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Ice Bats Host Second Week Under Hughes

February 15, 2007 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Austin Ice Bats News Release


Setting the Stage: The Austin Ice Bats of the Central Hockey League are 18-18-10 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.

The Ice Bats began a four-game homestand with consecutive wins last weekend, the first in the return of Coach Brent Hughes to the bench. This weekend, the Ice Bats wrap up the homestand, hosting New Mexico and Memphis. Saturday is "Covert Night," with free trading cards and a post-game auction of the team's game-worn jerseys.

A look back: Last Friday, the top scoring line of Aaron Davis, Henry Kuster and Mike Tucciarone accounted for all four Ice Bats goals as the Bats defeated Rio Grande Valley, 4-1. With the win, the Ice Bats ran their record to a perfect 6-0 against the Killer Bees this season.

Tucciarone opened up scoring on a rebound from below the right circle 3:47 into the contest, and Kuster broke around the Killer Bees defense for an open goal midway through the first. Tucciarone scored again in the second period, then the Bees got on the board on Dennis Maxwell's goal with 24 seconds left in the period.

But Austin goalie Miguel Beaudry stopped all 16 shots faced in the third, and Davis wrapped up scoring with a power play goal with three minutes left. With a combined 12 points on the night, the Davis-centered line almost overshadowed the work of Beaudry, who stopped 36 of 37 shots faced in the win.

Last Saturday, the Ice Bats completed a two-game sweep on the weekend, holding off Arizona, 4-3 in regulation. Though not as dominant as the night before, the Ice Bats' top scoring line and goalie Miguel Beaudry again led the way.

Bats center Julian Smith scored the only goal of the first, on a power play 5:20 into the game. But the Sundogs took the lead with goals three minutes apart early in the second. The Ice Bats scratched back with key goals late in the period. Henry Kuster's score with two minutes left was followed just 51 seconds later by John Ronan's blast from the right circle.

Ice Bats winger Mike Tucciarone scored the eventual winner midway through the third, but Arizona's Brent Kelly made it a one-goal game with 2:22 remaining. The Bats then held off the Sundogs' extra-attacker bid in the final seconds. Tucciarone and Smith each had a goal and an assist, while Beaudry stopped 25 of 28 shots faced, including nine of ten in the third period.

Clickin': With 16 combined points in the two games last weekend, the Ice Bats' top scoring line of Aaron Davis, Henry Kuster and Mike Tucciarone has now combined for 49 points over the last ten games.

Power Plug: The Ice Bats' once-dormant power play has averaged one power play goal per game over its last ten contests.

Return Engagement: Brent Hughes enters the second week in his return 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.

Wounded Wings: Ice Bats winger John McNabb is listed as probable to return from injured reserve this weekend. Meanwhile, forward Mike Possin remains on the 14-day injured reserve list, but will be reevaluated for a possible return next week. Defenseman Adam Holmgren will not see play this weekend due to injury, and is likely to be placed on injured reserve as McNabb comes off. Also out is defenseman Chris Ovington, who has been recalled to the AHL Houston Aeros while he continues his rehab.

Player Plaudits: Winger Henry Kuster has taken over the team scoring lead with 22 goals and 22 assists. John McNabb is next with 18 goals and 17 assists. Forward Mike Tucciarone has 14 goals and 20 assists, and Julian Smith has 16 goals and 16 helpers. Forward Chris Murphy leads the team with 172 penalty minutes, but Marty Doyle's 169 minutes lead all CHL rookies.

Goalie Miguel Beaudry is 11-6-8 with a 2.83 GAA in net, and ranks among the league's top ten goalies. Despite just a 2-5-2 record, goalie Tony Quesada has an even better 2.80 GAA.

Potential Bite Victims: Winning eight of its last ten, New Mexico has risen to 24-17-4 and a one-point lead in the Southwest. The Scorpions' young forwards have begun to show plenty of sting, led by top ten scorer Chris Robertson, who has 17 goals and 37 assists. Only Laredo's Bobby Chaumont ranks higher in rookie scoring than the New Mexico triumvirate of Lance Herauf, Ryan McLeod (46 points each) and Mike Falk (45 points). Defenseman Rob Guinn (40 points) is a playmaker from the point. With goaltender Scott Reid (5-5-1, 3.01 GAA) back and forth on call-ups to the American League, the Scorps have turned to David Cacciola. Cacciola ranks second in the league with a 14-1-1 record, 2.29 GAA and .930 save percentage. If New Mexico has an Achilles heel, it's their last-place penalty kill (77.9%). The Scorpions are 10-10-2 as a road team.

At 32-12-3, Memphis leads the Northeast, and is just three points behind Colorado for the overall lead in the entire league. The potent RiverKings are second in the league on offense (3.79 goals per game) and on the power play, converting nearly 20% of the time. Longtime stalwart Derek Landmesser leads all d-men with 54 points, and eight of his ten goals have come on the power play. Forward Travis Banga has 22 goals and 26 assists, Jason Sessa 26 goals and 21 helpers (including 13 power play goals), and Ryan Campbell 23 goals and 23 assists. Goaltender Larry Sterling has appeared in 40 of the team's 47 games, and is the league's winningest goalie at 26-8-3 with a 2.96 GAA. 13-9 away from home, the RiverKings visit Rio Grande Valley before coming to Austin.

The Series: The Ice Bats are 12-13-4 lifetime against New Mexico, heading into the final game of the season series. The Bats swept a pair of games just after Thanksgiving at Rio Rancho, 7-4 and 5-4 in a shootout.

The Bats are 7-6 lifetime in regular season play against Memphis, with Saturday's game the only scheduled meeting between the teams this season.

Comments From the Coach:

On Last Week: "It was great to get the first win out of the way. The first one is always the one you worry about. I thought we played a hell of a game on Friday night. We had lots of intensity and lots of jam. It's the way I want to see our team play every night. It sounds easy to do, but we're going to try to duplicate that effort over our last 18 games. Saturday, we didn't start the way we did on Friday, but we got the two points and that's the bottom line. Obviously, our so-called number-one line really stepped up, and I thought our third line of Murphy, Doyle and Smegal gave us good minutes. And Miguel Beaudry played really well a good portion of the time."

On This Week: "I think the team has struggled handling pressure, and it's one of the reasons why we've given up some leads. I want to work on handling that pressure better. Playing teams we haven't faced that much, our philosophy is to go in worrying about ourselves. New Mexico we did play twice, but that was some time ago, and they have different personnel. They've been on a hot streak lately. And Memphis has been one of the top teams all year. So we've got our hands full, but it's a good challenge to see how well we match up."

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. Friday night, the band "Hi-Fi Scenery" will perform. Saturday is "Covert Night," with Ice Bats trading cards free to all kids, courtesy of Covert Auto and K&M Steam Cleaning.

After Saturday's game, there will be an auction of the Ice Bats' patriotic jerseys, which will be worn by the team during both games this "Presidents Day Weekend." Other live auction packages include a suite at the American Airlines Center, a chance to be "Assistant Coach" for an Ice Bats game, and more. A wide array of silent auction items will also be up for bid.

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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