading 29th goal of the season in the third to regain a two-goal advantage. Chris Eade added an insurance empty-netter in the closing minutes of the game. Netminder Jeremy Duchesne earned his 10th professional win after stopping 24 of 25 shots that he faced.

SHUTOUT, TAKE 2: Rejean Beauchemin earned his second shutout of the season when the Bombers took down the Trenton Devils 1-0 on Saturday in front of the Bombers' second largest crowd of the season. The Bombers out shot the Devils 10-4 in the first period but could not get the puck past Devils goalie Jason Smith. It was rookie Ryan Smyth who broke the stalemate in the second period with helpers from fellow rookies Grant Goeckner-Zoeller and Gary Klapkowski, who earned his first point in a Bombers uniform. Beauchemin would continue his stellar performance throughout the remaining period, stopping a total of 19 Trenton shots.

THEN THERE WAS FRIDAY: The Bombers entered Friday night's game against Mississippi 4-0-0 all-time against the Sea Wolves. However, the Bombers fell to the South Division foe 3-1. The Sea Wolves scored the lone goal of the second period then netted two more in the third to take a 3-0 lead into the closing minutes of the game. Matt Beaudoin saved the shutout when he scored his team-leading 27th goal of the season, recording his 51st point, from Mike Walsh and Alex Greig. The Bombers finished 5/6 on the penalty kill and Rejean Beauchemin had 28 saves on the night.

WHAT A BUZZ KILL: Dayton's penalty killing units were in full effect last week as they went 10/11 (90.9%) to shut down any scoring opportunities for Mississippi and Trenton. Previously ranking in the bottom three of the league the Bombers have drastically improved this facet of their game to jump to 17th in the league with an overall penalty killing percentage of 80.5.

MAJOR PLAYER: Bombers enforcer Britt Dougherty received his 15th major penalty of the season this weekend, ranking third in the ECHL, after getting into it with Trenton's Thomas Harrison and Mississippi's Chris Cava. Dougherty currently leads the team in penalty minutes with 109, 21 more minutes than the next Bomber player, Greg Labenski.

LET'S DO SHOTS: While the Bombers mustered 26 shots on Saturday against Trenton, the Devils managed just 19 shots on Bombers netminder Rejean Beauchemin. This was the fewest number of shots the Bombers have faced since December 7 when Wheeling was in town. The Nailers fired a mere 15 shots on goal and ironically were shutout 2-0 behind none other than Rejean Beauchemin.

HOME, SWEET HOME: Dayton improved to 14-8-3-1 at home this season following last night's win. The Bombers are outscoring opponents 86-75 at the Nutter Center. They have a 21.6% power play percentage at home and are 81.4% on the penalty kill.

TOTAL RECALL: All-Star center Yannick Tifu has been loaned to the American Hockey League's Rochester Americans. Thus far Tifu has seen action in four games, starting in one. This is the second call-up for the Brossard, Quebec native this season. Tifu previously spent nine games with the Albany River Rats where he picked up two goals and three assists. The Americans are the AHL affiliate of the NHL's Buffalo Sabres and Florida Panthers.

HITTING THE PAVEMENT: The Bombers will spend the next four weeks away from the friendly confines of the Nutter Center as they play on the road until March 14. There is one home game on Saturday, February 23 at Hobart Arena in Troy, Ohio, but the team will not see action at the Nutter Center for 13 games!

OH, JOHNSTOWN, REMEMBER HOBART?: The Bombers next game played in the Miami Valley will be on Saturday, February 23 at the historic Hobart Arena in Troy against the Johnstown Chiefs. The Bombers dismantled the Chiefs 8-3 on December 15 at Hobart, behind Matt Beaudoin's five-point performance, including a first period hat trick.

MILE MARKER: Goalie Rejean Beauchemin made his 2,000th career save during the 2nd period against Mississippi on Friday night. Team captain Greg Labenski tallied his 150th ECHL regular season point with an assist to Matt Beaudoin.

MILESTONES: Here is a list of Bombers who are the verge of career ECHL milestones:

Brad Bonello: 2 goals shy of 50 career goals

Mike Walsh: 6 games shy of 100 games played

Corey LeClair: 12 games shy of 150 games played

Yannick Tifu: 9 goals shy of 50 career goals

COUNTDOWN TO 600: Bombers head coach Bill McDonald is 1 win shy of 600 career wins (540 regular season, 59 post-season).

LOOK OUT BELOW!

TO OUR FRIENDS UP NORTH: The Bombers will take on the Johnstown Chiefs at Hobart Arena in Troy, Ohio, on Saturday, February 23 at 7:30 p.m. Discounted tickets are available for groups of 10 or more by contacting the Bombers at (937) 775-4747. For general ticket information please contact Hobart Arena at (937) 339-2911 or visit www.hobartarena.com.

IS IT 2008-09 YET?: Season tickets for the 2008-09 Bombers 18th Anniversary season are on sale now! Renewing season ticket holders can pick up their packets in the Bombers office during regular business hours. New season ticket information is available in the Bombers office or by contacting Dan or Alex at (937) 775-4747.

Overall Record: 21-18-4-4 50 pts. Week of 2.4.08 Record: 2-1-0-0

Streak: Won 2

Standings: 4th Place, North Division

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Friday, February 8 vs. Mississippi (L, 3-1)

Saturday, February 9 vs. Trenton (W, 1-0)

Sunday, February 10 vs. Mississippi (W, 4-1)

THIS WEEK'S EVENTS

Wednesday, February 13 at Cincinnati (7:30 p.m.)

Friday, February 15 at Reading (7:05 p.m.)

Saturday, February 16 at Johnstown (7:05 p.m.)

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