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ECHL Florida Everblades

Everblades Weekly

January 8, 2007 - ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release


ESTERO, FL - The Florida Everblades opened 2007 with a bang, winning both of its games to move into a first place tie with Texas. The Everblades head into this week's action with a record of 22-10-0 (44 pts, T-1st South Div.).

THIS WEEK (All Times Eastern)

Tuesday, January, 9 vs. Charlotte Checkers 7:30 p.m.

GAME NOTES: The Everblades and the Checkers wrap up their three-game set on Tuesday of this week. The game is the sixth of nine between the South Division rivals, and the fifth and final meeting between the teams at Germain Arena. The Everblades lead the season series with a 4-1-0 record, while the Checkers are 1-3-1 vs. the 'Blades this season. The Checkers enter this week's action with a record of 17-14-2 (36 pts., 5th South Div.) The Everblades hold an all-time record of 22-9-2 vs. Charlotte and are 13-2-0 all-time at home vs. the Checkers.

Promotion: The first 2,500 fans will receive Set 2 of the Everblades player cards, courtesy of Jason's Deli.

Friday & Saturday, January, 12 & 13 vs. South Carolina Stingrays Both Games 7:30 p.m.

GAME NOTES: The Everblades host the Stingrays for the third and fourth times this year this weekend. The two previous meetings at Germain Arena between the teams this year, saw each pick up a shutout. South Carolina won 2-0 on Dec. 22 and the Everblades recorded a 4-0 shutout the next night. Overall, the Everblades are 2-1-0 vs. South Carolina this season. The Stingrays enter this week's action with a record of 19-14-2 (40 pts., 4th South Div.) The Everblades hold an all-time record of 34-19-8 vs. South Carolina and are 16-11-5 all-time at home vs. the Stingrays. The Everblades and Stingrays have the longest standing rivalry in Florida's team history. This weekend's games will be the 62nd & 63rd all-time meetings.

Promotion: On Saturday, the first 5,000 fans will receive Thunder Sticks courtesy of McDonalds.

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Friday, January 5 vs. Charlotte Checkers 9-7 W

The Everblades played their wildest game of the season on Friday night when they outlasted the Checkers 9-7. The 'Blades tied an ECHL record with four short handed goals and picked up a hat trick by Reggie Berg. Florida also collected two goals each from Brad Zancanaro, Jon Lehun and Brett Peterson. Both Berg and Zancanaro tallied two short-handed goals each. On the other side, Blake Bellefeuille tallied an impressive four goals for the Checkers and added an assist. Charlotte also picked up goals from Daymen Rycroft, Mike Ouellette, and Kirk DeWaele. The teams combined for an incredible eight second period goals. Goaltending wise, neither starter made it the distance. For the Everblades David Shantz was replaced at the start of the third period by Craig Kowalski and for the Checkers Alex Westlund was also replaced at the start of the third period by Chris Holt. Kowalski got credit for the win and Holt suffered the loss. Florida special teams: PP: 1-for-10, PK: 9-for-10.

Saturday, January 6 vs. Charlotte Checkers 4-3 OTW

The Everblades earned their third come-from-behind win after trailing going into the third period when they upended the Checkers 4-3 in overtime on Saturday night. Reggie Berg tallied the game-winner just 1:04 into the extra session. Overtime was made possible after the 'Blades tallied a pair of goals separated by nine seconds late in the third period. Trailing 3-1, Adam Taylor notched his first since being acquired in a trade with Pensacola to trim the Charlotte lead to one, then nine seconds later rookie defenseman Bret Nasby scored his first professional goal to tie the game. Florida opened the scoring in the first period with a 5-on-3 power play goal by Ryan Van Buskirk. In goal, Craig Kowlaski picked up the win by stopping 32 of 35 shots to raise his record to 13-6-0. Florida special teams: PP: 1-for-11, PK: 9-for-9.

EVERBLADES ITINERARY:

Monday, Jan 8: Practice, 10:00 a.m. @ Germain Arena

Tuesday, Jan. 9: Pre-Game Skate, 10:00 a.m. @ Germain Arena

GAME vs. Charlotte, 7:30 p.m. @ Germain Arena

Wednesday, Jan. 10: Practice, 10:00 a.m. @ Germain Arena

Thursday, Jan. 11: Practice, 10:00 a.m. @ Germain Arena

Friday, Jan. 12: Pre-Game Skate, 10:00 a.m. @ Germain Arena

GAME vs. South Carolina Stingrays, 7:30 p.m. @ Germain Arena

Saturday, Jan. 13: Pre-Game Skate, 10:00 a.m. @ Germain Arena

GAME vs. South Carolina Stingrays, 7:30 p.m. @ Germain Arena

Sunday, Jan. 14: OFF DAY

2006-07 EVERBLADES REGULAR SEASON NUMBERSQuick Stats

Overall Record 22-10-0

Home Record 10-6-0

Road Record 12-4-0

Overtime Record 1-0

Shootout Record 2-0

Power Play 37-240 (16th)

Penalty Kill 200-235 (8th)

Leading Scorers

Reggie Berg 17-19-36

Vince Bellissimo 12-19-31

Brent McDonald 11-17-28

Dustin Johner 12-15-27

Jonathan Lehun 10-8-18

Mike Angelidis 10-8-18

Leading Goaltenders

Craig Kowalski 2.34 GAA, 13-6-0

David Shantz 3.12 GAA, 9-4-0

Plus/Minus Leaders

Brent McDonald +10

Brad Zancanaro +10

Steve Czech +9

David Brine +8

Brett Peterson +8

Player of the Week Nominee: This week's Everblades nominee for ECHL player of the week nominee is Reggie Berg who finished the week with four goals and two assists in two games, including picking up a hat-trick on Friday night.

Special Teams Breakdown: Here's a look at the special teams of the Everblades and how it breaks down home and away: Power play: 37-for-240 (15.4%) which ranks the Everblades 16th in ECHL. At home the Everblades are 15-for-119 (12.6%) which ranks 23rd. On the road the Everblades are 22-for-121 (18.2%) which ranks 7th. Penalty Kill: 200-for-235 (85.1%) which ranks the Everblades 8th in the ECHL. At home the 'Blades are 106-for-125 (84.8%) which is 9th in the league. On the road, Florida is 94-for-110 (85.5%) which is 8th best in the league.

Record Setting Night: The Everblades' 9-7 win over Charlotte on Jan. 5 saw several team records set or matched. The Everblades set all-time team records with four short-handed goals in one game, and with the two teams combining to score 16 goals. The previous high for short-handed goals in one game was two, and had been done seven times in the club's history. The previous mark for most combined goals was 15, which had twice been done before. The Everblades also tied all-time team records for most goals in one period with five. It was the sixth time in team history that had been accomplished. Finally, the Everblades tied a team record with both teams combining to score eight goals in one period. It was the second time in team history for that marker.

Mad Hatter!: Reggie Berg's hat trick on Jan. 5 vs. Charlotte was the third by an Everblade this season and it was the fifth of Berg's seven-year professional career. The 30-year-old veteran recorded his first career three-goal game in 2001-02, then picked up two hat-trick's during the '03'-04 season before notching his fourth in 2004-05. In 314 career games, Berg now has 142 goals and 314 points.

It's not so bad being Short: The Everblades tied an ECHL record on Jan. 5 when they scored four shorthanded goals in their 9-7 win over the Charlotte Checkers. Reggie Berg and Brad Zancanaro each tallied two of the goals while the 'Blades were down a man in strength. With those four short-handed markers, the Everblades have now scored 13 goals while down a man this year, which is tied for the league lead with Fresno.

Roster Moves: Florida's 9-7 win over the Checkers on Jan. 5 proved to be costly. The Everblades lost four players to injury in that game, two of which were placed on the IR the next day. Forwards Dustin Johner, Vince Bellissimo and Brent McDonald all suffered injures in the game. Of the three, McDonald was placed on the 3-day IR on Jan. 6. In addition, defenseman Chris Dyment suffered an injury and was placed on the 7-day IR. Because of the injuries, the Everblades added forward Ernie Hartlieb off the 3-day IR and saw defenseman Chris Lee returned from Bridgeport of the AHL.

Welcome to town!: On Wednesday, the Everblades completed a trade with the Pensacola Ice Pilots. The 'Blades sent defenseman Niko Tuomi to the Pilots for Florida Panthers prospect, forward Adam Taylor. Taylor has played in 30 total games this year netting four goals and adding 13 assists. The 22-year-old began the season by playing in 15 games with Victoria before being traded to the Ice Pilots in late November, when he skated in 15 games picking up three goals and eight assists.

Who's Hot: F Reggie Berg has points in three straight games (5g, 2a) and 11 of the last 13 games (10g, 11a)...F Vince Bellissimo has tallied 17 points in the last 12 games (6g, 11a)...D Ryan Van Buskirk has notched ten points in the last nine games (1g, 9a)...F Adam Taylor has collected three points (1g, 2a) in his first two games with the Everblades...F Jon Lehun has registered three points (2g, 1a) in the two games since returning from the IR...F Brad Zancanaro has seven points (2g, 5a) in the last two games...G Craig Kowalski has won his last seven of his last eight games played in and has two shutouts in that span.

Milestone Day: Everblades defenseman Ryan Brindley recorded his 200th career assist with his helper on Florida's first goal of the night on Jan. 6 vs. Charlotte. Overall now the nine-year pro has 287 points (86g, 201a) in 467 career games.

Upcoming Milestones: Here are some milestones that Everblades players are approaching in their professional careers: D Ryan Van Buskirk is only four games away from skating in his 300th professional game...F Brad Parsons is five assists shy of his 100th and is 11 goals away from his 50th ...F Brent McDonald is only seven goals away from reaching the 100 mark...D Ryan Brindley is 13 points shy of collecting his 300th ...D Chris Dyment is 14 games shy of his 200th in his career.

Seeing Stars: In addition to Everblades goaltender David Shantz heading to the 2007 ECHL All-Star Game on January 17 in Boise, ID, the league announced that two other members of the Everblades will be heading to the All-Star Game. Head Coach Gerry Fleming was selected as a coach for the American Conference squad. The All-Star appearance for Fleming is his second after coaching in the 2003 ECHL All-Star game. Fleming will join Texas Wildcatters head coach Malcolm Cameron behind the American Conference bench. Also making his second All-Star Game appearance is the voice of the Everblades Kevin Reiter who was selected as a member of the radio broadcast team. Reiter also made his first All-Star Game appearance in 2003.

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 Everblades pre-game show begins 20 minutes before face-off.

Ticket Information: Everblades 2006-07 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.

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