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Havoc on Halfway High

January 17, 2007 - SPHL (SPHL) News Release


The Huntsville Havoc hit the halfway point of the season sitting not only in first place in the standings, but in attendance too. The Havoc have always been a hit in Huntsville, but one needs to look no further than Saturday night's sell-out crowd of 6,658 to realize just how popular the club has become in Rocket City.

That being said, the club should not get ready to pop the champagne cork in celebration over their success just yet. The Havoc have only a five-point lead over both Columbus and Knoxville with Richmond only a single point behind those two franchises.

The SPHL this season is competitive to the point if you take a "break"and don't play hard in each and every game you will lose. For an example of that look no further than January 12th when Pee Dee, the current last place team scored three times in the last seven minutes of the game to knock off the second place Knoxville Ice Bears team. Pee Dee leads the league in scoring and also put a scare into the Havoc in Huntsville when they took a 3-0 lead in a recent game. Parity is king in the SPHL and a team that goes into a game thinking they have the automatic two-points in a game will likely be disappointed soon afterwards.

Home Ice Advantage

If there is one thing you can count on in the SPHL is the home team will have a very good chance to win. Led by Huntsville's 12-2-1 mark at home SPHL clubs win at home at a .638 clip compared to a .446 mark at home. In addition to the Havoc's impressive mark at home, the Cottonmouths are 11-4 and the Ice Bears are 9-3. No current club has a losing record at home (Florida was 8-9 before they folded) and only Pee Dee (5-5-3) is an even chance to win in a familiar setting.

Many Individual Stars Shining

Hockey might be the ultimate team game, but like other leagues the SPHL has standout players. The league is so tightly compacted an argument could be made for many players when the league selects its MVP, Goaltender of the Year, Defenseman of the Year, Coach of the Year and Rookie of the Year. Basically at the halfway point there is no favorite for any of the league's individual end-of the-season awards.

A partial list of midseason candidates for the MVP award include last season's winner Matt Carmichael (Huntsville), Knoxville's Kevin Swider, Chad Rycroft (Columbus), Pee Dee's Allan Sirois, Fayetteville's BJ Stephens, Jacksonville's Ryan Webb and Richmond defender Brian Goudie.

If you think the MVP race will be tight, look no further than the other awards where there is no easy answer. There are several goaltenders (Carmichael, Rycroft, Richmond's Doug Groenestege, Knoxville's Terry Dunbar and Fayetteville's Chad Collins) who could be favorites for the nod by year's end.

The Defenseman of the Year award? Forget about it, each team could nominate someone for this award and feel slighted if they did not win. Voters for that award will have to choose between seasoned veterans such as Knoxville's Doug Searle, Goudie, Columbus'Steve Howard and relative newcomers such as Fayetteville's Dylan Row and Huntsville's Jonathan Lounsbury just to name a few players.

The same can be said about the Rookie of the Year award where Row has shined to the point where a UHL job temporarily opened for him and Knoxville's Mike Tuomi who sits in eighth place in the league's scoring race. Those two players are the front-runners of a loaded class that includes Richmond's Danny White, Tyler Schremp and Andre Gill, Fayetteville's Tim Velemirovich, Huntsville's Travis Kauffeldt, Martin Kubaliak and Tim Hockley amongst others sprinkled throughout the league.

Each club's coach has had difficult challenges to overcome this year and could each be named as the Coach of the Year. That being said it is an award that is usually granted to a coach of a team that wins most of their games. At this point the front-runner would be Huntsville's John Gibson, but Jim Bermingham in Knoxville, last season's winner Jerome Bechard in Columbus and Richmond's John Brophy are also close to the top. No one should discount the rest of the coaches either, as they are just one good winning streak away from first place.

In addition to the tight individual races the scoring championship is up in the air as is the goaltending title, the defenseman scoring race, rookie scoring race, even the +/- rankings are in close competition. Competition is a good thing in sports and the excitement will flow through the league from now until the close of the regular season. While nothing is settled at this point in the league you can count on one thing, that each and every game from now to the end of the season will have some meaning to it.

They Said It

"I try to read the play and kick out the rebound. I'm a big goalie, if I can control the rebounds they won't get too many behind me."

Richmond netminder Doug Groenestege after his 47 save effort in a 5-1 win over Huntsville.

"Don't tell him that! He needs to concentrate on "d", I don't need him jumping up on the play all the time."

Huntsville coach John Gibson when asked about the improved offensive output of league +/- leader Tim Hockley.

"We're getting sick and tired of teams coming into our rink and pushing us around."

Fayetteville's Josh Tataryn to Brett Friedlander of the Fayetteville Observer.

"If I could bottle it up I would...that was our best game of the year anywhere. That was a great crowd, as noisy as I have heard it."

Richmond coach John Brophy after defeating Huntsville on Friday night.

TEAM NOTES

A late goal by Fayetteville's Josh Tataryn ruined the Cottonmouths'chance to move within three points of Huntsville. The goal ended a see-saw affair that saw Columbus come back twice from a goal deficit in a losing effort. The club opened up with a runaway 7-2 win over the Jacksonville Barracudas. The contest was never in doubt as the club jumped out to a 7-0 lead before allowing two late goals to their hosts. Tim Green, the club's leading scorer, led the way with two goals and an assist while Mike McIlveen had a pair of tallies himself. Defender Mat Ponto also had a solid evening as he had a goal and an assist to go along with a +4. Despite his loss against the FireAntz, Chad Rycroft continues to lead the league in goals against average and save percentage. Rycroft is the only goaltender in the SPHL to have a GAA under three-goals-per-game to date. After a recent hot streak the club has sunk to 5-4-1 over their last ten games. The slowdown has cost the club their chance to gain ground on the Havoc. Steve Howard's assist against the Barracudas allowed him to sit in fifth place amongst all defenseman in the SPHL at week's end. Green has done Howard one better as he resides in fourth place in the league's scoring race. Due to the fact the Cottonmouths were supposed to play a lot of games against the Florida Seals this week the club will be out of action until January 27th.

The club made some sweeping changes as John Marks added Anthony Ross and Nello Ferraro and welcomed back Dylan Row to the blueline. The trio played in both games this week, a 5-2 loss at Jacksonville and a 3-2 win over Columbus at home. Players attributed the win over Columbus to a dedication to physical play. Row had a solid contest against the 'Snakes as he scored a goal and was on the ice for all three Fire Antz' scores. In order to make room for the new players the club waived Patrick Levesque and sent Marc Norrington to Augusta of the ECHL. BJ Stephens is not one of the first players out of people's mouths when discussing the best players in the league, but Stephens sits in fifth place in the league's scoring list. Stephens is not only one of the club's best offensive players, he is one of its'better defensive forwards. Josh Tataryn scored the game-winning goal with just less than three minutes to play against Columbus. Row has scored nine goals this season, five of which have come on the power play. No other defender has scored more than five goals this year. Fayetteville sits in second place in shots against per game with opponents firing 35.57 shots on goal per game. The club is 9-6-4 when Chad Collins plays and 3-5-1 when he does not.

The club lost a chance to solidify their hold on first place when they were outscored in Richmond by a 5-1 count and then lost in overtime the very next evening against the Knoxville Ice Bears. Tim Hockley scored the lone goal against the Renegades while Travis Kauffeldt and Craig Bushey scored against the Ice Bears. Matt Carmichael was saddled with both loses in goal for the club. Dan Buccella had facial surgery and missed the Richmond affair, but was back on the ice against Knoxville the next night. Buccella was one of Huntsville's best players in game with an assist and a plus rating. The Havoc were definitely out of sorts against the Renegades as they went 1-13 on the power play and scored only the single goal despite firing 48 shots on goal. Despite the fact defensive partner Jesse Baraniuk is still in the ECHL, Jonathan Lounsbury continues to lead SPHL defenseman in points and assists. Defender Peter Langella was added to the roster as a full-time player. Langella played his collegiate hockey with Norwich University. The signing of Langella gives the Havoc a full roster and allowed the team to move Kelly Miller back to his forward position. If you see the Havoc this week don't ask them if the new schedule is making it easier for them as the club will play three nights in a row, all in different cities.

If the club had to pick which one of their three games to win this past week it probably would have been the Fayetteville game, and that is the one they did win. It was a tough start for the Barracudas as they fell behind Columbus by a 7-0 count early in the third period. Jacksonville did score twice in the third, but it was only window dressing on the disappointing loss. The club looked to be on their way to another loss when Fayetteville took a 2-1 lead early in the third period, but Jim Murphy scored twice and picked up an assist over the remainder of the game to lead the team to a 5-2 win. Ryan Person was solid in goal for the club as he made 32 saves as was defender Ryan Crowther who scored a goal and was named the First Star of the Game. Jeff Angelidis got the 'Cudas going early against Richmond, but it was pretty much all Renegades after that in a 5-3 Richmond win. Jason Cassells scored twice to keep it close, but close was all it would be. Netminder Matt Meacham returned to action for the club and made 38 saves in defeat.

It was a week of opposites for the Ice Bears who managed to win and lose a game in surprising fashion. With a 6-4 lead over the Pee Dee Cyclones with just under seven minutes remaining in the contest, disaster struck as the last place Cyclones scored three goals to ruin the Ice Bears'evening. Prior to the setback Rob Flynn and Mike Craigen were set to be stars of the evening with two goals and an assist apiece. Knoxville turned the tables on the first place Huntsville Havoc in their next game. Trailing 2-1 in front of a sellout crowd, Flynn kept his scoring going by scoring the tying goal at the 15:41 mark of the third period. No one could score again in the game until Mike Tuomi ripped a shot past Havoc netminder Matt Carmichael with just 1:11 of the overtime period expired. Due to the fact Terry Dunbar was the losing goaltender against Pee Dee, Ervins Mustukovs earned the nod in goal against Huntsville and made 35 saves. The victory propelled the Ice Bears into a second place tie with the Columbus Cottonmouths at the halfway mark of the season for both clubs. Injured players Curtis Menzul and Bob Rangus rank nowhere near the club's leading scorers, but they are missed for their intangibles they bring to the club.

With only one game on the slate this week the result of the contest would hold sway over their club for a long period of time. Fortunately the contest turned out to be possibly the Cyclones'most exciting of the year. Down 6-4 to Knoxville with just minutes remaining in the game Geoff Rollins went crazy. Rollins scored twice to knot the game at six goals apiece and then assisted on Allan Sirois'game-winning goal with just 1:18 left in regulation. By the time the contest had ended Rollins had scored three times and had four points and Sirois had two goals and an assist. Due to the club's light schedule Sirois, who leads the SPHL with 53 points, has been moonlighting with the Texas Wildcatters of the ECHL. Ryan Petz has also seen ECHL time with the Augusta Lynx during the club's leisurely schedule of late. The club made some roster moves this week as they were forced to place Brian Boike on the season-ending injury list and Jeff Marler went on the 30-day list. Defender Danny Powell and netminder Brad Buss were added.

The Renegades came out of their worst stretch of the season (0-3-1) with a pair of solid wins. The first game saw Doug Groenestege make 47 stops in a 5-1 win over the first place Huntsville Havoc. Donald Melnyk scored for the fourth consecutive game to open the scoring and was followed by Andre Gill who scored the game's next two scores. Tyler Schremp scored with his usual blast from the face-off circle and Dean Jackson completed the rout. The next game against Jacksonville would be closer on the scoreboard, but in reality the club had a better game and won 5-3. JJ Wrobel led the way with a pair of goals and the club rounded out the scoring with efforts from Duane Whitehead, Jackson and Danny White. Groenestege continued his fine play with 32 saves. Defender Brian Goudie has heated up offensively and resides a single point behind Jonathan Lounsbury in the league's defensive scoring race. However, his allaround play is what the club is most happy with. Coach John Brophy said he brought back Scott Corbett due to his skills and believed Corbett would make a difference.

The Lighter Side!

1) Which three players have finished in the league's Top Ten in scoring each year?

Hint: One of the players has won the scoring championship each season.

2) Which two defenseman have ranked in the top five in defenseman scoring each season?

Hint: One of these players has retired from professional hockey.

3) What is the SPHL All-Time record for saves in a game by a goaltender?

Hint: The netminder played in the ECHL this season.

1) Knoxville's Kevin Swider, Huntsville's James Patterson and Columbus'Tylor Keller have each been in the top ten each season.

2) Columbus'Ryan Aikia and Knoxville's Curtis Menzul.

3) Pee Dee's Kevin Schieve made 76 stops on January 17th, 2006 in a 7-5 win over Knoxville.

Helping and Honoring

SPHL hockey isn't all just fun and games. All of the league's team are reaching out to the community and doing what they can to help out. Check out some of these upcoming events;

- January 27 in Columbus will be the Columbus Cottonmouths'first ever Racing Weekend. Tickets to the Richard Petty Meet & Greet at the Snake Pit will be avai lable at the Columbus Cottonmouths front office for only $100. A portion of the proceeds from this "Columbus Cottonmouths Racin' Weekend" will go to benefit the Victory Junction Gang Camp, an organization founded for kids in honor of Adam Petty.

- The Knoxville Ice Bears visit East Tennessee Children's Hospital and deliver Teddy Bears to patients on January 31st. 4-6 players visit each room and spend time with the kids and their families as well as give each child a teddy bear to take home.

- The Huntsville Havoc will host Military Night on February 6th to honor the US Military.

Three Stars of theWeek (in no particular order)

Mat Ponto #5 Columbus 1-1-2, +4, vs. Jacksonville 1/9

Doug Groenestege #40 Richmond 47 saves, 1 GAA 1/12 vs. Huntsville

Geoff Rollins #61 Pee Dee 3 goals, assist 1/12 vs. Knoxville

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SPHL Stories from January 17, 2007


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.


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