Gorillas game day preview

January 18, 2003 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Amarillo Gorillas News Release


ELVIS HAS ENTERED THE BUILDING: It is the first ever visit by the Memphis RiverKings to Amarillo since the merger of the Central Hockey League and the Western Professional Hockey League that took place last year. Due to a strange scheduling sequence, the two teams did not face each other last year. Memphis was the Cinderella story in minor professional hockey going from worst to first in a year to capture the CHL Championship.

This is the first of two meetings between the two clubs with the second confrontation set for one week from tonight at the DeSoto Center in Southhaven, Mississippi, located 15 minutes from downtown Memphis.

GAME REWIND: Both the Memphis RiverKings and the Amarillo Gorillas were beaten last night. The RiverKings met the Austin Ice Bats in a rematch of last year's CHL championship series and fell 5-3 at the Travis County Expo Center.

The Gorillas dropped a 3-2 decision to the Fort Worth Brahmas on Friday night at the Fort Worth Convention Center. Scott Wray and Ben Maidment each had one goal and one assist for the Gorillas in a game they led 2-1 after 40 minutes.

PLAYOFF RACE UPDATE: The Amarillo Gorillas lost ground on the teams they are chasing for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Northern Conference. The Gorillas trail the Tulsa Oilers by seven points and the Oklahoma City Blazers/Memphis RiverKings by eight points with several games in hand on each team.

The RiverKings are in a battle themselves for first place in the Northeast Division with this season's surprise team the Indianapolis Ice. Memphis trails Indy by just one point with the Ice having two games in hand.

SCORERS MATCH-UP: This game features the Central Hockey League's scoring leader in Don Parsons of Memphis against Henry Kuster and Dorian Anneck of the Gorillas. Parsons was both the CHL regular season and playoff Most Valuable Player during the 2001-2002 season.

THIS AND THAT: The Amarillo Gorillas will wear camouflage jerseys for tonight's game and an auction follows in the Ape Escape. Joe Ferras' charges are back on the road tomorrow (Sunday) when they take on the Lubbock Cotton Kings at 6 p.m. at the Lubbock Municipal Coliseum.



Central Hockey League Stories from January 18, 2003


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