East coast rival set to invade Alaska training camp (again)
July 12, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL)
Alaska Aces News Release
ANCHORAGE, Alaska â A year after splitting a pair of games with Trenton to offer its fans their first taste of ECHL action, the Alaska Aces will welcome the Greenville Grrrowl for two pre-season games in Sullivan Arena October 13 and 14 at 7:15 p.m.
The Aces (38-28-6 in 2003-04) actually played the Grrrowl last season, winning in Greenville by a score of 5-4 on March 21 after falling behind 2-0 less than three minutes into the game. The loss came in the midst of an eight-game losing streak to cap off the worst season in Grrrowl history. Greenville finished 14-53-5, by far the worst record in the ECHL and a stunning reversal of fortune after winning the Kelly Cup just two years earlier. The Grrrowl are led by two-time Kelly Cup winner John Marks, who has posted a winning season in eight of his 11 years in the ECHL, and Alaska coach Davis Payne, who played for and coached under Marks in the late 1990's, expects an immediate turnaround.
"Just about everything that could have gone wrong for Greenville did go wrong last season," said Payne. "They got hit by a ton of injuries, but having said that, they played hard to the finish and certainly gave us all we wanted when we played them at the end of the year. These games will be extremely competitive, just like Trenton last year."
Payne scored 86 points (41g-45a) in 91 games over two seasons for Marks, then joined him behind the bench as an assistant for the 2000-01 season before taking the Pee Dee head coaching job midway through the campaign. Alaska dropped its pre-season opener against the Trenton Titans last October 10, losing 2-1 before recovering to win 3-2 in a shootout the next night.
Alaska begins its regular season October 22-23 in Idaho against the defending ECHL champions, after which the Aces will return home for a three-game set with San Diego October 29-31. Season tickets are on sale now. KFQD 750 AM will broadcast all Alaska Aces games, with the live feed also available at www.alaskaaces.com. For season ticket information, please call 258-ACES.
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