ECHL Greenville Swamp Rabbits

Greenville Road Warriors Game Preview

January 15, 2011 - ECHL (ECHL)
Greenville Swamp Rabbits News Release


GREENVILLE, SC -Tonight the Road Warriors finish up a set of three home games in three days by hosting the Kalamazoo Wings at 7:05. It is Kalamazoo's first visit to the BI-LO Center after Greenville went to Wings Stadium twice over Thanksgiving weekend.

RECAPPING THE ACTION:

1/14/11 - GRW 6 - GWT 8

The Road Warriors failed to hold onto a two-goal lead in the third period last night and suffered their fourth consecutive defeat at the hands of the Gladiators. The game got off to an inauspicious start for Greenville with Gwinnett building a 2-0 lead 2:17 into the game on goals by Tom Zanoski and Pat Galivan. The goal scoring didn't slow down as each team notched three in the frame with one more by Galivan for Gwinnett, two by Brandon Wong for the Road Warriors, and a tying goal by Brad Cole with 53 seconds remaining in the frame. The second belonged to Greenville with wong finishing his hat trick, the first in Road Warriors history, and goals by Chris McKelvie and Connor Shields. Mike Forney had one for Gwinnett in the second to keep his club within two. The goal proved to be important because Gwinnett rattled off three unanswered goals, before adding an empty netter, to grab a 7-6 lead. Dan Kissel had the eventual game winner while Galivan, Zanoski, and Tim Miller all also contributed to the effort. Dov Grumet-Morris took the loss in a game where the Road Warriors gave up more goals than any other this season.

1/12/11 - KAL 2 - CIN 3 OT

The Wings had a small two-game winning streak snapped by the Cyclones on Wednesday but still did earn a point for making it to overtime. Cincinnati grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first period with goals by Mathieu Aubin and Scott Lehman and put the Wings in an early hole. They began to dig out with a Patrick Asselin goal just over eight minutes into the second period thanks to a power play. The Wings ratcheted up the attack in the third and registered 13 shots and eventually received the tying goal from Darryl Lloyd at the 10:50 mark. The goal was just Lloyd's fourth of the season. The Wings didn't have much of a chance to attack in overtime as Cincinnati's T.J. Fast netted the winning goal 41 seconds into the extra frame. Ryan Nie was the goalie of record and turned aside 24 of the 27 shots that he faced.

WHAT'S ON TAP FOR TONIGHT

Even though the Road Warriors and Wings have only played twice this season it marks a reunion of sorts for the Road Warriors coaching staff, Dean Stork and Jason Spence, and Wings goalie Ryan Nie. Nie was a teammate of Jason Spence on the 2007-08 edition of the Johnstown Chiefs. Spence was an alternate captain on that team and had nine points (6G, 3A) in 51 games while Nie set a team record for wins in a season with 29. That season was the last time the Chiefs made an appearance in the Kelly Cup playoffs. The next season Nie found himself in Cincinnati under the direction of then assistant coach Dean Stork. He went 16-6-0 in the regular season and 3-2-0 in the playoffs as Cincinnati reached the American Conference finals.

After a six-goal performance last night the Road Warriors offence is probably looking forward to squaring off against the Wings' defense tonight. The Wings have surrenedered more goals per game than any other team in the ECHL at 3.82 - 126 in 33 games. The Road Warriors contributed heavily to that total by scoring 13 goals combined in their two wins at Wings Stadium on November 25 and 26. A big reason Kalamazoo finds itself at the bottom of the team GAA rankings is its penalty killing which is 16th in the league at 79.5 percent. Greenville's defense will see a test, too from the Wings' offense which is fifth in the league at 3.4 goals per game.

If this season's history has taught us anything is that Greenville should have the advantage on paper for tonight's match up. The Road Warriors are 7-0-0 against North Division opponents; 5-0-0 vs. Wheeling and 2-0-0 vs. Kalamazoo, while the Wings are 1-7-1 against the South Division. Kalamazoo's one South Division win was against South Carolina (7-3) December 6. The games have generally been close with the South out-scoring Kalamazoo 32-30 on the season. It has been quite different for Greenville with a 35-15 goal advantage over the North, including 15-5 here at the BI-LO Center.

It's a special hockey double-header today with Clemson and Tennessee playing an ACHA game at 3:00 followed by the Road Warriors and Wings. A ticket to the Road Warriors' game will also get you into the Clemson game. Be sure to stick around for a free concert by Doug Jones, formerly of Cravin' Mellon from 5:30 - 7:00. Call 864-674-PUCK to book your group outing to save off the box office price, receive preferred seating based on availability, and enjoy other great benefits.

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ECHL Stories from January 15, 2011


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