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Home Streak Snapped, But Not Heartbroken

February 14, 2006 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Austin Ice Bats News Release


UPCOMING GAMES: Fri., Feb. 17th, 7:30pm, vs. Colorado Eagles, at Travis County Expo Center, Austin, Texas Sat., Feb. 18th, 7:35pm, vs. Corpus Christi Rayz, at AmericanBank Center, Corpus Christi, Texas Sun., Feb. 19th, 4:00pm, vs. Laredo Bucks, at Travis County Expo Center, Austin, Texas Tues., Feb. 21st, 7:30pm, vs. Corpus Christi Rayz, at Travis County Expo Center, Austin, Texas

Setting the Stage: The Austin Ice Bats of the Central Hockey League are 23-21-3 on their 10th-Anniversary 2005-06 season. Posting a torrid 13-4-1 record in 2006, the Ice Bats have moved into sole possession of second place in the CHL's Southeast Division race, and currently hold the third of four playoff positions in the Southern Conference.

Beginning play this week, the Ice Bats sit three points ahead of Rio Grande Valley and four points ahead of Amarillo in the Conference. Sandwiched around a Saturday game at Corpus Christi, the Bats host the league's two most complete teams-- Colorado on Friday and Laredo on Sunday. Then next Tuesday, the Ice Bats will host Corpus Christi in a game rescheduled from January 23rd.

A look back: The Ice Bats split four games in five nights last week, maintaining their position in the Conference. Defenseman Aaron Schneekloth scored two goals to boost the Ice Bats to a 4-3 home win over Memphis last Wednesday. The Ice Bats built a 3-0 lead, then held on for the victory, the team's tenth in their last 11 games.

Bats winger John McNabb's slick move up the right boards resulted in a pass to center Julian Smith for the opening score four minutes into the contest. Winger Gerald Tallaire scored at 12:51 of the first, and Schneekloth capitalized on a five-on-three power play with a rocket from high in the left circle 17 seconds into the second.

Memphis worked back within one on an early second period goal from Ryan Watson, and a delayed penalty score from Rob Ouimette late in the period. Schneekloth scored the eventual game-winner eight minutes into the third, tipping in a Mike Tucciarone pass. A Travis Banga power play goal at 10:20 closed the lead to 4-3.

The Bats nearly put the game away with 4-1/2 minutes left when a Derek Landmesser turnover resulted in a point blank opportunity for Austin's Jason Kenyon on an open net. But Memphis goalie Michael Dilorenzo slid across to make an impossible kick save. Still, the RiverKings didn't have enough firepower to get the game tied, and the Ice Bats upped their record in one-goal games to 14-3-3. Memphis played much of the game without top scorer Don Parsons, who left to injury early in the first period.

Friday night, Round Two went to the Sooners. Oklahoma City veteran Marty Standish scored three points including the game-winning goal, as the Sooner-clad Blazers defeated the Longhorn-wearing Ice Bats, 5-2 in Oklahoma City. It was a rematch of the "Red River Face-off," won by the Ice Bats in a shootout January 28th in Austin.

The Ice Bats wasted no time getting on the board, as winger Mike Tucciarone was left wide open for a score off a Jeff Neufeld centering pass 45 seconds into the contest. The Blazers tied the score on a Justin Chwedoruk tip midway through the period, and took the lead with 1-1/2 minutes left. Michel Beausoleil received a centering feed below the left circle and whipped it from a sharp angle under Austin goalie Miguel Beaudry.

Standish tipped in the eventual winner 12:18 into the second, and former Ice Bat Jared Dumba backhanded in a rebound kicked out onto the right circle by Beaudry just 21 seconds into the third. Ice Bats defenseman Aaron Schneekloth blew around the right wing for a score at 2:10, but Blazers goalie Sean Connors kept the Bats at bay from there. Beausoleil crashed the net for an empty-net goal with 38 seconds left.

Last Saturday, goalie Matt Barnes stopped 54 of 56 shots faced as the Ice Bats won their 10th straight home game, 4-2 over Amarillo. The Bats built a 3-0 lead, opening scoring on a Julian Smith rebound goal 9:23 into the first period. Bats winger Mike Tucciarone then picked the pocket of a Gorillas player at center, skated down the right wing, and toe-dragged the puck to the middle for an unassisted goal 8:09 into the second. A five-on-three power play goal by Jeff Neufeld boosted the Bats' lead to three at 11:36.

Amarillo's Joe Guenther scored the first of his two third-period goals 7:30 into the final frame, but the Bats came right back 46 seconds later for a Jonathan Jolette rebound score. Barnes allowed just the two Guenther scores on 27 Amarillo shots in the final period.

But in the week's finale on Sunday, Youngstown forward Jeff Christian scored a hat trick, netting all three goals at big times, to boost the Steelhounds to a 4-3 win at the Travis County Expo Center. The loss prevented the Bats from equaling a franchise record of 11 straight home wins.

The Ice Bats came out a little slow and Christian netted his first goal five minutes into the contest. Austin forward Mike Tucciarone evened the score 1:43 into the second on a rebound goal. But Christian then picked off a turnover high in the defensive zone and skated the other way for a shorthanded goal at 7:39. That sucked some of the wind out of the Bats' sails, and the Steelhounds stretched the lead to 3-1 on Jonathan Gagnon's goal late in the period.

The Bats stormed back for a pair of Julian Smith goals in the third. Smith jumped on a loose puck for a power play goal 1:18 into the final period, and scored again on the man-advantage at 14:43. But just 13 seconds after Smith's tying goal, Christian completed the hat trick with the game-winner. Smith had two goals and an assist to lead Austin scoring. In the loss, the Ice Bats scored twice on five power play chances, and did not commit a penalty.

Trade Winds: The Ice Bats completed a trade Monday, just before the CHL trade deadline. The Ice Bats obtained right wing Drew Otten from Tulsa, in exchange for forward Shawn Roed and future considerations. After playing three seasons junior hockey in the United States Hockey League and four years at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, Otten spent his first two pro seasons with Quad City of the United League. This season, the hard-hitting checking forward has 16 points in 45 games with Tulsa.

Injured much of the season, Roed scored ten points in 21 games with the Ice Bats.

Player Plaudits: Winger John McNabb ranks in the top 20 in league scoring with 22 goals and 28 assists. Forward Aaron Davis (36 points) is second on the team in scoring. And Mike Tucciarone is fourth among all rookie scorers with 33 points, ranking second among first-year players in goals (21). Aaron Schneekloth and Darryl McArthur rank among the top 15 defensemen with 27 and 26 points, respectively. And goalie Matt Barnes has allowed just 12 goals total in winning his last five starts.

Czech-ing In: Despite 30 saves, Ice Bats goalie Miroslav Kopriva suffered his first loss in four starts since his most recent call-up to AHL Houston on ----January 13th. The Aeros lost 4-3 last Saturday at Hartford. Still, Kopriva is 4-2 with the Aeros this season, with a 2.86 GAA in seven appearances.

Potential Bite Victims: The gang's all back for defending President's Cup champion Colorado, giving the Eagles an excellent chance to fly high again. At 32-10-5, Colorado has the league's best record and an 11-point lead in the division. Reigning MVP Greg Pankewicz is back up to 5th in scoring with 31 goals and 33 assists. Speedster Riley Nelson is second on the team with 51 points, while forward Ryan Tobler and Brad Williamson (3rd among league defensemen) have 45 points each. The Eagles lead the league on both specialty teams categories, and even rank second in penalty time, averaging nearly 31 minutes per game.

Les Borsheim is the prerequisite "tough guy," with a league leading 263 penalty minutes, but Pankewicz has 237 minutes of his own. When goalie Paulo Colaiacovo (20-7-2, 2.76 GAA) needs a break, the Eagles can feel comfortable with Jeff Blair (12-3-3, 2.63 GAA). Colorado is 16-6-2 away from the nest.

At 17-27-2, Corpus Christi has dropped out of the playoff race. And while injuries have played a part, the Rayz are an enigma, showing at times frightening inability to score. Corpus Christi lost eight games in a row (shut out in the first four) before snapping the streak last Thursday against Amarillo. And the Rayz have plummeted to last offensively (2.37 goals per game), while ranking 14th in both specialty teams categories. Veteran Randy Murphy continues to lead the team with 39 points in 46 games. Ryan Carter has 16 goals and 20 assists, and Bernie John is 7th among d-men with 36 points. Former Ice Bat Shawn Legault continues to rank 2nd with 238 penalty minutes. When goalie Scott Reid (11-14-1, 3.08 GAA) has been on call-up, the Rayz have gotten solid play from Brent Zelenewich (6-13-1, 2.98 GAA). But unless the goalies can find a way to score too, Corpus Christi needs someone else to step up. The Rayz are 8-13-2 at home, 9-14 on the road. They'll visit Laredo and Rio Grande Valley before returning to face Austin Saturday night.

The Ice Bats are unlikely to cut significantly into Laredo's 16-point lead in the division, especially since the teams only face each other once more. At 31-12-3, the Bucks are again among the league's most complete teams, and may be playing better defensively than at any point in their history. Laredo ranks only behind Oklahoma City on offense (3.78 goals per game), but takes a back seat to no one on defense (2.46 average goals allowed). David Lemanowicz (13-3-1, 1.97 GAA) and Dov Grumet-Morris (11-4-1, 2.07 GAA) are the league's top two goalies, and each has three shutouts to his credit. Top ten scorer Jeff Bes has 19 goals and 42 assists, while forward James Hiebert has 57 points to go along with 212 penalty minutes. Serge Dube's 48 points rank him second among defensemen, and at +30, he leads four Bucks at the top of that category. A dominant 21-3 at home, Laredo is surprisingly just 10-9-3 on the road. But the Bucks can put teams away, outscoring opponents 64-33 in third period play. After hosting Corpus Tuesday, Laredo will make a big loop through Odessa, Amarillo and Austin this weekend.

The Series: The Ice Bats lost the only prior meeting against Colorado last season in Austin. Friday's game will be the only meeting this season.

The Bats are 52-28-7 lifetime against Corpus Christi, 4-2-2 this year heading into the season's final two meetings. The Ice Bats are 2-1-1 both at home against the Rayz and in Corpus Christi. The Ice Bats eked out a 1-0 win in the last meeting, January 26th in Corpus.

Austin is 14-22-1 lifetime against Laredo, just 1-5 this year. The teams have split the two games played in Austin, with the Bucks due to visit one more time, a game to be played March 18th in Belton. Laredo shut out the Bats in the last meeting, 2-0 January 11th on the border.

Comments From the Coach: On Last Week: "Amarillo was obviously a huge win for us. It was a little disappointing to lose to Youngstown, not because I think they're a bad team, but because we kind of shot ourselves in the foot with some defensive blunders. But we've come a long way since the start of the season. We're in position for the playoffs, and we're just trying to maintain it."

On This Week: "Colorado and Laredo come in as two of the elite teams in the league. And I expect Corpus to fight hard too. We need to keep playing the way we have, with the exception of last Sunday. We've been getting good goaltending and scoring timely goals."

"The trade we made because, with the departure of Dave MacIntyre, I thought we were missing something on the wing. With Aaron Davis, Julian Smith and Jeff Neufeld all playing center, we'd tried to shift Roed to the wing, but that's really not his best position. We especially needed a right-handed shot over there, and Otten is a grinder who brings a different element, a physical presence to the position. Hopefully we can get him worked in well with the other guys."

Cave, Sweet Cave: The Ice Bats will try to start a new home winning streak this weekend. Friday is Susan G. Komen Foundation Night, with a portion of ticket proceeds to benefit the fight against breast cancer. Also, the second set of Ice Bats trading cards goes to 3,000 fans.

Sunday, free youth jerseys go to the first 1,000 kids age 13 and under, and a free post-game skate with the players follows the contest.

Tickets for Ice Bats home games are on sale now through the Ice Bats office at 927-PUCK, or at any Texas Box Office location, including all Austin-area HEB stores. For on-line orders, fans may visit www.TexasBoxOffice.com or www.GetTix.Net. To charge by phone, fans may call the Ice Bats ticket office at 927-PUCK, Texas Box Office at (512) 477-6060, or Get Tix at 1-866-4-Get Tix.

Individual game tickets range in price from $11 to $35, depending on section, with discounted rates for groups of 15 or more. In addition to individual game tickets and group outings, season tickets and corporate partnerships are currently available for the upcoming season, with full-season, half-season and 10-game ticket packages on sale now. Fans may call the Ice Bats ticket office at (512) 927-PUCK, or log onto the team's website at www.icebats.com for more information.

The Latest: The Ice Bats have scheduled a 5:30pm press conference on Wednesday, February 15th to discuss the team's plans for the 2006-07 season. The press conference will take place at the TGI Fridays on Town Lake, 111 Cesar Chavez Blvd. in downtown Austin. All area media are invited to attend.

Following the press conference, the Ice Bats will then conduct the latest edition of the team's "Speaker Series," which all fans are welcome to attend, starting at 6pm. Ice Bats President Jeff Buch, Coach Bill McDonald, defenseman Darryl McArthur and forward Britt Dougherty will be available to answer questions not only on the team's future plans, but also about the current season.

In the Air: Once again, all Ice Bats away games will be broadcast on ESPN Radio, 1530 on the AM dial. The station will broadcast all road games during the 2005-06 regular season and CHL Playoffs. The games will also be available on-line, through the station website at www.espnaustin.com. The Bud Light Warm-up Show begins 20 minutes prior to game time. Ice Bats VP of Broadcasting, Media/PR Glen Norman will handle play-by-play duties for an eighth straight season.

Bats in Cyberspace: Bats fans can learn the latest about their team by logging on to www.icebats.com. Home or away, Bats fans can also follow the action with real-time scoring on the website, courtesy of Pointstreak.com. Fans will be able to access a game box score in real-time, as well as those of all other CHL games being played.

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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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