Ice Bats Home to Start '07

Published on January 4, 2007 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Austin Ice Bats News Release


Setting the Stage: The Austin Ice Bats of the Central Hockey League are 11-11-6 on the 2006-2007 CHL season, third in the Southeast Division and just five points out of second place. The Ice Bats have begun play at all-new Chaparral Ice Arena, located on I-35 between Howard Lane and Wells Branch Parkway.

The Ice Bats last week finished a stretch of five straight games on the road to end 2006. Beginning with this week's action, the Ice Bats will play six of their next eight games at home. This weekend, the Ice Bats host games against Lubbock and Rio Grande Valley, sandwiched around a quick trip to Laredo.

A look back: Last week, the Ice Bats braved a major winter storm, tricky travel conditions and the league's top team in claiming a point in their first foray into the Northwest Division. Last Friday, the hungry Rocky Mountain Rage snapped an eight-game winless streak with a narrow 2-1 win over the Ice Bats in Broomfield, Colorado. Rage goalie David Guerrera stopped 29 of 30 shots faced in the win.

Both teams skated sluggishly coming out of the holiday break, but Austin goalie Kevin Couture warmed up quickly, stopping all 12 shots faced in a scoreless first period.

Austin's Terry Virtue scored a shorthanded goal on a two-on-one rush 2:08 into the second period, but the Rage came back for two quick scores. Veteran defenseman Dan Vandermeer faked Austin's John McNabb to the ice, drove around the Bats winger and scored a power play goal from the right wing at 6:34. Rocky Mountain forward Adam Stefishen then scored from high in the left circle three minutes later.

The Ice Bats spent much of the rest of the second period killing penalties and that might have taken its toll in the third period altitude. With just a few quality chances in the third period, the Bats got one in the final minute. Rage defenseman Clay Plume was whistled for tripping with 45 seconds left, and the Bats pulled Couture for an extra attacker. But they were unable to get the tying goal by Guerrera. Couture was splendid on the losing side, stopping 35 of 37 shots faced.

Last Saturday, the Ice Bats became just the second team this season to earn a point at Colorado and just the second to push the Eagles to overtime, before falling 3-2. Les Borsheim's goal at 1:54 of OT was the game-winner.

The Ice Bats killed three Colorado power plays in the first ten minutes, but the Eagles struck twice late in the opening period. Eagles forward Seth Leonard jumped on J.F. Picard's clearing attempt and fired the puck on net from the slot. Center Ed McGrane scored on the rebound at 12:05. Then with three minutes to play in the period, Colorado's Garrett Larson swept by Bats defenseman Aaron Wilson at the blue line and centered for a Lee Arnold goal. The first period could have been more lopsided without 17 saves from Austin goalie Miguel Beaudry, as the Eagles outshot the Bats 19-7 in the period.

The Bats stabilized the game in the second, but couldn't cut into the lead. Their best opportunity, a John McNabb power play shot three minutes into the period, slid along the Colorado goal line before it was cleared away. But the Bats forged even with goals 1:34 apart early in the third. McNabb whipped a wrist shot past Colorado goalie Marco Emond on a two-on-one rush 3:22 into the final frame. Spot forward Chris Murphy then came up with an Eagles turnover in neutral ice, and backhanded in the tying goal.

The Bats suffered anxious moments late in the third, as Beaudry got his goal stick tangled up in the side of the net, and played nearly a minute before he could pry it free. When he did have the stick in his hand, however, Beaudry was magnificent, stopping 48 of 51 shots faced for the game. Seven of those shots came in overtime, as the Eagles had the Bats scrambling defensively. Borsheim's winner came at the end of a flurry of chances, off a centering pass from behind the net. The narrow win was the Eagles' 11th straight overall, their 14th straight at home.

After Saturday's game, the Ice Bats headed south from Loveland to Pueblo, in hopes of getting in their New Year's Eve game at Amarillo. But with I-25 closed from Pueblo to the New Mexico border and all secondary roads also closed in eastern Colorado and western Kansas, it forced postponement of the game. A makeup date has not yet been announced.

Instead, the Ice Bats left Pueblo at 1:30pm on Sunday, headed west into the Rocky Mountains, then dropped south into New Mexico. After a brief stop to usher in the New Year in Albuquerque, the team continued toward El Paso, before crossing back east into the Lone Star State. The 26-plus hour bus trip finally concluded with the team's arrival in Austin at 5pm on New Year's Day.

On Tuesday, the team took the practice ice at Chaparral Ice Arena, having spent 11 of the previous 13 days on the road.

Wounded Wings: Two Ice Bats currently on injured reserve are starting to work their way back. Defenseman Doug MacIver skated for the first time this week since he was injured in mid-November, and could return within two weeks. Center Aaron Davis, out since Thanksgiving week, is also progressing and could be available by the end of the month.

Player Plaudits: Winger John McNabb leads the Ice Bats in scoring, with 15 goals and 14 assists. Forward Henry Kuster is next, with 12 goals and 8 assists. Center Julian Smith and defenseman Terry Virtue each have 19 points. McNabb and Virtue have been chosen to represent the Southern Conference at the CHL All-Star Game, January 17th in Bossier City, Louisiana.

Miguel Beaudry is 6-5-6 with a 2.82 GAA in net, and Kevin Couture is 5-6 with a 2.88 GAA. Both rank among the league's top 13 goalies.

Potential Bite Victims: Tied for second in the jumbled Southwest, Lubbock is 13-13-2. The Cotton Kings are always disciplined and well coached. Third in the league on the penalty kill, and allowing just over three goals per game, Lubbock's main concern has been scoring. Their 2.75 average goals scored ranks 15th in the CHL. All-Star rookie Simon Watson has 15 goals and 11 assists. But Coach Chris Dashney shook things up this week, trading second-leading scorer Trevor Weisgerber (10 goals, 13 assists) to Rocky Mountain, in exchange for former Lubbock All-Star Anders Strome (13 goals, 9 assists). Third in the league overall, goalie J.F. Perras (7-6-1, 2.36 GAA, .932 save percentage, 2 shutouts) has kept things on an even keel. 4-8-2 as a road team, Lubbock has dropped five straight away from home.

At 19-8-2, Laredo continues to hold a seven point lead in the Southeast. The Bucks are again hitting their stride, winners of five straight games. Top scoring rookie Bobby Chaumont (15 goals, 16 assists) and top scoring defenseman Adam Rivet (12 goals, 19 assists) lead the team. Rivet will start the CHL All-Star Game. Forward Serge Dube also has 28 points. The Bucks are learning to live without goalie Nathan Marsters, on NHL call-up since Thanksgiving. Eric Marvin (10-4-2, 2.95 GAA) continues to fill in nicely. 11-3-2 at home, the Bucks have won seven straight at the L.E.C.

Winless in their last four, 12-14-3 Rio Grande Valley is a point back of the Ice Bats in the division. The Killer Bees can hang their hat on their second-ranked penalty kill (88.3%), but are bothered by a lack of consistent scoring depth. Veterans Jason Cirone (13 goals, 17 assists) and Bill Newson (10 goals, 15 assists) are the team's two double-digit goal-scorers. Tabbed to start the All-Star Game, goalie Jeremy Symington is 9-6-1 with a 2.68 GAA. 6-8 on the road, the Killer Bees will visit all three division opponents this weekend, starting with Corpus Christi on Friday.

The Series: The Ice Bats are 12-9-2 lifetime against Lubbock, after a 4-2 loss to the Cotton Kings in Austin, in the season's second game, on October 27th.

The Bats are 16-27-2 lifetime against Laredo, 2-3-1 this season. The last three meetings have taken place in Laredo, the Ice Bats emerging with an overtime win and two losses.

Austin is 17-15-2 lifetime against Rio Grande Valley, and has won all three meetings this season.

Comments From the Coach:

On Last Week: "Had we played Amarillo and won, we'd have been .500 on the six-game trip, and that's what you hope for on the road. In spots, we played pretty well last week. Rocky Mountain is better than their record and they played desperate. One little blooper in the second period cost us, and we couldn't find the net despite some chances in the third. Then going into the big dog's house at Colorado, we did really well killing early penalties. They dominated for awhile late in the first, but we fought them to a stalemate in the second. I thought in the third, we outplayed them. They have so much speed and their defense are so active. It was a real good point for us to get."

On This Week: "I think the game in Colorado proved to us that we can compete with the best teams, get a point and even have a chance to win. But that's only if everyone contributes and there are no passengers. In the third period, that was the case. No different this week."

"It feels strange to finally be home. We had some pretty good practices this week. It was tough last week to get practices in, let alone games. Hopefully, we can get some points this weekend and get in some solid technical practices next week. We're looking forward to playing at home, with the hope that we can put up a better home record in 2007 and play consistently."

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.

"Thirsty Thursday" kicks off the week, with 12-ounce domestic draft beer just $1 through the first period. Saturday is "Rock Night," with an air guitar contest between periods and a performance from Cayuga's Waiters. A post-game party with the Ice Bats players follows the contest, 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.

THIS WEEK:

Thur., Jan. 4th, 7:30pm, vs. Lubbock Cotton Kings, at Chaparral Ice Arena, Austin, Texas

Fri., Jan. 5th, 7:30pm, vs. Laredo Bucks, at Laredo Entertainment Center, Laredo, Texas

Sat., Jan. 6th, 7:30pm, vs. Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees, at Chaparral Ice Arena, Austin, Texas

Tues., Jan. 9th, 7:35pm, vs. Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees, at Dodge Arena, Hidalgo, Texas

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Central Hockey League Stories from January 4, 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.

OurSports Central