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Generals Weekly Notes

November 16, 2009 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2) - Flint Generals News Release

ON THE RECORD: Veteran's Day the Generals hosted the Gems, providing the crowd with another exciting game that resulted in a shootout. Unfortunately, as it has been the Gens' luck thus far this season, the Gems came out with the win. The Gens had another 3 games in 3 nights weekend, finishing 0-3-0-0 dropping the Generals to 1-4-0-2 for the month of November and a 3-9-0-2 record overall.

SILVER LINING: Although the Gens have really struggled, the past two weeks (with the exception of 2 games this week) they have shown improvement. The shootout on Wed. against Dayton and the impressive comeback Sunday in Port Huron following the less than stellar performance on Saturday vs. the IceHawks at Perani gives fans and the team reason for hope.

SCORING SNIPER: Gens center/left winger Jamie Schaafsma is sixth in the league for scoring, tallying 6 goals and 8 assists through 14 games, averaging a point a game.

ROOKIE AWARENESS: John Mori remains in the mix for rookie leaders in the league, trailing Matt Krug who tops the list by only 3 points. And topping the list for number of shots with 40, Mori is creating plenty of chances for himself to move up the scoring ladder. Nick Pernula is creeping up the list as well with 3 points.

D-MEN: Tyler Howells added two assists this past week (Schaafsma assisted as well on both plays) bringing his point total to 7 which puts him in a three-way tie for third (the top two are tied at 8 points). Howells is third with 3 goals through 12 games played.

SCORING BREAKDOWN: Through 14 games played, the Gens have proven to be a first period team, scoring 15 of their 32 goals in the opening session and allowing 12 of the 45 goals against. The second and third period opponents have found the back of the net 15 and 16 times respectively, where as the Gens have only scored a combined 17 goals. The Gens also shoot more in the first, outshooting opponents 141 to 126.

WINNING THE MENTAL BATTLE: The Gens proved Sunday that they are capable of putting a tough loss behind them. Dropping a 5-1 game vs. the IceHawks at home Sat. then really buckling down Sun. against the same team shows what these guys are made of. The trick now, is to find consistent scoring.

STREAKING SCHAAFSMA: Jamie Schaafsma has been one of the best players for the Gens thus far. He leads the team with 14 points, 6 of which are goals 3 more than the number two goal getters; Tony Tuzzolino is second with 8 points. He accumulated 3 assists and 1 goal in the last three games. He is one of two Generals players to have at least one scoring streak this season (this is not his first).

NEW PHYSICAL WEAPON: With the departure of bruiser Derek Parker, the Gens were in need of a strong physical presence. Craig Cescon has certainly stepped up to the plate, but in a more disciplined manner than Gens fans had seen with Parker. In a game Saturday that fans had little to cheer about on the scoring front, Cescon dropped gloves twice getting greater appreciation than the Gens loan goal by Tony Tuzzolino. He has amassed 6 majors and 64 total penalty minutes through 14 games.

MILESTONES: With two goals in Friday's loss to Muskegon, Bryan Smolinski reached 300 regular season career goals. Tyler Willis needs just five games to reach 700 regular season games played, 8 assists to reach 300 regular and post season assists, and just 3 points to reach 400 regular season points. Nate Ward is still searching for his next goal in order to hit 50 career goals.

THIS WEEK ON THE ICE: The Gens have a more relaxed schedule for the week ahead than they have the past week or two, playing three games in five nights.

Wednesday the team heads to Fort Wayne for the first time this season to take on the Komets at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, faceoff is set for 7:30pm. The only other meeting between these two teams was at Perani on Nov. 6th. The 2,229 boisterous fans were treated to a 4-3 shootout thriller, with Fort Wayne evading the upset.

The Gens head back to the confines of Perani to host Dayton for the fourth contest, the Gens are 0-2-01 against Dayton thus far. Even the two regulation losses to the Gems were nail biters, falling 5-4 on Oct. 25th and 1-0 on Nov. 7th; both losses were on the road for the Gens.

Sunday they return to action for game two of a home and home with the Gems in what is sure to be another exciting installment of this Michigan vs. Ohio matchup.

TICKET INFORMATION: Tickets for all Generals home games for the 2009-10 season are available at the Perani Arena Ticket Office or through Ticketmaster. For group rates with the Generals call the Generals office at (810) 744-0222 or visit our website at www.flintgenerals.com.

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