Ice Bats Look For Wins In Week Two

Published on October 26, 2005 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Austin Ice Bats News Release


Setting the Stage: The Austin Ice Bats of the Central Hockey League began their 10th-Anniversary 2005-06 season dropping a pair of games last weekend against division rival Corpus Christi. The Ice Bats look to get on the winning track starting Friday, when they travel to face the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs. The Ice Bats then return home for the start of a four-game homestand. Rio Grande Valley will visit Saturday night on "Souvenir Cup Night," then Lubbock comes calling for Sunday afternoon's "Faith & Family Day."

The Ice Bats this season take the ice for the first time under veteran Head Coach Bill McDonald. The Bats are coming off a 2004-05 season in which they pursued their playoff push into the final week, before falling just short with a 28-27-5 record.

A look back: The Ice Bats dropped their first two games of the young season against a very good Corpus Christi team. Last Friday, the Rayz' top line of Randy Murphy, Jason Baird and former Ice Bat Shawn Legault came up big for a 5-2 win in the season opener for both teams. The trio figured in the scoring of four of the Rayz' five goals.

With 4,621 fans in attendance, including over 1,500 students from Austin area after school programs, the Ice Bats got off to a fast start, defenseman Aaron Schneekloth scoring the opening power play goal 2:46 into the contest.

The Rayz tied the score on a Murphy goal, then Derrick McIver came out of the penalty box, joined a two-on-one rush and put the Rayz ahead with six minutes left in the first. Austin center Jeff Neufeld tied the game with another power play goal early in the second, but the Bats failed to score on a lengthy two-skater advantage, and the Rayz retook the lead on a Baird score.

With two minutes left in the second period came a key play-- sprung by a Jonathan Jolette hit, Bats forward Mike Tucciarone raced in for a breakaway chance, only to be stoned by Corpus goalie Scott Reid. A Legault goal with a minute remaining in the second, and a Ryan Carter deflection late in the third put the game away. Murphy had a goal and three assists, Baird and Legault three points each.

The final score notwithstanding, the Bats treated fans to pregame ceremonies with former players and team officials celebrating the past nine years of team history. And between periods, the Ice Bats unveiled a banner in honor of Equipment Manager Gunner Garrett, who will retire after 45 years in the hockey industry, including all ten Ice Bats seasons.

Saturday night, the Ice Bats hoped to return the favor in Corpus Christi. The Bats stormed back from a 3-0 first period deficit before the Rayz won a wild affair, 6-5 at the AmericanBank Center. Rayz forward Derrick McIver scored the game-winner with 5:36 remaining.

The Rayz got on the board first on a lucky bounce. Defenseman Bernie John's dump-in to the corner took a hop out in front, resulting in a Shawn Legault power play goal into an open net. Rayz forward Randy Murphy made it 2-0 7:45 into the first period, beating Ice Bats goalie Bryan Worosz glove-side on a shot from the left wing. Murphy struck again with 1:21 left in the first, swiping the puck at center and flipping a pass in front for a Jon Foster score.

The Ice Bats forged back with three goals in a span of 71 seconds midway through the second period. Defenseman Aaron Schneekloth scored a five-on-three power play goal at 11:26 and center Jeff Neufeld cashed in on a give-and-go with Dave MacIntyre 58 seconds later. Just 13 seconds later, winger John McNabb brought the Bats all the way back on a shot that dribbled in off Rayz All-Star goaltender Scott Reid.

Twice the Rayz retook the lead in the third, and twice the Ice Bats retied it. Corpus defenseman Matt Frick scored on a second rebound 28 seconds into the final period, but Austin's Gerald Tallaire tipped in the tying goal 1:17 later. And a breakaway score by Corpus Christi's Ryan Carter at 2:55 was answered two minutes later by a MacIntyre power play score.

Despite pulling Worosz, a fourth Ice Bats comeback attempt fell short after McIver's game-winning shot ricocheted off traffic under the crossbar at 14:24.

The Corpus Christi power play accounted for four goals on 12 chances, while the Ice Bats scored twice on seven power play opportunities. Despite putting 51 shots on net, the Ice Bats started a season 0-2 for the first time in franchise history.

Roster Flights:

Departures: On Monday, the Ice Bats traded defenseman Jeff Alcombrack to the Youngstown Steelhounds for future considerations. Alcombrack scored 7 goals and 14 assists in 33 games for the Ice Bats after coming over in a trade with Odessa last year. His departure brings the Ice Bats to the 18-man roster limit.

Player Plaudits: Defenseman Aaron Schneekloth and forwards Jeff Neufeld, John McNabb and Dave MacIntyre lead Ice Bats scoring with three points each thus far. Neufeld and Schneekloth each have two goals and an assist in their two games.

Potential Bite Victims: Always a championship contender, Bossier-Shreveport was 36-17-7 again last year, but got knocked out in overtime of Game Seven in the Northern Conference Semifinals. Everyone's least favorite pest, Dan Wildfong returns to lead the Mudbugs, after leading the team in points, goals, assists and penalty minutes last year. Former All-Star forward Blair Manning joins the attack, while MVP candidate Chad Spurr and All-Star d-man Jason Basile will help mold promising youngsters like Brett Smith and Scott Sheppard. And bet on goalie Ken Carroll to finish among the top five again this year. Last season, he finished 3rd at 24-11-2 with a 2.12 GAA and .926 save percentage. (So what else is new)-- the Mudbugs have earned points in close games, starting 2-0-1 on the season.

Rio Grande Valley will be greatly improved from their 19-38-3 season one year ago. The Killer Bees imported from ECHL Pensacola linemates Aaron Phillips and NHL-experienced Dwayne Hay. From defunct San Angelo come gritty Trevor Weisgerber and Nathan Rosychuk. Added to a lineup that already included third-year Bees Bill Newson, Matic Kralj and Ryan Shmyr, those players should add a good deal of punch to the Rio Grande offense. The Jeff Levy era is over in Hidalgo, so goaltending falls to Evan Lindsay, who won a championship last year in England. The Killer Bees, who split a pair of home games against Lubbock last weekend, are at Oklahoma City Friday, then Austin Saturday.

Blue-collar Lubbock was 34-23-3 last year under first-year Coach Chris Dashney, winning the Southwest Division title on the final day of the season. Forwards Paul Fioroni and Jan Melichercik return to lead a hard-working but not high-scoring offensive attack. Former Ice Bat Bobby Brown will help ignite things for the Cotton Kings though. And Lubbock is a team that can beat you with defense, hard work and grit. It also helps to have veteran goaltender Lance Leslie in net, coming off a 28-16-3 season (2.25 GAA and .927 save percentage). After their road split at Rio Grande, the Cotton Kings travel to Odessa and host Amarillo before wrapping up the weekend at the Bat Cave.

The Series: The Ice Bats are 13-17-8 lifetime against Bossier-Shreveport. Last year, the teams split a pair of games, with each team winning on home ice.

The Bats will try to even up the lifetime series against Rio Grande Valley, coming in at 10-11-1 against the Killer Bees. The Ice Bats were 6-4 against the Bees last year, 4-1 in Austin.

Austin enjoys an 11-6-2 lifetime record against Lubbock, and swept three games from the Cotton Kings last year, including two played at the Bat Cave.

Comments From the Coach:

On Opening Week: "Obviously, we were disappointed not to get a win or two. I think in the first game, the guys played a little uptight. We had the big opening ceremonies, then the tribute to Gunner. I think the guys got caught up in it a little bit. It was a long night. And we made some mistakes and got scored on. In Corpus, we were better, but got behind the eight-ball when they got a lucky goal right off the bat. You look up and you're outshooting them 17-9, but down 3-0. We played hard to get back even, and could have deserved a better fate."

On This Week: "We're working hard, now we want to work smarter. We've been talking this week about puck movement, getting the puck out of our zone, and always with the new rules, we're stressing keeping our feet moving. If they continue to call it as tight as they have, the teams with the fewest penalties will have a definite advantage. It's a big test this week. Bossier is always a hard game, and we come home for two tough games in the conference. We've got some fresh faces that haven't played a three-in-three situation before, so we'll see how they do."

Cave, Sweet Cave: Saturday is "Bud Light Souvenir Cup Night" at the Travis County Expo Center. Free souvenir schedule cups go to 3,000 fans.

Then Sunday is "Faith & Family Day," with a number of church groups to take in the game. A free post-game skate with the Ice Bats players follows the contest.

Tickets for Ice Bats home games are on sale now through the Ice Bats office at 927-PUCK, or at any Texas Box Office location, including all Austin-area HEB stores. For on-line orders, fans may visit www.TexasBoxOffice.com or www.GetTix.Net. To charge by phone, fans may call the Ice Bats ticket office at 927-PUCK, Texas Box Office at (512) 477-6060, or Get Tix at 1-866-4-Get Tix.

Individual game tickets range in price from $11 to $35, depending on section, with discounted rates for groups of 15 or more. In addition to individual game tickets and group outings, season tickets and corporate partnerships are currently available for the upcoming season, with full-season, half-season and 10-game ticket packages on sale now. 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 2005-06 regular season and CHL Playoffs. The games will also be available on-line, through the station website at www.espnaustin.com. The Bud Light Warm-up Show begins 20 minutes prior to game time. Ice Bats VP of Broadcasting, Media/PR Glen Norman will handle play-by-play duties for an eighth straight season.

NOTE: Friday's game at Bossier-Shreveport will air as a delayed broadcast following the conclusion of high school football on AM 1530.

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.

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Central Hockey League Stories from October 26, 2005


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