Ice Bats in Final Home Weekend

Published on February 24, 2004 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Austin Ice Bats News Release


Setting the Stage: The Austin Ice Bats of the Central Hockey League, 21-27-6 on the 2003-04 season, trail Rio Grande Valley by 13 points in the Southeast Division, and in the race for the final Southern Conference playoff position. With three weeks to go in the CHL regular season, the Ice Bats play their final home games this weekend. The Bats will host San Angelo and Corpus Christi, then take to the road for their final eight regular season games.

A look back: The Ice Bats dropped two of three games last week, but that doesn't tell the whole story. In home games against the top teams from both conferences, the Ice Bats battled competitively, losing 2-1 to Laredo and winning 2-1 over Bossier-Shreveport.

Last Friday night, Rio Grande Valley diminished the Ice Bats' playoff hopes, defeating Austin for the second straight game, 5-2. The Killer Bees scored two shorthanded goals in the third period.

The Ice Bats dominated the opening period, outshooting the Bees 16-10. Austin's Mike Olynyk opened scoring at 13:20 of the first with a shorthanded goal of his own, tapping in Kelly Smart's centering pass on an odd-man rush. Two minutes later, the Killer Bees took advantage of an uncalled trip against the Bats' Arturs Kupaks behind the net, and Bill Newson centered to Roger Holeczy for the game-tying score. But 68 seconds later, the Bats were back on the board. Austin's Brent Hughes centered to Tab Lardner, who controlled the pitching puck down the slot and scored on a backhand shot.

The Bees turned the momentum in the second period, and Matic Kralj tied the score midway through the frame. Then Rio Grande specialty teams took over. Kevin Mackie scored a deadly shorthanded goal 3-1/2 minutes into the third. Jason Hawes added an even-strength goal midway through, and Newson scored shorthanded with 2:20 remaining. Winless at the Dodge Arena this season, the Ice Bats lost their sixth straight road game, their fifth straight overall.

Despite a game effort, the Ice Bats dropped their sixth straight last Saturday, edged by Laredo, 2-1. With three players on call-up to San Antonio of the American League, the shorthanded Bucks got the first goal from an unlikely source-- winger Bobby Chad Mitchell scoring on a backhand shot from the slot midway through the first.

The Bats retaliated 4-1/2 minutes into the second period, Tab Lardner crashing the net for the tying score. Right after that, Laredo was whistled for consecutive slashing minors, but the Bats were unable to capitalize on a key 5-on-3 power play.

Laredo's Mike Amodeo scored the winner 11-1/2 minutes into the third period on a scramble just outside the crease. The Ice Bats outshot the Bucks in all three periods, but Laredo goalie David Guerrera stopped 42 of 43 shots faced. Austin goalie Brent Belecki stopped 26 of 28 shots in the loss.

But on Sunday, the Ice Bats snapped their skid with a gritty 2-1 win over Northern Conference-leading Bossier-Shreveport. Austin's Gerald Tallaire opened scoring on a shot from the wing seven minutes into the contest. A few minutes later, the Mudbugs lost forward Dan Wildfong, who took a deflected slapshot to the face and received stitches on his jaw and nose.

Bats goalie Brent Belecki stopped all 17 shots faced in the first period, but the ‘Bugs tied the game on Trevor Buchanan's power play rebound just 69 seconds into the second period. It remained tied until the 11:42 mark of the third, when Austin's Brent Hughes fed a wide-open Pat Brownlee in the slot, and Brownlee zipped to the shelf the power play winner.

Brownlee had two points, and Belecki stopped 42 of 43 shots faced, for his first Ice Bats win. Bossier goalie Jeff Blair stopped 27 of 29 shots in the loss.

Approaching Milestone: Ice Bats center Brett Seguin needs just six points to reach 1,000 for his professional career. Earlier this season, Seguin entered among the top 50 career scorers in the history of minor pro hockey.

Player Plaudits: Center Chris Richards ranks 15th in league scoring, with 20 goals and 41 assists. Forward Gerald Tallaire is second on the team, with 12 goals and 34 assists. Brent Hughes ranks among the top four CHL rookies with a team-most 21 goals, to go along with 16 assists. And Jonathan Forest ranks among the top 15 league goalies, at 16-15-5, with a 2.73 goals-against average and .910 save percentage.

Potential Bite Victims: San Angelo is in good position, winning four straight games to take a three-point lead in the Southwest Division. The disciplined Saints, 32-16-6, rank 15th in the league on the penalty kill (80%), but don't get that much practice. San Angelo averages a paltry 14.7 penalty minutes per game, fewest in the league. But although they don't rough it up, they do work hard. San Angelo Coach Ray Edwards used family connections from his junior days to land leading scorer Chris Minard, who ranks among the league's top dozen scorers with 32 goals and 31 assists. Reigning Bauer/Nike CHL Player of the Week, Trevor Weisgerber has 21 goals and 30 assists. Ryan Finnerty has added 18 goals and 31 helpers, and rookie Tyler Knight enters the week with an 8-game point streak. Although 9th overall, goalie Scott Reid (27-8-3, 2.44 GAA) ranks 2nd in wins and save percentage (.933), and just might be the player most valuable to his team in the entire league. The Saints are 14-10-3 as a road team.

It's hard to rebuild a team mid-season, as Corpus Christi can attest. The Rayz added six new players with the mid-January hiring of Coach Malcolm Cameron, but never got the needed performance bump. Now 18-31-3, Corpus has dropped three straight. Unlike San Angelo, Corpus Christi's bottom-ranked penalty kill (79.7%) gets plenty of work. Averaging 26 penalty minutes per game, Corpus ranks 2nd in the CHL, and winger Brad Wingfield leads the league with 304 minutes of his own. Defenseman Mike Tilson still leads the team in scoring with 10 goals and 24 assists, including 8 power play goals. Also above the 30-point plateau are forwards Jonathan St. Louis (16 goals, 16 assists) and Jay Woodcroft (16 goals, 15 helpers). Goaltender Greg Hewitt is 5-8 with a 3.25 GAA, but capable of stealing a game at any time. 6-19-1 away from home, Corpus is on the road in the division this week, at Laredo, Rio Grande Valley and Austin.

At 14-31-7, Fort Worth is the only team out of the picture in the convoluted Northern Conference race. The Brahmas, who made life miserable for opponents for awhile after the hiring of Coach Al Sims, now have dropped four straight. Fort Worth continues to rank 15th offensively (2.54 goals per game) and 16th on defense (3.58 average goals allowed). Winger Derrell Upton now holds the team scoring lead with 14 goals, 28 assists. Perennial All-Star Chad Woollard received a deserved call-up to the American League, but is back with his 16 goals and 20 assists. Center Aaron Davis has 17 goals and 18 helpers, and former Ice Bat Joey Bastien has averaged almost a point per game in 30 games with the Brahmas. Tyler Nilsson (9-15-3, 3.38 GAA) has been the more effective of the Brahma goalies. 8-15-3 in Cowtown, Fort Worth visits Oklahoma City Tuesday, then hosts Bossier-Shreveport, Laredo and Austin this weekend.

The Series: The Ice Bats are 18-10-2 lifetime against San Angelo, but the Saints have won both meetings this season. San Angelo won 4-2 October 30th in Austin, and 2-1 Valentine's Day in San Angelo.

The Bats have owned the lifetime series against Corpus Christi, with a series record of 43-20-4. Austin is 3-4-2 against the Rayz this year, 2-2 in games played in Austin.

The Ice Bats are 40-18-1 lifetime against Fort Worth, 1-3 this year. The Brahmas have claimed the last three meetings, including both games played in Fort Worth.

Comments from the Coach: On last week: "The guys played hard last weekend after a disheartening loss at Rio Grande. I thought we outplayed Laredo, and then came back on Sunday and beat the best team in the other conference. Bossier-Shreveport has been one of the hottest teams in the league over the last two months. We're still capable of beating anyone, and we have to believe we're still in it. We're not giving up on anything. We'll just approach it one game at a time, like the saying goes."

On this week: "We have a couple of tough teams coming in, but our focus is on winning both of our home games this week. It should be a good atmosphere with nice home crowds. We're looking forward to it. The players have been focused on getting ready for the weekend. Then we'll go out on the road. We haven't been out for an entire week all year, and I would have preferred it had happened earlier in the season. I firmly believe it's good for a team, to help a team bond and eliminate distractions. We'll go into every game trying to win, just as we would at home."

Cave, Sweet Cave: Good crowds are anticipated for the final two regular season home games this weekend. Friday night, Fang bobble-head dolls go to 3,000 fans, courtesy of Dodge. One lucky fan will take the last shot at a new Ram pickup in the Dodge "Score-O" contest. And the Lake Travis and Hudson Bend Middle School Bands will perform, as part of the Austin Community College "Marching Band Series."

Saturday night, team photos go to 5,000 fans from Verizon Wireless. The Pflugerville High School Band will perform. And after the game, the final installment of the Crown Royal Concert Series, with a free concert from "Los Lonely Boys."

Tickets to all Ice Bats home games are now available at all Texas Box Office locations, including the Ice Bats ticket office and all Austin-area HEB stores. On-line ordering is available through www.TexasBoxOffice.com. To charge by phone, fans may call Texas Box Office at (512) 477-6060, or the Ice Bats ticket office at (512) 927-PUCK.

Individual game tickets range in price from $10 to $30, depending on section, with discounted rates for groups of 15 or more. For more information, fans may call the Ice Bats ticket office at (512) 927-PUCK, or log onto the team's website at www.icebats.com.

Presidential Visit: The CHL championship trophy, the President's Cup will be at Saturday's game, as part of a league-wide tour. Fans can take their pictures with the Cup at the Customer Service Booth in the East Mezzanine.

Star-Gazing: Fans may join Ice Bats players and coaches on a bus trip to see the Dallas Stars at the American Airlines Center. The trip will take place Sunday, March 7th, as the Stars face San Jose in a key Western Conference game. The cost of just $100 per person includes game ticket, bus transportation, and food and beverages en route. The bus will depart at 10am from Chaparral Ice, I-35 near Wells Branch. Fans may call the Ice Bats office at 927-PUCK for more details or to reserve a spot.

In the Air: For the second straight season, all Ice Bats away games will be broadcast on 1260 ESPN Radio, KWNX-AM. The station will broadcast all road games during the 2003-04 regular season and CHL Playoffs. All road games will also be available live on-line, through www.SportsJuice.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 sixth straight season.

Bats in Cyberspace: Bats fans can learn the latest about their team by logging on to www.icebats.com. The official website of the Bats was newly re-designed by BeyondBeyond Design and constructed by webmaster Nathan Jones. Currently on the site, fans can vote for their favorite Ice Bats in the "Texas Dodge Dealers Post-season Awards," which will be presented to the players at a post-season ceremony.

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., Feb. 27th, 7:30pm, vs. San Angelo Saints, at Travis County Expo Center, Austin, Texas

Sat., Feb. 28th, 7:30pm, vs. Corpus Christi Rayz, at Travis County Expo Center, Austin, Texas

Sun., Feb. 29th, 3:00pm, vs. Fort Worth Brahmas, at Fort Worth Convention Center, Fort Worth, Texas

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Central Hockey League Stories from February 24, 2004


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