BRAHMAS WEEKLY

Published on March 19, 2002 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Fort Worth Brahmas News Release


FT. WORTH PREPARING FOR MEMPHIS
Brahmas set to open President's Cup Playoffs with best of five series against RiverKings

Where they stand:
The Ft. Worth Brahmas finished the 2001-2002 CHL regular season last week with a record of 30-27-7 and 67 points on the year. Ft. Worth finished third overall in the Northeast Division and fourth overall in the Northern Conference. With their fourth place finish in the conference, the Brahmas have qualified for postseason play for the first time in three years. Ft. Worth will open the 2002 CHL President's Cup Playoffs with a best of five first round series against the Northern Conference's top seed, the Northeast Division champion Memphis RiverKings.

Playoff schedule:

GAME ONE: THU., MARCH 21ST @ MEMPHIS, 7:05 P.M., DeSoto Civic Center, DeSoto, MS.
(hear the game broadcast live on KTFW 92.1 FM beginning at 6:45 P.M.)

GAME TWO: FRI., MARCH 22ND @ MEMPHIS, 7:05 P.M., DeSoto Civic Center, DeSoto, MS.
(hear the game broadcast live on KTFW 92.1 FM beginning at 7:00 P.M.)

GAME THREE: SAT., MARCH 23RD VS. MEMPHIS, 7:05 P.M., FWCC, Ft. Worth, TX.

*GAME FOUR: TUE., MARCH 26TH VS. MEMPHIS, 7:05 P.M., FWCC, Ft. Worth, TX.

*GAME FIVE: THU., MARCH 28TH @ MEMPHIS, 7:05 P.M., DeSoto Civic Center, DeSoto, MS. (hear the game broadcast live on KTFW 92.1 FM beginning at 6:45 P.M.)

*if necessary

Last week's results:
Tuesday, 3/12 vs. Memphis, 3-2 W
Friday, 3/15 vs. Corpus Christi; 5-6 L
Saturday, 3/16 vs. Austin; 2-3 L
Sunday, 3/17 @ Corpus Christi, 4-6 L

Last week's Brahmas standouts:

Peter Cava: The underrated center continued his fine play this season for Ft. Worth last week. He scored goals in three of the four Brahmas games played, including the all important first goal in the Brahmas big win over Memphis last Tuesday. He finished off the regular season with a one goal, two assist performance against Corpus Christi. For the week, Cava totaled three goals and three assists to run his season totals to 18 goals and 28 assists in 56 games played between Ft. Worth and Lubbock.

Jason Clarke: The rugged power forward finished off an impressive regular season campaign for the Brahmas last week. Clarke had a two goals and two assists in the Brahmas four games played to go along with his expected 29 penalty minutes. He assisted on two of the Brahmas three goals against Memphis on Tuesday night, and then added a goal in the Saturday night loss to Austin and the Sunday afternoon loss at Corpus Christi. Clarke finished the year as the Brahmas team leader in PIM's with 330 and was third on the team in goals with 22.

Joe Van Volsen: Ft. Worth's top offensive player piled eight more points on to his regular season scoring totals last week with 2 goals and 6 assists in his four games played. Van Volsen was the number one star in the Brahmas win over Memphis last Tuesday night with the game winning shorthanded goal and one assist. He finished the year up with a 3 assist effort on Sunday afternoon against Memphis. The Oshawa, Ontario native wrapped up his regular season with a team high 70 points on 23 goals and 47 assists. Van Volsen also finished the season as the thirteenth leading scorer in the CHL.

Nota-bulls:

Beware of the Brahmas: On paper, it appears that the Memphis RiverKings would have a decided advantage against the Ft. Worth Brahmas in their best of five Central Hockey League President's Cup playoff series that will open this Thursday night in Memphis. After all, the RiverKings were the Northern Conference's top team with a 46-14-4 record and 92 points overall. The Brahmas finished the regular season with a record of 30-27-7 and just 67 points. Ft. Worth, however, has had success this season against the RiverKings, taking 8 of a possible 12 points in the six games that they played against the Memphis during the regular season. Overall, the Brahmas record against Memphis this season was 3-1-2. Ft. Worth was 2-1 against Memphis at home and 1-0-2 against the RiverKings on the road. Ft. Worth also has the psychological edge of knowing that they have defeated the RiverKings two games in a row, beating the Kings 5-2 on February 22nd and 3-2 last Wednesday night.

Who Needs Experience?: The upcoming playoff experience will be a first for many of the Brahmas players. Of the eighteen players on the Brahmas playoff roster, only seven of them have played in ten or more postseason games as professionals--goaltender Kory Cooper, defenseman Daniel Villeneue, and forwards Craig Johnson, Jason Clarke, Peter Cava, and Brent Cullaton. Team captain Craig Johnson has the most playoff experience with 53 games played. Jason Clarke and Joe Van Volsen have the best playoff stats. Clarke has 6 goals and 15 assists in 35 career playoff games while Van Volsen has 7 goals and 8 assists in 18 career playoff games. Brahmas head coach Todd Lalonde knows that he will have to rely on his younger players to grow up fast if Ft. Worth is to have any shot at the President's Cup.

"I look at as a positive. Most of these kids--Davis, Csumrik, Hughes, Campbell--aren't going to feel a lot of pressure. They are too young to know any better. For them, it will be just another game, and I expect them to play relaxed and confident," said Lalonde.

Playoff History: This will be the first time ever that the Ft. Worth Brahmas and the Memphis RiverKings have opposed each other in a playoff series. There is, however, some CHL postseason hockey history between the city of Ft. Worth and the city of Memphis. Ft. Worth's former CHL representative, the Ft. Worth Fire, defeated the RiverKings in the 1997 CHL Finals to win the Leven's Trophy as CHL champions. That series went to seven games, with the Brahmas winning games 6 and 7 on home ice to take home the trophy. Forward Stephane Larocque, who went on to become the Brahmas all time leading scorer, was the hero for the Fire in that playoffs, scoring fourteen goals in the postseason to win the playoff MVP award.

Tune in to Listen: Brahmas general manager Mike Barack confirmed on Monday morning that all of the Brahmas road games for the upcoming CHL playoffs will be broadcast on KTFW 92.1 FM, the Brahmas radio home for the last three seasons. The first broadcast will be on Thursday night for Game One of the Brahmas and RiverKings series. Barack is looking forward to following his team on the road.

"I know that I will be listening on Thursday and Friday, and I expect the majority of our fans to do the same. KTFW has again done a tremendous job for us this season, and I am anticipating the same type of broadcast quality in the playoffs," said Barack.

Know thy competition:

The Northern Conference's number one team and Northeast Division champion Memphis RiverKings will certainly be a tough first round opponent for the Brahmas. Only the Odessa Jackalopes (100) and the Austin Ice Bats (93) finished with more points this season than the RiverKings 92. Memphis had the second most wins in the league overall (46) and the best record in the league on home ice (27-2-3). The RiverKings also had CHL season best 12 game winning streak. Obviously, Ft. Worth will have to play their best hockey of the season to defeat the RiverKings in what should be a highly competitive series.

Expect the RiverKings offense to be led by CHL MVP and goal scoring king, left wing Don Parsons. The veteran sniper lit the lamp 54 times this season for Memphis and he assisted on 41 more goals to finish with a total of 95 points. Parsons has been the RiverKings top gun this season against the Brahmas with 4 goals and 6 assists in the team's six games played. Forwards Michael Stastny and Kahlil Thomas should also play a big part in the Memphis attack. Stastny, the nephew of former NHL great Peter Stastny, was second on the ‘Kings roster with 72 points (37G/35A). He led Memphis with 15 power play goals this year. Thomas, who just returned to the RiverKings active roster on Sunday, is the team's top playmaker with 44 assists.

On the blueline, look for two players, Luch Nasato and Don Martin, to carry the load for Memphis. The rugged Nasato is one of the most complete d-men in the CHL. He finished with a +23 rating to go along with his 12 goals and 28 assists. Nasato was also second on the ‘Kings roster with 158 penalty minutes. The ageless Martin also enjoyed a fine year for Memphis. Martin had 9 goals and 26 assists in addition to his +21 rating and 133 PIM.

Goaltender Mark Richards will enter the playoffs as the RiverKings number one netminder. Richards has been the man in net for Memphis since the recall of CHL Rookie of the Year and current Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Sebastien Centomo. He enjoyed a fine year between the pipes, going 24-11-3 in 41 games played for Memphis. Richards finished the regular season with a 3.04 goals against average and a .896 save percentage. Should Richards falter, Memphis will turn to Bobby DaCosta. The ‘Kings backup finished the regular season with consecutive fine performances, allowing a total of four goals against in a pair of RiverKings' victories. He stopped 54 of 56 shots, including an overtime penalty shot, in a 3-2 shootout win at Indianapolis, then made 32 saves in a 7-2 home win over Tulsa two days later. For his efforts, DaCosta was tabbed as the CHL's Goaltender of the Week for the final week of the regular season.

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Central Hockey League Stories from March 19, 2002


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