Sports stats



Ice Bats Finish Season This Weekend

March 23, 2007 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Austin Ice Bats News Release


Setting the Stage: The Austin Ice Bats of the Central Hockey League are 20-27-14 entering the final week of the 2006-2007 CHL season, fourth in the Southeast Division. The Ice Bats now prepare to wrap up their first season at all-new Chaparral Ice Arena, located on I-35 between Howard Lane and Wells Branch Parkway.

This weekend, the Ice will finish the season with a home game against Corpus Christi, followed by a home-and-home series against the team that knocked them from the playoff chase, Rio Grande Valley.

A look back: The Ice Bats have gone winless over their last five games to fall out of the playoff race. Last Friday night, the Bats were shut out 4-0 in a listless effort at Laredo, missing an opportunity to tie Rio Grande Valley for the final Southern Conference playoff berth.

Laredo outshot the Bats 19-4 in each of the first two periods, and scored twice in the opening period. Winger Igor Pohanka scored on Jeff Bes' pass across the slot two minutes into the contest, and Bucks forward Leo Thomas blew past Bats defenseman J.F. Picard for the second goal at 14:22.

The only Ice Bat that didn't need a wakeup call got one midway through the second period. A shot by Laredo's James Hiebert knocked Ice Bats goalie Miguel Beaudry's mask askew. Thomas scooped up the puck and put it past the prone Beaudry, but the goal was disallowed as the whistle should have been blown to stop play.

Still, Pohanka picked defenseman Chad McIver's pocket to provide Bes a goal 5:22 into the third, and Bobby Chaumont wrapped up scoring with three minutes left. Laredo outshot Austin 49-12, as Bucks goalie Kevin Reiter earned his second shutout of the season. Beaudry finished with 45 saves in a losing cause.

On Sunday, the Ice Bats came back with a much-improved effort at home against Laredo, but still lost, 2-1. Laredo goalie Kevin Reiter stopped 26 of 27 shots en route to Goalie of the Week honors, while Austin goalie Miguel Beaudry stopped 31 of 33 shots faced.

Laredo's Bobby Chaumont scored a five-on-three power play goal with 1:28 left in the first period, but Austin's John McNabb retaliated with a four-on-four score early in the second. Chaumont would eventually wind up with the winner, another power play goal from the right circle midway through the third. Laredo scored twice on six power play chances, while shutting out the Bats on five opportunities.

Rio Grande Valley officially eliminated the Ice Bats from the playoff race with a 4-0 win over the Bats Tuesday in Hidalgo. Winger David Masse scored twice and Rio goalie Jeff Van Nynatten stopped all 25 shots faced in the win.

Rio Grande veteran Jason Cirone scored the only first period goal, tipping in Rob Voltera's shot short-side past Bats goalie Miguel Beaudry at 12:27. Bees forward Dennis Maxwell then stretched the lead to 2-0 on a superlative individual effort 4:37 into the second. Scooping up a deflected pass at center, Maxwell stayed a step ahead of Bats defenseman Chad McIver, despite McIver's diving attempt to swipe the puck away. As he fell to his knees, Maxwell then pulled the puck off the edge of the crease and backhanded it by Beaudry.

Three minutes after Maxwell's goal, the game spun out of control. A collision between Rio Grande forward Marlon Joseph and Austin defenseman Aaron Wilson erupted in fisticuffs. When Ice Bats forward Chris Murphy skated in and delivered a two-handed slash to Joseph's backside, it touched off a melee. Masse scored the first of his two power play goals on the ensuing five-minute major penalty assessed to Murphy.

The Ice Bats were awarded a five-on-three power play early in the third period, but failed to cash in, and Masse cemented their fate with his second power play goal with eight minutes left. The Bats finished scoreless on nine power play chances, while the Killer Bees scored twice on eight opportunities. Austin became just the second league team mathematically eliminated from the playoff chase.

Roster Flights:

Departures: Ice Bats forward Chris Murphy has been suspended for the team's remaining three games by the CHL as a result of his actions in Tuesday's game at Rio Grande Valley.

Player Plaudits: Winger Henry Kuster enters the final week holding the team scoring lead with 25 goals and 27 assists. John McNabb is next with 21 goals and 23 assists. Center Aaron Davis has 42 points, and Mike Tucciarone has 18 goals and 22 assists. Goalie Miguel Beaudry is 12-13-11 with a 3.00 GAA in net, and ranks among the league's top 13 goalies.

Potential Bite Victims: At 34-21-7, Corpus Christi has locked down a playoff berth and the #3 seed in the Southern Conference. The Rayz utilize strong defense as their cornerstone, allowing just 2.63 goals per game, second only to Bossier-Shreveport defensively. MVP finalist Justin Quenneville ranks among the league's top five scorers with 30 goals and 43 assists. Veteran Jason Baird has 16 goals, 45 assists, and forwards Matt Turek and Derrick McIver 52 and 51 points, respectively. Goalies Brent Zelenewich (12-9-3, 2.46 GAA) and Ron Vogel (22-12-4, 2.56 GAA) both rank among the league's seven best. One more thing about Coach Ken McRae's Rayz-- they can put teams away, outscoring opponents 72-32 in third period play this season. Corpus Christi is 17-8-6 on the road.

Rio Grande Valley is 26-27-8, and clinched a playoff spot with Odessa's loss on Thursday. The Killer Bees will be the #6 seed and face Laredo in the first round. Top eight scorer David Masse has 36 goals and 34 assists. Veteran Jason Cirone (25 goals, 33 assists) is the team's MVP. Forward Dennis Maxwell has 54 points, and Rob Voltera 47 points with an active seven-game point streak. In net, Coach Paul Fixter should be able to feel comfortable with either the young Jeff Van Nynatten (9-12-3, 2.71 GAA) or the more experienced Jeremy Symington (17-14-4, 3.05 GAA). Van Nynatten has seen a little more play down the stretch. Rio Grande is 16-10-4 at home, 10-17-4 on the road. They'll host Laredo in a playoff preview Friday, before finishing with their home-and-home series against Austin.

The Series: The Ice Bats are 56-33-9 lifetime against Corpus Christi, but just 2-5-2 this season. That includes an 0-3-1 record against the Rayz in Austin. The Rayz have won the last three meetings, including the last one on February 23rd.

The Bats are 20-17-4 lifetime against Rio Grande Valley, 6-2-2 this season. But the Killer Bees have won the last four meetings. The Bats are 4-0-1 against the Bees in Austin, 2-2-1 at Hidalgo.

The "New" Bat Cave: The Ice Bats are completing their first season at Chaparral Ice Arena, located on I-35 between Howard Lane and Wells Branch Parkway. Friday night, free rally towels go to all fans, courtesy of AT&T. The game is also billed as "Steve Irwin's Revenge," as the Ice Bats try to make amends on behalf of the late "Crocodile Hunter" against the Corpus Christi Rayz.

Sunday is "Fan Appreciation Day," with free team photos to all fans. A free post-game skate with the Ice Bats players follows the contest.

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.

Had to Come Sometime: The Ice Bats will host a season ending party and jersey auction starting at 7pm this Tuesday night, March 27th at Cool River Café, 4001 W. Parmer Lane. All fans are invited to toast the season with free appetizers, autographs and an auction of the team's game-worn jerseys.

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.

• Discuss this story on the Central Hockey League message board...

Central Hockey League Stories from March 23, 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.

Other Recent Austin Ice Bats Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central