Sports stats



Ice Bats Seek Early Campaign Momentum

November 7, 2006 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Austin Ice Bats News Release


Setting the Stage: The Austin Ice Bats of the Central Hockey League are 1-3-2 on the young 2006-2007 CHL season, but just four points off the division lead. The Ice Bats have begun play at all-new Chaparral Ice Arena, located on I-35 between Howard Lane and Wells Branch Parkway.

After a victory on Opening Night, the Ice Bats have just two points to show for their last five games. This week, the Ice Bats will play three games in as many nights, hosting Bossier-Shreveport Friday between games at Corpus Christi and Rio Grande Valley.

A look back: The Ice Bats earned a single standings point out of their two games last week. Friday night, the Laredo Bucks scored four power play goals, one of them an overtime winner, to nip the Ice Bats, 6-5 at Chaparral Ice Arena.

The wild affair was close throughout, as neither team garnered more than a one-goal lead. The Bats scored first, when forward Mike Possin flashed open up the middle for a breakaway goal 3:42 in. Laredo tied the game on a Ladislav Kouba power play goal, but Austin's Henry Kuster banged home a John McNabb pass to give the Bats a 2-1 lead late in the first.

The Bucks scored twice within a minute early in the second period to take their first lead, but the Bats tied it up on Kuster's second goal midway through the period. Bats winger Mike Tucciarone crashed the net for an early third period power play goal, and then came a turning point in the game.

A 4-on-4 goal by McNabb was initially allowed, then waved off at the eight-minute mark. Just 1:19 later, Laredo's Chris Korchinski scored a power play goal to retie the game. Kuster completed the hat trick with 3:11 left in regulation, but the Bats couldn't hold the lead, and Laredo's Philippe Seguin tied it up again with 1:20 left.

In overtime, referee Tom Sterns whistled Austin forward Jordan Bianchin on a borderline hooking call, and the Bucks converted for the winner, Bobby Chaumont's goal at 2:56. Chaumont led scoring with 2 goals and 2 assists, while the line of Kuster, McNabb and Aaron Davis combined for nine points on Kuster's three goals.

Last Saturday, the Ice Bats dropped a 3-1 home decision to Corpus Christi. Once again, the Bats drew first blood in the form of a John McNabb power play goal late in the first. But it was the only goal the Bats could put on the board.

Corpus Christi's Justin Quenneville scored a power play goal at 2:46 of the second to tie the contest, and the Rayz took a 2-1 lead on Ryan Carter's goal at 7:16. The Ice Bats were then twice thwarted in attempts to tie the game. Midway through the second, Aaron Davis' would-be tip-in goal was disallowed, ruled played with a high stick. Then with three minutes left in the period, Corpus goalie Ron Vogel stacked his pads to rob Austin's Jordan Bianchin on a breakaway attempt.

Corpus forward Derrick McIver iced the game with a power play empty net goal in the final moments. Vogel stopped 28 of 29 shots faced for the win.

Wounded Wings: Ice Bats forward Britt Dougherty has missed the last four games to injury. Dougherty is listed as questionable for play this week.

Potential Bite Victims: Corpus Christi has begun to jell defensively, allowing just a single goal total in winning their last two over Austin and Odessa. Allowing a mere 2.43 goals per game on the season, the Rayz top the league in total defense, and goalie Ron Vogel (3-2, 2.40 GAA) is a big reason why. Offensively, the Rayz have Justin Quenneville in the top five, with 5 goals and 6 assists. Forwards Derrick McIver (4 goals, 6 assists) and Ryan Carter (5 goals, 2 helpers) are next in scoring. At 4-3, Corpus Christi is now tied for the top spot in the Southeast Division.

With just one home game under its belt, Bossier-Shreveport has still managed a 2-3-2 record. Past Mudbug teams have always been about defense and goaltending, but usually get timelier scoring. This year's version ranks last offensively, averaging 2.43 goals per game. Winger Chris Brassard leads the team with 4 goals, 4 assists, and forward Karlis Zirnis, coaxed from retirement to help out with initial immigration difficulties, has 4 goals and 3 assists. Forwards Chris Murphy and Dan Wildfong lead the league with 48 and 46 penalty minutes, respectively. While the Bugs were waiting for Ken Carroll's playing status to be approved, John DeCaro (1-2-2, 2.65 GAA, .934 save percentage) was more than adequate between the pipes. Bossier finally gets a chance to play at home a second time, Thursday against Odessa, before coming to Austin.

Hired late in the off-season, former Colorado Avalanche scout and assistant Paul Fixter takes over a Rio Grande Valley team with a nearly brand new roster. Now 3-3, the Killer Bees are just two points back of the division lead, but dropped both ends of a wild home-and-home series with Lubbock last week. Rio Grande features the league's #2 power play (23.9%), and pretty balanced scoring so far. Winger Matt Reynolds leads the team with 5 goals, 5 assists, while holdover Bill Newson is among three others with six points each. The Bees may still be searching for an answer in net, with Mathieu Blanchard (2-1, 3.02 GAA) currently their best. The Killer Bees play nine of their first dozen games at home, with home games against Laredo and the Bats this weekend.

The Series: The Ice Bats are now 54-29-8 lifetime against Corpus Christi, with an 0-1-1 series mark this year. The Bats were 6-2-2 against the Rayz last season.

After their Opening Night win against Bossier-Shreveport, the Ice Bats are 16-18-8 lifetime against the Mudbugs.

Austin is 14-15-2 against Rio Grande Valley, and was 4-4-1 against the Killer Bees last year.

Comments From the Coach:

On Last Week: "We can talk about overtime penalties and disallowed goals all we want, but that's just excuses. We had a lead with 1:40 left Friday and coughed it up. There's no sense making excuses. We just have to get far grittier and not put ourselves in situations where others determine our outcome. We're playing far too much on the perimeter for my liking, and we need to get traffic and shots in the middle. That's where guys are going to get their points."

On This Week: "We've been in a lot of close games, and it's the little things that make the difference in those close games. We're going to switch the lines up a little bit, and our specialty teams need to get better, that's for sure. If we have eight power play chances, I think we've got the skill where we should be getting two or three goals out of that. It's a tough league and there's a lot of parity in our division. No one's going to feel sorry for us or give anything to us. We have to work ourselves out of any rut."

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.

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.

THIS WEEK:

Thu., Nov. 9th, 7:05pm, vs. Corpus Christi Rayz, at AmericanBank Center, Corpus Christi, Texas

Fri., Nov. 10th, 7:30pm, vs. Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, at Chaparral Ice Arena, Austin, Texas

Sat., Nov. 11th, 7:35pm, vs. Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees, at Dodge Arena, Hidalgo, Texas

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

Central Hockey League Stories from November 7, 2006


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