Final week to decide playoff fate of Ice and Blackhawks
Published on March 21, 2006 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Indiana Ice News Release
THE FINAL WEEK: With the Ice's 5-4 win over Waterloo on Sunday, Indy holds a two-point lead over the Black Hawks for the fourth and final playoff berth in the USHL's East Division. Both teams have three games left in the regular season with the Ice hitting the road for three with a Tuesday trip to Chicago and a two-game trek to Sioux City on the weekend. The Black Hawks play at Lincoln Tuesday and close out the regular season with a home and home series with Des Moines. If the two teams tie at the conclusion of the regular season, Waterloo would earn the playoff spot with a better head to head record against Indiana. Waterloo went 4-3-0 against Indy, while the Ice was 3-3-1 against the Black Hawks.
ONE-GOAL AFFAIRS: Close games have been playing to the Ice's favor as the team has won eight consecutive one-goal games dating back to a 3-2 win over Chicago on 2/11/06. Overall, Indiana is an impressive 14-5-5 in one-goal affairs, including an 11-3-2 mark at home and 3-2-3 clip on the road.
"MACKER" AND "KEMPER": With their high-scoring teammate Garrett Roe missing the last three games to injury, the duo of Todd McIlrath and John Kemp have had to pick up the slack offensively. McIlrath has points in seven of his last eight games which includes 11 points (7G, 4A) and three multiple goal games. Kemp continues his role of playmaker with nine assists in his last five games which has catapulted him into a tie for second in the USHL in assists with 45 on the season.
PLAYER NOTES: Todd McIlrath leads all Ice players with five multiple goal games, while Eddie Del Grosso leads the team with eight games of three-or-more points....Lukas Klimek has three points (G, 2A) in his last two games...Steve Jakiel has been the goaltender in the Ice's last seven wins...Garrett Roe (5G, 5A) and John Kemp (G, 8A) lead the Ice in scoring against Chicago, while Jakiel and Cody Reichard each have two wins between the pipes...McIlrath and Roe lead Indiana in scoring against Sioux City with four points apiece, while Jakiel has both wins in net.
TEAM NOTES: The Ice is 4-2-0 this year against Chicago and 2-1-0 against Sioux City....Indiana is 6-4-0 in the month of March...The Ice has registered a power play goal in eight of their last nine games.
THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE SEASON RECORD: 24-28-5
Tuesday, March 21 at Chicago 8:30 p.m.
Friday, March 24 at Sioux City 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 25 at Sioux City 8:00 p.m.
VENUE: All home games played at the Pepsi Coliseum, unless otherwise noted.
RADIO: Tuesday's and Friday's games will air on ESPN 950 AM, while Saturday's game will be aired on Gold 95.9 FM.
PRACTICE: TBD
United States Hockey League Stories from March 21, 2006
- Sioux Falls Drops Riders 5-2 - Cedar Rapids RoughRiders
- Parse among Hobey Baker's Top Ten - Tri-City Storm
- Obermeyer commits to Robert Morris University - Tri-City Storm
- USHL weekly - USHL
- Gamblers drop pair at home to Lancers - Green Bay Gamblers
- Final week to decide playoff fate of Ice and Blackhawks - Indiana Ice
- Stampede close out regular season at home - Sioux Falls Stampede
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