ECHL Florida Everblades

Everblades Weekly

Published on December 21, 2008 under ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release


ESTERO, FL - The Florida Everblades ended this past week with four straight wins over the Mississippi Sea Wolves to push their record to 19-5-2 (40 pts., 1st South Division).

THIS WEEK (All Times Eastern)

Saturday, December 27 at Gwinnett Gladiators 7:05 p.m.

GAME NOTES: The Everblades meet the Gladiators for the fifth of 13 times this season when the clubs clash on Saturday night at the Arena at Gwinnett Center. The Everblades have won the first four meetings between the clubs, and have shutout the Gladiators the last two times the teams have met. Florida picked up a 5-0 win in the last meeting on Nov. 25 at Gwinnett. The game is the third of eight in Gwinnett between the South Division rivals. Gwinnett enters this week's action with a record of 11-12-4 (26 pts., 5th Soth Division). The Everblades hold an all-time record of 18-19-8 vs. Gwinnett and are 8-12-1 all-time at Gwinnett.

Sunday, December 28 at Charlotte Checkers 4:00 p.m.

GAME NOTES: The Everblades make their first visit to Charlotte this season when the teams meet for the third of 18 games between the clubs. The Everblades split a weekend series at home vs. Charlotte back on opening weekend, Oct. 17 & 18. The game is the first of nine to be played at Charlotte Bobcats Arena. The Checkers enter this week's action with a record of 14-12-2 (30 pts., 3rd South Division).

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Tuesday, December 16 at Mississippi Sea Wolves 9-5 Win

In a rare morning game, the Everblades erased a 3-0 deficit to pick up a 9-5 win at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. After the Sea Wolves opened a 3-0 lead half way through the first period, the EVeblades stormed back scoring the next five goals. Mississippi chipped the lead back to one late in the second period, but the Everblades regained their two goal lead heading into the second intermission. The Everblades then put the game away outscoring the Sea Wolves 3-1 in the final period. Defenseman Peter Metcalf led the way with five points (1g, 4a) as the Everblades picked up goals from eight different players. Colin Nicholson was the only player to score twice as Yannick Tifu, Ryan Lang, Aaron Brocklehurst, A.J. Thelen, Kevin Baker and Danick Bouchard joined Metcalf as single goal scorers. In goal Anton Khudobin started the game but was lifted after allowing three goals in the first 10:17. David Leggio finished out the game and picked up the win after stopping 12 of 14 shots in the remaining 49:43. Florida Special Teams: PP: 4-of-8; PK: 2-of-3.

Wednesday, December 17 at Mississippi Sea Wolves 2-1 OT Win

The Everblades pulled out another come-from-behind win over the Sea Wolves on Wednesday night thanks to Kevin Baker's overtime goal with 30 seconds remaining in the extra period. Mississippi held a 1-0 lead from the tail end of the first period until there was under four minutes left in regulation when Ernie Hartlieb scored to tie the game. In goal David Leggio collected his second straight win by turning away 29 of 30 shots. Florida Special Teams: PP: 0-of-5; PK: 10-of-11.

Friday, December 19 vs. Mississippi Sea Wolves 5-2 Win

Florida returned home to host Mississippi and kept their winning ways going with a 5-2 win. Kevin Baker's two goals and Brad Herauf's first period marker helped stake the Everblades to a 3-0 lead midway through the second period. Mississippi responded with a pair of power play goals to cut the lead to one, but Mathieu Roy finished off the game with two goals, the second coming into the empty net with less than a minute remaining in the third period. In goal Anton Khudobin got back in the win column by turning aside 20 of 22 shots. Florida Special Teams: PP: 1-of-4; PK: 5-of-7.

Saturday, December 20 vs. Mississippi Sea Wolves 5-2 Win

The Everblades finished off their four-game sweep of the Sea Wolves on Saturday night at Germain Arena. For the second consecutive game the Everblades climbed to a 3-0 lead on goals by Peter Metcalf, Colin Nicholson and Andrew Sweetland, but for the second straight night Mississippi answered with the game's next two goals to cut the lead to one. The Everblades regained their two-goal lead with 13 seconds left in the second period on Kevin Baker's 22nd goal of the year. Ryan Lang finished off the scoring just over a minute into the third period. Florida Special Teams: PP: 1-of-4; PK: 5-of-6.

EVERBLADES ITINERARY: (all times eastern)

Monday, Dec. 22: OFF DAY

Tuesday, Dec. 23: OFF DAY

Wednesday, Dec. 24: OFF DAY

Thursday, Dec. 25: OFF DAY

Friday, Dec. 26: Practice, 9:00 a.m. @ Germain Arena

Saturday, Dec. 27: GAME vs. Gwinnett Gladiators, 7:05 p.m. @ The Arena at Gwinnett Center

Sunday, Dec. 28: GAME vs. Charlotte Checkers, 4:00 p.m. @ Charlotte Bobcats Arena

2008-09 EVERBLADES REGULAR SEASON NUMBERS

Quick Stats

Overall Record 19-5-2

Home Record 8-4-0

Road Record 11-1-2

Overtime Record 2-1

Shootout Record 1-1

Power Play 45-175 (1st)

Penalty Kill 148-172 (6th)

Leading Scorers

Kevin Baker 22-19-41

Yannick Tifu 6-22-28

Ernie Hartlieb 11-14-25

Ryan Lang 8-15-23

Peter Metcalf 3-19-22

Jacob Micflikier 9-12-21

Leading Goaltenders

David Leggio 2.22 GAA, 8-2-1

Anton Khudobin 2.39 GAA, 11-3-1

Plus/Minus Leaders

Ernie Hartlieb +13

Ross Carlson +11

Kevin Baker +10

Colin Nichlson +9

Players of the Week Nominees: This week's ECHL Player of the Week nominee is forward Kevin Baker who had an impressive 10 points in four games this past week (5g, 5a) and was a plus-7 rating. This week's Everblades nominee for ECHL Goaltender of the Week is David Leggio who was 3-0-0 in three games with a 1.72 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: 45-of-175 (25.7%) which ranks the Everblades 1st in the ECHL. At home the Everblades are 10-of-70 (14.3%) which ranks 18th. On the road the Everblades are 35-of-105 (33.3%) which ranks 1st in the league. Penalty Kill: 148-of-172 (86.0%) which ranks the Everblades 6th in the ECHL. At home the 'Blades are 65-of-79 (82.3%) which is 11th. On the road the Everblades have killed off 83-of-93 (89.2%) which ranks 3rd in the league.

Road Warriors: The Everblades' busy road schedule continues this weekend. Including this weekend's games at Gwinnett and Charlotte the Everblades will have played 13 of their last 17 games on the road. This however has not be a deterrent to the Everblades as they have impressed on the road, posting an eye-popping 11-1-2 record away from home. In their last 11 road games, the Everblades have gone 9-1-1! In case you're curious, the most road wins the Everblades have ever had in one season is 25 and it was done twice. In 1999-00 the Everblades finished 25-8-2 on the road, and in 2005-06 the Everblades posted a 25-10-1 mark away from Germain Arena.

Who's Hot: Here's a look at who's been playing well for the Everblades of late: F Yannick Tifu has 24 points in the last 15 games (5g, 19a)...F Kevin Baker has points 14 of his last 15 games (16g, 13a)...D Peter Metcalf has collected eight points in the last four games (2g, 6a).

Upcoming Milestones: Here are some milestones that Everblades players could reach this upcoming season: With two more goals defenseman Peter Metcalf will reach 50 for his career...Forward Ernie Hartlieb is 16 games shy of his 500th career game...forward Brad Herauf is 18 games away from playing in his 300th career game...forward Ryan Lang finds himself 11 points away from the 200 point mark in his career...forward Mark Lee is 32 games away from the 300...forward Mathieu Roy will hit the 100 games played mark in his career with three more games played...defenseman A.J. Thelen will also reach the 100 games played milestone by playing in 18 more games...forward Matt Auffrey is one game away from skating in his 100th career game...defenseman Michael Grenzy is 21 games shy of his 100th career game... defenseman Doug O'Brien finds himself one game from skating in his 300th career game and four points away from reaching the century mark.

Individual League Leaders: One third of the way through the season, the Everblades' players and team find themselves at or near the top of the ECHL in several statistical categories. Kevin Baker leads the league in scoring with his 41 points. He is also second in the league in goals scored with 22 and is first in the league in power play goals scored with 11 and tops in power play points with 18... Yannick Tifu is 19th in the ECHL in scoring with his 28 points, but finds himself second in the league in power play points with 16, and is third in power play assists with 12...Danick Bouchard is tied for third in the league in game-winning goals with four, which leads all rookies...defensively Peter Metcalf is second in scoring among all blue liners with 21 points and leads all d-men with 19 assists. He is also tied for second in power play assists with 11... goaltending wise, rookie David Leggio ranks fifth best among all goalies with a 2.22 goals against average...Anton Khudobin isn't far behind ranking ninth best with his 2.39 GAA. Khudobin's 11 wins is tied for third most in the ECHL and his three shutouts is currently tied for the league lead.

Ticket Information: Everblades 2008-09 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.

On the Air: Everblades games, home and away, can be heard on 770 ESPN Radio and via the internet courtesy of Waterman Broadcasting by logging on to www.floridaeverblades.com or 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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