SPHL Fayetteville Marksmen

FireAntz vs. Seals at a glance

March 24, 2006 - SPHL (SPHL)
Fayetteville Marksmen News Release


[FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.] - The Fayetteville FireAntz of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) travel to take on the Florida Seals, tonight, in a best-of-three series in the first round of the playoffs. Game two will be tomorrow night, in Fayetteville, and game three, if necessary, would be Tuesday night, in Florida.

The Florida Seals ended the 2005-06 season in 3rd place with a 32-17-7 record and 71 points. The FireAntz, the 4th seed, finished with a 31-19-6 record, for 68 points. Florida held the season advantage over the FireAntz, winning 6 of the 10 games played. The Seals also enter the playoffs as the hottest team in the SPHL, riding a six-game winning streak and 13 of their last 15. The FireAntz, for the first time since late December, enter the series with a fully healthy roster and ended the season playing their best hockey in the last three months. They went 5-2-0 in March.

Head Coaches-Derek Booth vs. Tommy Stewart

Derek Booth, a second-year coach, was last season's Coach of the Year in the SPHL. He guided the FireAntz to a 32-24 record in his rookie campaign and a berth in the SPHL playoffs. This season the FireAntz started with the best record in franchise history, 10-2-2 through their first 14 games. The club also started the season 13-0-0 on home ice. Booth battled through an injury-riddled season to finish the campaign at 31-19-6.

Tommy Stewart, a third-year coach, like Booth has experienced much success early in his coaching career. In his first two seasons, he took the Macon Trax to the finals, losing to Jacksonville and Columbus. This season, Stewart guided the Seals to a record of 32-17-7, and are currently the hottest team in the SPHL, winning 13 of their final 15 games.

Goaltenders- Chad Collins vs. Terry Denike

Chad Collins, last season's SPHL Goaltender of the Year and Rookie of the Year, returned to the FireAntz late this season after beginning the year in the ECHL. Collins finished 8-5-3 but with a miniscule 2.06 goals against average and a .941 save percentage. Collins did not play enough minutes in the SPHL this season to qualify for among goaltenders, but his goals against and save percentage would have led the league. In his FireAntz career, Collins has a 33-18-3 record with six shutouts. He also has a 2.28 goals against average and a .928 save percentage. He will be making his first career playoff start tonight.

Terry Denike, a 5th round selection of the Los Angeles Kings in the 2001 NHL entry draft, led the the SPHL in victories this season with 28 and games played with 48. He was also 3rd in goals against average with a 2.97. Denike will also be making his first playoff start.

Forwards

Both teams come into the series with a well-balanced attack. The FireAntz were led by Dean Jackson and George Nistas, each netting 32 goals. Jackson also led the club in scoring with 76 points. Jackson, Nistas, Scott Corbett and Kory Baker all averaged over a point-per-game for the season.

The Seals have five 50 point scorers and one, John Gurskis, that had 49 on the season. David Deeves led the way with 66 points and 50 assists. Robert Sich, the leading scorer among rookies, tallied 29 goals and 27 assists.

Defense

The two clubs were the stingiest in the SPHL with the Seals edging the FireAntz, defensively, by one goal allowed. The Seals allowed 174 goals while the FireAntz allowed 175.

Mike Clarke led all defensemen in the SPHL in scoring with nine goals and 58 assists on his way to being named SPHL Defenseman of the Year. He also was a +22. Mark Phenow followed closely behind with 11 goals and 29 assists. Solid play all season by Rob Meanchoff, Tim Schneider, Mike Fournier, and Gavin Hodgson were prevalent in the FireAntz success.

The Florida defensive corps was solid as well with all of the defensemen who saw regular playing time being on the positive side in the +/- category. They were led by Art Mnatsakanov and Lawne Snyder with 32 and 28 points respectively.

Overall

The clubs come into the playoff series as evenly matched as could be. The FireAntz totaled 224 goals scored and 175 given up. The Seals scored 211 while allowing 174. The FireAntz won four, lost four, and lost two in overtime versus the Seals this season. Each team had a shutout against the other.

The FireAntz first home game of the 2005-06 SPHL playoffs will be Saturday, March 25th at 7:35 pm at the Crown Coliseum. It will be Game 2 of the best-of-three series. Fans may purchase tickets at the Crown Coliseum box office or by calling (910) 223-2900.

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