Sports stats



Ice Bats Refocus After All-Star Break

January 17, 2007 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Austin Ice Bats News Release


Setting the Stage: The Austin Ice Bats of the Central Hockey League are 14-13-7 on the 2006-2007 CHL season, third in the Southeast Division, but just four points out of second place in the division and the Southern Conference. The Ice Bats have begun play at all-new Chaparral Ice Arena, located on I-35 between Howard Lane and Wells Branch Parkway.

With the CHL All-Star Game scheduled for Wednesday, the Ice Bats will come out of the All-Star break with home games against division leader Laredo and second-place Corpus Christi. Wrapping up a four-game homestand, the Ice Bats will then begin a three-game road swing with a Tuesday morning contest at Corpus Christi.

A look back: After winning three of four games to start the New Year, the Ice Bats earned just a single standings point out of their two home games last weekend. Last Friday, Odessa goalie Mike Gorman stopped 36 of 37 shots faced to lead the visiting Jackalopes past the Ice Bats, 2-1.

The Ice Bats scored their only goal three minutes in, as defenseman Adam Holmgren threaded in a shot from near the left wall. Odessa tied the score on Andrew Davis' top shelf goal at 8:14.

In the second, the Bats had multiple chances but couldn't bury them, including a five-on-three power play killed by the Jacks midway through the period. Odessa's Brian Swiniarski scored the eventual winner at 11:56 of the second frame.

The Jackalopes then kept the Bats out of the net in the third, thwarting even Austin's extra skater bid in the final minute. The loss spoiled the debut of goaltender Tony Quesada, assigned to the Ice Bats from AHL Houston on Wednesday. Quesada finished with 18 saves on 20 shots.

On Saturday, the Ice Bats then let a four-goal lead melt away, resulting in a disheartening 5-4 shootout loss to Amarillo. The Ice Bats opened a 2-0 lead on goals 3:10 apart midway through the first, a Julian Smith backhander and J.F. Picard's goal from the point.

Austin's Tim Earl added to the lead on a nice spin move in the slot two minutes into the second, and winger John McNabb made it 4-0 at the 9:45 mark. But the Gorillas crept back into the game late in the period. Amarillo's Matt Miller crashed the net to cut the lead to two in the final minute of the period, and Jason Chafe trimmed it to one, just 11 seconds into the third. The Gorillas came all the way back at 6:18 on an Austin Sutter power play goal, scored near the end of a questionable tripping call on Bats defenseman Adam Holmgren.

The Bats settled things down after that, but the damage was done. And after a scoreless overtime, a shellshocked Austin goalie Miguel Beaudry allowed three goals on four Amarillo shootout chances. Helped by nine power play chances, Amarillo outshot Austin, 42-32 for the game.

Wounded Wings: Ice Bats center Aaron Davis and defenseman Doug MacIver have both begun skating, and could be available off the 45-day injured reserve list at some point next week.

Player Plaudits: Winger John McNabb leads the Ice Bats in scoring, with 17 goals and 16 assists. Forward Henry Kuster is next with 15 goals and 10 assists. Center Julian Smith (11 goals and 13 helpers) has come on strong, and defenseman Terry Virtue has 22 points. McNabb and Virtue will represent the Ice Bats and the Southern Conference at the CHL All-Star Game, Wednesday night in Bossier City, Louisiana.

Miguel Beaudry is 9-5-7 with a 2.83 GAA in net, and Kevin Couture is 5-7 with a 2.80 GAA. Both rank among the league's top ten goalies.

Potential Bite Victims: The Ice Bats come out of the All-Star break against two divisional opponents that win games with defense. Division-leading Laredo is 23-9-2, and holds a nine-point lead over Corpus Christi. In fact, the Bucks are 17-5-1 within the division, and have won nine of their last ten overall. Laredo features the league's number-two defense, allowing a mere 2.74 goals per game. And while no one individual has put up truly gaudy numbers, the Bucks have seven players in double-digit goal-scoring. Top scoring rookie Bobby Chaumont has 18 goals and 18 assists, while All-Star starter Adam Rivet (13 goals, 21 assists) ranks third among d-men. Forward Serge Dube has 31 points. Goaltender Eric Marvin (13-4-2, 2.64 GAA) ranks fourth in the league, and Kevin Reiter (5-2, 2.25 GAA) has been excellent in limited play. Laredo is 9-5 as a road team.

Second-place Corpus Christi is 17-14-5, and its defense ranks fourth (2.92 average goals allowed). Scoring leaders are forwards Justin Quenneville (16 goals, 20 assists), Jason Baird (35 points) and Derrick McIver (14 goals, 19 assists). With big things expected from goalie Ron Vogel (11-8-3, 2.87 GAA), it's been dependable Brent Zelenewich (6-6-2, 2.70 GAA) that's been perhaps a bit more consistent. Corpus Christi is 9-8 at home, 8-6-5 as a road team. They'll host Rocky Mountain out of the All-Star break, before coming to Austin.

The Series: The Ice Bats are 16-28-2 lifetime against Laredo, 2-4-1 this season. The Bats were 1-1-1 in the first three games of the series, all played in Austin. The last four meetings have taken place in Laredo, with the Bucks winning the last three.

The Bats are 56-30-9 lifetime against Corpus Christi, an even 2-2-2 this year. Both Ice Bats wins in the season series have come in Corpus Christi.

Comments From the Coach:

On Last Week: "It was two different games, really. To outshoot a team like Odessa and lose 2-1, you give a good portion of the credit to their goalie. But then when you do find four goals and get up early, only to let it slip away like we did against Amarillo... well, it's unacceptable. I wasn't happy with the way we were playing when we were up 4-0, and sure enough, those bad habits came back to haunt us. Between travel, holidays and weather, we haven't had a lot of time to practice on a consistent basis, but we had a good one on Monday and hopefully we'll do the same Wednesday and Thursday. We have to refocus and put a game like last Saturday's behind us."

On This Week: "Maybe it's good to come back playing within the division, because our guys should certainly be motivated. Again, it's obviously a bad thing to give up a four-goal lead within the span of one period, really. But it's not something we need to dwell on repeatedly. Our guys can read the scoreboard. We put it behind us and we move on. It's a matter of playing consistently from here on out. With the exception of Laredo, who has a bit of a cushion, it's the same for every single team in our conference. The teams that play the most consistent the rest of the way will make it out at the end."

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.

This Friday is "Poacher's Night" against the Laredo Bucks. All fans are invited to wear camouflage, as the Ice Bats go "big game hunting." Then Saturday is "Youth Sports Day," with a special 3pm face-off. A post-game party will follow 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.

"Chalk Talk": Ice Bats fans can get the lowdown before every Friday and Saturday home game, with Ice Bats "Chalk Talk," beginning at 6:30pm in Moorsy's Bar at Chaparral Ice Arena. Forward Britt Dougherty will provide a scouting report of that night's opponent, and Coach Bill McDonald will also be available to greet fans.

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:

Wed., Jan. 17th, 7:05pm, CHL All-Star Game, at CenturyTel Center, Bossier City, Louisiana

Fri., Jan. 19th, 7:30pm, vs. Laredo Bucks, at Chaparral Ice Arena, Austin, Texas

Sat., Jan. 20th, 3:00pm, vs. Corpus Christi Rayz, at Chaparral Ice Arena, Austin, Texas

Tues., Jan. 23rd, 11:05am, vs. Corpus Christi Rayz, at AmericanBank Center, Corpus Christi, Texas

• Discuss this story on the Central Hockey League message board...

Central Hockey League Stories from January 17, 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.

Other Recent Austin Ice Bats Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central