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Hughes Era at Home Begins This Week

February 9, 2007 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Austin Ice Bats News Release


Setting the Stage: The Austin Ice Bats of the Central Hockey League are 16-18-10 on the 2006-2007 CHL season, third in the Southeast Division. The Ice Bats have begun play at all-new Chaparral Ice Arena, located on I-35 between Howard Lane and Wells Branch Parkway.

With Brent Hughes named Monday as the Ice Bats' new Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations, the Bats will play their first home games with Hughes on the bench this weekend. The Ice Bats begin a four-game homestand hosting Rio Grande Valley and Arizona.

A look back: Last Thursday, the Ice Bats scored three third-period goals to sprint away from Lubbock, 4-1 at the Lubbock Municipal Coliseum. The Ice Bats consistently generated shots and scoring chances off face-offs, outshooting the Cotton Kings 14-8 in a scoreless first period. The Bats then scored first 4:46 into the second period. Defenseman Chris Ovington's centering pass slid under Lubbock goalie J.F. Perras, and Aaron Davis poked in the loose puck for a power play goal. Lubbock wasted no time coming back, tying the game 1:20 later, with Bobby Brown rebounding Marc Bianchi's shot off the crossbar.

Both teams hit the crossbar with shots within the first two minutes of the third period, but the Ice Bats dominated the rest of the way. Defenseman J.F. Picard feathered a centering pass into the crease, and followed up on it for a goal eight minutes into the final period. With a defender tugging on his jersey from behind, forward Marty Doyle centered to Julian Smith for another power play goal at 10:21. Austin forward Henry Kuster wrapped scoring with an empty net goal with 46 seconds remaining. The Bats outshot the Cotton Kings, 14-5 in the third period.

Ice Bats goalie Tony Quesada stopped 30 of 31 shots faced to earn his second win of the season. And with two more power play goals on four chances, the Ice Bats' suddenly potent power play had scored six times in their last five games.

Last Friday, Tulsa twice came from behind to nip the Ice Bats 4-3 in a shootout at the Tulsa Convention Center. With a point gained from the regulation tie, the Ice Bats maintained sole possession of third place in the CHL Southeast Division.

The Ice Bats scored the only goal in an end-to-end first period, winger Mike Tucciarone centering for Henry Kuster's tap-in 11 minutes in. Good cycling of the puck low in the Tulsa zone led to John Ronan's goal, which gave the Ice Bats a 2-0 lead 34 seconds into the second period.

Tulsa stormed back with a pair of goals in the period. Top five scorer David Beauregard walked from behind the net and slammed the puck past Miguel Beaudry at 7:33, and Chase Decker scored his first pro goal on a breakaway with four minutes left.

The Ice Bats struck again quickly in the third. Defenseman Terry Virtue's shot deflected off a Tulsa player and hurtled over Oilers goalie Jason Montgomery's right shoulder. But the Oilers tied the score at

6:41, when a trailing Dave Rattray joined a three-on-two rush and scored on a Spencer Carbery pass.

After a scoreless overtime, the Oilers converted on three of four shootout chances, while Montgomery stopped all three Ice Bats shooters. Former Ice Bat Jared Dumba was credited with the game-winner.

In what would turn out to be Bill McDonald's final game as coach last Saturday, the Ice Bats again lost a lead and a shootout to Tulsa. This time, the Oilers edged the Ice Bats, 3-2 at Chaparral Ice Arena.

The Bats again built a 2-0 lead on an Aaron Davis goal midway through the first, and Jason Kenyon's shorthanded score at 5:40 of the second. Center Julian Smith picked off a neutral ice turnover and fed a pass for Kenyon's ripper from the right circle. Six seconds later, Austin's Marty Doyle obliterated Tulsa's Chris Shaw in a fight, and it was all good, with the Ice Bats up by a pair after two.

But the Bats ran out of gas in the third. Tulsa's Mike Wiggins tapped in a centering pass from the corner for a power play goal at 4:28, and Bill Newson's tip with an extra attacker on tied the game with 48 seconds left in regulation. The Ice Bats were again thwarted in the shootout, missing on all four attempts, while the Oilers connected on half of their four shots. And again, it was Jared Dumba to get the winner in Round One.

On Tuesday, the Brent Hughes era began-- again-- with a 5-2 loss at Amarillo. After a decent first, the Ice Bats fell apart in the second period. All scoring in the game came in that period, the five goals scored by the Gorillas including three on the power play. Amarillo's Chris Lipsett scored 48 seconds into the period, and defenseman Kevin Wilson stick-handled around Austin's John Ronan into the slot to make it 2-0. Ice Bats forward Chris Murphy redirected Terry Virtue's centering pass for a power play goal 37 seconds later. But the Gorillas got goals from Dan Carney and Jason Chafe in the middle portion of the period.

Virtue's power play rebound brought the Ice Bats within 4-2 late in the second, but Lipsett tipped in his second goal just as a power play was expiring with 1:36 left in the period. The Gorillas finished three-for-eight on the power play, and outshot the Ice Bats 38-24, including an 18-8 margin in the pivotal second period.

Return Engagement: As of Monday, Brent Hughes returns as the Ice Bats' Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations. The franchise's winningest coach, Hughes guided the Ice Bats for four seasons from 1999 to 2003, compiling a 174-74-22 record and leading the team to consecutive appearances in the President's Cup Finals.

The 40-year-old Hughes, a native of New Westminster, British Colombia, surpassed the 40-win mark and reached the playoffs in all four seasons as coach. In his final season, 2002-03, the Ice Bats finished 46-14-4 and earned the Governors Cup as CHL regular season champion.

Hughes is also a veteran of 12 seasons as a player in the National Hockey League, American and International Leagues. He spent all or part of eight seasons in the NHL, appearing in 357 games with the Winnipeg Jets, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres and New York Islanders.

Roster Flights:

Arrivals: After placing two players on injured reserve, the Ice Bats opened back up a roster spot for center Ray Smegal, who cleared waivers over the weekend. Smegal has 11 points in 27 games this season.

Wounded Wings: The Ice Bats have placed top scorer John McNabb and forward Mike Possin on the 14-day injured reserve list. Both will be out of action for an undetermined amount of time. Meanwhile, defenseman Chris Ovington is also trying to fight his way back from injury, and has been recalled to the AHL Houston Aeros while he conducts his rehab.

Player Plaudits: Winger Henry Kuster has taken over the team scoring lead with 20 goals and 19 assists. John McNabb is next with 18 goals and 17 assists. Center Julian Smith has 15 goals and 15 helpers, and Mike Tucciarone has 11 goals and 17 assists. Forward Marty Doyle's 162 penalty minutes tie him for the lead among all CHL rookies.

Goalie Miguel Beaudry is 9-6-8 with a 2.90 GAA in net, and ranks among the league's top dozen goalies. Despite just a 2-5-2 record, goalie Tony Quesada has an even better 2.80 GAA.

Potential Bite Victims: Every team in the Southern Conference has its flaws, and this week's opponents each have their strengths and weaknesses. At 17-20-6, Rio Grande Valley is two points behind the Ice Bats in the Southeast Division. The Killer Bees have been solid defensively and have the league's #2 penalty kill (87.5%). But they're only averaging 2.74 goals per game. Only Rocky Mountain scores fewer goals on average. Coach Paul Fixter was a busy Bee in January, engineering a five player swap that brought #8 scorer David Masse and defenseman Matt Medley from Tulsa. Masse leads the team with 24 goals and 26 assists, and has 11 points in 10 games with the Bees. Veteran Jason Cirone has 19 goals and 21 assists and d-man Dennis Maxwell 35 points. Rio also picked up tough Dale Butland from Oklahoma City and center Nick Warriner from Rocky Mountain, so it's a different Rio Grande team than the Ice Bats saw last. Goalie Jeremy Symington is 12-10-4, with a 2.93 GAA. The Killer Bees are 8-11-2 as an away team.

At 19-22-1, Arizona is in third place, in the mix in the Southwest. A good offensive club, the Sundogs rank 15th defensively, allowing 3.71 goals per game. And while they have the league's third-rated power play (19.7%), they've allowed a league-most 13 shorthanded goals. The league's top goal-scorer, Brent Kelly ranks third overall with 30 goals and 33 assists. Center Cory Stillman has 17 goals and 27 helpers, and Chris Bartolone 40 points, fourth among defensemen. Goalie Chris King is 12-9 with a 3.23 GAA. But former Ice Bat Kevin Couture (6-11, 3.22 GAA) has struggled since arriving in the desert, winning just once in five outings and allowing a full goal more per game than his season average. 9-13 on the road, Arizona has lost six straight road games. They'll visit Laredo before coming to Austin.

The Series: The Ice Bats are now 19-15-2 lifetime against Rio Grande Valley after winning all five meetings this season. Three of those wins have come by one goal, one in overtime and one in a shootout. The Ice Bats have won all three games played in Austin.

The Ice Bats lost their only game to date against expansion Arizona, 4-2 November 22nd at Prescott Valley.

Comments From the Coach:

On Taking Over: "It's a hard situation coming in in the middle of the year and trying a bit to pull a rabbit out of a hat. Right now, it's an evaluation period, same as in training camp. It's a time for the players to show me what they can do. As coach, my job is then to put them in a position to make it work. You can't change things wholesale, the learning curve would be too long. Gradually, we'll get them to play the style I want to play. Even in the brief time we've had, I think the guys are starting to understand what I want. Knowing my background and the success we've had here, it's my hope that as a group, the guys will commit themselves over the last 20 games of the season."

On This Week: "I can't put a time frame on how long it will take to completely turn things around. Obviously, I saw some stuff I didn't want to see out of our first game together. I don't know if it was nervousness or the long trip, but I didn't see guys step up like I thought they would. This weekend, they have a chance to prove themselves, to prove they're better than what they showed Tuesday. I'll have a lot better feel after this weekend what we have in our dressing room. We're not a horrible hockey club, we're a .500 team. Now we're going to try to finish strong, do well in the playoffs, and evaluate what we have going into next year."

The "New" Bat Cave: This season, the Ice Bats begin a new era at Chaparral Ice Arena, located on I-35 between Howard Lane and Wells Branch Parkway.

This Friday, "Friday Night Fights" will feature on-ice jiu-jitsu demonstrations from the prestigious Relson-Gracie Academy. Fans may sign up for a chance to win free instructional classes for youth and adults.

Saturday is "Dollar Dog Night," with dollar hot dogs throughout the contest, and a post-game party with the Ice Bats players at Wings 'N More, on Howard Lane just east of I-35.

In addition to providing tickets through the Ice Bats office at 927-PUCK, the Bats are for the first time utilizing Front Gate Tickets as the team's ticket outlet. Fans may conveniently purchase tickets at any Front Gate Tickets location, including Stubbs BBQ, Waterloo Records and Encore Video & CD.

Fans may order on-line through the Ice Bats website at www.icebats.com. Phone orders may be placed by calling (512) 927-PUCK, or 1-888-512-SHOW. Individual game tickets range in price from $15 to $35, depending on section, with discounted rates for groups of 15 or more. 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.

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 2006-07 regular season and CHL Playoffs. The games will also be available on-line, through the station website at www.espnaustin.com. Ice Bats VP of Broadcasting, Media/PR Glen Norman will handle play-by-play duties for a ninth 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.

In addition, the CHL has partnered with industry leader ONEsite to launch 'myCHLteam.com', a new digital community designed to increase and enhance fan, player, team and league interaction. ONEsite is a leading provider of private labeled social networks and communities, and provides individual websites, blogs, photo galleries and much more to fans at no cost. Fans may log onto www.MyIceBats.com to sign up or for more details.

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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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