Ice Bats Take Pilgrim-age to Amarillo

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


Setting the Stage: The Austin Ice Bats of the Central Hockey League are off to a 6-7-1 start on the 2004-05 CHL season, and are in second place in the Southeast Division. The Ice Bats trail Corpus Christi by three points, but lead Laredo by two points and Rio Grande Valley by six points in the competitive division race.

The Ice Bats will leave on Thanksgiving Day to travel to Amarillo, where they will play Friday night. The team will then return home for a Sunday tilt against Lubbock. The UT Hockey team faces Texas A&M prior to Sunday's game at the Expo Center.

A look back: The Ice Bats were 1-1-1 last weekend, finishing the week with a shutout of Laredo. Last Friday night, Austin's comeback fell short in a 4-3 loss to Corpus Christi.

The Rayz jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead on Derrick McIver's power play goal five minutes in, and a Matt Noga goal at 17:19. Corpus Christi's Jason Baird then made it 3-0 on a one-timer from the right circle midway through the second period. Ice Bats defenseman Mike Mohr scored late in the second period, but the Rayz countered with a Bernie John goal at 13:41 of the third.

The Bats staged a furious comeback in the final four minutes. Austin's Dallas Anderson got it started with a power play deflection with 3:35 remaining. And a Kris Knoblauch tip with an extra attacker on cut the lead to 4-3 with 58 seconds left. But the Rayz held on for the win, despite 26 Austin shots in the third period.

Noga, Baird and Greg Bullock led Corpus Christi scoring with three points each, while Rayz goalie Brent Zelenewich stopped 44 of a season-high 47 Ice Bats shots.

Saturday night, the Ice Bats and San Angelo battled for 65-plus minutes, before the Saints won an immensely entertaining affair, 4-3 in a shootout. The game featured tremendous scoring chances on both sides and terrific saves by the two goalies. The Saints nearly gained the first lead five minutes in, San Angelo's Andy Doktorchik scooping up a turnover and slamming a shot off the post. Instead, San Angelo's Nathan Rosychuk opened scoring with a power play rebound at 15:13 of the opening period.

The Ice Bats stormed back 1:43 later, with Arturs Kupaks burying the puck from the high slot on an odd-man rush. The Bats then gained their first lead 4:30 into the second period on a Kelly Smart goal, only to have the Saints tie it back up on Dan Carney's goal at the 12-minute mark. Kevin Vandewaeter then gave San Angelo its second lead with a power play goal with 2-1/2 minutes left in the period.

The Ice Bats looked snake-bit early in the third. San Angelo goalie Scott Reid stopped Austin's Chris Richards on a penalty shot just 13 seconds into the period. Then a would-be game-tying goal was waved off after the whistle 3-1/2 minutes into the third.

But Ice Bats goalie Peter-Emmanuel Brady kept his team in it with big saves, and Austin's Benoit Genesse tied the score with a superb individual move. Leading a two-on-one rush, Genesse faked a slap shot, drove from the right circle to the middle, and slid the puck into an open net.

The Ice Bats nearly ended the game in regulation, but Reid again denied Richards with a spectacular save on a backhanded rebound late in regulation. In overtime, the Ice Bats weathered a San Angelo power play. And Richards finally beat Reid in Round One of the shootout. But Reid stopped the next four Austin shooters, and the Saints got shootout goals from Bret DeCecco and Vandewaeter.

Reid finished with 40 saves on 43 Ice Bats shots to outduel Brady, who stopped 39 of 42 faced. The teams had a role reversal on specialty teams, with the Saints scoring twice on five power play chances, while the Ice Bats finished scoreless on four opportunities.

Sunday, the Ice Bats finished the week with a 2-0 home smothering of Laredo. The Bats scored twice in the first five minutes. Dallas Anderson scored first, 2:26 into the contest, and John McNabb rebounded his own shot for a score 2:14 later.

That was all Ice Bats goalie Matt Barnes would need. The Bats did a solid job of lead maintenance through the remaining two periods, and Barnes stopped all 27 shots faced, 16 of them coming in the first period. Barnes, who set a league record with eight shutouts in 2002-03, earned his first blanking of the year.

Wounded Wings: The Ice Bats returned two players from the injured list going into last weekend, and forward Mike Olynyk was back in the lineup Sunday after missing the prior three games. For this week, the Ice Bats will only be without winger Jared Dumba, who will not play Friday and is doubtful for Sunday.

Player Plaudits: Veteran John McNabb ranks among the league's top ten in scoring with 6 goals and 12 assists, and carries an eight-game point streak into the week. Center Chris Richards (4 goals, 12 assists) is in the top 15, and Benoit Genesse is third on the team with 9 goals and 6 helpers. Arturs Kupaks, second among CHL defensemen, has 7 goals and 6 assists. Forward Dallas Anderson ranks third in the CHL with 88 penalty minutes. And after his first shutout performance, goalie Matt Barnes is 6-3 with a 2.95 GAA and .916 save percentage.

Potential Bite Victims: At 3-6-2, Amarillo is looking to rebound from the 4th spot in the Southwest Division. Injuries have hurt the Gorillas early, but there are bright spots. They rank 4th on the power play, scoring at a 20% clip. But they're second-to-last defensively (3.82 goals allowed per game), have been outscored 17-8 in first period play this year, and are 15th on the penalty kill (78.2%). Top 15 scorer Derek Hahn has 7 goals and 10 assists. Former Ice Bat Brent Hughes has added 12 points, and Tyler Butler 10 from the blue line. In net are the returning Shawn Degagne (2-1-1, 3.29 GAA) and newcomer Steve Briere (1-5-1, 3.74 GAA). 3-2-2 at home, the Gorillas play Thanksgiving Eve at New Mexico.

First-year Coach Chris Dashney takes over a Lubbock team that was 19-35-10 a year ago. This season, the Cotton Kings are 6-4, third in the Southwest. Although the team's power play is converting at just 13.2%, the Cotton Kings rank 4th in the league on offense, averaging 3.6 goals per game. Standout Anders Strome has 8 goals and 2 assists, leading a balanced attack. Five others have at least eight points thus far. Lubbock fans like it rough, and veteran Paul Fioroni fills the bill with 65 penalty minutes. Goalie Shawn Conschafter, who spent some time with the Ice Bats last season, is 3-1 with a 2.40 GAA, and has actually outperformed veteran Lance Leslie (3-3, 2.83 GAA). 2-3 as a road team, the Cotton Kings have a busy stretch of four games in five nights around the Thanksgiving holiday. They'll play at Rio Grande Valley Wednesday, host Oklahoma City Friday, then finish the weekend at San Angelo and Austin.

The Series: The Ice Bats are 15-7-3 lifetime against Amarillo, and were 0-1-1 against the Gorillas last year.

Austin is 8-6-2 lifetime against Lubbock, 2-1 last year. The Ice Bats won both meetings in Lubbock last season, but lost to the Cotton Kings in Austin.

Comments from the Coach:

NOTE: Comments come from Greg Gatto, the Ice Bats' new interim Head Coach.

On Last Week: "Sunday was our best game of the season. We have a pretty good record on the final day of those three-game in three-night situations. I thought we played so-so against Corpus Christi, but probably deserved to win in San Angelo. Their goaltender has won them a lot of games this year, and that's what happened again. And again, I was real happy with Sunday's game. Anytime you can shut that Laredo team out, it's a pretty good victory."

"It was nice to get guys back into the lineup last week. We were able to play three lines, and at home, we had the ability to match up against other team's top lines to shut them down. We were much better backchecking, and that's because our forwards had that extra step, rolling three lines instead of just two."

On This Week: "Our Fan Club is going to feed us before we take off Thanksgiving, so I guess we'll have a turkey dinner and a nice little nap on the way to Amarillo. It shouldn't be difficult to wake up there. It'll probably be pretty cold."

"Amarillo is in a similar situation to where we were early. They've had a lot of injuries to key guys, but they're a good team. I've liked their team from the beginning. They play well at home in a smaller rink, and they're a big physical team on the back end. Lubbock has revamped their team, and they work hard. There's no substitute for hard work-- it wins you eight out of ten times, and you usually get the breaks when you outwork the other team."

Cave, Sweet Cave: The UT Hockey team is 12-2-2 after last weekend's tie and close loss against the University of Georgia, one of the top teams in the country. Sunday beginning at 1:15pm, the Longhorns will face off against Texas A&M, with the winner awarded the inaugural "Pride of Texas Cup." The Ice Bats' contest against Lubbock will follow.

Individual game tickets are available now through the Ice Bats office at 927-PUCK, on-line at www.GetTix.Net, or at any of a dozen Pinky's Wireless locations in the Austin area, including Round Rock, Cedar Park, Killeen and San Marcos. Tickets are also available at all Texas Box Office locations, including all Austin-area HEB stores, or on-line at www.TexasBoxOffice.com.

To charge by phone, fans may call the Ice Bats ticket office at 927-PUCK, Get Tix at 1-866-4-Get Tix, or Texas Box Office at (512) 477-6060.

Individual game tickets range in price from $10 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 will host their inaugural Texas Hold ‘Em Tournament benefiting Ice Bats Children's Charities, beginning at 3pm on Sunday, December 19th at Carlos ‘N Charlie's on Lake Travis. The tournament buy-in is set at $100, with a fajita dinner included, and Ice Bats players either dealing or playing at each table. Prizes include a luxury suite at the American Airlines Center, three-night cruise for two, rounds of golf with Ice Bats players and more. Beginning at 6:30pm, there will be an auction of the special Texas Hold ‘Em "playing card" jerseys worn by the team the preceding night. To register for the tournament or for more details, fans may call (512) 927-PUCK, ext. 113.

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 2004-05 regular season and CHL Playoffs. The games will also be available on-line, through the station website at www.espnaustin.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 seventh 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:

Fri., Nov. 26th, 7:11pm, vs. Amarillo Gorillas, at Amarillo Civic Center, Amarillo, Texas

Sun., Nov. 28th, 4:00pm, vs. Lubbock Cotton Kings, at Travis County Expo Center, Austin, Texas

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Central Hockey League Stories from November 24, 2004


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