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December 13, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies News Release


ATLANTIC CITY - WEEK RECORD: 1-0-2 - SEASON RECORD: 14-5-4 - 1st NORTH DIVISION

BULLIES REWIND: The Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies took four out of a possible six points last week earning a 2-1 victory against the Wheeling Nailers on Friday in between a shootout loss to Wheeling on Wednesday and an overtime loss to Johnstown on Saturday. At 14-5-4 with 32 points, the Bullies have the highest point total in the ECHL and lead Wheeling and Trenton by four points in the division.

Wednesday, Wheeling's Mark Kosick tallied the decisive goal in the fourth round of the shootout to lead the Wheeling Nailers to a 7-6 victory over the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies before 1927 at Historic Boardwalk Hall. It was the third consecutive time this season that Wheeling has defeated Atlantic City in a shootout. Wheeling (12-8-0) would open the scoring just 2:38 into the first period when Brendon Hodge's dump-in ricocheted off the corner boards and past Bullies goaltender Jake Moreland to give the Nailers a 1-0 lead. The Bullies (13-5-3) would counter with two unanswered goals to close the period. Scott Horvath collected Fraser Clair's rebound and beat Wheeling goaltender Joe Exter top shelf at 4:53 to tie the game 1-1. Luke Curtin gave the Bullies a 2-1 lead with a power play goal at 17:38 of the period off a pass from Jason Notermann. The Bullies extended their lead to 3-1 at the start of the second period. Brian Fahey's point shot from the right side deflected off a Nailers defenseman and past Exter at 5:23 to give Atlantic City a 3-1 advantage. Wheeling would strike back with a power play goal from Cam Paddock at 8:36 of the period to cut the deficit to 3-2. The Bullies would counter just 28 seconds later when Curtin fed a streaking Brad Both in the high slot and Both ripped a shot over the left shoulder of Exter to give Atlantic City a two-goal advantage again at 4-2. Evgeny Lazerev brought the Nailers back to within one when he beat Moreland from the right-wing circle at 15:20 to make the score 4-3. However, Paul Caponigri extended the Bullies lead to two yet again with a power play goal, taking a pass at the right-wing circle from Clair and beating Exter along the ice at 17:38 of the period. Wheeling would have the period's final say. James Laux collected his own rebound to the left of the Bullies net and tucked a backhand shot underneath the crossbar right before the period expired at 19:58 to make the score 5-4 heading into the second intermission. Ed McGrane tallied the equalizer for Wheeling just 1:43 into the third period when he played the puck of Moreland's pads and into the net to tie the game at 5-5. Kosick gave the Nailers only their second lead of the game at 10:08 when he collected his own rebound and lifted the puck over Moreland for a 6-5 Wheeling advantage. However, this time it would be the Bullies who would strike back, as Derek Edwardson found the bouncing puck in the slot and slapped a shot past Exter at 14:12 of the period to tie the score 6-6 and send the game to an eventual overtime and shootout. Atlantic City out-shot Wheeling 45-34. The Bullies went 2-5 on the power play.

Friday, Jake Moreland stopped 36 shots and Derek Edwardson netted the game-winning goal to lead the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies to a 2-1 victory over the Wheeling Nailers before 2743 at WesBanco Arena. Atlantic City (14-5-3) opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal at 14:29 of the first period. Dave Reid worked the puck up the right wing to Jason Notermann, and Notermann ripped a slap shot past the blocker side of Wheeling goaltender Danny Sabourin to give the Bullies a 1-0 lead. Derek Edwardson gave the Bullies a 2-0 lead when he tipped Rob McFeeters' centering feed from the left-wing corner past the outstretched glove of Sabourin at 8:05 of the second period. Wheeling's (12-9-0) Brendon Hodge cut the deficit to 2-1 at 10:53 of the third period. Hodge took a beautiful cross-ice feed from Kenny Corupe at the left-wing circle and slapped the puck past Bullies goaltender Jake Moreland for the Nailers lone tally. Wheeling out-shot the Bullies 37-16. Moreland picked up his ECHL-leading 12th win of the season. The Bullies went 0-2 on the power play.

Saturday, Shawn Mather scored 16 seconds into overtime to lead the Johnstown Chiefs to a 5-4 victory over the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies before 2174 at Historic Boardwalk Hall. Rob McFeeters opened the scoring for Atlantic City (14-5-4) at 5:09 of the first period, taking a feed from Paul Caponigri at the left-wing circle and slapping the puck past Johnstown goalie David Currie to give the Bullies a 1-0 lead. Fraser Clair increased the lead to 2-0, receiving a pass from Dustan Heintz on a two-on-one and firing a slap shot past Currie at 8:06. Johnstown (8-5-8) would counter just 33 seconds after the goal when Matt Reid found the back of the net behind Bullies goaltender Jake Moreland at 8:39 to cut the deficit to 2-1. After a scoreless second period, the Chiefs would strike quickly with a pair of goals early in the third to take a 3-2 lead. Mike James redirected David Bowman's point shot past Moreland at 3:36 on the power play to tie the game at 2-2. Dennis Packard gave Johnstown their first lead of the night at 6:33 of the period when he split the posts from the high slot. The teams would combine to score three goals in the next 1:17 seconds. Paul Caponigri netted the equalizer with a shorthanded goal at 12:00 from Derek Edwardson, but Jean Desroschers beat Moreland over the right shoulder on the near side from the left-wing circle at 12:11 to reclaim a 4-3 lead for Johnstown. The Bullies Vince Macri tied the game at 4-4 at 13:17, pouncing on Scott Horvath's rebound in the slot and tucking the puck past Currie which sent the game to overtime. Johnstown out-shot the Bullies 45-29. Moreland stopped 40 shots to fall to 12-3-3 on the season. Atlantic City went 0-3 on the power play.

BULLIES "TOP DAWG" AWARD: Each Monday from now until the end of the season, Public Relations and Broadcasting Manager Dan Weiss will select the Bullies "Top Dawg" for the week. This week's winner is forward Paul Caponigri who tallied a pair of goals and added three assists to run his scoring streak to four games. Honorable mention goes out to Derek Edwardson who also notched two goal and three assists and recorded the lone game-winning goal for the week.

BOARDWALK HALL SHOOTOUT: With 13 goals between the two teams on Wednesday, the Bullies and Wheeling Nailers took part in the highest scoring ECHL game in Boardwalk Hall history. The last time Atlantic City and their opponent combined to score 13 goals or more was back on November 15, 2002 at the Sovereign Center in Reading in a game the Bullies won 7-6.

CAPTIVATING CAPONIGRI: Rookie forward Paul Caponigri has broken through his early season struggles to go on his recent scoring tear. After recording just three points through his first 13 games, the Oak Park, IL native has tallied six goals and 12 points in his last 10 games and has notched a point in eight out of those 10 games. With a goal on Saturday, Caponigri extened his goal streak at home to an ECHL-best five games. He ranks fifth on the Bullies and 15th among ECHL rookies in scoring with eight goals and 15 points. Caponigri led Ohio State in scoring last season with 17 goals and 39 points.

DISCIPLINED DOGS: Despite forward Fraser Clair receiving a game misconduct for slashing on Saturday, the Bullies have been one of the ECHL's most disciplined teams. Atlantic City's 17.5 penalty minutes per game are third fewest in the ECHL, and their 15 major penalties are second fewest to Trenton. Ironically, with 113 power play opportunities, the Bullies have gone on the power play more than any other team in the league.

DIVISIONAL DECEMBER CONTINUES: The Bullies are in the midst of their third longest stretch of games against North Division opponents. With the new balanced schedule, Atlantic City will play the entire months of December, February, and April strictly against divisional rivals. In this current stretch of 16 straight games against North Division teams dating back to November 27 at Trenton, the Bullies are 3-1-2 over their first six. Atlantic City is 8-4-4 against the North Division, the second best record within the division behind Trenton who is 10-3-3 against the North. Meanwhile, Wheeling plays their first 28 games of the season against divisional opponents.

CHECK IT OUT! READING IS COOL: The Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies are in week five of their second annual "Check It Out Reading Program" presented by Ocean City Home Bank and Atlantic Medical Imaging. After visits last Monday to Davenport Elementary School and Thursday at Ventnor Elementary School, the Bullies will host their final two school assemblies at 2PM Tuesday at Union Avenue Elementary in Margate and at 1:30PM Thursday at Richmond Avenue Elementary in Atlantic City. The Bullies reward area students with tickets and other prizes for reading a select number of books between now and February 1.

BACK IN THE FACE-OFF CIRCLE AGAINST KIDS CANCER: The Bullies have once again joined area kids in their fight against cancer with the Second Annual "Face-Off Against Kids Cancer" program. At the first event Saturday following the game against Johnstown, the kids were introduced to their individual player in a special post-game locker room visit. The next event, the "Sunday Sundae Social," is scheduled for Sunday, January 9 from 1PM-3PM at the Egg Harbor City Volunteer Ambulance Facility in Egg Harbor City. On Friday, January 28 and Sunday, January 30, the Bullies will wear special commemorative jerseys dedicated to the program that will eventually be auctioned off. The proceeds from that auction will benefit Caps For Kids, A.I. duPont Hospital For Children in Wilmington, Delaware, and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

QUEST FOR THE CUP CONTINUES: "Quest For the Cup", the Bullies weekly radio show, continues tonight from 7PM-8PM on ESPN Radio 1450AM and the SurferNetwork live from Maloney's Uptown Sports Bar & Grill at 142 S. Tennessee Avenue in Atlantic City. Tonight, Vince Macri joins Dan Weiss for the second half hour.

POWER PLAY FOR UNITED WAY: For a second consecutive season, the Bullies have teamed up with United Way to support the Power Play For United Way. For every power play goal the Bullies score in 2004-05, area businesses including Baumgardner Construction, RLS CopiScan, AtlantiCare, Sands Casino Hotel, and Glenn Insurance will donate $10 to the United Way of Atlantic County. So far, the Bullies have tallied 21 power play goals, good for $1050 towards Power Play For United Way.

WATCH THE BULLIES LIVE IN '04-05: The Bullies have teamed up with B2 Networks to bring you live action of Boardwalk Bullies hockey in 2004-05. Bullies fans will be able to click the Watch the Game Live icon at the Bullies website to view and listen to the game. These broadcasts are available to fans for a charge of $6 per game. All 36 Bullies home broadcasts will be available in addition to over 20 road games in Trenton, Reading, Johnstown, and Wheeling. A cable or DSL Internet connection and Windows Media Player 9 are required to view the games.

UP NEXT: The Bullies will take to the road for three games this weekend. Atlantic City battles Reading at 7:05PM Friday from the Sovereign Center. Saturday, the Bullies face-off against Trenton at 7PM from Sovereign Bank Arena. Sunday, the Bullies conclude their pre-Christmas schedule with a 3PM matinee game against Johnstown from the Cambria County War Memorial. Catch all three games live on ESPN Radio 1450AM and the SurferNetwork beginning with "Bullies Countdown" twenty minutes prior to face-off. Atlantic City returns to Historic Boardwalk Hall at 7:05PM Wednesday, December 29 when they host the Dayton Bombers. Every Wednesday home game is "Wild Wednesday". All college students, casino workers, military and service industry personnel get in for just $6. Enjoy great beer specials all night for just $2! For more information or to order tickets, call (609) 348-PUCK.

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