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ECHL Florida Everblades

Everblades Weekly Update

December 19, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release


ESTERO, FL - The Florida Everblades finished this past week with a 2-1-1 record which puts their overall record at 15-7-1 (31 pts., 1st South Division).

THIS WEEK (All Times Eastern)

Wednesday & Thursday, December 21 & 22, vs. Pensacola Ice Pilots Both Games 7:30 p.m. GAME NOTES: The Everblades take on the Ice Pilots for the second and third of 12 times this season on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Everblades lead the season series after picking up a 4-2 win on Dec. 9 at Germain Arena. The pair of games are second and third of six between the South Division rivals at Germain Arena. Last year, the Everblades finished with a 3-2-3 record vs. Pensacola. The Ice Pilots enter this week's action with a 10-11-3 (23 pts., 8th South Division) and are 3-5-3 on the road this season. Florida holds an all-time record of 26-11-9 vs. Pensacola and are 15-4-6 all-time at home vs. the Ice Pilots.

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Wednesday, December 14 at Augusta Lynx 7-1 Win The Everblades used a hat-trick by Dustin Johner and 33 saves by Craig Kowalski to extend their winning streak to five games with a 7-1 win over the Augusta Lynx on Wednesday night at the Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center. The seven goals was the most scored by the 'Blades in one game this season. Johner's first career hat-trick came in the first period, and Kowalski turned away 13 shots in the frame, helping Florida jumped out to an early 3-1 lead after the first 20 minutes of play. The Everblades extended their lead to four after two periods with goals by Chris Lee and Paul Cabana, then closed out the scoring with a pair of third period power play goals by Vince Bellissimo and Dan Sisca. With the win, Kowalski extended his personal winning streak to six, and improved his overall record to 8-4-0. Florida Special Teams: PP: 2-for-6; PK: 4-for-4.

Friday, December 16 at Charlotte Checkers 8-6 Loss

The Everblades saw their five-game winning streak come to an end with a 8-6 loss to the Charlotte Checkers on Friday night at the Charlotte Bobcats Arena. In a wild first period that featured six goals and four fights, the Everblades found themselves on the wrong end a 4-2 score. The Everblades started strong, opening the scoring with a power play goal by Jonathan Lehun at 1:09. However, Charlotte answered back just 33 seconds later. The Checkers grabbed their first lead of the night with a power play goal five minutes into the period, but saw Florida tie the game at two when Kevin Bergin notched his sixth goal of the year at 6:27. Late in the opening period the Checkers collected a pair of power play at 14:20 and 16:41 to take the 4-2 lead to the locker room. In the second period, the Everblades battled back to tie the game with a pair of goals in the first 13 minutes of the frame. Martin Lojek cut the Charlotte lead to 4-3 with a power play goal at 5:29, then Phil Aucoin tied the contest at four completing a breakaway at 12:59. The Checkers regained the lead however with 2:05 remaining in the frame. Charlotte increased their lead early in the third period on at 2:12 of the period, but the Everblades once again battled back to tie the game with a pair of goals just 33 seconds apart by Kevin Bergin and Ernie Hartlieb midway through the final period. The Checkers answered Florida's sixth goal with their fourth power play goal of the night at 11:53, then grabbed an 8-6 lead at 13:54. In goal Craig Kowakski, who replaced Phil Osaer at the start of the second peiod, saw his personal six-game come to an end after allowing four goals on 29 shots to fall to 8-5-0. Osaer stopped five first period goals before being lifted after one period. Florida Special Teams: PP: 2-for-6; PK: 1-for-5.

Saturday, December 17 at Columbia Inferno 4-3 OT Loss

The Everblades earned a point in the standings after falling 4-3 in overtime to the Columbia Inferno on Saturday afternoon at the Carolina Coliseum. The Inferno picked up the extra point in the standings after watching the Everblades battle from behind to tie the game with six seconds remaining in regulation. Rookie John Adams notched his first professional goal after deflecting a shot past Columbia goalie Chris Houle in the closing seconds of the third period to tie the game 3-3. However in the five-minute overtime period Jeff Smith found a lose puck in front and tucked it inside the left post for the game-winner. The Everblades fell behind early after the Inferno scored a pair of goals in the first three and a half minutes of the game. However, the Everblades battled back on goals by John Ronan and Ernie Hartlieb at 6:48 and 8:31 respectively to even the score 2-2. The Inferno tallied the lone second period goal, collecting a short-handed goal at 8:56 to carry a 3-2 lead into the locker room after two period. Osaer earned a tie in goal for the Everblades after stopping 25 of 29 Columbia shots to bring his record to 6-2-1. Florida Special Teams: PP: 0-for-3; PK: 6-for-6.

Sunday, December 18 at Charlotte Checkers 4-3 SOW

The Everblades used a short-handed goal by Paul Cabana to help pick up a 4-3 shootout win over the Charlotte Checkers on Sunday afternoon at Charlotte Bobcats Arena. The Checkers scored the lone goal of the first period notching a late power play goal with 55 seconds left in the frame. The teams traded goals in the second period, with the Everblades scoring first to tie the game at one. Kevin Bergin converted a power play goal at 5:20 of the frame but the Checkers however regained the lead at 14:57 to give Charlotte a 2-1 lead after two periods. Ernie Hartlieb tied the game early in the third period for the Everblades notching his team-leading 14th goal at 1:48, but Charlotte retook the lead shortly after at 5:43 of the frame. The Everblades battled back for the third time on Cabana's short-handed tally at 8:10. Neither team scored in the five-minute overtime period sending the game to a shootout. In the shootout, each team scored in the first round, and in the sixth round, Bergin lifted a back-hand shot inside the right post to give the Everblades the win. Kowalski (9-5-0) picked up his seventh win in his last eight games after stopping 32 of 35 Charlotte shots in regulation and overtime, and turning away five of six Charlotte shooters in the shootout. Florida Special Teams: PP: 1-for-4; PK: 2-for-4.

EVERBLADES ITINERARY: Monday, Dec. 19: OFF DAY Tuesday, Dec. 20: Practice, 10:00 a.m. @ Germain Arena Wednesday, Dec. 21: Pre-Game Skate, 10:00 a.m. @ Germain Arena GAME vs. Pensacola, 7:30 p.m. @ Germain Arena Thursday, Dec. 22: Pre-Game Skate, 10:00 a.m. @ Germain Arena GAME vs. Pensacola, 7:30 p.m. @ Germain Arena Friday, Dec. 23: OFF DAY Saturday, Dec. 24: OFF DAY Sunday, Dec. 25: OFF DAY

2005-06 EVERBLADES REGULAR SEASON NUMBERSQuick Stats Overall Record 15-7-1 Home Record 10-1-0 Road Record 5-6-1 Overtime Record 1-1 Shootout Record 2-0 Power Play 29-129 (5th) Penalty Kill 103-124 (9th)

Leading Scorers Dan Sisca 8-18-26 Ernie Hartlieb 14-9-23 Kevin Bergin 8-14-22 Paul Cabana 12-7-19 Chris Lee 5-13-18 Jonathan Lehun 5-13-18

Leading Goaltenders Craig Kowalski 2.88 GAA, 9-5-0 Phil Osaer 3.09 GAA, 6-2-1

Plus/Minus Leaders

Dan Sisca +17 Chris Lee +10 Kevin Bergin +9 John Adams +9 Steve Saviano +5

Weekly Award Nominee: This week's Everblades ECHL Player of the Week nominee is forward Kevin Bergin who collected eight points (3g, 5a) in Florida's four games. The 24-year-old native of Montreal, Que. picked up at least one point in each of the Everblades games this past week, including scoring the game-winning goal in a shootout at Charlotte on Sunday.

Everblades Special Teams Breakdown: After 23 games, here's a look at Florida's special teams breakdown heading into the week: The overall power play is ranked 5th (29-for-129, 22.5%). At home, the 'Blades are ranked 7th (21.5%) and on the road, Florida is ranked 3rd (23.3%). The overall penalty kill is ranked 9th (103-for-124, 83.1%). At home, the Everblades are ranked 8th (85.1%) and on the road the team ranks 10th (83.0%).

League Leaders: Everblades forward Steve Saviano is tied for second in short-handed goals with three...forward Dan Sisca is fifth among rookies in scoring with 26 points and leads all rookies with his plus-17 rating...forward Jon Lehun is tied for 13th in rookie scoring with 18 points...defenseman Chris Lee is tied for 11th among ECHL defenseman with 18 points...forward Ernie Hartlieb is tied for the league lead with three power play goals in one game...as a team, the Everblades are tied for the league lead with five power play goals in one game, and hold the longest streak for consecutive home wins with 10.

Who's Hot: Forward Ernie Hartlieb has picked up points in six straight games (5g, 3a)...D Ryan Brindley is currently riding a five-game points scoring streak (1g, 5a)...F Kevin Bergin has a points in six straight games (3g, 8a)...F Paul Cabana has scored a point in seven of the last 11 games (8g, 4a) ...F Jonathan Lehun has currently scored points in nine of the last 11 games (5g, 7a)...F Dan Sisca is riding a six-game winning streak (4g, 7a)...D Chris Lee has points in 10 of the last 12 games (5g, 9a) ...G Craig Kowalski has won his last seven of his last eight games played in.

Approaching Milestones: Here's a look at members of the Everblades that are approaching career milestones: F Ernie Hartlieb is six games shy of playing in his 300th career game and is 16 points away from reaching the 200 mark as a pro...F Reggie Berg is 41 games away from reaching the 300 mark in his career and is 47 points shy of 300 in his career...D Ryan Brindley is 30 points away from reaching 300 in his professional career...F Kevin Bergin is seven goals away from reaching 50 in his career and is 44 games shy of playing in his 300th professional game...F Paul Cabana is 31 games away from reaching 200 in his career...F Phil Aucoin is 16 points from reaching the 100 mark...D Chris Lee is 10 games away from skating in his 100th professional game.

Coach's Show: "Blades Talk", the Everblades coach's show returns to the air on Monday, December 19 from at 6:30 p.m. The show will take place live from Stevie Tomato's Sports Page in Ft. Myers. Fans are encouraged to join the voice of the Everblades Kevin Reiter and head coach Gerry Fleming live at Stevie Tomato's. Fans can also hear the show on SportsRadio 770 AM, and via the internet by visiting www.floridaeverblades.com.

Ticket Information: Everblades 2005-06, half season, group tickets, and individual game tickets are on sale now! Fans can purchase tickets at the Germain Arena box office, which is open from 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets can also be purchased over the phone by calling TicketMaster at (239) 334-3309, or online at www.ticketmaster.com. For additional information, contact the Everblades office at (239) 948-7825.

Everblades On The Air: The Florida Everblades are broadcast on Sportsradio 770 AM and on the web at www.floridaeverblades.com. Join the "Voice of the Everblades" Kevin Reiter for all the play-by-play action. The Florida Lottery pre-game show begins 20 minutes before face-off.

Check out the Florida Everblades Statistics



ECHL Stories from December 19, 2005


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