ECHL Florida Everblades

Everblades Weekly

Published on March 31, 2008 under ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release


ESTERO, FL - The Florida Everblades completed this past week with a 1-2-0 record. The Everblades enter this week's action with a record of 36-24-8 (80 pts., 4th, South Division.)

UPCOMING GAMES (All times Eastern)

Tuesday, April 1 vs. Pensacola Ice Pilots Game Time: 7:30 p.m. The Everblades continue their season-ended six-game home stand on Tuesday against Pensacola. The game is the 11th and final meeting between the South Division rivals, and the fifth at Germain Arena. The Everblades hold a 6-1-3 record vs. Pensacola this season and in the most recent meeting between the clubs, the Everblades earned a 3-0 win on Mar. 2 at Pensacola. At home this season the Everblades are 3-1-0 vs. Pensacola. So far in the season series, the Everblades have out-scored the Ice Pilots 34-22. Pensacola enters this week's action with a record of 19-41-9 (47 pts., 9th South Division). The Everblades have an all-time record of 51-14-13 vs. Pensacola and are 27-5-4 all-time at home vs. the Ice Pilots.

Friday & Saturday, April 4 & 5 vs. Texas Wildcatters Game Times: 7:30 p.m. (Both Games) The Everblades renew their rivalry with the Texas Wildcatters this weekend to wrap up the regular season. The games are the ninth and tenth between the teams this season. Texas has won seven of the eight meetings between the clubs this year, giving the Everblades a record of 1-5-2 vs. the Wildcatters. Florida's lone win in the season series came in a shootout during the teams' first meeting on Oct. 27 at Texas. The most recent meeting between the clubs resulted in a 4-1 Texas win on Feb. 2 at Texas. The Wildcatters enter this week's action sporting the league's best record of 52-7-11 (115 pts., 1st South Division) and are one win away from securing the Brabham Cup and setting an all-time ECHL record for the most points by one team in a season. The Everblades hold an all-time record of 7-13-2 vs. Texas and are 3-6-1 all-time at home vs. the Wildcatters.

Promotions:

Tuesday, April 1: Team card set #3 giveaway! The first 2,500 fans will receive the third and final set of Everblades trading cards courtesy of GHP Sport and www.ghpsport90daychallange.com.

Friday, April 4: "Green In the Rink!" Go Green with the Florida Everblades and help the Conservancy of Southwest Florida! The Everblades will don the green jersey's and will be using green sticks that will be auctioned off after the game! A portion of the proceeds raised through the stick auction and the ticket sales will go to the Conservancy.

Saturday, April 5: "Fan Appreciation Night!" A bevy of cool giveaway items to the fans who attend the final regular season home game!

LAST WEEK'S GAMES

Wednesday, March 26 vs. Gwinnett Gladiators 5-4 Loss The Everblades fell just short against the Gladiators on Wednesday night at Germain Arena. The Everblades held a 4-2 lead midway through the third period, but Gwinnett reeled off three goals in the final 10 minutes to engineer the come-from-behind win. Scoring for the Everblades were: Mathieu Melanson, Preston Callander, Derek Damon and Brad Zancanaro. In goal Kevin Nastiuk suffered the loss after allowing the five goals on 24 shots. Florida Special Teams: PP: 1-for-7; PK: 5-for-7.

Friday, March 28 vs. Gwinnett Gladiators 4-1 Win The Everblades and the Gladiators engaged in a brawl filled contest on Friday night that saw three line brawls, the starting goaltenders fighting and a combined 274 penalty minutes between the clubs. Scoring wise, the Everblades picked up a hat-trick from Preston Callander and added a fourth goal by Ernie Hartlieb. The Everblades set all-time team records for most penalty minutes by the Everblades in one game (113), most penalty minutes by an opponent in one game (161) and most combined penalty minutes (274). In goal David Shantz started and got the win stopping 16 of 17 shots in the 33:13 he played. Kevin Nastiuk finished off the game by stopping all eight shots he faced in the final 26:47. Florida Special Teams: PP: 1-for-8; PK: 6-for-6.

Saturday, March 29 vs. Gwinnett Gladiators 2-0 Loss The Gladiators finished off the season series against the Everblades with a shutout on Saturday night. Former Everblade goaltender Craig Kowalski improved to 5-0-0 vs. Florida this season with his second shutout of the season. The Everblades were limited to a season-low 18 shots on goal. In net David Shantz played well, but took the tough-luck loss allowing one goal on 31 shots. Florida Special Teams: PP: 0-for-5; PK: 5-for-5.

WEEKLY SCHEDULE: Monday, March 31 Practice, 10:00 a.m. @ Germain Arena Tuesday, April 1 Pre-Game Skate, 10:00 a.m. @ Germain Arena GAME vs. Pensacola Ice Pilots, 7:30 p.m. @ Germain Arena Wednesday, April 2 Practice, 10:00 a.m. @ Germain Arena Thursday, April 3 Practice, 10:00 a.m. @ Germain Arena Friday, April 4 Pre-Game skate, 10:00 a.m. @ Germain Arena GAME vs. Texas Wildcatters, 7:30 p.m. @ Germain Arena Saturday, April 5 Pre-Game Skate, 10:00 a.m. @ Germain Arena GAME vs. Texas Wildcatters, 7:30 p.m. @ Germain Arena Sunday, April 6 OFF DAY

2007-08 EVERBLADES REGULAR SEASON NUMBERS Quick Stats Overall Record 36-25-8 Home Record 23-7-3 Road Record 13-18-5 Overtime Record 1-4 Shootout Record 4-4 Power Play 67-389 (14th) Penalty Kill 359-415 (3rd)

Leading Scorers Derek Damon 24-47-71 Ernie Hartlieb 24-38-62 Mathieu Melanson 28-30-58 Preston Callander 22-31-53 David Cornacchia 8-32-40

Leading Goaltenders Justin Peters 2.57 GAA, 18-10-2 David Shantz 2.59 GAA, 10-5-3 Kevin Nastiuk 2.60 GAA, 4-5-2 Tyler Plante 2.81 GAA, 4-5-1

Plus/Minus Leaders

Kirk MacDonald +23 Ernie Hartlieb +19 Preston Callander +19 Mathieu Melanson +14

Player of the Week Nominees: The week's Everblades player of the week nominee is Preston Callander who picked up six points (4g, 2a) in three games this past week, including registering his second career hat-trick. This week's goalie of the week nominee is David Shantz who was 1-1-0 but had a 1.29 goals against average.

Special Teams Breakdown: Here's a look at the special teams of the Everblades and how it breaks down overall, home and away: Power play: 67-for-389 (17.2%) which ranks the Everblades 14th in the ECHL. At home the Everblades are 41-for-193 (21.2%) which ranks 7th, and on the road the Everblades are 26-for-196 (13.3%) which ranks 21st. Penalty Kill: 359-for-415 (86.5%) which ranks the Everblades 3rd in the league. At home the 'Blades are 176-for-196 (89.9%) which is 1st in the league and on the road the Everblades have killed off 183 of 219 (83.6%) chances against them which ranks 7th.

Who's Hot!: Here's a look at who's hot for the Blades entering this week: G David Shantz is 7-2-2 in his last 11 starts...F Derek Damon has points in 13 of the last 16 games (7g, 17a) and has points in 22 of his last 27 games (10g, 26a)...F Ernie Hartlieb has picked up points in 12 of the last 16 games (7g, 8a)...F Preston Callander has notched a point in 12 of the last 14 games (9g, 10a).

Put 'em Up!: The Everblades set three all-time team records in the penalty minute category during their 4-1 win over Gwinnett on March 28 at Germain Arena. The game featured the team's locking horns for three separate line brawls in the second and third periods. The Everblades set new records for: Most penalty minutes in one game with 113, breaking the previous mark of 79 set in 2003; Most penalty minutes in one game by an opponent as Gwinnett amassed 161, erasing the previous mark of 103 by Jackson in 2003; Most penalty minutes combined in one game with an eye-popping 274, shattering the previous high of 173 set on Feb. 8, 2003 vs. Jackson.

Home Ice Watch: The Everblades are closing in on locking up home-ice in the first round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs. If the Everblades win one more game and that is combined with a loss or a tie by the Charlotte Checkers, that will clinch fourth place for the Everblades in the standings and thus give them home ice in the best-of-five first round series.

Playoff Tickets: 2008 Kelly Cup Playoff tickets have gone on sale for the first Everblades home game. Tickets for Game "A" are on sale now at the Germain Arena box office or by logging on to www.ticketmaster.com or by calling TicketMaster at 239-334-3309. The date for Game "A" is yet to be determined. The 2008 Kelly Cup Playoffs begin the week of April 7.

Everblades 10th Anniversary Season: 2007-08 marks the 10th Anniversary of the Florida Everblades. In their first nine years the Everblades have compiled a record of 379-198-67 in 644 games...the team has never missed the playoffs in their history, and currently have the longest current streak in the ECHL of consecutive playoff appearances...the Everblades have advanced to the Conference Finals three times in the last four years, and made back-to-back appearances in the Kelly Cup Finals in 2004 & 2005...the team has on Brabham Cup title to its name after finishing with the ECHL's best regular season record in 1999-2000, and the club has won two division titles (1999-2000 & 2006-07).

Ticket Information: Experience the excitement of the Everblades 10th Anniversary season! Individual tickets to all Everblades home games are on sale now! Stop by the Germain Arena box office to reserve your seat for all the exciting action! Visit www.floridaeverblades.com and www.germainarena.com for more information on ticket packages, pricing and upcoming Germain Arena events.

On the Air: Everblades games, home and away, can be heard on SportsRadio 770 ESPN and via the internet courtesy of Waterman Broadcasting by logging on to www.abc-7.com/sports. In addition, Everblades games can be viewed via the internet thanks to B2 Networks by logging on to www.b2live.com. Join the voice of the Everblades Kevin Reiter as he calls all the action! The Everblades pre-game show begins 20 minutes prior to game time.

Check out the Florida Everblades Statistics

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