Sports stats



ECHL Utah Grizzlies

Grizzlies Still Can't Beat Admirals

January 18, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Utah Grizzlies News Release


West Valley City, Utah - Utah failed to defeat the Milwaukee Admirals on Saturday night in front of the largest crowd of the season at the E-Center, 10,597. The loss was the third in three chances against Milwaukee this season, all at the E-Center.

The Grizzlies were able to withstand some early pressure from the visiting Admirals. For most of the first few minutes, it was all Milwaukee out playing and controlling the puck. But the Grizzlies got off their heels and at the 4:56 mark of the first, Dan Jancevski received a Mark Wotton pass and took the biscuit across the Admiral blue line, all the way down to the bottom of the near circle where he centered the puck in front of the crease and hit Eric Chouinard streaking in the slot. Chouinard deflected the pass over the glove side shoulder of Chris Madden and hit the top shelf of the net for his 11th goal of the season. Utah shed first blood and went up 1-0 despite loosing the shots on net battle; Utah with 9, Milwaukee with 11 after the first stanza.

The Grizzlies found themselves with a man advantage early in the second. Jon Sim dropped the puck off to Steve Ott, deep in the Milwaukee zone, and Ott rifled a cross-ice pass to a waiting Jim Montgomery on the far side, five feet from the crease. Montgomery drilled the puck past Chris Madden for his 16th goal of the season giving Utah a 2-0 lead. Mid-way through the second, the Admirals got one back as they took advantage of a power play situation. Sending the puck around the horn, the puck found the stick of Konstantin Panov. With Utah scrambling to get a man on the puck, Panov wound up, and let loose a vicious slap shot through traffic that beat Hirsch through the legs. Utah led 2-1 after 40 minutes.

The third period got off to a rough start for Utah as just :15 seconds into the frame Vern Fiddler took the puck off the face-off and shot it up high on Corey Hirsch who deflected it up in the air but over his body across the goal line for the tying goal. After the goal, it seemed as though the momentum shifted and the Grizzlies became flat. At the 4:45 mark, the Admirals had another play go their way. In the Admiral zone, Utah gave up the puck and as the Milwaukee players broke the other way, two Grizzly defenseman collided, creating a breakaway for Greg Koehler. Koehler went one-on-one against Hirsch, faked a wrist shot and slipped the puck through Hirsch's legs as he tried to recover his position giving Milwaukee a 3-2 lead.

The Grizzlies failed to mount a comeback as undisciplined play cost Utah down the stretch. Hirsch finished the night with 30 saves as his unbeaten streak ends at four games (2-0-2). Madden stopped 21 shots for the victory. Milwaukee is now four points ahead of Utah for second place in the West Division.

Three Stars: 1. Greg Koehler(MIL) 1 goal(GW) 2. Corey Hirsch(UT) 30 saves 3. Vern Fiddler(MIL) 1 goal

Next Game: The Grizzlies will face-off against the Milwaukee Admirals again, Monday, January 20 at the E-Center. Puck drops at 1:00 PM.

Check out the Utah Grizzlies Statistics

• Discuss this story on the ECHL message board...

ECHL Stories from January 18, 2003


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central