Defensemen contributing on both ends of the ice

Published on January 8, 2007 under International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2) News Release


LAKE ST. LOUIS, MO --- Teams in the United Hockey League (UHL) have always looked to their defensemen to stop the opposing team from scoring. Several defensemen this season have also made their presence felt on the offensive end of the ice.

Four of the top 28 scorers in the league are defenseman. Muskegon's Philippe Plante has been the highest scoring defenseman to this point of the season as he currently ranks fourth overall in the league with 41 points (11g, 30a). Plante has 11 multi-point games this season including a four-point effort (2g, 2a) in Sunday's 7-4 victory vs. Elmira. He has registered a minus rating in just four of the 38 games he has played this season. His plus-32 rating currently ranks third in the league.

Fort Wayne's Mario Larocque (10g, 20a) and Guy Dupuis (5g, 25a) are tied for second on the Komets roster in scoring. Larocque has an assist in five of his last seven games. Earlier in the season, he recorded a ten-game point streak that included goals in six of the contests during that span. Dupuis has four assists over his last five games and has registered an even or better plus/minus rating in six consecutive games.

Flint's Gerard Miller (9g, 19a) is the lone defenseman in the league that currently leads his team in scoring. His four assists in Friday's 8-1 win vs. Elmira tied a season high for a UHL player this season. Miller has 14 points (4g, 10a) over his last 11 games.

The biggest scoring impact by these defensemen has been felt on the power play as all four rank in the top five in power play assists in the UHL.

The play on both ends of the ice has also earned each of these players a selection to the rosters of their respective conferences at the 2007 UHL All-Star Classic.

STARS SET TO SHINE - The rosters for the 2007 UHL All-Star Classic were announced on Wednesday. Muskegon's Bruce Ramsay will coach the Eastern Conference team while Fort Wayne's Pat Bingham will coach the Western Conference squad. The event is schedule for Wednesday, January 17th in Fort Wayne beginning at 7:00 PM. To view the rosters for both teams, visit the All-Star section of the UHL website. In addition, fans have until Tuesday to cast their votes for the game starting lineups at www.theuhl.com.

SHUTOUT KING - Fort Wayne Komets goaltender Kevin St. Pierre continued to add to his own UHL career record by earning a 1-0 shutout vs. Elmira on Wednesday. He made 35 saves to notch his third shutout of the season and the 24th of his UHL career.

Three nights later, teammate Dan McWhinney made 33 saves in the 3-0 win vs. Quad City to record the first shutout of his professional career.

PLAYER MILESTONES - Fort Wayne defenseman Guy Dupuis recorded the 500th point of his career on Wednesday. His 500th point proved to be a very important one as it was an assist on the lone goal of the game in the Komets 1-0 victory vs. Elmira.

Muskegon Fury center Todd Robinson collected his 700th career point when he scored two points (1g, 1a) in the 7-4 win vs. Elmira on Sunday. The previous evening, he dished out two assists in the 4-3 shootout loss to Port Huron to surpass 500 assists for his career.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Bloomington PrairieThunder - (2-1-0) - The PrairieThunder snapped their nine-game winless streak in a 2-1 shootout win over Rockford on Thursday...Forward Mike Zbriger dished out four assists over his first three games with the club since being acquired in a trade earlier in the week...Bloomington set a team record for goals scored in the 7-2 win vs. Chicago on Saturday...Centers Tyler Rennette (3g, 3a) and Trevor Baker (2g, 2a) have combined for ten points over the last five games. Both recently returned to the lineup after spending extensive time on the IR.

Chicago Hounds - (1-3-0) - The Hounds ended a four-game losing streak with a 5-1 win vs. Port Huron on Sunday. Left wing Matthew Rogers scored his first goal of the season in the victory...Left wing Steve Cygan has three goals over his last three games...Forward B.J. Radovich had his three-game point streak snapped in Saturday's 7-2 loss to Bloomington. He had five points (3g, 2a) during the streak...Right wing Greg Koehler has eight points (3g, 5a) over his last six games and currently leads the club in scoring.

Elmira Jackals - (1-3-0) - Right wing Frank Littlejohn had two third period goals in Sunday's 7-4 loss to Muskegon...Center Erik Anderson has an assist in three straight games and has dished out an assist in five of his last six games...Despite allowing just one goal, goaltender David Lemanowicz had his three-game winning streak snapped in Wednesday's 1-0 loss to Fort Wayne. He then made 34 saves in Friday's 2-1 win vs. Flint...After not scoring in his first 23 games, winger Curtis Tidball had two points (1g, 1a) in Sunday's 7-4 loss to Muskegon.

Flint Generals - (2-1-0) - Right wing Jan Jas returned to the lineup from injury and registered six points (2g, 4a) in his first three games back...Defenseman Gerard Miller dished out four assists in Friday's 8-1 victory vs. Elmira. He ranks fourth among UHL defensemen in scoring with 28 points (9g, 19a)... Right wing Mike Kinnie recorded a "hat trick" (3g) on Friday and added two assists for a five-point night...Rookie forward Jordan Fox netted two third period goals, including the game-winner, in Sunday's 6-5 win vs. Fort Wayne.

Fort Wayne Komets - (3-1-0) - Left wing Daniel Goneau netted a "hat trick" (3g) on Saturday, scoring all three goals in the 3-0 win vs. Quad City...Rookie defenseman Arthur Kiyaga had his streak of 18 games with an even or better plus/minus rating snapped in Sunday's 6-5 loss to Flint...The Komets have won four consecutive road games. Two of their next three contests will be played on the road... Sunday's loss to Flint snapped a six-game unbeaten streak in regulation (5-0-1) for the Komets...Fort Wayne is 12-3-1 when J.C. Ruid scores a goal.

Kalamazoo Wings - (2-0-0) - Kalamazoo is on a team season high five-game winning streak. They have also won four straight on the road and are unbeaten in regulation over their last five home games (3-0-2)...Both of Nick Bootland's goals this week were scored shorthanded. His shorthanded goal on Saturday proved to be the game-winner in the 6-1 win vs. Rockford...Left wing Lucas Drake had his ten-game point streak snapped in Saturday's victory...Kalamazoo leads the UHL with a 91.3% penalty killing rate.

Muskegon Fury - (3-0-1) - Muskegon completed their recent six-game road stretch with a 4-1-1 record...The Fury have yet to lose on a Friday this season (13-0-0)...After scoring just two goals in his first 27 games of the season, center Billy Collins has four goals over his last six games...UHL scoring leader Todd Robinson has 23 multi-point games this season...Muskegon has outscored the opposition 58-28 in the second period this season...The Fury scored four goals in the first 4:38 of Friday's 5-4 win vs. Chicago.

Port Huron Flags - (1-1-1) - The Flags earned their first victory of the season vs. Muskegon in Saturday's 4-3 shootout win. It was the first shootout loss of the season for the Fury...The Flags participated in back-to-back shootouts during the week. Five of their last nine contests have gone to the extra session and they lead the league with nine shootouts this season...Rookie goaltender Noah Ruden had his seven-game unbeaten streak in regulation snapped in Sunday's loss to Chicago.

Quad City Mallards - (0-1-1) - Wednesday's game vs. Kalamazoo will mark the end of a four-game stretch where the Mallards will play each of the top three teams in the league. In their last three contests, they have played Muskegon, Kalamazoo, and Fort Wayne who have a combined 77 wins this season...Quad City wraps up a five-game home stand on Friday before playing their next five on the road...After Wednesday, the Mallards will have played five of their last six games vs. Eastern Conference opponents.

Rockford IceHogs - (1-1-1) - Center Mike Doyle scored his team leading third game-winning goal in Friday's 5-3 victory vs. Bloomington. He has scored five points (2g, 3a) over his last four games...After three home games this week, the IceHogs will play seven of their next nine games on the road...Defenseman Nathan Lutz has a point in seven of his last ten games...Rockford is just 3 of 41 (7.3%) on the power play in their last seven games...Against opponents in the Western Conference this season, the IceHogs are 7-3-1 on the road and 7-5-2 at home.

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International Hockey League 2 Stories from January 8, 2007


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