ECHL Florida Everblades

Everblades Weekly

March 9, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Florida Everblades News Release


ESTERO, FL - The Florida Everblades wrapped up their five-game home stand in perfect fashion after taking a pair of games from the Mississippi Sea Wolves. Overall the Everblades still enter this week with the league's best record at 40-16-3 (83 pts., 1st South Division).

THIS WEEK (All Times Eastern)

Friday & Saturday, March 13 & 14 at Mississippi Sea Wovles Both Games: 8:05 p.m.

GAME NOTES: The Everblades continue their four-game set with the Sea Wolves with a pair of games at Mississippi. The two games are the 9th & 10th of 12 between the teams this season and are the 3rd & 4th of four at The Mississippi Coast Coliseum. So far this season the Everblades are a perfect 8-0-0 vs. Mississippi and have outscored the Sea Wolves 33-13. The Sea Wolves enter this week with an overall record of 24-27-7 (55 pts., 5th, South Division). The Everblades hold an all-time record of 31-7-1 and are 10-5-0 all-time at Mississippi.

Sunday, March 15 at Gwinnett Gladiators 4:05 p.m.

GAME NOTES: The Everblades finish off their second to last road trip on Sunday afternoon in Gwinnett. The game is the 12th of 13 between the two teams this season and the eighth and final at Gwinnett. The Everblades hold an 8-3-0 record vs. Gwinnett this season and are 5-2-0 on the road vs. the Gladiators. The last time the teams met Gwinnett picked up a 6-3 win over the Everblades on Feb. 22 in Gwinnett. The Gladiators enter this week's action with a record of 26-25-6 (58 pts., 4th, South Division). The Everblades hold an all-time record of 22-22-6 vs. Gwinnett and are 11-14-1 all-time on the road vs. the Gladiators.

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Friday, March 6 vs. Mississippi Sea Wolves 3-1 Win

The Everblades pushed their winning streak to four straight with a solid effort in their 3-1 win on Friday night. After the teams played to a scoreless first period, the Everblades opened the scoring midway through the second on a power play goal by Mark Lee. The Everblades extended their lead to 2-0 early in the third period on Ernie Hartlieb's 16th goal and Doug O'Brien added further insurance with an empty net goal with 1:10 remaing. Mississippi's lone goal on David Leggio came with 59 seconds remaining in regulation. Overall Leggio stopped 18 of 19 shots. Florida Special Teams: PP: 2-of-8; PK: 5-of-5.

Saturday, March 7 vs. Mississippi Sea Wolves 4-1 Win

The Everblades locked up a playoff spot in the 2009 Kelly Cup Playoffs by handing the Sea Wolves a 4-1 loss on Saturday night. Like Friday's game, the game was scoreless after one period, but Peter Metcalf put the Everblades up 1-0 late in the second period. The Sea Wolves tied the game in the first minute of the third period with a short-handed goal, but goals by Mathieu Roy and Patrick Bordeleau in a two and a half minute span before the midpoint of the frame put the Blades on the verge of clinching the playoff spot. Steve McJannet sealed the win with an empty net marker in the closing moments. In goal David Leggio finished off a strong home stand by winning his fifth straight after stopping 23 of 24 shots. Florida Special Teams: PP: 0-of-1; PK: 4-of-4.

EVERBLADES ITINERARY: (all times eastern)

Monday, Mar. 9: OFF DAY

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

Wednesday, Mar. 11: Practice, 10:00 a.m. @ Germain Arena

Thursday, Mar. 12: Travel to Mississippi

Friday, Mar. 13: GAME vs. Mississippi Sea Wolves, 8:05 p.m. @ Mississippi Coast Coliseum

Saturday, Mar. 14: GAME vs. Mississippi Sea Wolves, 8:05 p.m. @ Mississippi Coast Coliseum

Sunday, Mar. 15: GAME vs. Gwinnett Gladiators, 4:05 p.m. @ The Arena at Gwinnett Center

2008-09 EVERBLADES REGULAR SEASON NUMBERSQuick Stats

Overall Record 40-16-3

Home Record 22-7-0

Road Record 18-9-3

Overtime Record 2-1

Shootout Record 1-2

Power Play 84-393 (3rd)

Penalty Kill 341-391 (2nd)

Leading Scorers

Kevin Baker 47-38-85

Peter Metcalf 8-41-49

Ernie Hartlieb 16-29-45

Ryan Lang 16-26-42

Mathieu Roy 20-21-41

Danick Bouchard 18-19-37

Leading Goaltenders

David Leggio 2.24 GAA, 22-6-1

Anton Khudobin 2.71 GAA, 18-10-1

Plus/Minus Leaders

Colin Nicholson +15

Ryan McGinnis +13

Ryan Lang +12

Ernie Hartlieb +11

Goalie of the Week Nominees: This week's Goaltender of the Week nominee is David Leggio who was a perfect 2-0-0 with a 1.00 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: 84-of-393 (21.4%) which ranks the Everblades 3rd in the ECHL. At home the Everblades are 33-of-185 (17.8%) which ranks 10th. On the road the Everblades are 51-of-208 (24.5%) which ranks 1st in the league. Penalty Kill: 341-of-391 (87.2%) which ranks the Everblades 2nd in the ECHL. At home the 'Blades are 170-of-198 (85.9%) which is 4th. On the road the Everblades have killed off 171-of-193 (88.6%) which ranks 1st in the league.

The Streak Continues!: With their 4-1 win over Mississippi on Saturday night the Everblades punched their ticket for the 2009 Kelly Cup Playoffs, keeping the club's streak of playoff appearances perfect at 11-for-11! The Blades hold the longest current streak of consecutive playoff appearances in the ECHL and are closing in on South Carolina's 14 straight appearances for the overall top spot. The Everblades were the first team in the ECHL to clinch this year.

Next On The List: With a playoff spot locked up, the next item on the Blades' list is sealing up home ice advantage in the best-of-seven first-round division playoffs. The Everblades currently hold first place with 83 points which puts their magic number to clinch home ice in the opening round is four. Any combination of four Blades wins or four losses by Charlotte and Gwinnett will mean three of the five teams in the division would no longer be able to catch them in the standings, thus assuring home ice in the first round. To clinch home ice throughout the Divisional rounds the Everblades magic number is six meaning South Carolina would no longer be able to catch them. Looking further ahead, to lock up home ice through the Conference Finals, the Blades magic number is seven meaning Cincinnati would not be able get as many points in the standings as the Everblades. As it standing entering this week's action if the teams in questions won all their remaining game the most points they could gather is as follows: Gwinnett (88), Charlotte (90), South Carolina (93), Cincinnati (95).

Single Season Records in Danger!: There are a few Everblades' all-time single season records that are in danger of falling. Kevin Baker, who has already set Everblades single-season records for goals (47) and power play goals (22) sees his 85 points within striking distance of the Everblades single-season points record which is also held by Brian McCullough and Tom Buckley at 87...Baker is also on pace to set the single-season record for game winning goals. He has 10, which also leads the ECHL, and the record is 11. The fall of the single-season shots on goal record is imminent as well. Baker enters this week's action game with 278 and the current record held by Buckely is 287 ...Ryan Lang is one short-handed goal away from tying for the top spot for most one in year with four...goaltenders David Leggio and Anton Khudobin are both currently second in single season history with four shutouts, one off the pace of Jeff Maund (2003-04) and Marc Magliarditi (1998-99) for the top spot.

Countdown to 50: Everblades captain Kevin Baker needs only three goals to become the first player to score 50 goals in the ECHL since 2000-01. The 47 goals are a career best for Baker, who had 36 goals in 62 games for Texas in 2006-07, and break the team record of 40 goals by Brian McCullough in 2003-04. Andrew Williamson of Toledo led the league in 2000-01 with 52 goals in 66 games and in 1999-2000 with 63 goals in 63 games. There have been 41 players in ECHL history who have scored 50 goals. The most goals in the last seven seasons was 49 by Chris Minard of Alaska in 2004-05. The ECHL record is 85 goals by Trevor Jobe of Nashville in 1992-93.

Who's Hot: Here's a look at who's been playing well for the Everblades of late: F Kevin Baker has picked up points in 19 of the last 21 games (17g, 16a)...F Mathieu Roy has a point in 13 of the last 17 games (9g, 10a)...F Mark Lee has had a point in four straight games and five of the last six (2g, 4a)...G David Leggio has won five straight starts posting an impressive 1.60 GAA.

Individual League Leaders: The Everblades' players and team find themselves at or near the top of the ECHL in several statistical categories. Kevin Baker is leading the league in several categories, beginning with his 85 points, he's also leading the league in goals scored with 47, power play goals scored with 22, power play points with 41 and game winning goals with 10...Danick Bouchard leads all rookies with six game-winning goals...defensively Peter Metcalf is first in scoring among all blue liners with 49 points and is second among all d-men with 41 assists. He is also second in power play assists and points with 23 and 29 respectively...goaltending wise, both Anton Khudobin and David Leggio are among the top 10 goalies. Leggio ranks first with his 2.24 GAA and Khudobin is ranked ninth with his 2.71 GAA. Both are also second in the league with four shutouts.

Coach's Show: The Everblades coach's show Blades Talk will have it's next episode air on Tuesday, March 10 from 7-8 p.m. Fans can join the voice of the Everblades Kevin Reiter and head coach Malcolm Cameron live at J. Daniels Bar & Grill in Ft. Myers for the show! The show can also be heard live on 770 ESPN Radio and via the internet at www.floridaeverblades.com or www.abc-7.com.

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



ECHL Stories from March 9, 2009


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