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Ice Bats to Battle to End

February 18, 2004 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Austin Ice Bats News Release


Setting the Stage: The Austin Ice Bats of the Central Hockey League, 20-25-6 on the 2003-04 season, take their playoff push into the season's final four weeks. The Ice Bats enter this week trailing Rio Grande Valley by nine points in the Southeast Division, and in the race for the final Southern Conference playoff position. After visiting the Killer Bees Friday, the Ice Bats return home to face the top two teams in the league-- Laredo and Bossier-Shreveport.

Last season, the Ice Bats earned a franchise-best 46-14-4 record, clinching their second straight Southeast Division title and the Governors' Cup for the league's top overall regular season record.

Defeating New Mexico and Laredo in the 2003 President's Cup Playoffs, the Bats earned their second straight Southern Conference crown and a berth in the Cup Finals. There, however, for the second straight year, the Ice Bats fell one step short of the CHL's ultimate prize, falling to the Memphis RiverKings in five games.

A look back: Last week, the Ice Bats' maddening inability to score put a serious dent in their playoff hopes, as they managed just a combined four goals in three losses. And Friday the 13th couldn't have been more painful with a knife-wielding Jason on hand, as the Bats dropped a controversy-marred 3-2 decision to Corpus Christi.

The Rayz' Ken Richardson opened scoring on a power play goal late in the first, but just over a minute later, Austin's Kelly Smart countered with an odd-man rush goal. Then after a scoreless second period, controversy erupted early in the third.

About six minutes into the final period, Austin goalie Jonathan Forest came out onto the left circle to cover a loose puck. Arriving a full second later, Richardson poked the puck from under Forest's glove, and pushed it into the empty net for a shorthanded goal. Failing to blow the play down, referee Mark Hulshof ignored vehement protests from the Austin bench and allowed the goal to stand.

It stayed a 2-1 game until Corpus' Aaron Millar added a key insurance goal with four minutes left. Smart scored an extra-skater goal with 44 seconds left, but the Bats couldn't get the equalizer. Richardson led scoring with two goals and an assist. The controversial goal, combined with an 0-for-9 performance on the power play, left a sour taste for the nearly 4,000 Ice Bats fans who braved winter weather to attend.

Valentine's Day brought heartache too, as the Bats fell 2-1 in a good old-fashioned goalie duel in San Angelo. Goalies Brent Belecki of Austin, and Scott Reid of San Angelo stopped a combined 29 shots in a scoreless first period. The Saints then broke through first, 45 seconds into the second. Trevor Weisgerber pulled a face-off win straight back, and Chris Minard snapped the puck over Belecki's left shoulder.

San Angelo's Jarret Metz added an odd-man rush goal 4:19 into the final period. And once again, it took an extra skater in the closing minutes to put the Ice Bats on the board-- Kelly Smart scoring with 65 seconds remaining. The Ice Bats were able to pull Belecki again in the final minute, but couldn't push the game-tying goal across.

Reid stopped 36 of 37 shots faced, Belecki 36 of 38.

Finally, in a "must win" on Sunday, the Ice Bats couldn't-- falling 4-1 at Rio Grande Valley. The game started promisingly, as Kelly Smart snapped an 0-33 streak on the power play on a backhander five minutes in.

But in a moment perhaps symbolic of the season, the Killer Bees scored a fluke goal to tie the game. Inside the final minute of the first, Rio Grande's Jason Tessier dumped the puck in off the right glass. Hitting a glass support, the puck took a cruel hop right out in front, and Matic Kralj was only too happy to throw it into the net.

Kralj added a power play goal 1:31 into the second, and Andrew Taylor another man-advantage score three minutes into the third. Rio Grande's Chris Peach wrapped up scoring with an empty net goal. The Killer Bees struck for three power play goals on five chances against the Bats' fading penalty kill. Kralj had two goals and an assist, while Bees goalie Jeff Levy stopped 26 of 27 shots faced.

Specialty Struggles: Ice Bats specialty teams continue to struggle down the stretch. Although scoring a power play goal Sunday, it's all the Bats have to show for 37 power play chances over their last seven games. Over the same span, their opponents have scored 12 goals on 30 man-advantage opportunities, a 40% success rate.

Approaching Milestone: Ice Bats center Brett Seguin needs just six points to reach 1,000 for his professional career. Earlier this season, Seguin entered among the top 50 career scorers in the history of minor pro hockey.

Player Plaudits: Center Chris Richards ranks 13th in league scoring, with 20 goals and 41 assists. Forward Gerald Tallaire is second on the team, with 11 goals and 34 assists. Brent Hughes leads all CHL rookies with 21 goals, to go along with 13 assists. And Jonathan Forest ranks among the top 13 league goalies, at 16-14-5, with a 2.66 goals-against average and .912 save percentage.

Potential Bite Victims: Rio Grande Valley continues to peak at the right time, with a 9-3-1 record in their last 13 games to get to 24-20-7. And after picking up three points in a home-and-home series last week against Laredo, the Killer Bees proved to themselves they can compete with the Bucks. 4th in the league defensively (2.57 goals allowed per game), the Killer Bees are tied for 15th on offense (2.45 goals per game)-- but the gap between those stats is narrowing. What scoring Rio Grande has, is balanced. Speed merchant Bill Newson leads the club with 24 goals and 21 assists. Matic Kralj has 14 goals and 17 assists, and Roger Holeczy also has 31 points. Enforcer Ryan Shmyr ranks 5th in the league with 208 penalty minutes. Goalies Jeff Levy (20-15-4, 2.26 GAA) and Jacque Vezina (4-5-3, 2.45 GAA) have a combined seven shutouts. 13-8-5 at home, the Bees have now won six in a row at the Dodge Arena. They travel to Corpus Christi Thursday, before returning home to face the Bats Friday.

Laredo, 40-6-5, has already clinched the Southeast Division title, and has a 9-point lead on Bossier-Shreveport for the Governors' Cup and home ice advantage throughout the playoffs. Outscoring opponents by a full two goals per game, the Bucks continue to lead the league in virtually every category: offense (4.27 goals per game), defense (2.25 goals allowed per contest), the power play (26.6%), penalty kill (90.1%), and average penalty minutes (28.1). The league's top scorer, Jeff Bes needs just one point to reach the century mark, with 32 goals and 67 assists. Despite remaining on extended call-up to San Antonio (AHL), Brent Cullaton is still tied for 3rd in the league, with 25 goals and 50 assists. The third member of that line, Chris Grenville ranks 5th overall with a league-most 37 goals, plus 37 assists and 18 power play goals. Forward Mike Amodeo, who has also seen time on call-up, is third in the league with 235 penalty minutes. The top two goalies in the league, David Guerrera is 22-3-3 with a 2.04 GAA, while Marco Emond is 18-3-2 with a 2.17 GAA. An impressive 16-5-4 on the road, Laredo starts the weekend with trips to Corpus Christi and Austin.

At 36-10-4, Bossier-Shreveport holds a 15-point lead in the Northeast Division, but just a 3-point margin over Colorado for the top spot in the conference. The Mudbugs are doing their part, winning five in a row and nine of their last ten. A well-rounded team, Bossier ranks 2nd defensively (2.26 average goals allowed) and 4th offensively, scoring a full goal more per game. And they're in the top three in both specialty teams categories, at 19.4% on the power play, 88.6% on the penalty kill. Forward Chad Spurr has had a breakout season, ranking in the league's top seven with 27 goals and 37 assists. Forward Chris Brassard has 19 goals and 39 assists, Forbes MacPherson 37 points and rookie Craig Soke 16 goals and 20 helpers. In net, Ken Carroll is tied for 2nd at 23-9-2, with a 2.17 GAA. Jeff Blair (16-6-1, 2.28 GAA) has been a nice addition, but when the playoffs roll around, Carroll will likely be the go-to guy. 16-8-2 as a road team, Bossier hosts key games against Indy and Colorado, before finishing the week at the Bat Cave.

The Series: The Ice Bats are 4-6-1 against Rio Grande Valley, heading into the final meeting of the season. 0-4-1 at the Dodge Arena, the Bats have managed only four combined goals in the five losses.

The Bats are 8-9-1 lifetime against Laredo, 1-6-1 this year. The Ice Bats are 1-2-1 at home against the Bucks this year. Following Saturday's game, the teams will meet once more, in Laredo the final weekend of the regular season.

Austin is 11-16-8 lifetime against Bossier-Shreveport, a surprising 2-0-1 this season. The Bats pulled out 3-2 overtime and shootout wins at the CenturyTel Center, then lost 2-1 in a shootout in the last meeting, December 11th at the Bat Cave.

Comments from the Coach: On last week: "Our guys tried hard for 60 minutes Friday against Corpus and Saturday in San Angelo. And we tried hard for 19 minutes Sunday at Rio Grande Valley. Then after an unlucky break, we got caught up in our inability to score. We've had our chances, we just haven't been able to score goals. It's been that way much of the year. Sunday's game was a must-win, and we didn't. But we still have an opportunity, and we have to keep playing. Anything can still happen."

On this week: "We know where we are, and what we face. But the guys are still working hard and bearing down in practice. I want our team to keep its head up and keep going. I firmly believe anything can still happen. Our guys aren't going to give up, and I'm certainly not going to give up."

Cave, Sweet Cave: Saturday night, the "Dance Elite" Dance Team will perform between periods, as the Ice Bats face Laredo.

Then Sunday is the final Time Warner Cable Family Day. Fans may purchase a package of four tickets, Pepsis, hot dogs and a game program, all for $49.99. The Hyde Park Church Choir will sing the National Anthem. After the game, there's a free post-game skate with the Ice Bats players, courtesy of Chaparral Ice. And during the post-game skate, the Christian band "Doxa Deo" will perform.

Tickets to all Ice Bats home games are now available at all Texas Box Office locations, including the Ice Bats ticket office and all Austin-area HEB stores. On-line ordering is available through www.TexasBoxOffice.com. To charge by phone, fans may call Texas Box Office at (512) 477-6060, or the Ice Bats ticket office at (512) 927-PUCK.

Individual game tickets range in price from $10 to $30, depending on section, with discounted rates for groups of 15 or more. For more information, fans may call the Ice Bats ticket office at (512) 927-PUCK, or log onto the team's website at www.icebats.com.

Bat's-Eye View: At Saturday's game, Ice Bats fan and season ticket-holder Dave Kemp will be on the bench, serving as honorary Assistant Coach. Kemp obtained the right to appear on the bench as the high bidder of an auction package at the team's Lance Armstrong Foundation benefit auction in December. As the result of another auction package won, Kemp accompanied the team on last weekend's road trip to San Angelo and Rio Grande Valley, and appeared as radio color commentator for both games.

Hit the Road, Jack: For one more week, fans may stop in at Henna Chevrolet to register to win a trip for two on the bus with the Ice Bats as they go to Fort Worth Sunday, February 29th. The top prize also includes premium seats to the game in Fort Worth, a team-autographed jersey and hockey stick, and an official Ice Bats game program. Contestants must be 21 to enter. Henna Chevrolet is located on I-35 North, just north of Highway 183.

In the Air: For the second straight season, all Ice Bats away games will be broadcast on 1260 ESPN Radio, KWNX-AM. The station will broadcast all road games during the 2003-04 regular season and CHL Playoffs. All road games will also be available live on-line, through www.SportsJuice.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 sixth straight season.

Bats in Cyberspace: Bats fans can learn the latest about their team by logging on to www.icebats.com. The official website of the Bats was newly re-designed by BeyondBeyond Design and constructed by webmaster Nathan Jones. Currently on the site, fans can vote for their favorite Ice Bats in the "Texas Dodge Dealers Post-season Awards," which will be presented to the players at a post-season ceremony.

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., Feb. 20th, 7:35pm, vs. Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees, at Dodge Arena, Hidalgo, Texas
Sat., Feb. 21st, 7:30pm, vs. Laredo Bucks, at Travis County Expo Center, Austin, Texas
Sun., Feb. 22nd, 3:00pm, vs. Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, at Travis County Expo Center, Austin, Texas



Central Hockey League Stories from February 18, 2004


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