Ice Bats Take Three of Four in 2007
January 10, 2007 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Austin Ice Bats News Release
Setting the Stage: The Austin Ice Bats of the Central Hockey League are 14-12-6 on the 2006-2007 CHL season, third in the Southeast Division, but just one point 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.
The Ice Bats have won three of four games to start 2007, and have now won three straight home games. The Bats will play their next four outings at Chaparral Ice Arena, hosting Odessa and Amarillo this weekend, billed as "Guaranteed Win Weekend."
A look back: The Ice Bats have taken three of four games to start the New Year, including both home games last week. Last Thursday night, the Ice Bats scored three times in the final seven minutes to roar away from the Lubbock Cotton Kings, 5-3 at Chaparral Ice Arena. Winger Henry Kuster scored twice and had an assist to lead Ice Bats scoring.
Kuster put the Bats on the board first at 14:29 of the first period, snapping off a shot between the circles. But the Cotton Kings tied the score 1:13 later on a Jimmy Callahan goal. Lubbock took its first lead 2:41 into the second period on a Paul McBrien score, but the Bats retied the count on Julian Smith's goal 2:43 into the third.
The Cotton Kings gained their final lead on Mike Carter's goal midway through the third, but the Bats began their three-goal rampage at 13:49. Defenseman Chad McIver threaded in the tying goal from the point. Kuster scored his second on a rebound less than a minute later, and Jason Kenyon capped scoring with 3:34 remaining. The Bats outshot Lubbock 50-29.
Last Friday, the Ice Bats ran out of comebacks. The Bats, who had put together third period comebacks in their previous two games, were shut out, 3-0 at the Laredo Entertainment Center. Bucks goalie Eric Marvin made 35 saves to earn his first shutout of the season.
The Bucks outshot the Ice Bats 15-6 in the first period, and scored twice. Serge Dube's deflected shot from the right wing fluttered past Austin goalie Kevin Couture 8:31 into the opening period. Less than four minutes later, Austin defenseman Adam Holmgren's clearing attempt was knocked down in the slot. Bucks forward Chris Korchinski fired the puck on net from low in the left circle, and Laredo rookie Bobby Chaumont followed up with a rebound score.
The Bats countered with chances midway through the second period, and turned up the intensity midway through the third, but Marvin made the necessary saves. Among his third period highlights were a stop on a shot that deflected off Austin forward Tim Earl's helmet, and a glove save on a Mike Tucciarone shot from the slot.
On the power play in the final minute, the Bats pulled Couture for an extra attacker, but Chaumont scored his second goal shorthanded into an empty net with 70 seconds remaining. For the second straight outing, a splendid effort was wasted for Couture, who finished with 45 saves.
Saturday night, the Ice Bats scored five unanswered goals to claim a 5-2 home win over Rio Grande Valley. The Killer Bees opened up a 2-0 lead on scores 35 seconds apart early in the first period, but from there, the Ice Bats controlled the game. The Bats tied it up with goals just over two minutes apart in the middle portion of the period. Jason Kenyon crashed the net for a delayed penalty goal, and Julian Smith flipped a rebound shot upstairs for the tying score.
Austin forward Mike Possin set up the eventual game-winner on the penalty kill, tipping the puck to center, leading a two-on-one rush, and centering for Henry Kuster's shorthanded score just 59 seconds into the second period. Austin's Tim Earl was denied on a penalty shot midway through the second, but the Bats sprinted to the finish with a Mike Tucciarone goal with four minutes left in the game, and John Ronan's empty net score with four seconds left.
After a shaky start, Bats goalie Miguel Beaudry stopped 32 of 34 shots for the win.
On Tuesday, the Ice Bats ran their season record against Rio Grande Valley to 5-0, downing the Killer Bees 4-3 in a shootout, in the second game of a home-and-home series at the Dodge Arena. Julian Smith ended the seesaw game with the Round Five shootout winner.
Rio Grande Valley's Bill Newson scored the only goal of the first at 10:31, dropping off the puck to teammate Emery Olauson, and then receiving a return feed in the slot for the score. Ice Bats forward John Ronan tied the score 7-1/2 minutes into the second, scooping up Kurtis Dulle's turnover, and skating in for a shorthanded goal. Jason Kenyon then backhanded a rebound of Adam Holmgren's centering pass into an open net to give the Bats the lead at 14:20.
After that, the Ice Bats were all over the Killer Bees, until John McNabb's slap shot from the high slot broke the glass behind the Rio Grande Valley net with 2:47 left in the second. The teams took early intermission, and the Killer Bees regrouped. With about a minute left in the period, Austin goalie Miguel Beaudry outraced Newson to a spot above the left circle to thwart Newson's shorthanded bid.
Newson did get the tying goal 1:11 into the third period, but the Bats came up with the equalizer, a McNabb goal 47 seconds later. Dulle then made amends for his earlier gaffe, with a deflected shot that hurtled in at 5:38.
After a scoreless overtime, Rio's Rob Voltera scored in the first round of the shootout, but Austin's Mike Possin countered in Round Two, and Smith shot in the winner over Rio goalie Jeremy Symington's right pad.
Roster Flights:
Arrivals: On Wednesday, goalie Tony Quesada was assigned to the Ice Bats by their AHL affiliate in Houston. A rookie, Quesada is 0-4 in five appearances with the Aeros this season, with a 4.62 goals-against average. But Quesada is coming off a stellar four-year career at Holy Cross College, where he was 22-6-2 as a senior last year, with a 2.30 GAA and .925 save percentage.
Player Plaudits: Winger John McNabb leads the Ice Bats in scoring, with 16 goals and 16 assists. Forward Henry Kuster is next with 15 goals and 9 assists, center Julian Smith now has 10 goals and 12 helpers, and defenseman Terry Virtue also has 22 points. McNabb and Virtue have been chosen to represent the Southern Conference at the CHL All-Star Game, January 17th in Bossier City, Louisiana.
Miguel Beaudry is 9-5-6 with a 2.79 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: This weekend's opponents come from the Southwest Division, where just five points separate the five teams. At 14-13-4, Odessa is second in the pack, one point off the division lead. The Jackalopes rank in the top five in both specialty teams categories, and goalie Mike Gorman (10-7-3, 2.77 GAA, .928 save percentage) leads the league's #4 ranked defense. Scoring leaders are center Mike Rutter (9 goals, 24 assists), winger Steve Shrum (14 goals, 12 assists) and veteran d-man Scott Hillman (24 points). Massive Jeff Ewasko leads the league with 164 penalty minutes. Odessa is 6-6-4 on the road this season.
Third-place Amarillo is 14-13-2, two points behind Odessa. The Gorillas have a pretty potent scoring attack, but allow about 3-1/2 goals per game, 14th in the league on defense. Top ten scorer Rich Hansen has 13 goals, 23 assists. Winger Chris Lipsett (16 goals, 19 assists) carries an eight-game point streak into the weekend, and Bill Vandermeer has 15 goals, 19 assists. Winger David Silverstone has 144 penalty minutes on the season. Goalie Jamie Vandespyker (9-7-1, 3.26 GAA) is capable of getting hot at any given time. Amarillo is 10-6 outside its division (including a perfect 3-0 against the Southeast), but a mere 4-7-2 in its own division. The Gorillas will visit Rio Grande Valley and Austin, looking to improve on a 6-9 road record.
The Series: The Ice Bats have had good success against both of this weekend's opponents. The Bats are 15-6-4 lifetime against Odessa, falling in a shootout in the season's only prior meeting, November 18th in Austin.
Austin is 18-9-3 lifetime against Amarillo, going into the season's first meeting. The Ice Bats were to have played New Year's Eve in Amarillo, but that game was postponed due to hazardous travel conditions. The Bats won two of three meetings between the teams last season.
Comments From the Coach:
On Last Week: "It's all about consistency, and we're starting to get more consistent efforts. After dealing with a tough road schedule the last two weeks of December, we're happy to be home. But we're still looking to get some good quality practice time in. We should be able to do that with a full practice Thursday, and then get two or three good ones in next week. We finally got a power play goal on Tuesday, but we want to keep working on that. As far as winning at home, we lost close games at the start, the kind where you don't play a bad game against a good opponent, but still aren't able to get both points. I told our team that if we continued to work, those bounces would swing back the other way:"
On This Week: "We've got conference games this weekend and divisional games next week, so it's a key stretch. We're basically halfway, and we want to continue to improve during the second half. Obviously, we've played Laredo, Corpus Christi and Rio Grande Valley enough that we can make adjustments. But having played Odessa just once, and not having seen Amarillo, we just need to worry about ourselves and what we do best. If we execute, we'll have a good chance at winning."
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 weekend is "Guaranteed Win Weekend." Friday is "Guaranteed Win(g) Night," with all fans receiving a coupon for free wings from Wings 'N More, on Howard Lane just east of I-35. Saturday is "Guaranteed Win Night," presented by Guaranty Bank. If the Ice Bats fail to win that night's game, all fans in attendance receive a free ticket to a future home game. Wings 'N More will also host a post-game party Saturday night with the Ice Bats players.
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": Starting this week, Ice Bats fans can get the lowdown on that night's contest before every Friday and Saturday home game. Beginning at 6:30pm in Moorsy's Bar at Chaparral Ice Arena, the Ice Bats present "Chalk Talk." Forward Britt Dougherty will provide a scouting report of that night's opponent, and Coach Bill McDonald will also be available to greet fans. Contests and prize giveaways will start the evening off on a fun note for any fan who attends.
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.
• Discuss this story on the Central Hockey League message board...
Central Hockey League Stories from January 10, 2007
- Ice Bats Take Three of Four in 2007 - Austin Ice Bats
- RiverKings Weekly News and Notes - Mississippi RiverKings
- Gorillas Weekly - Amarillo Gorillas
- Eagles Week in Review - Colorado Eagles
- RiverKings hosting "Sports Journalists of the Future" Night - Mississippi RiverKings
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.
