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'Four'-Tunes on the Rise

December 9, 2002 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Corpus Christi IceRays News Release


Corpus Christi- WEEK RECORD: 2-1 SEASON RECORD: 10-11 3rd SOUTHEAST

ICERAYS REWIND: Forward Ken Richardson's hat-trick on Friday sparked the IceRays to a two-game sweep of the San Angelo Saints before falling at Fort Worth to complete the weekend 11 points behind division-leading Austin. The IceRays started the weekend on a good note with a 4-2 victory Thursday over the Saints at the San Angelo Coliseum. Shaun Fairweather (London, ONT) got the scoring started just 1:00 minute into the 1st period putting home John Cilladi's (Erie, PA) rebound by Saints goalie Scott Reid for an early 1-0 lead. :41 seconds later Russell Hogue (LaSalle, MB) found Layne Roland (Vernon, BC) on a two-on-one in the slot, and Roland drove it by Reid to make it 2-0 before the game was even two minutes old. The Saints would get one back at 10:50 of the 1st from Cory Pecush, but 1:07 seconds later Cosmo Dupaul (Pointe-Claire, PQ) took the puck away from Brad Cook at the San Angelo blue line, came in alone on Reid, and put it by him top shelf with a nifty move to make it 3-1 IceRays. After the teams went scoreless in the 2nd period, the Saints opened the 3rd when Kelly Miller put home Jan Jas's rebound at 8:03 making it a 3-2 game with almost 12 minutes left in regulation. However, the Rays hung tough defensively and got an insurance goal from John Sicinski (Mississauga, ONT) at 17:04 to cap the scoring and a 4-2 IceRays win. The Rays out-shot the Saints 26-23 and both teams went 0-5 on the power play. Friday night the teams returned to Memorial Coliseum in Corpus to complete the backend of the home-and-home series. This time the Saints opened the scoring when Kori Davison slammed home Mike McKay's rebound by goalie Brent Belecki (Calgary, ALB) just 3:43 into the 1st period for a 1-0 lead. The resilient IceRays then went on to score five unanswered goals over the next 50 minutes to take a commanding 5-1 lead in the 3rd period. Matt Munro (London, ONT) started the scoring on the power play, driving a one-timer from the point by Saints goalie James Ronayne at 10:37 of the 1st to tie the game at 1-1. Ken Richardson (Peace Rivar, ALB) followed with two power play goals to make it 3-1 with just over 7 minutes left in the 2nd period. :13 seconds after Richardson's second tally, Lloyd Marks (Dawson Creek, BC) scored his first professional goal from the right-wing circle to give the IceRays a 4-1 lead. Richardson then sealed his second hat-trick of the season in the 3rd tipping home a loose puck at the top of the crease by Ronayne and propelling the IceRays to a 5-2 win for the weekend sweep of the Saints. The IceRays out-shot the Saints for the second consecutive night 46-26, and went 3-6 on the power play. The 46 shots fell one short of tying the season-high. Saturday night in Fort Worth the Rays looked for their first 3-game weekend sweep of the season, but came up short in a hard-fought 2-1 loss to the Brahmas. In their first meeting of the season, the Brahmas jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead when Jim Midgley slipped by Cilladi at the blue line and beat Belecki glove-side at 1:13 of the 1st period. The Brahmas would add a second goal on the power play when Chad Wollard deflected Mike Tillson's shot from the point by Belecki at 10:15 of the 1st to make it 2-0. The IceRays would get one back in the 2nd period as Sicinski found Rob Giffin from behind the cage in the slot, and Giffin one-timed it home by Brahmas goalie Matt Mullin at 16:35 of the 2nd to cut the deficit in half 2-1. However, Mullin and the Brahmas defense hung tough in the 3rd period preserving a 2-1 win. One night after putting 46 shots on goal, the IceRays were held to a season-low 20 shots against Fort Worth. The Rays were 0-4 on the power play, but were 6-7 on the penalty kill.

HEARTBREAK HOTEL: Five out of the last six IceRays losses have been by one goal, including Saturday's 2-1 defeat at the hands of the Fort Worth Brahmas. The Rays are 4-6 this season in one-goal games.

THAT HEAVENLY TOUCH: IceRays forward Ken Richardson has 8 goals against San Angelo in 4 games this season. Along with former line-mates Cosmo Dupaul and Shaun Fairweather, the trio has combined to score 25 points (12 goals and 13 assists) against the Saints this year. Meanwhile Richardson came out of the game Saturday in Fort Worth after coming down with the flu.

FORTUNE 500: With 2 assists on Thursday, IceRays forward Cosmo Dupaul reached a milestone notching his 500th professional point. Dupaul has 194 goals and 307 assists in 459 career games. Goalie Brent Belecki's 21 saves on Thursday gave him 5,000 for his professional career.

FOUR IN FOUR: The IceRays are one of only four teams in the CHL that have four players with 20+ points. Layne Roland (25), Rob Giffin (23) Cosmo Dupaul (21) and John Sicinski (20) each have scored 20+ points in the first 21 games of the season. Wichita, Memphis, and New Mexico are the other teams who have four players with 20 or more points. Wichita is the only team in the league to have two players with 30+ points (Jason Duda (37) and Travis Clayton (33)).

ON THE RISE: The IceRays penalty kill is finally starting to turn it around. After going a woeful 70-97 (72.1%) through the first 12 games, the penalty kill has killed off 39 power plays in its last 46 chances (84.8%) including perfect nights at Bossier-Shreveport, Austin, Lubbock, and San Angelo.

MARTINIS ON "ICERAYS MONDAY": "IceRays Monday" continues tonight from 5PM-6PM at The Martini Bar, located at the corners of Everhart and Saratoga in Corpus Christi. The Voice of the IceRays Dan Weiss hosts the show every Monday on ESPN Radio 1230AM KSIX, and is joined by Head Coach Al Sims and several IceRays players. Tonight forward Kenny Goetz will be Dan's guest at 5:30PM following Coach Sims.

UP NEXT: The IceRays will host the Lubbock Cotton Kings on Friday night at Memorial Coliseum before traveling to San Angelo on Saturday to face off against the Saints for the 5th time this season. Game time is 7:05PM both nights. All games can be heard on 104.5FM The Octopus with Dan Weiss and Rick Dames, or on the Internet at www.icerays.com and www.sportsjuice.com. Broadcast time begins at 6:30PM each night with the "American Tire and Wheel Pre-game Show."



Central Hockey League Stories from December 9, 2002


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