ECHL Florida Everblades

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March 7, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release


ESTERO, FL - The Florida Everblades strung together a 3-1-0 record this past week, keeping them in third place in the American Conference standings. The 'Blades enter this week's action with a record of 33-17-8 (74 pts., 2nd South Division; 3rd, American Conference).

THIS WEEK (All Times Eastern)

Friday, March 11 at Mississippi Sea Wolves 8:35 p.m.

GAME NOTES: The Everblades and the Sea Wolves meet for the fourth of five times on Friday night at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. The Everblades hold a season series record of 2-1-0 vs. Mississippi. Both of Florida's wins in the season series have come in Florida, winning 6-3 on Oct. 29 and 4-3 in a shootout on Feb. 8. The Sea Wolves won the most recent match-up 4-3 on Mar. 1 in Mississippi. The Sea Wolves enter this week's action with a record of 30-21-4 (64 pts., T-3rd, South Division; T-6th, American Conference). The Everblades hold an all-time record of 14-5-1 vs. Mississippi.

Saturday, March 12 vs. Mississippi Sea Wolves 7:30 p.m.

GAME NOTES: The Everblades and the Sea Wolves close out the season series on Saturday night at Germain Arena. The Everblades currently have won four of their last five games on home ice. Overall the Everblades are 17-8-5 at home, while the Sea Wolves are 14-10-3 on the road. The Everblades are 9-3-0 all-time vs. Mississippi at home. Saturday's game is "Scout Night" at Germain Arena. For more information regarding how to involve you scout group, call the Everblades at (239) 948-7825.

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Tuesday, March 1 at Mississippi Sea Wolves 4-3 Loss

The Everblades saw their three-game winning streak come to an end with a 4-3 loss to the Mississippi Sea Wolves on Tuesday night at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. Despite a late come-back attempt by the Everblades, who scored with 21 seconds remaining in the third period to close to within one, it was a pair of power play goals for the Sea Wolves that turned out to be the difference. After the Everblades notched the only first period goal when Tim O'Connell wristed a shot under the crossbar at 6:59, Mississippi outscored the Everblades 3-1 in the middle stanza to hold a one-goal advantage heading into the third period. The Sea Wolves tied the game at one just 47 seconds into the frame into the second period, but Florida regained the lead at 7:04 on Brad Church's 21st goal of the season. Travis Lisabeth answered that with two late goals to give Mississippi a 3-2 lead heading into the third period. Each team notched a goal in the third period, with Mississippi tallying their second power play goal of the night at 8:11 for the 4-2 lead. The Everblades had one last gasp when Ryan Brindley scored in the closing seconds of the game with the goaltender pulled for the extra attacker. Zepp suffered the loss for Florida, allowing four goals on 26 shots to fall to 10-8-1. Former Everblades goaltender Randy Petruk got the start in goal for the Sea Wolves and picked up the win stopping 29 of 33 shots. Florida Special Teams: PP: 0-for-4; PK: 1-for-3.

Wednesday, March 2 at Louisiana IceGators 6-2 Win

The Everblades wrapped up their six-game road trip with an impressive 6-2 victory over the Louisiana IceGators on Wednesday night in Lafayette, LA. The Everblades used a three-goal explosion in a span of 1:01 midway though the second period to pull away and open a 5-2 lead after the second period. The win allowed the Everblades to close out their road trip with a 4-1-1 record. Louisiana notched the first goal of the night scoring a power play goal at 2:43 of the opening period. The Everblades responded with Reggie Berg collecting his first goal of the night at 5:00 of the first period. Louisiana regained the one-goal lead just two-minutes and 18 seconds later, however, the Everblades once again battled back to tie the game when Kris Vernarsky notched the first of his two goals of the night with 8:26 remaining in the opening period. The three-goal barrage for Florida in the second period began with Vernarsky collecting his second goal of night at 7:12 of the period, Greg Hornby chipped in with his first professional goal at 7:49 and Berg notched his second goal of the evening at 8:13 to give Florida the three-goal lead. The three-goals scored in the second period for the Everblades broke the previous franchise record for the fastest three goals scored. The previous mark was three goals in 1:16 which was set on October 13, 2000 at New Orleans. Damian closed out the scoring for the Everblades notching his second short-handed goal of the season at 10:43 of the third period. The short-handed goal was Florida's fourth this season. Tyler MacKay picked up the win for the Everblades in net stopping 23 of 25 shots, raising his record to 8-6-2. Florida Special Teams: PP: 0-for-5; PK: 2-for-3.

Saturday, March 5 vs. Lousiana IceGators 4-1 Win

The Everblades won their fifth game against the Louisiana Ice Gators this season with a 4-1 victory at Germain Arena on Saturday night. The Everblades picked up three second period goals en-route to their fifth win in their last seven games. Ryan Brindley opened the scoring with his seventh goal of the season at 4:59 of the first period on the power play. Florida held that 1-0 lead into the second period when they erupted for three goals to open a 4-0 lead after two periods. Greg Hornby, Damian Surma and Reggie Berg each scored the in the second period for the Everblades. Hornby's second professional goal came just 2:07 into the middle period from a sharp angle at the bottom of the right circle. Surma followed that with a good wrist shot from the left circle at 6:02. Surma's goal chased Louisiana starting goaltender Nathan Marsters after allowing three goals on 15 shots. The Everblades cashed in with their last goal of the period when Berg scooped up a rebound off goalie Kyle Kettles and dumped the puck into the upper right corner of the net for the 4-0 lead. Louisiana picked up their only tally of the night in the closing moments of the contest with a power play goal at 16:07 of the third. Tyler MacKay finished out the night stopping 25 of 26 shots to improve his record to 9-6-2 overall, and 9-2-2 since joining the Everblades. Marsters suffered the loss for Louisiana knocking his record to 14-23-4. Florida Special Teams: PP: 1-for-1; PK: 1-for-2.

Sunday, March 6 vs. Lousiana IceGators 4-2 Win

The Everblades won their third straight game with a 4-2 victory over the Louisiana IceGators Sunday night at Germain Arena. The win allowed the Everblades to close out the season a perfect 6-0-0 vs. Louisiana. The Everblades collected two power play goals in the contest, including one by Simon Tremblay with just 1:16 remaining in regulation to snap a 2-2 tie. Tremblay's eventual game-winner came after Louisiana goaltender Kyle Kettles was whistled for a slashing penalty at 18:23 of the third period. Prior to that, the teams battled to a 2-2 tie after the first two periods, with each team netting a goal in each the first and second periods. The IceGators opened the scoring midway through the first period. The Everblades answered back with a pair of goals by Kris Vernarsky. Vernarsky's first of the night and 13th of the season came at 14:24 of the first period on the power play. He followed that up by notching his 14th of the year just 1:43 into the second period, giving Florida their first lead of the night. However, Louisiana battled back to tie the game at two in the final two minutes of the second period. Florida sealed the win with an empty-net goal by Brent McDonald with one second remaining in the game. MacKay (10-6-2) earned the win stopping 16 of 18 shots against, and Kettles (4-8-2) suffered the tough-luck loss after stopping 47 of 50 shots. The win improved the Everblades to 4-0-1 in their last five home games. Florida Special Teams: PP: 2-for-5; PK: 3-for-3.

EVERBLADES ITINERARY:
Monday, Mar. 7: No practice; Golf Tournament
Tuesday, Mar. 8: OFF DAY
Wednesday, Mar. 9: Practice, 10:00 a.m. @ Germain Arena
Thursday, Mar. 10: Travel to Mississippi
Friday, Mar. 11: GAME vs. Mississippi, 8:35 p.m. @ Mississippi Coast Coliseum
Saturday, Mar. 12: GAME vs. Mississippi, 7:30 p.m. @ Germain Arena
Sunday, Mar. 13: OFF DAY

2004-05 EVERBLADES REGULAR SEASON NUMBERS

Quick Stats
Overall Record 33-17-8
Home Record 17-8-5
Road Record 16-9-3
Overtime Record 2-4
Shootout Record 6-4
Power Play 40-261 (22nd)
Penalty Kill 181-225 (25th)

Leading Scorers
Damian Surma 26-24-50
Brad Church 21-27-48
Matt Hendricks 23-24-47
Reggie Berg 14-27-41
Brent McDonald 17-23-40
Steve Saviano 8-31-39

Leading Goaltenders
Tyler MacKay 2.46 GAA, 10-6-2
Rob Zepp 2.82 GAA, 10-8-1
Craig Kowalski 2.84 GAA, 13-6-5
Terry Dunbar 3.03 GAA, 0-1-0

Plus/Minus Leaders
Brad Church +24
Damian Surma +19
Tim O'Connell +18
Matt Pagnutti +11

Weekly Award Nominee: This week's Everblades Player of the Week nominee is Reggie Berg, who notched seven points in four games this past week. Berg collected three goals and four assists, while posting a plus-2 rating. This week's Goaltender of the Week nominee for the Everblades is Tyler MacKay who was a perfect 3-0-0 with a 1.67 GAA in his three games played this past week, all against Louisiana.

Roster Changes: The Everblades have seen a few changes to the roster heading into this weekend's action. Defenseman Tim Branham was placed on the 7-day IR, and d-man Brad Fast, who had played in just two games with the Everblades this past week, was re-called to Lowell of the AHL on 3/5. In addition, the Everblades saw the return of defenseman Shane Hnidy to the lineup last Saturday night. Hnidy had missed 23 games because of immigration issues.

Who's Hot: Everblades forward Reggie Berg has earned point in four straight games (3g, 4a)...Brent McDonald has now picked up points in eight of the last ten games (3g, 9a)...Steve Saviano has 10 points (3g, 7a) in the last nine games...Ryan Brindley has notched points in four of the last six games (4g, 2a)...David Lundbohm has scored 11 points (5g, 6a) in the last ten games...Tim O'Connell has earned points in three of the last four games (1g, 2a) and is a plus-8 in the last five games...Kris Vernarsky has picked up points in seven of the last ten games (4g, 7a)...Brad Church has collected a point in four of the last five games (1g, 4a)...Damian Surma has seven points in the last five games (2g, 5a)...goaltender Tyler MacKay has won his last five starts.

The Comforts of Home!: The Everblades have utilized the home-ice advantage of late. Florida has gone 4-0-1 in its last five games at Germain Arena. The only hiccup in that span was a 5-4 shootout loss to Pensacola. The Everblades last regulation loss on home ice came on Feb. 1 vs. Augusta, when they fell 4-2. However, if you look even further back, the 'Blades are 9-1-4 in their last 14 home games, giving them 22 of a possible 28 points in that stretch.

Frequent Buser Miles: The Everblades recently completed their last long road trip of the season. The 'Blades finished an impressive 4-1-1 on their six-game, 11-day road trip, which took them from Pensacola to Texas, then back to Louisiana and Mississippi. During the trip, the Everblades outscored their opponents 27-15. Since beginning the season 2-5-0 on the road, the Everblades have posted a 13-4-3 record away from Germain Arena over the past 3 ½ months.

Special Teams Breakdown: Here's a look at the breakdown of the Everblades special teams. Power Play: Overall: 40-for-261 (15.3%, 22nd in ECHL). At home: 28-for-149 (18.8%, 10th in ECHL). On the Road: 12-for-112 (10.7%, 28th in ECHL). Penalty Kill: Overall: 181-for-225 (80.4%, 25th in ECHL). At home: 95-for-117 (81.2%, 23rd in ECHL). On the Road: 86-for-108 (79.6%, 23rd in ECHL).

Record Setting Night: In Florida's 6-2 win over Louisiana on March 3, the Everblades scored three goals in a span of 1:01 midway through the second period. The three-goal barrage by the Everblades set an all-time franchise record for the fastest three goals. The previous mark was set on Oct. 13, 2000 at New Orleans, when the Everblades scored three times in a span of 1:16. The three-goals in 1:01 also set a franchise record for Louisiana as the fastest three scored against. Their previous mark was in 1999 when they allowed three goals in 3:16.

Approaching Milestones: A few Everblades players are closing in on milestones, here's a look at who's doing what: Jared Newman is five games from skating in his 100th professional game... Brent McDonald is 23 points away from scoring his 200th career point... Ryan Brindley needs to play in seven more games to hit the 400 games played plateau in his career...Bryce Charpentier is only two games shy of his 100th career professional game...Damian Surma is five games shy of playing in his 200th professional game and is three points away from his 100th career point.

Ticket Information: The Germain Arena box office 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. Individual tickets can be purchased at the Germain Arena Box Office or at any TicketMaster location. To order tickets by phone, call (239) 334-3309. For season tickets, flex packs, or group rates, call the Everblades at (239) 948-7825.

Everblades On the Air: The 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. The Florida Lottery pre-game show begins 25 minutes prior to the drop of the puck!

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ECHL Stories from March 7, 2005


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