ECHL Florida Everblades

Everblades Weekly

Published on January 5, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release


ESTERO, FL - The Florida Everblades finished off this past week going 2-1-0 in three games with the Charlotte Checkers. Overall the Everblades enter this week with a record of 21-8-2 (44 pts., 1st South Division).

THIS WEEK (All Times Eastern)

Friday & Saturday, January 9 & 10 vs. Mississippi Sea Wolves Both Games: 7:30 p.m.

GAME NOTES: The Everblades continue their four-game home stand this weekend with a pair of games against Mississippi. The last time the teams met, the Everblades swept a four-game set from the Sea Wolves, two at Mississippi and a pair at home. The games this weekend are the fifth and sixth of 12 total meetings between the South Division rivals this year and the third and fourth of eight at Germain Arena. The Sea Wolves enter this week's action with a record of 15-16-3 (33pts., 4th, South Division). The Everblades hold an all-time record of 27-7-1 vs. Mississippi and are 17-2-1 all-time at home vs. the Sea Wolves.

PROMOTIONS & COMMUNITY APPEARANCES:

Wednesday, January 7: Everblades players will be appearing at IMPACT of Ft. Myers from 2:30 - 3:30 p.m. IMPACT is an organization that helps kids with special needs. The Everblades players will be interacting with the kids, including playing some street hockey with them on Wednesday.

Saturday, Janaury 10: College Alumni Night! Show your school pride, and wear your school colors out to the game!

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Wednesday, December 31 vs. Charlotte Checkers 5-1 Loss

The Everblades suffered their third consecutive loss on Wednesday and second straight to Charlotte, 5-1. Although the Everblades scored first on an Andrew Sweetland goal midway though the second period, the Checkers burned the Everblades for five third period goals for their fifth straight win. Everblades goaltender Anton Khudobin suffered the loss allowing the five goals on 23 shots. Florida Special Teams: PP: 0-of-6; PK: 6-of-7.

Friday, January 2 vs. Charlotte Checkers 6-3 Win

The Everblades rang in the new year in solid fashion snapping their three game skid with a 6-3 victory on Friday night. Florida parlayed third first period goals and four power play goals overall into their 20th win of the season. Six different players chipped in with the goals as Colin Nicholson, Kevin Baker, Ross Carlson, Ryan Lang, Mark Lee and Steve McJannet all tallied. In goal David Leggio collected the win by stopping 31 of 34 shots. Florida Special Teams: PP: 4-of-9; PK: 12-of-13

Saturday, January 3 vs. Charlotte Checkers 4-2 Win

The Everblades picked up their third win of the year over Charlotte with a 4-2 effort on Saturday night. The Everblades again burned Charlotte for three first period goals, all coming in the first 10 minutes of the game. Kevin Baker scored the first two and Danick Bouchard added the third, which chased Charlotte's starting goalie Maxime Daigneault from the game. Bouchard added a second goal in the second period between two Charlotte tallies. David Leggio notched his second straight win by turning away 35 of 37 shots. Florida Special Teams: PP: 1-of-6; PK: 8-of-9.

EVERBLADES ITINERARY: (all times eastern)

Monday, Jan. 5: Off Ice workout, Noon @ Germain Arena

Tuesday, Jan. 6: Practice, 10:00 a.m. @ Germain Arena

Wednesday, Jan. 7: Practice, 10:00 a.m. @ Germain Arena

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

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

GAME vs. Mississippi Sea Wolves, 7:30 p.m. @ Germain Arena

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

GAME vs. Mississippi Sea Wolves, 7:30 p.m. @ Germian Arena

Sunday, Jan. 11: OFF DAY

2008-09 EVERBLADES REGULAR SEASON NUMBERSQuick Stats

Overall Record 21-8-2

Home Record 10-5-0

Road Record 11-3-1

Overtime Record 2-1

Shootout Record 1-1

Power Play 50-209 (1st)

Penalty Kill 189-217 (4th)

Leading Scorers

Kevin Baker 26-19-45

Yannick Tifu 6-22-28

Ernie Hartlieb 11-16-27

Ryan Lang 10-17-27

Peter Metcalf 3-22-25

Danick Bouchard 13-9-22

Leading Goaltenders

David Leggio 2.48 GAA, 10-3-1

Anton Khudobin 2.73 GAA, 11-5-1

Plus/Minus Leaders

Ernie Hartlieb +11

Ross Carlson +9

Colin Nicholson +8

Doug O'Brien +8

Player & Goaltender of the Week Nominees: This week's Player of the Week nominee is Kevin Baker who registered three goals in three games and this week's Goaltender of the Week nominee is David Leggio who was 2-0-0 with a 2.50 GAA.

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: 50-of-209 (23.9%) which ranks the Everblades 1st in the ECHL. At home the Everblades are 15-of-91 (16.5%) which ranks 9th. On the road the Everblades are 35-of-118 (29.7%) which ranks 1st in the league. Penalty Kill: 189-of-217 (87.0%) which ranks the Everblades 5th in the ECHL. At home the 'Blades are 91-of-108 (84.3%) which is 9th. On the road the Everblades have killed off 98-of-109 (89.9%) which ranks 1st in the league.

Carolina Hurricanes Jerseys: The white Carolina Hurricanes jersey the Everblades wore on January 3 in Florida's "NHL Game" with Charlotte, who wore N.Y. Rangers jerseys, are being auctioned off on-line. Fans can start bidding on the game-worn jersey's at 4:00 p.m. on January 5. Those interested can visit www.floridaeverblades.com and click on the home page story about the auction. The jerseys featured a patch for Autism Speaks and part of the proceeds will benefit Autism research in SW Florida.

Seeing Stars!: Three Everblade players will be representing the team for the American Conference at the 2009 ECHL All-Star Game. The league announced that forward Kevin Baker, who leads the ECHL in scoring, will make his second All-Star Game appearance and rookie defenseman Aaron Brocklehurst and rookie goaltender David Leggio will be joining Baker at the annual mid-season showcase. The ECHL All-Star Game will be played on January 21 at the Sovereign Center in Reading, PA.

A First Time for Everything: On Friday night the Everblades saw the debut of defenseman Noah Babin after he was assigned to the club from the Albany River Rats. Babin who hails from Palm Beach Gardens, FL became the first Florida-born player to dress for the Everblades in the team's 11-year history.

Who's Hot: Here's a look at who's been playing well for the Everblades of late: F Kevin Baker has points in eight of the last ten games (10g, 6a)...F Ryan Lang has 11 points in the last 10 games...D Peter Metcalf has notched a point in six of his last seven games (2g, 9a).

Milestone Night: Everblades forward Mathieu Roy reached a milestone in his career on Friday night by playing in his 100th career game. The 22-year-old began his pro career last season by playing in all 72 games with the Pensacola Ice Pilots. Overall the Amos, Quebec native has 61 points in his 101 games.

Upcoming Milestones: Here are some milestones that Everblades players could reach this upcoming season: With three more goals defenseman Peter Metcalf will reach 50 for his career...forward Ernie Hartlieb is nine games shy of his 500th career game, and finds himself eight points away from reaching 200 as an Everblade...forward Brad Herauf is 18 games away from playing in his 300th career game...forward Ryan Lang finds himself seven points away from the 200 point mark in his career...forward Mark Lee is 27 games away from the 300...defenseman A.J. Thelen will also reach the 100 games played milestone by playing in 16 more games...defenseman Michael Grenzy is 17 games shy of his 100th career game... defenseman Doug O'Brien finds himself 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 45 points. He is also second in the league in goals scored with 26 and is first in the league in power play goals scored with 13 and is tied for the league lead in power play points with 20...Danick Bouchard is tied for second in the league in game-winning goals with five, which leads all rookies...defensively Peter Metcalf is second in scoring among all blue liners with 25 points and is second among all d-men with 22 assists. He is also fourth in power play assists with 12... goaltending wise, Anton Khudobin is currently tied for the league lead with three shutouts.

Team League Leaders: As a team the Everblades are also at or near the top in several categories: Aiside from the power play and penalty killing numbers above, the Everblades are second in the league in shorthanded goals with eight, while remaining tied for first in the league having allowed only two shorthanded goals against... offensively the Everblades rank third in the league with 123 goals for... the Everblades also rank 2nd in the ECHL in average goals for scoring 3.97 goals per game, while allowing 2.71 goals against, which ranks sixth best.

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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