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Ice Bats Begin Seven-Game "Roadie"

March 1, 2006 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Austin Ice Bats News Release


Setting the Stage: The Austin Ice Bats of the Central Hockey League are 27-24-3 on their 10th-Anniversary 2005-06 season. After posting a torrid 11-1-1 record to begin 2006, the Ice Bats are 6-6 over their last dozen outings. But that's been enough for the Bats to maintain second place in the CHL's Southeast Division race, and hold the third of four playoff positions in the Southern Conference. The Ice Bats hold a two-point lead over Rio Grande Valley, and are four points ahead of Amarillo in the Conference.

After wrapping up a ten-year run at the Travis County Expo Center, the Ice Bats play seven straight games away from Central Texas. This week, the Ice Bats finish a two-game series in Youngstown, then play two games this weekend in Fort Worth.

A look back: The Ice Bats split two games last weekend, then won the first of four road games this week. Last Friday, Rio Grande Valley winger Bret DeCecco scored twice as the Killer Bees won a key Southern Conference game, 5-1 over the Ice Bats at the Dodge Arena.

The teams traded hits over the first couple of minutes, but Rio Grande Valley's first goal put the Ice Bats on their heels. Killer Bees forward Dwayne Hay centered to DeCecco standing in front of the net, and DeCecco slammed the puck off Bats goalie Miroslav Kopriva. That started a binge of 14 unanswered Rio Grande shots on net, but Kopriva stopped 23 of 24 shots faced in the first period.

The Ice Bats tied the game just 23 seconds into the second period, winger John McNabb tipping in Darryl McArthur's centering pass for a four-on-four goal. But exactly one minute later, Rio Grande forward Nathan Rosychuk walked out from behind the net and slipped the puck around the right post. DeCecco then scored his second goal at 9:22, rebounding Hay's shot off a turnover near the side of the net by Bats defenseman Adam Holmgren.

The Killer Bees would add a rebound goal from Matic Kralj and a power play score from Phil Cherneski in the third. Specialty teams played a big part in the game, as the Bees scored three goals on seven power play chances, while shutting out the Ice Bats on six power play opportunities. Rio Grande Valley threw 57 shots on Kopriva, who returned to the Ice Bats last week from the team's American League Houston affiliate.

Last Saturday, the Ice Bats sent the Bat Cave out in style. Defenseman Aaron Schneekloth's game-tying goal with five minutes remaining, and Aaron Davis' game-winner with 2:17 left propelled the Bats to a thrilling 4-3 come-from-behind win over Odessa in the final game ever at the Travis County Expo Center.

Despite plenty of chances on both sides, neither squad was able to generate more than a one-goal lead. Odessa's Mike Rutter opened scoring on a backhander to the shelf 66 seconds into the game, but Austin's Dan Carney looped in the tying goal from near the right boards at the four-minute mark. A Sebastien Thinel goal midway through the opening period pushed Odessa to a 2-1 lead after one.

The Ice Bats outshot the Jackalopes 16-4 in a scoreless second period, then tied the game on a Schneekloth power play goal, scored on a tip low in the right circle. With eight minutes remaining, Odessa forward John Kozoriz stole the puck at center, and fought off a defender for a breakaway goal. But Schneekloth tied the game again on a slap shot from the left wing.

Davis then sent the crowd of 6,244 into a frenzy, tapping a Darryl McArthur centering pass out of midair over Odessa goalie Derek Dolson's right shoulder for the winner. Schneekloth and Davis both finished with three points, and goaltender Miroslav Kopriva stopped 26 of 29 shots faced.

The Ice Bats began their road trip on a successful note on Tuesday. Ice Bats goalie Miroslav Kopriva stopped 37 of 38 shots faced, and winger John McNabb scored twice, as the Bats claimed a 4-1 win in the first of consecutive games in Youngstown.

Passing as crisply as they have on the road this season, the Ice Bats controlled the momentum through the first two periods. Forward Jeff Neufeld scored eight minutes into the contest on a power play backhander, and the Bats added goals 2:06 apart early in the second period. Dan Carney scored a rebound goal at 2:19, and McNabb jumped on a loose puck and pulled it to the middle for a 3-0 lead.

The Steelhounds came out aggressively in the third, and got on the board on Joey Sewell's goal just nine seconds into a power play. But McNabb closed the door on an odd-man rush, rebounding a Drew Otten shot for his second goal at 9:14. The Ice Bats scored twice on six power play chances to gain ground on their pursuers in the Southern Conference playoff chase.

Player Plaudits: Winger John McNabb ranks in the top 20 in league scoring with 27 goals and 31 assists. Forward Aaron Davis (44 points) is second on the team in scoring. And Mike Tucciarone is fourth among all rookie scorers with 37 points, ranking second among first-year players in goals (22). Aaron Schneekloth and Darryl McArthur rank among the top 15 defensemen with 33 and 32 points, respectively. Goalie Miguel Beaudry is 9-6-1 with a 2.65 GAA since joining the Ice Bats, and Miroslav Kopriva 9-3 with a 2.25 GAA.

Potential Bite Victims: The Ice Bats' Northeast Division opponents this week will try to play the role of spoiler. Youngstown is 20-30-4, 2nd in the Division but 18 points out of a playoff spot. Now winless in their last four games, the Steelhounds are 13th in the league defensively, allowing 3.72 goals per game. 16th year pro Jeff Christian, who saw 18 games in the NHL, ranks 2nd in league scoring with a league-most 48 goals and 38 assists. He has 18 power play goals. Former Ice Bat Chris Richards ranks 4th in the league, 2nd in assists, with 15 goals and 60 helpers. Richards carries a 14-game point streak into Wednesday's game. Top seven rookie Mario Chinelli has 15 goals, 19 assists, and forward Darryl Lloyd also has 34 points. D-man Kris Mallette has 204 penalty minutes. David St. Germain leads all goalies in minutes played and total saves, and is 15-23-3 with a 3.54 GAA. The ‘Hounds are 9-15-2 at home, dropping seven straight home games.

Fort Worth is 15-30-8, and in danger of finishing last for the third consecutive year. The Brahmas rank last in both specialty teams categories, and are 14th on offense (2.55 goals per game) and defense (3.79 average goals allowed). Cory Stillman leads the team with 26 goals and 25 assists. Wes Mason (19 goals, 30 assists) has an active 10-game scoring string. With the trade of winger Bret DeCecco, defenseman Ryan Fairbarn (28 points) is now the third leading scorer. Goalie Larry Sterling is second in minutes played, and is 14-23-3 with a 3.43 GAA. 7-17-5 at home, Fort Worth hosts Wichita Friday before their two-game set against Austin

.

The Series: The Ice Bats are now 1-1 against Youngstown after Tuesday's victory. The Steelhounds won the only previous meeting, 4-3 on February 12th in Austin, behind a Jeff Christian hat trick.

The Bats are 49-23-2 lifetime against Fort Worth, 5-1 this year after winning the last five meetings. The Bats are 2-0 in Fort Worth, but both were 2-1 decisions, and the last three games in the series have been decided by a single goal.

Comments From the Coach:

On Last Week: "At Rio Grande, we weren't good and they were. They've got a good team, and they played one of their best games against us. They've won a couple more since then, so they've made up some ground. Odessa was an energy-packed game for the fans, and a good way to send the Bat Cave out, I thought. Aaron Davis is one of those guys that you can tell right away when he's got that extra jump, and so by the end of the first, I could tell he was in for a big night. And Schneekloth played well. His power play goal was a real nice goal. The guys stepped up and found a way to win."

On This Week: "There's no way in my mind that we can just go in and expect to win these games this week. They're going to be tough. Fans look at the standings and figure it should be a walk, but these teams put their skates on the same way we do, and they're playing for pride. We just need to focus on ourselves, play physical and keep the puck deep. To me, it's all about keeping our focus right now."

Cave, Sweet Cave: Including this season's 19-10-1 mark, the Ice Bats finished 209-97-22 in ten years of play at the Travis County Expo Center. In February, the Ice Bats announced they will vacate the Expo Center and move to Chaparral Ice Center, located on I-35 South between Howard Lane and Wells Branch Parkway. The Ice Bats will begin play at Chaparral Ice during the 2006 President's Cup Playoffs, should the team qualify for post-season play.

Because of the unavailability of the Expo Center, the Ice Bats played four playoff games at Chaparral Ice in 2003, hosting New Mexico and Laredo en route to the President's Cup Finals. After the conclusion of this season, permanent seating will be installed to bring the building's capacity to close to 2,000 fans, with other improvements to include a renovated club area upstairs overlooking the ice and an expanded concession area downstairs. In addition to a raucous, energetic environment for fans, Chaparral Ice will give the Ice Bats greater scheduling flexibility, a superior location, and the ability to provide corporate partners the year-round display of their message. Chaparral Ice will remain the team's home arena until construction is complete on a new facility, currently under study.

The Ice Bats will also host two more regular season "home games," to be played March 17th and 18th at the Bell County Expo Center in Belton.

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.

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.

THIS WEEK:
Wed., Mar. 1st, 7:05pm, vs. Youngstown Steelhounds, at Chevrolet Centre, Youngstown, Ohio
Sat., Mar. 4th, 7:30pm, vs. Fort Worth Brahmas, at Will Rogers Coliseum, Fort Worth, Texas
Sun., Mar. 5th, 3:00pm, vs. Fort Worth Brahmas, at Will Rogers Coliseum, Fort Worth, Texas

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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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