Cottonmouths Week in Review

Published on January 30, 2012 under SPHL (SPHL)
Columbus Cottonmouths News Release


COLUMBUS, Ga. - The Columbus Cottonmouths won a pair of home games this past week against the Louisiana IceGators with a 5-3 win on Friday night and a 5-4 overtime victory on Saturday in front of a season-high crowd of over 5,000. With the wins, the Snakes moved into a tie for second place in the SPHL standings with the Knoxville Ice Bears, although Knoxville does have two games in hand on Columbus. This week's slate of games features three games in three nights in three different arenas, with the Cottonmouths facing the Mississippi Surge in Biloxi on Thursday night, hosting league-leading Augusta on Friday night, and traveling to Knoxville on Saturday for a game against the Ice Bears. All games will be broadcast on America One Networks with both a video and audio feed, with a nominal fee for each game. A free audio-only webcast of the games is also available. Details can be found at www.cottonmouths.com. In addition, road games are now broadcast locally in the Columbus area on 107.7 FM.

CURRENT RECORDS AND STATS

Last Week: 2-0-0

Record: 21-10-5, 47 pts (T-2nd, SPHL)

118 GF, 99 GA

18.8% PP (3rd, SPHL); 91.0% PK (1st, SPHL)

LAST WEEK'S TRANSACTIONS

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SPHL STANDINGS

TEAM GP W L OTL PTS WPCT GF GA PIM HOME ROAD L-TEN STREAK

Augusta 36 24 8 4 52 .722 145 108 890 15-2-2 9-6-2 5-2-3 0-0-1

Knoxville 34 22 9 3 47 .691 137 107 657 13-3-1 9-6-2 3-4-3 0-2-2

Columbus 36 21 10 5 47 .653 118 99 739 13-5-2 8-5-3 7-2-1 2-0-0

Pensacola 32 17 13 2 36 .563 104 107 570 11-5-0 6-8-2 5-5-0 0-1-0

Louisiana 35 16 16 3 35 .500 123 129 611 8-6-1 8-10-2 3-6-1 0-2-1

Huntsville 36 16 17 3 35 .486 111 127 817 9-7-1 7-10-2 5-5-0 3-0-0

Mississippi Surge 33 15 15 3 33 .500 103 111 624 8-6-2 7-9-1 6-2-2 2-0-0

Mississippi R'Kings 31 12 16 3 27 .435 91 107 480 8-8-1 4-8-2 7-2-1 0-1-0

Fayetteville 37 12 22 3 27 .365 122 159 715 5-11-2 7-11-1 4-5-1 0-1-0

UPCOMING GAMES AND PROMOTIONS

Thursday, February 2 - Columbus at Mississippi Surge, 8:05 PM EST (Season Series vs. MSS: 2-1-1)

Columbus faces the Mississippi Surge on Thursday night in Biloxi in the first meeting between the two teams since December 17. In that game, the Snakes picked up their first SPHL win ever at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum as they had not won a single contest in Biloxi in the past two seasons. The Surge enter the week winners of five out of their past six games and will play against their intrastate rivals on Tuesday night as they will travel to Southaven to face the Mississippi RiverKings. PROMOTIONS: Watch live at Loco's Grill and Pub on 13th Street!

Friday, February 3 - Augusta at Columbus, 7:30 PM EST (Season Series vs. AUG: 1-0-1)

The only home game of the week is on Friday night and is the first visit to Columbus by the league-leading Augusta RiverHawks. The two instate rivals have faced off twice already this season across the state in Augusta, with both games 4-3 overtime decisions. The Snakes won the first game on New Year's Eve, marking the first win at Augusta for the SPHL version of the Cottonmouths after failing to win at James Brown Arena last season. The `Hawks evened the score with an OT victory of their own on January 11. Augusta set SPHL season highs for goals in a game and margin of victory on January 21 in an 11-2 victory over Pensacola. PROMOTIONS: Jersey Giveaway, presented by PTAP; while supplies last (minimum 1000).

Saturday, February 4 - Columbus at Knoxville, 7:35 PM EST (Season Series vs. KNX: 3-0-2)

The Cottonmouths travel to Tennessee on Saturday night to close out the week on the road against the Knoxville Ice Bears. After a torrid start to the season that saw them briefly lead the league in terms of winning percentage, the Ice Bears are on a 1-3-3 skid in their past seven games. The team is in the hunt for a goaltender after losing both starter Bryan Hince earlier in the season and Nick Niedert late last week to the ECHL. Rookie Jesse Kallechy is the #1 netminder for now in Knoxville but has just one win in his last six appearances in net for the Ice Bears. On the offensive side of the ledger, however, the veteran duo of Kevin Swider and Emery Olauson continue to be among the SPHL leaders in scoring as both are among the top three in goals, points, and plus-minus, with Knoxville defenseman Mark Van Vliet leading the league in the plus/minus category. PROMOTIONS: Watch live at Loco's Grill and Pub on 13th Street!

COTTONMOUTHS WEEK IN REVIEW

Friday, January 27 - Louisiana 3 at Columbus 5 (Attendance: 2,306)

The Cottonmouths scored the first four goals of the game on Friday night against Louisiana and held on for a 5-3 win over the IceGators. Greg Beller scored a pair of goals with Dave Cianfrini, Brett Hammond, and Derek Pallardy scoring once apiece. Ian Vigier picked up the win in net for Columbus with 24 saves on 27 shots. Dan Earles took the loss between the pipes for the `Gators with 29 saves on 34 shots on goal. Columbus scored on one of their four chances on the power play, and the Snakes' league-leading penalty kill shut down all six chances for Louisiana's league-leading power play.

Saturday, January 28 - Louisiana 4 at Columbus 5 (OT) (Attendance: 5,105)

Jordan Braid scored both the last goal in regulation and the overtime game-winner for the Snakes on Saturday night to complete the weekend sweep over Louisiana with a 5-4 win in front of a season-high crowd of 5,105. Greg Beller, Orrin Hergott, and Derek Pallardy notched the other goals in regulation for the Cottonmouths. Andrew Loewen was the winning goaltender for Columbus with 20 saves on 24 shots, while Louisiana's B.J. O'Brien took the regulation tie and overtime loss in net with 32 saves on 37 shots. Both teams had seven chances on the power play with Columbus scoring twice and the `Gators scoring once with the man advantage.

THREE STARS OF THE WEEK

1. F Derek Pallardy - Pallardy scored the first goal of each game for the Cottonmouths over the weekend and finished with six points in all off a goal and three assists Friday and a goal and an assist Saturday.

2. F Greg Beller - Beller notched a pair of goals on Friday night and scored once on Saturday.

3. F Jordan Braid - Braid had a three-point night on Saturday, scoring the last two goals for Columbus in their overtime win and also picking up an assist in regulation.

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