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Break\'s Over: Ice Bats Ring in New Year Against League\'s Best

December 27, 2004 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Austin Ice Bats News Release


Setting the Stage: The Austin Ice Bats of the Central Hockey League are 11-11-2 on the 2004-05 CHL season, and are in third place in the league's Southeast Division. The Ice Bats trail division co-leaders Laredo and Corpus Christi by five points.

The Ice Bats won seven of a possible eight points during a four-game homestand, then lost their final pre-Christmas game in Fort Worth. After a six-day break for the holidays, the Ice Bats face the league's top teams in the final week of 2004. The Bats will host Northeast Division leading Bossier-Shreveport Tuesday, play at Corpus Christi New Year's Eve, and return home to face Laredo New Year's Day.

A look back: The Ice Bats finished a successful four-game homestand with games against Lubbock and Fort Worth on December 17th & 18th. On Friday the 17th, the Ice Bats edged Lubbock 3-2 in overtime, with Jared Dumba's goal late in OT the game winner.

The Ice Bats jumped out to a 7-2 early shot advantage, and opened scoring 4:24 in. Bats center Chris Richards walked in from the right wing, and backhanded the puck past Lubbock goalie Lance Leslie.

The Cotton Kings outshot the Bats 10-1 to start the second and took the lead early in the period, squeezing every last drop out of a five-on-three power play. Lubbock's Nolan Graham scored a two-skater advantage goal with just two seconds left on a Brian Pasko penalty, and Anders Strome converted with just one second left on Mike Mohr's subsequent cross-checking minor.

Austin's Kris Knoblauch tied the score with 2:40 left in the second period. His initial shot blocked, Knoblauch buried the second opportunity from the slot. Then after a scoreless third, the teams went to overtime. And with just 56 seconds left in OT, Kelly Smart won a face-off, and Mohr centered to Dumba for the back door winner.

The Ice Bats closed out the homestand with a defensive stalemate December 18th against Fort Worth-- the Brahmas winning, 1-0 in a shootout. Goalies Matt Barnes of Austin and Dan Murphy of Fort Worth matched each other save for save-- each making 20 stops through two scoreless periods.

In the third, the Ice Bats had multiple chances to record the first goal. But they failed to convert on a five-on-three power play early in the period, and Murphy stymied a glorious chance with a minute left in regulation. The Brahmas then outshot the Bats 5-0 in overtime, but Barnes preserved the dual shutout. Barnes stopped all 32 shots faced through three periods and overtime, Murphy all 29 shots faced.

Both goalies stopped the first four shooters in the shootout, before Fort Worth's Bryan Lundbohm scored the game-winner in Round Five.

The rematch between the Bats and Brahmas took place last Tuesday in Fort Worth, with the Ice Bats losing their final pre-Christmas game, 4-2. At the start, the game looked much like the previous meeting. Despite a 12-4 Fort Worth shot advantage, the teams skated through a scoreless first period. Both teams made defining defensive plays-- Fort Worth's Adam Davis sliding to block an odd-man rush attempt, and Bats goalie Matt Barnes robbing Martin Paquet on a point blank shot from the slot.

Fort Worth's Nick Udovicic ended nearly 90 minutes of scoreless hockey between the teams with a power play goal 3-1/2 minutes into the second period. But just 67 seconds later, Austin's Kris Knoblauch scored a shorthanded goal to tie. The Bats nearly took the lead 11 minutes into the period, but Benoit Genesse was denied on another shorthanded breakaway try.

The Brahmas pulled away in the third, their powerful top scoring line combining for a Chad Woollard goal at 3:51. An Ice Bats turnover at center then resulted in a crucial breakaway score for Aaron Davis midway through the period. Austin's Ryan Leasa came up with a turnover of his own, and centered to Chris Richards for a score with 3-1/2 minutes left, but Woollard capped scoring with an empty net goal. Brahmas goalie Dan Murphy stopped 26 of 28 shots to outduel Barnes for the second straight game.

Home for the Holidays: The Ice Bats continue to excel at home, but struggle on the road. 9-3-1 at the Bat Cave, the Ice Bats average 3.3 goals per game at home. But they've averaged just over two goals per contest in recording a 2-8-1 mark on the road. Part of the problem has been a slow start: in their last three road losses, the Bats have been outscored by a combined margin of 7-1 and outshot 39-18 in the first period.

Player Plaudits: Ice Bats winger John McNabb ranks in the top 20 in league scoring, with 11 goals and 18 assists. Next on the team are center Chris Richards, with 7 goals and 20 assists, and Benoit Genesse, with 11 goals and 11 helpers. Kris Knoblauch is in the top ten among rookies, with 9 goals and 6 assists. Forward Dallas Anderson ranks fourth in the CHL with 138 penalty minutes. And goalie Matt Barnes ranks in the top ten at 11-6-1 with a 2.58 GAA and .922 save percentage.

Potential Bite Victims: The Ice Bats' opponents this week represent the league's cream of the crop. Bossier-Shreveport has won five straight games to get to 15-7-3, tops in the Northeast Division. That includes an 11-2-3 divisional mark. The Mudbugs rank 5th on offense (3.24 goals per game) and defense (2.48 average goals allowed), and 4th on the power play (18.5%). Center Dan Wildfong continues to play the dual role of scorer and agitator. Wildfong ranks 6th in league scoring with 15 goals and 20 assists, and leads the league in minor penalties. He's scored in 12 straight games, and had penalty time in ten straight. Returnees Chris Brassard (12 goals, 14 assists) and Forbes MacPherson (9 goals, 13 helpers) are having good years, and rookies Scott Sheppard and Brett Smith have 20 points each. Goalie Ken Carroll is back up near the top of the standings, at 10-3-1, with a 2.13 GAA, and a big reason why the Mudbugs are an excellent 8-4-1 on the road.

At 13-9-3, Corpus Christi remains tied for the lead in the Southeast. The explosive Rayz are 3rd in the CHL offensively, scoring 3.44 goals per game. The top scorers in the conference, Greg Bullock has 11 goals and 22 assists, while Jason Baird has 15 goals and 17 helpers. Ryan Carter has added 10 goals and 16 assists, and despite missing the last five games to injury, Bernie John ranks 2nd among defensemen with 23 points. John and Baird were selected as starters for this year's All-Star game. In net, Brent Zelenewich is 7-6-3, with a 2.71 GAA. 7-2-1 at home, the Rayz visit Rio Grande Valley Thursday before hosting the Bats New Year's Eve.

If Laredo started the year resting on their laurels, they're not now. Winners of eight in a row, the Bucks are 14-9-1 and have zoomed to the top of the division. The defending champs are starting to look a lot like last year, ranking 1st on offense (3.58 goals per game), 4th on D (2.38 average goals allowed), and 2nd on the power play (18.8%). Veteran Brent Cullaton will represent the host Bucks as a starter for this year's All-Star Game, with 9 goals and 21 assists. Forwards Jeff Bes (15 goals, 13 assists) and rookie Adam Paiement (12 goals, 14 assists, 7 power play goals) each carry nine-game point streaks into the final week of the calendar year. James Hiebert (150 penalty minutes) is this year's tough guy for a team that again leads the league in average penalty time. Last season's Rookie of the Year David Guerrera (4-6-1, 2.39 GAA) was originally considered the first option in net, but the job right now belongs to the hot Jeremy Symington (#2 in the CHL at 10-3, with a 2.05 GAA). Looking to improve on a 4-6 road mark, Laredo plays a home-and-home series against Rio Grande Valley before their New Year's Day trip to Austin.

The Series: The Ice Bats are 12-16-8 lifetime against Bossier-Shreveport, heading into the teams' first meeting of the season.

The Bats are 46-24-4 lifetime against Corpus Christi, 2-3 this season. The Ice Bats snapped a three-game losing streak in the series with a 4-2 win December 10th at the Bat Cave. But the Bats have been outscored a combined 9-3 in their two games in Corpus.

Austin is an even 12-12-1 lifetime against Laredo, 3-2 this season. The teams last played November 21st, with the Bats blanking the Bucks, 2-0 in Austin.

Comments from the Coach:

On Last Week: "You have to be happy to get seven out of eight points on the homestand, but one of the points of focus heading into the holidays was not to take the game in Fort Worth off, and I felt like we did. We have to find a way to win on the road. Good teams do that, but we haven't found that way to win. I think we've given away our share of games. We haven't gotten ‘beaten' in a lot of games, but we've given a few away."

On This Week: "You don't get too many chances to take off five or six days during the season, so hopefully the guys made the most of it. Now starts our ‘second season.' This month of January will be crucial for us, with 14 games and a lot of three-game-in-three-night situations against teams like Corpus and Laredo in our division. It's a key month. It'll dictate what kind of team we have."

Cave, Sweet Cave: Tuesday night is the Ice Bats' second-annual "Lance Armstrong Foundation Night," benefiting the Peloton Project. The Ice Bats will honor the six-time Tour de France winner, with a portion of ticket proceeds going to the Lance Armstrong Foundation to fund cancer survivorship programs and research.

Individual game tickets are available now through the Ice Bats office at 927-PUCK, on-line at www.GetTix.Net, or at any of a dozen Pinky's Wireless locations in the Austin area, including Round Rock, Cedar Park, Killeen and San Marcos. Tickets are also available at all Texas Box Office locations, including all Austin-area HEB stores, or on-line at www.TexasBoxOffice.com.

To charge by phone, fans may call the Ice Bats ticket office at 927-PUCK, Get Tix at 1-866-4-Get Tix, or Texas Box Office at (512) 477-6060.

Individual game tickets range in price from $10 to $35, depending on section, with discounted rates for groups of 15 or more. Fans may call the Ice Bats ticket office at (512) 927-PUCK, or log onto the team's website at www.icebats.com for more information.

In the Air: Once again, all Ice Bats away games will be broadcast on ESPN Radio, 1530 on the AM dial. The station will broadcast all road games during the 2004-05 regular season and CHL Playoffs. The games will also be available on-line, through the station website at www.espnaustin.com. The Texas Dodge Dealers Warm-up Show begins 20 minutes prior to game time. Ice Bats Director of Broadcasting, Media/PR Glen Norman will handle play-by-play duties for a seventh straight season.

Bats in Cyberspace: Bats fans can learn the latest about their team by logging on to www.icebats.com. Home or away, Bats fans can also 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.

THIS WEEK:

Tues., Dec. 28th, 7:35pm, vs. Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, at Travis Co. Expo Center, Austin, Texas

Fri., Dec. 31st, 7:05pm, vs. Corpus Christi Rayz, at AmericanBank Center, Corpus Christi, Texas

Sat., Jan. 1st, 7:35pm, vs. Laredo Bucks, at Travis County Expo Center, Austin, Texas



Central Hockey League Stories from December 27, 2004


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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