Ice Bats Home for the Holidays

December 15, 2004 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Austin Ice Bats News Release


Setting the Stage: The Austin Ice Bats of the Central Hockey League are 10-10-1 on the 2004-05 CHL season, and are pitched in a tight battle for the Southeast Division lead. The Ice Bats trail Corpus Christi by just four points and Laredo by just two points in the tough division race.

The Ice Bats started a four-game homestand with victories over both Southern Conference division leaders last week. This weekend, the Ice Bats wrap up the homestand with games against Lubbock and Fort Worth. Then, the Ice Bats play their final pre-Christmas game next Tuesday in Fort Worth.

A look back: Last weekend, the Ice Bats knocked off Southern Conference division leaders on consecutive nights. Friday, the Bats crept within four points of the Southeast Division lead with a 4-2 home win over Corpus Christi. Ice Bats winger John McNabb scored in the first and final minutes of the third period to break a 2-2 deadlock.

The Rayz jumped out to a 5-0 shot advantage, but Austin goalie Matt Barnes stood on his head for the first seven minutes. The Bats then started to turn the momentum, and in a scramble outside the crease with 1:11 remaining in the first, Austin's Kelly Smart swatted a rebound out of mid-air for the game's first goal.

The teams exchanged goals in the second. Corpus' Ken McKay scored at 5:22 to tie the game. The Bats' Benoit Genesse recaptured the lead with a goal at 9:49, but McKay scored again just 54 seconds later.

The worm turned for good at the end of the second period. Already penalized on a slashing minor, Corpus Christi's Greg Bullock was whistled four minutes for spearing as he came out of the box at the buzzer. McNabb converted for a five-on-three power play goal 14 seconds into the final period, then put the game away on an empty-netter with 35 seconds left. The Ice Bats outshot the Rayz 15-3 in the final period, and 36-24 for the game.

In a nip-and-tuck affair on Saturday, the Ice Bats scored in the final minute to nip San Angelo, 4-3. Defenseman Jonathan Jolette's goal with 54 seconds remaining was the difference.

The Saints opened scoring midway through the first on a Justin Van Parys goal, but the Bats tied the score at the 13-minute mark on a shot that seemed to take a couple of bounces before deflected in by Kris Knoblauch. The Ice Bats took their first lead four minutes into the second on a great individual play by John McNabb. Leapfrogging a defender at the blue line, McNabb then threaded the puck on net, and Jared Dumba followed up for the goal.

San Angelo's Konrad Brand retied the score midway through the second on a tip near the side of the net, but 2:19 later, Jeff Neufeld tipped in Benoit Genesse's perfect centering pass, and the Ice Bats led 3-2 after two.

San Angelo's Kevin Vandewaeter retied the score again midway through the third, setting up Jolette's heroics. Jolette, jumping on a rebound kicked all the way out to the right point, fired a one-timer off a Saint in front for the winner. McNabb led scoring with three assists, while Knoblauch, Dumba and Chris Richards added two points each.

Roster Flights: Departures: Starting this weekend, the Ice Bats will be without defenseman Arturs Kupaks, who has been granted an indefinite leave of absence for personal reasons. For the weekend, the Ice Bats will also be without center Jeff Neufeld, who was given a two-game league suspension for an elbowing minor received in last Friday's game against Corpus Christi.

Player Plaudits: Ice Bats winger John McNabb ranks in the top ten in league scoring, with 11 goals and 17 assists. McNabb has scored 5 goals and 5 assists over his last five games. Also in the top 20 is center Chris Richards, with 5 goals and 20 assists. Benoit Genesse is third on the team with 11 goals and 11 helpers. Kris Knoblauch is in the top ten among rookies, with 7 goals and 6 assists. Forward Dallas Anderson ranks fourth in the CHL with 131 penalty minutes. And second in victories, goalie Matt Barnes is 10-5 with a 2.79 GAA and .917 save percentage.

Potential Bite Victims: The Ice Bats' two opponents this week are probably the two most improved teams in the league. A meager 19-35-10 last season, Lubbock is 12-6-1 this year, just two points behind San Angelo in the Southwest. And the Cotton Kings are an impressive 9-3 outside their division. Among the most penalized teams in the league last year, the new and improved ‘Kings are among the least penalized. They lead the league defensively, allowing just 2.37 goals per game, and their penalty kill ranks third (86.3%). Winger Anders Strome leads the team with 12 goals and 5 assists, including 5 game-winners. Forward Matt Turek has 8 goals, 9 assists, and Nolan Graham 8 goals, 8 assists. Derick Martin has added 13 points from the blue line. But the Cotton Kings are playing Coach Chris Dashney's defense-based system to a "t." Veteran goalie Lance Leslie is back in Lubbock, and ranks fifth with a 9-4-1 record and 2.22 GAA. His .928 save percentage is second in the league. Lubbock is an even 5-5 away from home.

Fort Worth was just 15-40-9 last season, but the Brahmas have almost eclipsed their season win total already this year. At 12-6-3, the Brahmas lead the Northeast Division by two points, despite going winless in their last four outings. Fort Worth's success is directly tied to that of their top scoring line, as linemates Chad Woollard (20 goals, 17 assists, 10 power play goals) and Martin Paquet (14 goals, 23 assists) lead the league in scoring. The third member of the unit, Bryan Lundbohm has 8 goals, 18 assists. When that line is clicking, veteran goalie Dan Murphy (9-5-2, 2.50 GAA) gets a chance to sit back and watch. 7-3-1 at home, the Brahmas are an equally solid 5-3-2 as a road team. Coming off a 3-1 home loss to Bossier-Shreveport Tuesday, the Brahmas seek revenge Friday in Bossier City. They'll then play a home-and-home series against Austin.

The Series: The Ice Bats are 9-6-2 lifetime against Lubbock after shutting out the Cotton Kings, 3-0 in Austin on November 28th, the only prior meeting this season.

The Bats are 41-20-1 lifetime against Fort Worth. The Bats fell 5-3 November 5th in Fort Worth, in the season's only meeting thus far between the teams.

Comments from the Coach: On Last Week: "Hopefully we've turned the page, after beating two good teams last weekend. We showed what we can do, let's put it that way. Now that we've set the bar, we have to expect that kind of play from ourselves. Lubbock and Fort Worth represent two more of the top teams in the league. Now that we've set the bar and know how good we can be, we need to keep it up there."

On This Week: "Both these teams are greatly improved from a year ago. It'll be two tough games. We were probably lucky to catch Lubbock playing their fourth game in five nights when we shut them out earlier. They'll be better this time around. And Fort Worth has the top scoring line in the league, with Woollard, Paquet and Lundbohm. Al Sims has done a great job of turning things around, and we'll have a tough two games with them before the holiday."

Cave, Sweet Cave: There's plenty of holiday cheer at this weekend's home games. Friday night, the Ice Bats will give away free holiday ornaments to 3,000 fans, courtesy of Home Depot. Saturday, the Cedar Park High School Band will perform, as part of the Austin Community College "Marching Band Series."

Individual game tickets are available now through the Ice Bats office at 927-PUCK, on-line at www.GetTix.Net, or at any of a dozen Pinky's Wireless locations in the Austin area, including Round Rock, Cedar Park, Killeen and San Marcos. Tickets are also available at all Texas Box Office locations, including all Austin-area HEB stores, or on-line at www.TexasBoxOffice.com.

To charge by phone, fans may call the Ice Bats ticket office at 927-PUCK, Get Tix at 1-866-4-Get Tix, or Texas Box Office at (512) 477-6060.

Individual game tickets range in price from $10 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.

Shuffle Up and Deal: The Ice Bats will host their inaugural Texas Hold ‘Em Tournament benefiting Ice Bats Children's Charities, beginning at 3pm this Sunday, December 19th at Carlos ‘N Charlie's on Lake Travis. The tournament buy-in is set at $100, with a fajita dinner included, and Ice Bats players either dealing or playing at each table. Prizes include a luxury suite at the American Airlines Center, three-night cruise for two, rounds of golf with Ice Bats players and more. Beginning at 6:30pm, there will be an auction of the special Texas Hold ‘Em "playing card" jerseys worn by the team this Saturday. To register for the tournament or for more details, fans may call (512) 927-PUCK, ext. 113.

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 2004-05 regular season and CHL Playoffs. The games will also be available on-line, through the station website at www.espnaustin.com. The Texas Dodge Dealers Warm-up Show begins 20 minutes prior to game time. Ice Bats Director of Broadcasting, Media/PR Glen Norman will handle play-by-play duties for a seventh 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:

Fri., Dec. 17th, 7:35pm, vs. Lubbock Cotton Kings, at Travis County Expo Center, Austin, Texas

Sat., Dec. 18th, 7:35pm, vs. Fort Worth Brahmas, at Travis County Expo Center, Austin, Texas

Tues., Dec. 21st, 7:30pm, vs. Fort Worth Brahmas, at Fort Worth Convention Center, Fort Worth, Texas



Central Hockey League Stories from December 15, 2004


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