FireAntz announce Beach Night, Welter Player of the Week
March 14, 2007 - SPHL (SPHL)
Fayetteville Marksmen News Release
[FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.] - The FireAntz only have two home games remaining in the regular season and one of them is this Friday night, March 16th at 7:30 pm at the Crown Coliseum. The FireAntz will be hosting the Richmond Renegades on the annual Beach Night brought to you by Miami Subs. There will be the annual "Swimwear Contest", the fan-favorite annual promotion.
The FireAntz are also making a push to surpass their own SPHL attendance record for a single game. If the club surpasses 7,757 in attendance for the Beach Night contest, the club will provide a free ticket to each fan in attendance to the regular season finale, Sunday March 25th at 4pm, against the Knoxville Ice Bears, courtesy of the Crown Center. That Sunday game is Fan Appreciation Night brought to you by Time Warner Cable. Sponge Bob Squarepants will also be in attendance.
Make sure to come out and be a part of history as the FireAntz attempt to set a new single-game attendance record, and if they do, get your free ticket to the regular season finale on Sunday, March 25th.
Josh Welter Wins Player of the Week
Josh Welter of the Fayetteville FireAntz, yesterday , was named the Sherwood Player of the Week in the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL). He becomes the third FireAntz player to win the award in three consecutive weeks, joining linemates Rob Sich (February 26th) and Tim Velemirovich (March 7th).
The Ft. Saskatchewan, Alberta native is the third leading scorer on the FireAntz and is tied for 7th in the SPHL. For the season Welter has 24 goals, 45 assists and 69 points. He is also a +19. Last week, en route to winning Player of the Week honors, Welter tallied 6 goals, 6 assists, 12 points and was +8 in leading the way for the team to winning all three games.
The club has also won 10 in a row. Should the FireAntz win their next contest the club will tie the all-time SPHL record for consecutive victories at 11. The Columbus Cottonmouths won 11 consecutive games last season.
Crucial Weekend Upcoming
As the FireAntz are making their final push for first-place in the SPHL they face a crucial pair of matchups this weekend. The club is shooting for the all-time record for consecutive victories, but more importantly, attempting to catch the Columbus Cottonmouths for 1st place in the SPHL. The club currently sits two points behind the Cottnmouths and Columbus has two games in hand.
After the FireAntz host the Richmond Renegades Friday night, they immediately travel to Columbus, for a four-point matchup with the Cottonmouths. It will be the most crucial game in determining who will be the regular season champions in the SPHL.
The regular season champion plays the lowest seed (#6) in a best-of-five game matchup in the first round of the playoffs. The winner of that series gets a bye to the championship round for another best-of-five matchup to determine the champion of the SPHL.
Noteworthy
- Forward Rob Sich, the February Player of the Month in the SPHL, sits atop the leaderboard in goals (42) and points (84) and is second with a +/- rating of +33.
- Forward Tim Velemirovich, the leading candidate for Rookie of the Year, is second in the SPHL in scoring (79 points), assists (51) and is leading in +/- with a +34.
- Goaltender Chad Collins is now tied for 1st in wins among goaltenders with 25, tying his career high that he set in 2004-05, his Rookie of the Year and Goaltender of the Year campaign.
- Defenseman Mike Clarke has reminded fans and opponents why he won SPHL Defenseman of the Year for 2005-06. In only 24 games with the club, Clarke has 30 points on three goals and 27 assists.
SPHL Stories from March 14, 2007
- Barracudas Week in Review - Jacksonville Barracudas
- Snakes Sign Galloway Carroll to five game tryout - Columbus Cottonmouths
- FireAntz announce Beach Night, Welter Player of the Week - Fayetteville Marksmen
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