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Bullies wild week

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


BULLIES REWIND: For a second consecutive Monday, the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies are in first place in the North Division following a 3-1 week that included a pair of victories to conclude their season-long nine-day, five-game road trip. With eight games remaining in the regular season, the Bullies hold a one-point lead over the second place Reading Royals.

Tuesday, former Dayton Bomber Fraser Clair scored with 44 seconds remaining in overtime and Dave Marlin stopped all 28 Dayton shots for the shutout to propel the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies to a 1-0 overtime victory over the Dayton Bombers before 2139 at Hobart Arena. After a scoreless 60 minutes, the Bullies (34-19-8) J-F Plourde created a turnover behind the Dayton (20-35-5) net and fed a streaking Clair at the right-wing circle who ripped a shot that trickled through the pads of Dayton goaltender Michael Ayers at 4:16 of the overtime period for the decisive goal. Atlantic City out-shot Dayton 35-28. Marlin earned his first victory since last season. The Bullies went 0-2 on the power play while killing off all seven of Dayton's chances on the man advantage.

Thursday, Shawn Mather tallied a pair of goals in his Bullies debut and the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies used a three-goal third period to defeat the Wheeling Nailers 5-2 before 2448 at WesBanco Arena. Mather opened the scoring in his first shift with Atlantic City (35-19-8). Mather swatted J-F Plourde's bouncing rebound past the stick side of Wheeling goaltender Andy Chiodo at 2:15 of the first period to give the Bullies a 1-0 lead. Wheeling (35-22-4) countered with the equalizer 2:18 seconds after the Mather goal. Stefan Brannare was credited with the tally after referee Nygel Pelletier ruled that Wheeling had pushed the puck through Bullies goaltender Trevor Koenig before the net was pushed off its pegs by an oncoming rush of three Nailers at 5:33 of the period to tie the game at 1-1. Dave Reid regained the lead for Atlantic City at 5:58 of the second period on the power play, beating goaltender Joe Exter who came on in relief of an injured Chiodo at the start of the period with a shot from the right-wing circle for a 2-1 advantage. However, the Nailers came back again to net the equalizer when Ed McGrane angled out to the left-wing circle and fired a backhand shot that trickled off Koenig's pads and into the net at 14:30 to tie the game at 2-2. Reid registered his second goal of the game and it proved to be the game-winner. Reid fired a shot over the right shoulder of Exter at 3:28 of the third period to give the Bullies a 3-2 edge. Mather made it 4-2 with his second tally of the night, a power play goal from the right point at 7:52 of the period. Plourde sealed the victory with an empty-net goal at 19:20. Atlantic City out-shot Wheeling 39-26. Koenig stopped 24 shots to improve to 22-10-4 on the season. The Bullies went 2-6 on the power play.

Friday, Goaltender Alfie Michaud stopped 30 shots and Peoria won their sixth straight over the Bullies, defeating Atlantic City 4-2 before 1868 at Historic Boardwalk Hall. Brian McCullough opened the scoring at 7:30 of the first period for Peoria (32-21-7), rifling a backhand shot past Bullies goaltender Trevor Koenig to give the Rivermen a 1-0 lead. Russ Guzior made it 2-0 Peoria when he collected Travis Rycroft's rebound and beat Koenig with a shot along the ice at 18:54 of the first. The Bullies (35-20-8) countered just 31 seconds later as Paul Caponigri tipped the loose puck sitting on the end line through Peoria goaltender Alfie Michaud at 19:25 to cut the deficit to 2-1. Tyler Rennette extended the Rivermen lead to 3-1 with a power play goal at 8:18 of the second period. Rennette beat Koenig with a one-timer from the left-wing circle off the set up by Chad Starling. Brian Fahey brought the Bullies back to within a goal when he collected Jason Notermann's rebound in the slot and ripped a shot over the right shoulder of Michaud at 5:23 of the third period to trim the margin to 3-2, but Atlantic City would get no closer. Randy Rowe closed the scoring for Peoria with an empty-net goal at 19:19. Atlantic City out-shot Peoria 32-27. Koenig stopped 23 shots in falling to 22-11-4 on the season. The Bullies went 0-2 on the power play.

Saturday, Trevor Koenig made 25 saves and stopped all five Reading shooters in the shootout to lead the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies to a 3-2 shootout victory over the Reading Royals before 3037 at Historic Boardwalk Hall. Atlantic City (36-20-8) opened the scoring in a wild three-goal first period with a power play goal at 10:00. On a two-man advantage, Peter Bournazakis re-directed Brian Fahey's shot from the point past Reading goaltender Barry Brust to give the Bullies a 1-0 lead. Reading (36-18-6) came back to net the equalizer 3:40 seconds after the opening goal. Larry Courville fed a streaking Tom Galvin at the right-wing circle and Galvin ripped a shot over the left shoulder of Bullies goaltender Trevor Koenig at 13:40 to tie the game at 1-1. The Bullies reclaimed the lead on a Reading power play. Off a Royals turnover, J-F Plourde collected Shawn Mather's rebound in the slot and beat an out of position Brust with a shot along the ice at 15:25 to give Atlantic City a 2-1 advantage. The Royals would counter with a power play goal at 2:55 of the second period. Cail MacLean tipped Regan Rome's shot from the center blue line past the out-stretched glove of Koenig to tie the game at 2-2. After a scoreless third period and overtime, Paul Caponigri tallied the lone goal in the third round of the shootout for the game-winner. Atlantic City and Reading each fired 27 shots on goal. The Bullies went 1-4 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 forward J-F Plourde who tallied two goals and added four assists in four games. Since being acquired from Greenville on March 10, Plourde has three goals and nine points in his first seven games with Atlantic City. Honorable mention goes out to newly acquired center Shawn Mather who tallied two goals and added a pair of assists in his first three games with the Bullies.

MAGIC NUMBER IS 16: The Bullies magic number for clinching a fourth consecutive Kelly Cup Playoff berth is 16. Any combination of points generated by Atlantic City wins or ties and Toledo losses or ties equaling 16 will guarantee the Bullies a spot in the playoffs. The North Division playoff race remains the most competitive in the ECHL. Six teams fighting for just four spots are separated by nine points. With 64 games completed, the Bullies have played the most games out of any of their competitors. Atlantic City currently surrenders a single game in hand to Trenton and Wheeling, two games in hand to Toledo, and three games in hand to Reading and Peoria.

JUST CRUISING THROUGH THE SCHEDULE: The Bullies completed their most grueling portion of the season, eight games in 11 nights, with a remarkable record of 5-2-1. During this most recent stretch, Atlantic City outscored their opponents 20-14 and surrendered just three power play goals while finishing 30-33 on the penalty kill, a 90.9% efficiency rate. The Bullies will play their 11th and final three-games-in-three-nights sequence this weekend.

ROAD JUGGERNAUTS: By going 4-1 on their most recently concluded season-long trip, Atlantic City improved their overall record away from Historic Boardwalk Hall to 19-11-3, tops in the North Division. The 19 road victories puts the Bullies in a four-way tie for second highest in the ECHL behind Pensacola's 22.

FOUR IS THE SCORE: Atlantic City is now 18-0-2 this season when scoring four goals or more in a game, as compared to 18-20-6 when scoring less than four goals.

KELLY CUP PLAYOFF TICKETS ON SALE NOW: Ticket packages for the 2005 Kelly Cup Playoffs are currently on sale. For more information or to find out how you can reserve the same great seat for up to 14 playoff games at Historic Boardwalk Hall, call your Bullies Customer Service Representative at (609) 348-PUCK.

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 week. Atlantic City travels to Sovereign Bank Arena at 7:30PM Friday for their final regular season battle with the Trenton Titans. The Bullies return to Historic Boardwalk Hall at 7:05PM Saturday and at 2:05PM Sunday for a pair of games with the Johnstown Chiefs. All Saturday home games are "Family Nights". Purchase four tickets, four hot dogs, and four sodas for just $44! All Sunday home games are "Kids Days". All kids 12-and-under get in for just $1 with the purchase of a $15 Adult Premier ticket. Stick around afterwards for a public skating session with your favorite Bullies. Catch Friday'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 MARCH 21

Monday, March 21: Off

Tuesday, March 22: Practice 10:30AM-12PM

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

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

Friday, March 25: Morning Skate 10AM; Depart for Trenton @ 4PM; Bullies @ Trenton 7:30PM

Saturday, March 26: Morning Skate 10AM; Bullies vs. Johnstown 7:05PM

Sunday, March 13: Bullies vs. Johnstown 2:05PM

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