Gamblers weekly
Published on October 12, 2004 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Green Bay Gamblers News Release
After a 13-day layoff the Green Bay Gamblers were a busy hockey club over this past weekend playing three games in three nights. After dropping Friday night's contest to the Des Moines Buccaneers 7-1 the Gamblers returned to the Resch Center and garnered a weekend split with the Sioux City Musketeers.
The Metro Ice Sports Arena in Urbandale, Iowa has been a "House of Horrors" for the Gamblers the last two seasons. The nightmare continued on Friday, as Des Moines forward Matt Greer recorded a hat trick to pace the Buccaneers to a 7-1 win. The Gamblers, who are winless in Des Moines in their last six trips, lone goal in the game came courtesy of defenseman Garrett Suter. Goaltender Michael Zacharias made 28-saves in the loss.
On Saturday night the Gamblers returned to the friendly confines of the Resch Center to kick off a two-game weekend series with the Sioux City Musketeers. The night would be historic as the Gamblers gave their head coach Mark Mazzoleni his first career USHL win with a 6-4 victory. Blake Wheeler and Billy Smith were the offensive catalysts, as the pair each notched two goals and an assist. The Gamblers also got tallies from Jeff Hazelwood, whose goal came while Green Bay was short-handed and from Verona, Wisconsin native Dan Sturges. Zacharias turned aside 34 shots to earn his first victory as a Gambler.
The following afternoon the Musketeers on the strength of a 24-save performance by goaltender Jimmy Spratt got the weekend split with a 3-1 win. The only puck that eluded Spratt, who was pulled in Saturday night's game after allowing four goals on 11 shots in a little over 24 minutes of work, came off the stick of Sturges. Sturges's goal ignited the Gamblers, but Spratt stood tall coming with a couple of big saves on Mark Magnowski and Brad Miller from in close to keep Sioux City ahead by two goals. In the other crease Dan Rosen garnered praise from the Gamblers coaching staff after turning aside 26 shots in his Gambler debut.
UP NEXT
Green Bay will travel to Waterloo on Friday to play the defending Clark Cup champion Black Hawks and then return home on Saturday to play the Lincoln Stars. Start times for both games are slated for 7:05 PM.
A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY
Green Bay Gamblers head coach Mark Mazzoleni recorded his first career USHL win on Saturday night. In his10-years as a head coach at the NCAA Division I level with Miami of Ohio (1994-99) and Harvard University (1999-04), Mazzoleni recorded 167 wins.
ONE-TIMERS
Forward Blake Wheeler and defenseman Garrett Suter each scored there first career USHL goal this past weekend. Wheeler, who was drafted 5th overall by the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2004 NHL Entry draft notched a pair of goals and added an assist in the Gamblers 6-4 win over Sioux City on Saturday. Suter's red-lighter came in the team's 7-1 loss to Des Moines on Friday.
DEBUTS
Goaltender Dan Rosen made his Gambler debut in the team's 3-1 loss to Sioux City on Sunday. Rosen, who is a senior at Ashwaubenon High School, turned aside 26 shots in the Gamblers 3-1 loss to the Musketeers. Also seeing his first action of the season was Chris Stansik. The rookie defenseman managed one shot on goal and was a â1 plus/minus rating.
STAT OF THE WEEK
Last season forward Dan Sturges managed three goals in 42 games with the Waterloo Black Hawks. The Verona, Wisconsin native, who was acquired by Green Bay prior to the start of the 2004-05 campaign, has two goals in three games with the Gamblers.
PROMOTIONS
CHURCH NIGHT
The Green Bay Gamblers are proud to announce that Saturday, October 23 at the Resch Center has been designated as Church Night. Along with some great hockey action, those in attendance will also be treated to a FREE concert by One Way Ticket before and after the game, Pastor Olympics, and a chance to skate after the game. For group ticket information contact Lea Goehring at 405-1141 or 1-800-428-8411 if out of the Green Bay area. You must bring your own skates to participate in the open skate following the game.
SHOWDOWN IN TITLETOWN
The Green Bay Gamblers and St. Norbert Green Knights will be playing a double-header at the Resch Center over the weekend of October 29-30. The Gambler will lace up the skates against the defending Anderson Cup Champion Tri City Storm and St. Norbert will be facing off against fellow NCAA Division III power R.I.T. Games times are at 5:05 PM and 8:05 PM. The Gamblers will be playing the late game on Friday and the early game on Saturday. For tickets or to find out more about the specialty priced weekend ticket packages call the Gamblers at 405-1237.
GAMBLER HOCKEY TALK BACK
Gambler Hockey Talk Back Presented by Miller Lite will take place this Tuesday, October 12, 2004, at 5:30 PM at the Bay City Smokehouse, located inside the Best Western Midway Hotel. Host Jeff Mitchell will be talking Gamblers hockey with head coach Mark Mazzoleni and special guest forward Blake Wheeler. Gamblers Hockey Talk Back will be followed by Players Talk Back, which will run from 6:00 â 6:30 PM. While at the Bay City Smokehouse, fans will have a chance to watch the Gamblers game on the big screen from the previous weekend, take advantage of food and drink specials, get player autographs, and register to win great prizes
The show starts at 5:30 PM. Gamblers Hockey Talk Back can also be heard live on WOWN 99.3 FM the official home of Gamblers hockey.
LPH/USHL Players of the Week:
MATT GREER â Des Moines Buccaneers (Vadnais Heights, MN), earned USHL Offensive Player of the Week Honors with a four point weekend. Greer notched a hat trick in the Bucs 7-1 win over Green Bay and added an assist in Des Moines overtime loss to Omaha on Saturday night. The 8th round pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets was a +4 over the weekend
GREG BARRETT â Sioux Falls Stampede (Troy, MI.) was named the USHL Defensive Player of the Week after leading the Stampede to a road win over the Lincoln Stars. In the win, Barrett stopped 33 of 35 shots and stopped seven of nine Lincoln shooters in the shoot-out
USHL REPORT
INDIANA OPENS TO STELLAR CROWD
An opening night crowd of 6,083 at the Pepsi Coliseum were on hand to see the Indiana Ice defeat the defending Clark Cup champion Waterloo Black Hawks 4-2
LANCERS CONTINUE TO ROLL
The Omaha Lancers continued their successful run to the start the 2004-05 regular season with a victory over the Des Moines Buccaneers in overtime on Saturday night. The Lancers currently lead the USHL in goals (23), assists (37), points (60) and power play goals (10).
ALUMNI NOTES
It was a big weekend for college freshman straight out of the USHL: North Dakota's Rastislav Spirko (Tri-City) and Minnesota Duluth's Mike Curry (Sioux City).
ORONO, Maine - Freshman Rastislav Spirko (Vrutky, Slovakia) scored a goal and had two assists, figuring in all of North Dakota's scoring, as the Fighting Sioux defeated Maine, 3-1, on Saturday to complete a two-game sweep of the second-ranked Black Bears.
SOUTH BEND, Indiana -- It did not take forward Mike Curry long to make himself feel at home in his new NCAA Division I hockey surroundings. The right winger from Eagle River, Alaska scored two goals in his second game in a University of Minnesota Duluth uniform to help lead the visiting Bulldogs to a convincing 4-1 victory over the University of Notre Dame Friday night. The non-conference win snapped the Fighting Irish's regular season unbeaten streak at 15 games
ALUMNI REPORT
GANZAK LEADS MIAMI
Miami of Ohio freshman and former Gambler defenseman (03-04) Mitch Ganzak registered three assists over the weekend to help lead the RedHawks to a pair of wins at the Lefty McFadden Classic in Dayton, Ohio. Ganzak had a pair of assists in the RedHawks 5-1 win over Boston University and added another helper in Miami's 6-2 win over Northeastern. Miami junior forward Chris Michael, who spent two seasons in Green Bay (00-02), also had a productive weekend notching two assists.
WHO LET THE DOGS OUT
The University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs began their 2004-05 campaign this past week with a pair of games in South Bend, Indiana against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Thanks in part to a late 3rd period goal by former Gambler Tim Stapleton (00-02) the Bulldogs, who are picked by the WCHA Coaches to win the WCHA title this year, managed a 2-2 tie with the Irish. The following evening, Stapleton was at it again as he notched the game winner and also had an assist in the Bulldogs 4-1 win. Former Gamblers Brett Hammond (99-01) also had a productive weekend registering a goal and an assist and goaltender Josh Johnson (02-03) turned aside 27 shots to give the Bulldogs their first win on the young season.
ALUMNI GAME
When the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs and Notre Dame Fighting Irish got together this past week the games featured 10 individuals who had played their junior hockey for the Green Bay Gamblers. The alumni list on the Bulldogs includes Nick Anderson (97-98), Brett Hammond (99-01), Josh Johnson (02-03), Luke Stauffacher, and Tim Stapleton and Notre Dame is home to Wes O'Neill (02-03), who had a pair of assists over the weekend, Victor Oreskovich (03-04), Noah Babin (02-03), Dan Venard (01-04) and Joe Zurenko (00-01)
COLLEGIATE DEBUTS
Ryan Carter got his collegiate career at Minnesota State Mankato off to a good start with a pair of assists in the Mavericks 5-2 win over the University of Calgary...Jimmy Kilpatrick had a goal in Colorado College's 6-1 win over Windsor...Goaltender Brad Smith allowed two goals on 24 shots in 35 minutes of work in his collegiate debut with Connecticut...Nate Dey (St. Cloud State), Eric Ehn (Air Force), and Luke Beaverson (Alaska-Anchorage) also made their collegiate debuts this past weekend.
RAYGOR LEAVES WAYNE STATE
Former Gamblers Assistant Coach Erik Raygor (01-02) has resigned from his position as the Assistant Coach at Wayne State University. Raygor, who played his collegiate hockey at the University of Wisconsin, is pursuing a career outside of the game of hockey.
AHL WATCH
The following Gambler alumni are on American Hockey League rosters; Stephan Baby (Chicago Wolves), Alex Brooks (Albany River Rats), Jeff Finger (Hershey Bears), Jason Notermann (Worcester Ice Cats), and Jake Taylor (Hartford Wolf Pack)
ECHL WATCH
The following Gambler alumni have been invited to ECHL camps; Aaron Smith (Columbia Inferno), Ed Hill (Florida Everblades), Andrew Canzanello (San Diego Gulls), Brett Englehardt (Gwinnett Gladiators), Tristan Lush (Mississippi Sea Wolves).
United States Hockey League Stories from October 12, 2004
- Gamblers weekly - Green Bay Gamblers
- Steel gain split in Nebraska - Chicago Steel
- Slais Commits to Brown - Chicago Steel
- Home opener a sterling success for Ice - Indiana Ice
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