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Bullies Return To Winning Ways

February 21, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies News Release


ATLANTIC CITY - WEEK RECORD: 2-1-0 - SEASON RECORD: 27-17-6 - 4th NORTH DIVISION

BULLIES REWIND: Despite a week in which Atlantic City took four out of a possible six points, the Bullies slipped from third to fourth place in the North Division with 60 points. With 22 games remaining in the regular season, the North Division is tighter than any other division in the ECHL. The top five teams are separated by a mere four points with Atlantic City trailing first place Wheeling by just three points.

Friday, Kelsey Muench tallied the game-winning goal 2:03 into overtime and the Boardwalk Bullies tallied three unanswered goals starting in the final five minutes of regulation to defeat the Reading Royals 4-3 before 6689 at the Sovereign Center. Ian Walterson opened the scoring for the Bullies (26-16-6) at 3:35 of the first period, taking a cross-ice feed from Dustin Heintz and beating Reading goaltender Barry Brust along the near side post to give Atlantic City a 1-0 lead. The Royals (27-17-4) would counter with a pair of goals 1:08 apart to take the lead into the first intermission. Eric Fortier re-directed Regan Rome's centering feed in the slot past Bullies goaltender Trevor Koenig at 17:34 for the equalizer to tie the game at 1-1. Mikko Viitanen gave Reading their first lead of the night when he collected Larry Courville's blocked shot at the top of the crease with Koenig out of position, and tapped it into the net at 18:42 for a 2-1 advantage. Fortier tallied his second goal of the game, a power play goal just 41 seconds into the third period when he beat Bullies goaltender Trevor Koenig over the right shoulder to give Reading a 3-1 lead. However, Atlantic City would counter with a pair of goals in a span of 2:38 to tie the game at 3-3 and send it to overtime. Dustan Heintz tipped the puck through Brust at 14:42 of the period to bring the Bullies to within one goal at 3-2. Brett Peterson netted the equalizer at 17:20, taking the centering feed in the slot from Derek Edwardson and slapping it past Brust to tie the game at 3-3. Reading out-shot the Bullies 38-22. Koenig stopped 35 shots to improve to 14-9-2 on the season. Atlantic City went 0-4 on the power play.

Saturday, Sam Paolini scored the go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal at 8:42 of the third period to lead the Toledo Storm to a 2-1 win over the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies before 3503 at Historic Boardwalk Hall. Toledo (29-17-4) opened the scoring at 2:42 of the second period when Nick Parillo beat a standing Bullies goaltender Jake Moreland from the right-wing circle with a low wrist shot to the stick side to give the Storm a 1-0 lead. Atlantic City (26-17-6) would counter early in the third period. Paul Caponigri collected Jason Notermann's rebound to the left of Toledo goaltender Logan Koopmans and snapped a shot over Koopman's right shoulder into the upper corner to tie the game at 1-1. Toledo would reclaim the lead for good when Scooter Smith won the face-off right to Sam Paolini who slipped behind a Bullies player and into the slot, and Paolini faked Moreland down to the ice before slipping the puck into the net at 8:42 to give the Storm a 2-1 advantage. Each team recorded 29 shots on goal. Moreland, making his first start since January 30, stopped 27 shots in falling to 20-8-5 on the season. The Bullies went 0-2 on the power play.

Sunday, Four players registered multiple point efforts to lead the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies to a 5-3 victory over the Toledo Storm before 4345 at Historic Boardwalk Hall in ECHL action Sunday. The Bullies (27-17-6) opened the scoring with a pair of goals in the first ten minutes of play. Kelsey Muench tipped Ian Walterson's play at the net past the right pad of Toledo goaltender Scott Fankhouser at 4:01 of the first period to give Atlantic City a 1-0 lead. Dave Reid made it 2-0 at 9:46 when his shot from the high slot trickled off Fankhouser's pads and into the back of the net. Toledo (29-18-4) countered just 34 seconds after the Reid goal as Todd Jackson collected Scooter Smith's rebound and beat Trevor Koenig along the far post at 10:19 of the period to cut the deficit to 2-1. Atlantic City stormed out in the second period with two more goals in the opening two minutes. Tom Reimann, streaking into the slot alone, took the centering feed from Colin Shields by the half wall and beat Fankhouser through the pads at 57 seconds of the period to increase the Bullies lead to 3-1. Jason Notermann gave the Bullies a three-goal advantage when he tipped Paul Caponigri's shot off Fankhouser's body and into the net at 1:28 to make it a 4-1 game. However, Toledo responded with a power play goal at 2:27 to cut the deficit to 4-2. PJ Martin's one-timer from the left-wing circle beat Trevor Koenig along the ice just 59 seconds after the goals scored by Notermann to bring the Storm back to within two goals. Jackson tallied his second goal of the game, firing a slap shot from the right-wing circle over Koenig's left shoulder and just underneath the crossbar at 7:54 of the second to make it a 4-3 game entering the second intermission. After a scoreless 19 minutes, Shields capped the victory with an empty-net goal at 19:14 of the third period to make the final score 5-3. Atlantic City and Toledo each recorded 27 shots on goal. Koenig made 24 saves to improve to 15-9-2 on the season. The Bullies went 0-3 on the power play.

BULLIES "TOP DAWG" AWARD: Each Monday from now until the end of the season, Public Relations and Broadcasting Manager Dan Weiss will select the Bullies "Top Dawg" for the week. This week's winner is rookie forward Kelsey Muench who tallied two goals, including the game-winner in overtime Friday at Reading, and added two assists to lead the Bullies in scoring for the weekend. Honorable mention goes out to Tom Reimann who notched his first goal in a Bullies uniform on Sunday and added two assists in the win at Reading.

WINNING WEEKS ARE BACK: By going 2-1 last week, Atlantic City enjoyed their first winning week since December 27-January 2, week #10 of the season, when they went a perfect 3-0. Since that time, the Bullies have gone 9-11-2 in their last 22 games.

FIVE ALIVE: The five goals scored by the Bullies on Sunday was their highest offensive output since scoring six in a 7-6 shootout loss to the Wheeling Nailers back on December 8 at Historic Boardwalk Hall. Atlantic City is now 14-0-2 this season when scoring four goals or more in a game. With 136 goals through 50 games, the Bullies are averaging 2.72 goals per game, good for 21st in the ECHL.

LOOKING FOR TWO IN A ROW: In their last nine games, Atlantic City has been consistently inconsistent by following up each win with a loss. The Bullies haven't put together a streak of any kind since a three-game winless streak from January 29-February 2, and haven't won consecutive games since January 2 & 4.

CHECK IT OUT! FIRST READING PROGRAM GAME A SUCCESS: The Bullies held their first reward game in conjunction with the "Check It Out Reading Program" sponsored by Ocean City Home Bank and Atlantic Medical Imaging on Sunday. Students from Jordan Road Elementary and Dawes Avenue Elementary in Somers Point, Davenport Elementary and Slaybaugh Elementary in Egg Harbor Township, and Union Avenue Elementary in Margate earned a total of 2,300 tickets by reading as many as 12 books since November. The second reward game will be this Sunday against Dayton as the Bullies will welcome students from Ventnor Educational Community Complex, Swift Elementary in Egg Harbor Township, Cologne Elementary in Galloway Township, Tuckerton Elementary, and Chelsea Heights Elementary and Richmond Avenue Elementary in Atlantic City. For more information on the "Check It Out Reading Program", contact Dan Weiss at (609) 348-7809.

FACE-OFF AGAINST KIDS CANCER CULMINATES: The Boardwalk Bullies would like to extend a special thanks to those who made the recently concluded "Face-Off Against Kids Cancer" program a success: Benchmark Mortgage & Joe Scrocca, Egg Harbor City Volunteer Ambulance Facility, Jack & Jills Ice Cream, Jersey Shore Children's Museum & John Glassey, Resorts Hotel & Casino, Beth Ashbridge, and all the Bullies fans that offered their continuous support. In its second year, the program raised over $12,000 with all proceeds benefiting Caps For Kids, A.I. duPont Hospital For Children in Wilmington, Delaware, and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

WATCH THE BULLIES LIVE IN '04-05: The Bullies have teamed up with B2 Networks to bring you live action of Boardwalk Bullies hockey in 2004-05. Bullies fans will be able to click the Watch the Game Live icon at the Bullies website to view and listen to the game. These broadcasts are available to fans for a charge of $6 per game. All 36 Bullies home broadcasts will be available in addition to over 20 road games in Trenton, Reading, Johnstown, and Wheeling. A cable or DSL Internet connection and Windows Media Player 9 are required to view the games.

UP NEXT: The Bullies continue on their march to the playoffs with three games this upcoming weekend. Atlantic City hosts the Dayton Bombers at 7:05PM Friday in the first game of a two-game set. Saturday, the Bullies travel to Wheeling to battle the first place Nailers at 7:30PM from WesBanco Arena. The Bullies conclude their series with Dayton at 2:05PM Sunday at Historic Boardwalk Hall for the second of two games as part of the "Check It Out Reading Program" presented by Ocean City Home Bank and Atlantic Medical Imaging. Since November, elementary students throughout the region have been reading books and are getting rewarded with tickets to go see a Bullies game. Every Sunday home game is "Kids Day". All kids 12-and-under get in for just $1 with the purchase of a $15 Adult Premier ticket. In addition, the first 2,500 people through the gates will receive the fourth set of Bullies Collectible Trading Cards presented by Copiers Plus. Catch Saturday's game live on ESPN Radio 1450AM and all three games live on the SurferNetwork at www.boardwalkbullies.com beginning with "Bullies Countdown" 20 minutes prior to face-off. For more information or to order tickets, call (609) 348-7825.

BULLIES SCHEDULE WEEK OF FEBRUARY 21

Monday, February 21: Off Day

Tuesday, February 22: Off Day

Wednesday, February 23: Practice 10:30AM-12PM

Thursday, February 24: Practice 10:30AM-12PM

Friday, February 25: Morning Skate 10AM; Bullies vs. Dayton 7:05PM; Depart for Wheeling

Saturday, February 26: Morning Skate 11:15AM; Bullies @ Wheeling 7:30PM; Depart for Atlantic City

Sunday, February 27: Bullies vs. Dayton 2:05PM

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