Sports stats



Grrrowl announce playoff schedule

April 11, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
Greenville Grrrowl News Release


GREENVILLE, SC - The Greenville Grrrowl begin the quest for another Kelly Cup with a first-round playoff match up against the Pensacola Ice Pilots. The upcoming best-of-five series will get underway Thursday, April 14th, as the Grrrowl travel to Pensacola for an 8:05 p.m. game against the Ice Pilots. The teams will meet again the following night, with another 8:05 p.m. game at the Pensacola Civic Center.

Playoff hockey returns to the BI-LO Center on Saturday, April 16th, as the Grrrowl host the Ice Pilots at 7:05 p.m. Game four of the series is scheduled for April 19th at the BI-LO Center, if necessary, while game five would be played in Pensacola on April 21st if necessary.

The Grrrowl finished the regular season with a 5-2 victory over the Pee Dee Pride Saturday night at the BI-LO Center. Greenville's record of 39-28-5 marks a 50-point increase from last year, tying the ECHL record for point-turnaround from one season to the next.

The Grrrowl led the league in shootout wins with 11 and were the only ECHL team to go undefeated in games decided in overtime with a 2-0 record. Greenville went 18-6-2 in games played against teams outside the division, with a 5-0 record against Texas, a 4-1 record against Florida, and a 3-1-1 record against Gwinnett.

Greenville Captain Colin Pepperall led the team with 54 points, notching 26 goals and 28 assists. The veteran led the team in goals and power play goals (8), while recording 109 penalty minutes. Pepperall led the ECHL in shooting percentage, scoring 26 times on 131 shots for a league-high .198 clip. He played in all 72 Greenville games this season, as did Richie Pitirri, who finished with a line of 10-27-37.

Rookie Martin St. Pierre was a close second to Pepperall for the points lead, as the Emburn, Ontario native posted 53 points in just 45 games. St. Pierre led the team with 39 assists, good for third-best amongst ECHL rookies this season. He also led the team with a plus/minus rating of +15.

Simon Ferguson led the Grrrowl with 244 penalty minutes in 50 games. The rookie finished the season with 40 points on 10 goals and 30 assists, highlighted by a four-assist game in Pee Dee on March 17th.

Greenville defensemen combined for 31 goals, including game-winning overtime goals by Jason Metcalfe and Brent Henley. Vladimir Gusev led Grrrowl blueliners in goals (8) and points (19) with Scotty Balan notching 12 assists and finishing with 18 points. Metcalfe finished with 13 points and his 216 PIMs were good for second on the team. Rookie Kenny Smith scored three goals, including a game-tying strike with 3.8 seconds left in a game against Augusta on February 12th. Daryl Pierce tallied eight points on eight assists in his first season out of Canisius College, while Jason Jozsa had two goals and five points in 15 games with the Grrrowl, after playing most of the season in Toledo. Mike Knight only played three games before the regular season ended, but notched two goals and one assist.

Grrrowl goaltenders held opponents to 2.27 goals per game, with Mike Brodeur leading the team in games played (35), wins (19), shootout wins (6) and shutouts (2). Brodeur stopped 32 of 35 shootout attempts for a league-best .914 shootout percentage, and his six shootout wins is tied for the most in the league. Mike Morrison played in 26 games for the Grrrowl, while also spending significant time with Greenville's AHL affiliate, the Edmonton Road Runners. Morrison posted a 2.74 goals against, while notching a shutout and a 13-10-2 record. Jeff Deslauriers started 11 games for the Grrrowl in February and March, going 7-3-1 with a 2.32 goals against and a shutout of the Charlotte Checkers. His .940 save percentage led the team and was good for third best in the ECHL.

For information on playoff packages, call the Grrrowl offices at 864-467-4777. For individual playoff tickets, call Ticketmaster at 864-233-2525.

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

ECHL Stories from April 11, 2005


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.

Other Recent Greenville Grrrowl Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central