First place streak ends with winless week

Published on February 28, 2005 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Corpus Christi IceRays News Release


Season Record: 24-21-7 (55 points) Home Record: 13-9-3 (29 points) Away Record: 11-12-4 (26 points)

Week in Review: The Community of Corpus Christi and supporters of Corpus Christi Rayz hockey had a great week. Unfortunately for the Rayz, the team wasn't as successful. A record breaking crowd of 7,507 Saturday Night at the American Bank Center helped Corpus Christi raise more than $6000 for local organizations on their First Annual "Pack the House for Charity" Night presented by the Caller-Times. The audience was the largest ever to witness a hockey game in Corpus Christi. However, they saw the Rayz fall to the Laredo Bucks 5-1 to extend their season-high winless streak to six games. The loss was the culmination of the Rayz first week this year where they were held without a point. The Rayz went 0-3 last week and, for the first time in over 100 consecutive days, slipped out of first place in the Southeast Division with three weeks left in the regular season. Corpus Christi has eight games left and currently is in second place in the division. The Rayz are sandwiched between first place Austin and third place Laredo, separated by a point from each team. Of their last eight games of the season, the Rayz play five at the American Bank Center and will play three times this week in a crucial stretch of action beginning this Thursday vs. San Angelo. Seven teams are still in the hunt for the four available playoff spots in the Southern Conference. The Rayz currently rank as the fifth team in the South.

Beginning last week with a two-game trip through West Texas, the Rayz made their only visit of the season to Amarillo to play the Gorillas on Tuesday. Corpus Christi fell into a 2-0 hole less than five minutes into the game, and was unable to make up the ground the rest of the way. Despite outscoring the Gorillas in the final 55 minutes of the game, and outshooting Amarillo 43-32 overall, the Rayz once again ran into brilliant goaltending from Daniel Boisclair and never pulled even with the Gorillas. Amarillo won their fourth straight one-goal game against Corpus Christi 3-2 and the Rayz opened their week with a loss.

On Thursday, the road trip continued to Lubbock for the Rayz final meeting of the year with the Cotton Kings. Corpus Christi once again fell behind by a pair of goals in the first period and was forced to play the remainder of the game from behind. Just as they did the night before, the Rayz clawed to within a goal of their opponents, but 35 shots yielded only one goal and a Lubbock empty net goal sealed a 3-1 Cotton Kings victory over the Rayz.

Sitting on a five-game winless streak and coming home against the rival Laredo Bucks, the Rayz had more than 7,500 fans in their corner on "Pack the House for Charity" Night at the American Bank Center. The capacity crowd cheered the Rayz on to an early 1-0 lead, however the Bucks controlled the pace from then on. Finishing the game with five unanswered goals, the Bucks went on to beat the Rayz 5-1. Corpus Christi outshot their opponent, but still lost for the third time in their six-game slide. The loss combined with an Austin shootout win over Amarillo knocked the Rayz off the top of the Southeast Division for the first time since November 16th. The Rayz streak of 101 straight days in first place came to an end and they now begin the final month of the season trailing the Austin Ice Bats by one point. The Rayz lead Laredo by a point for second place, however Laredo has two games in hand over Corpus Christi.

At the game, the Rayz donated a cash grant along with portions of ticket proceeds totaling more than $6000 to four Corpus Christi are youth based organizations. The money went to benefit the Coastal Bend Chapter of the MDA, the Coastal Bend Chapter of the American Red Cross, CASA for Children and Corpus Christi Youth Hockey Association. The Rayz would like to thank all the fans and sponsors of "Pack the House for Charity" Night and greatly appreciate the overwhelming support shown by the Corpus Christi community.

The Rayz will now play three straight games against Southwest Division opponents, as they try to climb back into the playoff picture. Corpus Christi will host the San Angelo Saints before playing a home and home series with the Odessa Jackalopes over the weekend. Coming into the week, the Rayz trail the Saints by four points and have played one more game than the Saints. The Rayz lead the Jackalopes by four points while the Jacks have two games in hand. The Rayz are 1-2 (1-0 at home) vs. the Saints this year and are 1-1 vs. the Jackalopes (1-0 on the road). The regular season ends on Sunday, March 20th and the Rayz final game of the season is Saturday, March 19th when the Rayz host the Austin Ice Bats.

This Week's Schedule: Thursday, March 3rd vs. San Angelo Saints 7:00pm

Friday, March 4th @ Odessa Jackalopes 7:00pm

Sunday, March 6th vs. Odessa Jackalopes 5:00pm

Last Week's Results: Tuesday, February 22nd @ Amarillo Gorillas 3-2 L

Thursday, February 24th @ Lubbock Cotton Kings 3-1 L

Saturday, February 26th vs. Laredo Bucks 5-1 L

All Rayz home games are played at the American Bank Center. All games will be broadcast live on the flagship station of the Corpus Christi Rayz - 103.7 FM KOUL and online at the Rayz website - www.ccrayz.com. All home games, along with select road games, are available for viewing on the internet at www.chltv.com.

Practice Schedule: The Rayz will practice at the American Bank Center from 10:00am – 11:30am Tuesday and Wednesday morning. The Rayz will hold a pre-game skate Thursday morning at 10:00am at the American Bank Center. The skate will last approximately 30 minutes. All media members are invited to Rayz practices unless otherwise slated.

Goal Searching

The Rayz six-game winless streak has seen only eight Rayz goals over that span. The Rayz have scored more than one goal in a game only twice in the last seven games. The Rayz have nine goals in 240 shots over the last seven games – a shooting percentage of 3.75%. The Rayz are averaging just under three goals a game with 152 in 52 games.

Three's Company

With only three weeks left in the regular season, the top of the Southeast Division title looks like a mosh pit with three contenders trying to bump each other from the top spot. The Rayz, Austin Ice Bats and Laredo Bucks are all within two points of each other at the top of the division standings. The winner of the division is guaranteed a playoff spot and home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs regardless of the conference standings. In their six year history the Rayz have never won a division crown. They currently trail the Ice Bats by a single point and lead the Bucks by the same margin. The Rayz play the Bucks and Bats each once more at home. The Bats and Bucks play twice more with both meetings played in Laredo.

Where's the Power?

With the Rayz scoring woes, their power play unit has stumbled as well. The Rayz have just two power play goals in their last seven games and are currently riding a stretch where they are 2-38 (5.3%) on the man advantage. The Rayz have the 7th best power play in the league at 16.8%.

The Road to the Postseason

The playoff format in the Central Hockey League has four teams from each conference qualifying for the playoffs. Within each conference, both division winners are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 with the overall conference winner earning the No. 1 seed. The remaining two spots are awarded to the two non-division winning teams with the most points. They are seeded No. 3 and No. 4 in order of their point total. If there is a tie for a playoff spot the following tie breaker system is implemented in the listed order. 1) Most wins 2) Best head to head record in games between tied teams 3) Goals for and against differential.

On Deck...

With the eight remaining games this season, the Rayz play only five different teams. The following is a breakdown of the Rayz opponents. San Angelo Saints (1 home, 1 away), Odessa Jackalopes (1 home, 1 away), Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees(1 home, 1 away), Austin Ice Bats (1 home), Laredo Bucks (1 home).

The Competition's Competition

At the final stage of the season, the Rayz are in such a tight race that their opponent's games are almost as important as the ones the Rayz play. The Austin Ice Bats have eight games remaining in the season, and all eight come on the road. Austin plays Laredo and Rio Grande Valley twice, and Corpus Christi, Fort Worth Topeka and Tulsa once each. The Bucks have ten games remaining and nine different opponents. The Bucks play Austin twice and Odessa and Lubbock once each at home. The Bucks also play Forth Worth on the road, and have a five-game road trip where they play Tulsa, Topeka, Wichita, Oklahoma City and Corpus Christi. Austin's road record this year is 6-14-2 and Laredo's road record is 8-16-0.

This Week in the Community: Tonight the Rayz Coach's Radio Show returns to the airwaves. The show has not aired in two weeks, due to team travel each of the last two Monday nights. Rayz rookie forward Clark Udle will appear with Rayz Head Coach, Ken McRae on the Corpus Christi Rayz Coach's Radio Show at Buffalo Wild Wings tonight at 7:00pm. The Rayz will appear at Buffalo Wild Wings at 2001 SPID every Monday night at 7:00pm for the remainder of the season. Fans can attend the show live with their chance to ask questions on the air and win Rayz prizes, including tickets to upcoming games. The hour-long show can be heard weekly on the Rayz flagship station, 103.7 FM KOUL. For more information, you can call Buffalo Wild Wings at (361)814-9464.

On Tuesday, Rayz forward Ken McKay and goaltender Brent Zelenewich will participate in the Corpus Christi Caller-Times Reading Buddies Program. The pair of Rayz players will visit Evans Elementary School at 1:00pm and read to students as part of the team's weekly campaign to promote the importance of reading in conjunction with the Caller-Times.

Rayz defenseman Chad McIver and forward Greg Bullock will visit Kingsville Epiphany School on Tuesday afternoon at 1:00pm to meet students and read to them. Also on Tuesday, Rayz play by play broadcaster Josh Bogorad will be a guest lecturer at Texas A&M Kingsville for students studying broadcasting, journalism and public relations.

On Tuesday morning, 16-year old season ticket holder Andy Villareal III will practice with the Rayz players. Andy was a winner of the Rayz Rewards Season Ticket Benefit Program over the summer and will get a chance to live out the dream of skating with his favorite hockey team this week.

To book an appearance with the Corpus Christi Rayz players, Sting Team or mascot, please contact Director of Community Relations, Erika Flick at (361)814-7825.

This Week at the Champion Toyota Ice Center at Memorial Coliseum: Public Skating is available this week at the Champion Toyota Ice Center at the Memorial Coliseum. There will also be a youth hockey tournament held this weekend. For information, session times and fees, please call (361)879-0795.

Rayz Next Home Game: The Rayz next game is Thursday night at 7:00pm at the American Bank Center when they host the San Angelo Saints on Men's Night, presented by Classic Rock 104.5FM. One lucky fan will receive a trip for two to Las Vegas and the Rayz will be giving away WWE Raw prize packs, including tickets to the WWE event at the American Bank Center this weekend. All male fans 18 and older will receive discounted tickets starting at just $8. Regular priced tickets start for as little as $10 (plus a $1.50 facility fee) and are available at the American Bank Center Box Office and all Ticketmaster locations. There are only five more home games this season. Make your plans to see the Corpus Christi Rayz today. For more information, please call the Rayz at (361)814-PUCK.

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Central Hockey League Stories from February 28, 2005


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