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Four and Looking For More

October 27, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies News Release


BULLIES REWIND: The Boardwalk Bullies received solid defense, stellar goaltending, and timely offense last week to defeat Roanoke and Long Beach, and cap off an undefeated four-game home stand. Wednesday, Atlantic City shutout the Express 3-0 in front of 2011 at Boardwalk Hall. Goaltender Jake Moreland (Grand Forks, ND) stopped all 27 Roanoke shots for both a win and a shutout in his professional regular season debut. For the third consecutive game, the Bullies jumped out of the gate quickly with a first period goal. Sam Paolini (Rochester, NY) deflected Brian Fahey's (Glenview, IL) slap shot from the right point past Express goaltender David Belitski at 6:11 for an early 1-0 lead and the eventual game-winning goal. In the second frame, the Bullies doubled their advantage as Pierre-Luc Sleigher (Montreal, PQ) tallied his second goal of the season at 9:26 to make the score 2-0. Fahey added some insurance on the power play late in the third period when his slap shot from the left point sailed over the right shoulder of Belitski at 19:43 to make the final score 3-0. For the game, the Bullies out-shot the Express 33-27 and went 1-7 on the power play. Saturday, the Bullies roared back from their first deficit of the season in the third period with two unanswered goals to nip the Long Beach Ice Dogs 3-2. Once again, the Bullies opened the scoring when Preston Mizzi (Sault Ste. Marie, ON) pushed Pierre-Luc Sleigher's rebound through the pads of Long Beach goaltender Colin Zulianello at 7:21 of the second period for a 1-0 edge. However, the Ice Dogs would fight back and take the lead early in the third period with the help of two power play goals 1:25 seconds apart. First, Eric LaPlante found the back of the net behind goaltender Scott Stirling (Hull, MA) at 4:42 on the power play to tie the game at 1-1. Then, with Kam White (Chicago, IL) off for high-sticking, Craig Lyons fired a laser shot from the blue line past a screened Stirling at 6:06 on the power play to give the Ice Dogs their first lead of the night, 2-1. Staring at their first case of adversity, the Bullies clawed their way back. Jim Leger (Saugus, MA) sent a slap shot through the five-hole of goaltender T.J. Aceti, replacing an injured Zulianello, at 9:09 of the period to tie the game again at 2-2. Luke Curtin then netted his second game-winning goal of the year at 14:54 when his slap shot from the nearside wall found its way behind Aceti to give the Bullies the lead and the victory, 3-2. The Bullies more than doubled the shot production of Long Beach, out-shooting the Ice Dogs 43-20. Stirling made 18 saves for his third win of the year.

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 Luke Curtin who recorded a goal and two assists in two wins over Roanoke and Long Beach. Honorable mention goes out to rookie goaltender Jake Moreland who made 27 saves in picking up his first professional win and shutout on Wednesday against the Express. Since he was not mentioned, last week's "Top Dawg" was center Jim Henkel who put together back-to-back three-point games in wins against Trenton and Texas.

BREEDING PERFECTION: Following Saturday's games, the Bullies are the last unbeaten team in the ECHL at 4-0-0. The Reading Royals are currently unbeaten in regulation, but lost 5-4 in a shootout to Toledo on Friday.

LUCKY LUKE: Speaking of Curtin, who by the way is armed this season with a new, shorter haircut, the forward seems like a man on a mission. Curtin is currently tied for the Bullies lead in scoring with four goals and three assists after tallying the game-winning goal Saturday vs. Long Beach and chipping in two assists over the week. The game-winning goal was his second of the year giving him the team lead in that category. Curtin played in only 40 games in an injury-filled season in 2002-03 netting 11 goals and 34 assists.

STREAKING BULLIES: Forwards Jim Leger and Curtin each have opened the season with four-game scoring streaks. Rookie forward Sam Paolini and defenseman Kam White saw their three-game scoring streaks conclude on Saturday against Long Beach. Paolini is tied for the Bullies lead in scoring with Curtin and leads all ECHL rookies with seven points. White enjoyed a career-best three-game assist streak. As a team, the Bullies have scored the first goal in all four games, out-shot their opponent in all four games, and taken a lead into the third period in all four games. Not coincidentally, they are 4-0-0 to start the year.

DANDY DEBUTS: Forwards Matt Hubbauer, Preston Mizzi, and Stefan Rivard all made their season debuts on Wednesday against Roanoke. Rivard tallied an assist against the Express while Mizzi netted his first goal as a member of the Bullies Saturday versus Long Beach. Hubbauer, despite not scoring, displayed flashes of speed that him a prized recruit of Head Coach Mike Haviland.

THAT WINNING ATTITUDE: The Bullies are undefeated since May 10, a 5-3 loss to the Columbia Inferno in Game 3 of the Kelly Cup Finals. Since then, the Bullies won Games 4 and 5 to capture the Kelly Cup, went undefeated in three preseason games in early October, and have gone 4-0-0 to start the 2003-04 regular season. It all translates into a current nine-game winning streak.

A KILLER DEFENSE: Before Long Beach tallied two power play goals on Saturday, the Bullies had killed off 11 consecutive power plays going back to the second game of the season against Trenton. Eric LaPlante's goal at 4:42 of the third period also broke a streak of 138:53 seconds that the Bullies defense and goaltending had not allowed a score. Ironically, LaPlante's tally also broke a streak of 25 consecutive power plays for Long Beach without converting.

STAY ONLINE WITH THE BULLIES: Follow the Bullies throughout the season by pointing your computer mouse to www.boardwalkbullies.com. You can read game updates, get to know your favorite Bullies, and find out where "Wooly" and the team will be appearing next. Click and score with www.boardwalkbullies.com!

UP NEXT: The defending ECHL Kelly Cup Champions embark on their first road trip of the season playing four games in five nights on a southeast swing. The Bullies will travel to Roanoke to battle the Express Tuesday at 7PM. Wednesday, the Bullies will visit the Charlotte Checkers. Game time is also 7PM. Friday the trip continues to Greensboro as the Bullies face-off against the Generals at 7:30PM. The Bullies will conclude in Charleston, SC when they meet the South Carolina Stingrays Saturday at 7:30PM. Catch all the action this week on ESPN Radio 1450AM and the Surfer Network beginning with the pre-game show 20 minutes prior to face-off with Dan Weiss.



ECHL Stories from October 27, 2003


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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