Ice Bats Seek Home Cookin'
November 30, 2006 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Austin Ice Bats News Release
Setting the Stage: The Austin Ice Bats of the Central Hockey League are 5-6-4 on the young 2006-2007 CHL season, just five points back of the lead 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.
With a two-game sweep last weekend at New Mexico, the Ice Bats upped their road record to 4-2-1. But now the Bats must improve on a 1-4-3 home mark. The Ice Bats hope to snap a seven-game home winless streak, hosting division rivals Laredo and Rio Grande Valley this weekend. Sunday's game against Rio Grande Valley will feature free souvenir holiday pucks and a free post-game skate with the Ice Bats players.
A look back: The Ice Bats won two of three games on a long Thanksgiving week road trip to Arizona and New Mexico. Last Wednesday, the Arizona Sundogs scored three unanswered goals in the second period and posted a 4-2 win over the Ice Bats at the Tim's Toyota Center. The disheartening loss extended Austin's winless streak to four games.
Ice Bats goalie Miguel Beaudry began the game with several impressive stops, but the Sundogs opened scoring six minutes into the first period on a five-on-three power play goal by winger Torrie Wheat. The Bats evened the score two minutes later. Forward Jordan Bianchin threw the puck on net from the right wall, and Jason Kenyon tipped it home.
But the Sundogs got too many good looks at the net in the second and third periods, especially on the power play. Arizona retook the lead on a Scott Seney goal four minutes into the second, and opened up the game with goals 1:23 apart late in the frame. Wheat scored his second power play goal, followed by a Cory Stillman shorthanded score at 14:43.
Ice Bats forward Mike Tucciarone came out of the penalty box to score an odd-man rush goal in the third period, but with just 1:36 remaining, it was too little, too late. The Ice Bats failed to score on eight power play chances, while the Sundogs capitalized twice on eight opportunities.
A look back, continued: Friday, the Ice Bats snapped their winless streak in emphatic fashion, riding a four-goal first period to a 7-4 win at New Mexico. Veteran Henry Kuster and newcomer John Ronan led the way with four and three points, respectively.
The Ice Bats opened scoring on Jason Kenyon's tap-in of a Ronan centering pass 11:49 into the first period. The Bats then took advantage of Scorpion miscues to open up their first four-goal lead of the season. New Mexico defenseman Vladimir Hartinger turned the puck over in neutral ice, and Austin forward Aaron Davis centered for a Kuster goal from the right circle.
The Bats then put two goals on the board in the final 1:18 of the period. Another New Mexico turnover led to Julian Smith's pass for a Mike Possin goal. And when Austin defenseman Terry Virtue's shot from the point snaked in with 30 seconds left, the Ice Bats had built a 4-0 lead.
New Mexico got on the board 66 seconds into the second period on a Christopher Robertson goal, but the Ice Bats got it back on an Aaron Wilson power play goal. Ronan was then given credit for a disputed goal three minutes into the third, on a deflection that appeared to lay on the goal line when covered by Scorpions goalie Walter Bartholomaeus.
The disputed score woke the Scorpions up, and they would put three power play goals on the board in the third, two from winger Craig MacDonald. But just 24 seconds after Lance Herauf's power play goal, the Ice Bats put the game away on a Kuster score with 6-1/2 minutes remaining.
On Saturday, the Ice Bats twice lost two-goal leads before pulling out a 5-4 shootout win to complete the sweep at the Santa Ana Star Center.
After a scoreless first period devoid of quality chances, the Ice Bats built a 2-0 lead in the second. New Mexico Coach Ray Edwards' bench minor at the end of the first gave the Bats a five-on-three power play to start the second, and they cashed in on Mike Tucciarone's rebound score 1:56 into the period. Off a face-off win by Jason Kenyon, Austin forward Jordan Bianchin scored the second goal from close quarters in the slot at 5:31.
But over the second half of the period, the Scorpions gained the momentum, and New Mexico cut the lead in half on Christopher Robertson's goal at 13:13. New Mexico tied the game on a Konrad Reeder power play goal midway through the third period, but the Bats scored twice within 21 seconds to seemingly retake command. Once again taking advantage of a bench minor penalty on Edwards, the Bats got a five-on-three power play goal from John McNabb and then quickly converted for a five-on-four goal from Mike Possin.
The Scorpions began their second comeback bid with 3-1/2 minutes left to play. Mike Prpich scored a power play rebound goal, then tied the game with 2:29 remaining, when defenseman Vladimir Hartinger's shot fell out of Austin goalie Kevin Couture's glove.
After a wide-open overtime, Couture settled down to stop all five shots faced in the shootout, and Possin netted the game winner in Round Four.
Roster Flights:
Arrivals: On Wednesday, the Ice Bats signed rookie forward Ray Smegal, who began the season with Quad City of the United League. The 6-4, 210-pound Smegal, a native of Spruce Grove, Alberta, scored 30 points in 23 games last year at the University of Toronto.
Wounded Wings: With forward Britt Dougherty already on 45-day injured reserve, the Ice Bats placed two more players on the 14-day injured reserve list on Wednesday. Defenseman Doug MacIver, who did not play last week, is expected to miss at least another two weeks to injury. And center Aaron Davis will be out six to eight weeks after suffering a broken ankle in last Friday's game at New Mexico.
Player Plaudits: Ice Bats winger John McNabb has vaulted among the league's top ten scorers, with 10 goals and 10 assists. Forwards Aaron Davis and Mike Tucciarone are next in team scoring with 14 and 13 points, respectively, and winger Henry Kuster (7 goals, 5 assists) has begun to heat up. In net, Miguel Beaudry (3-3-4, 3.41 GAA) and Kevin Couture (2-3, 3.15 GAA) have been splitting time.
Potential Bite Victims: Defending Cup champ Laredo may not have quite the swagger of years past yet, but the Bucks are still 9-5-1, with a one-point lead in the Southeast. The Bucks melted down last Friday, allowing two goals in the final 14 seconds before losing in overtime to Oklahoma City, then followed that up with a Tuesday loss to Rio Grande Valley. But key forwards Jeff Bes and Ladislav Kouba are just coming off stints on the I.R. In the meantime, the Bucks have been led by a pair of rookies. Bobby Chaumont (7 goals, 11 assists) leads all first-year players, and Chris Korchinski (8 goals, 7 assists) has lit the lamp in four straight games. D-man Adam Rivet has chipped in 16 points. Goalie Nathan Marsters (5-2, 2.61 GAA) was recently called up to the Anaheim Ducks, so if he's not back, look for Eric Marvin (4-2-1, 3.95 GAA) in net. Laredo is 4-3-1 at home, 5-2 as a road team.
At the start of the year, Rio Grande Valley had very real defensive concerns, but Coach Paul Fixter's team has turned that around, ranking second in the league on the penalty kill (89.2%), and third defensively overall, allowing just 2.8 goals per game. As a result, the Killer Bees are 8-6-1 and in a close third place in the division. Veteran Jason Cirone leads the team with 8 goals, 10 assists, while three others have 14 points each, including mainstay forward Bill Newson. Since his acquisition in November, goalie Jeremy Symington (5-1, 1.65 GAA) has completely solidified the Bees in net, and has already posted two shutouts. 4-2 away from the Hive, Rio Grande has a home-and-home series against Corpus Christi before finishing the weekend at Austin.
The Series: The Ice Bats are 14-25-2 lifetime against Laredo, 0-1-1 this year after a 5-3 home loss to the Bucks October 29th, and a 6-5 overtime loss November 3rd in Austin.
The Bats are an even 15-15-2 lifetime against Rio Grande Valley, winning the season's only prior meeting, 6-5 in overtime November 11th in Hidalgo.
Comments From the Coach:
On Last Week: "It was a pretty good trip overall. I didn't think we played very well at Arizona, especially in the second period. It was the first game in awhile where I thought there was a widespread lack of effort. We played better in the third period, but then the game was kind of out of reach. But we met as a team and stressed the importance of staying together, learning the system and playing hard, and I thought we did that at New Mexico. We're still getting some guys up to speed, and we've had our share of injuries, but we have to get beyond that. We're here to win games, not tread water."
On This Week: "We changed the forecheck a little to let our forwards go a little bit. Our forwards all can skate, and so I think it'll help to let them freelance a little bit and go after the puck. That's probably my fault, as I should have loosened things up a little earlier. Hopefully, what I saw in New Mexico will carry over. We obviously want to get going at home, it's not like we're trying to lose these close games at home. We want to play physical, and I thought we did that in our last home game against Odessa. We just made a few mistakes to cost us that game."
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. Sunday, free souvenir holiday pucks go to 1,000 fans, courtesy of AT&T, and there will be a free post-game skate with the Ice Bats players following the contest.
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.
Shuffle Up and Deal: The Ice Bats' third annual Texas Hold 'Em Tournament will take place Sunday, December 10th in the club room at Chaparral Ice Arena. Ice Bats players will be dealing or playing at every table, and the buy-in value of $100 includes dinner and the chance to win prizes such as Dallas Stars club seats, rounds of golf with Ice Bats players, autographed memorabilia and more. The tournament will begin at 4pm, with dinner to follow at 6:30pm. Fans may call 927-PUCK to reserve a spot or for details.
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:
Fri., Dec. 1st, 7:30pm, vs. Laredo Bucks, at Chaparral Ice Arena, Austin, Texas
Sat., Dec. 2nd, 7:30pm, vs. Laredo Bucks, at Laredo Entertainment Center, Laredo, Texas
Sun., Dec. 3rd, 4:00pm, vs. Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees, at Chaparral Ice Arena, Austin, Texas
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Central Hockey League Stories from November 30, 2006
- Killer Bees Game Notes - Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees
- Rangers assign power forward to RiverKings - Mississippi RiverKings
- Bucks Promote Healthy Living - Laredo Bucks
- Scorpions acquire goalie Cacciola from Mudbugs - New Mexico Scorpions
- Tip A Scorpion Night to be held December 12 - New Mexico Scorpions
- RiverKings Fan Alert - Mississippi RiverKings
- Ice Bats Seek Home Cookin' - Austin Ice Bats
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