Ice Bats Win Six of Last Eight

Published on December 9, 2003 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Austin Ice Bats News Release


Setting the Stage: The Austin Ice Bats of the Central Hockey League have begun defense of their Governors' Cup title, opening the 2003-04 CHL season with an 11-8-3 record. With a 6-1-1 mark in their last eight games, the Bats are in second place in the Southeast Division standings, one point ahead of Rio Grande Valley and four above Corpus Christi. The Ice Bats will travel to play both of those teams this week, after a home contest against 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: The Ice Bats earned five of a possible six points last week. Last Friday night, the Ice Bats gained a valuable standings point in a 3-2 shootout loss to Laredo. Trailing 2-0, the Bats stormed back in the third period to force a regulation tie.

The Ice Bats opened flat, and Laredo's Jeff Bes scored two power play goals, late in the first and seven minutes into the second period. But the Ice Bats played better as the game wore on, and got quickly back into it in the third. Austin's Brent Hughes jumped on a loose puck in the slot, and cut the lead in half just 13 seconds into the final period. The Bats then evened the score on Darryl McArthur's deflection at 4:57.

After a scoreless overtime, the Bucks got shootout goals from Bes and Brent Cullaton, while the Bats could only muster one from newly acquired Brandon Carper. Cullaton was credited with the game-winner, plus an assist. On Bes' two goals, the Bucks finished two-for-five on the power play.

A look back, continued: Saturday night, the Ice Bats ventured to Lubbock, and Coach Jeff Greenlaw challenged his team to perform in search of their third road victory. They responded, beating the Cotton Kings, 4-2.

It didn't start promising, as Lubbock's Dave MacIntyre opened scoring just 50 seconds in. But Austin bounced back with a pair of first period scores, helped by Lubbock penalties. Taking advantage of a roughing call compounded by an unsportsmanlike conduct bench minor, Austin's Shawn Legault tipped in a tying 5-on-3 power play goal at 11:43. Then 2-1/2 minutes later, Scott McCallum threaded in a goal from above the left circle to give the Bats their first lead.

Lubbock's Joe Blaznek beat Austin goalie Jonathan Forest on a shot from the wing late in the second period, but with two minutes left, the Ice Bats retook the lead. On just one of many Austin odd-man rushes, Daniel Tetrault capped a 3-on-1 rush with a slam-dunk score. The Bats' Brandon Carper added a power play goal early in the third to seal it. The Cotton Kings roughed it up a bit in an effort to give the crowd something to cheer, but that didn't work much either-- as Legault and McCallum scored decided fight wins.

Tetrault scored a goal and an assist, while Gerald Tallaire and Brett Seguin assisted twice. The Ice Bats scored twice on seven power play chances, and limited Lubbock to just two man-advantage opportunities. Outshooting Lubbock 15-6 in the third, the Ice Bats outpaced the Kings 45 shots to 30 for the game.

The Ice Bats finished the week with a flourish, whitewashing Wichita 5-0 Sunday at the Bat Cave. Austin got a hat trick from captain Kelly Smart and a 29-save shutout performance from goalie Jonathan Forest.

Smart scored the first of his goals on a rebound 6:34 into the contest. Tab Lardner added a power play goal midway through the second period. The Ice Bats then exploded for three third period goals to put the Thunder away. Smart cashed in shorthanded on a 2-on-1 breakaway at 7:21.

Smart then finished off his hat trick in spectacular fashion. Lardner's takeaway sprung the Austin center, and as he was tugged down from behind, Smart swiped the puck past Wichita goalie Nathan Grobins. Austin's Josh St. Louis capped scoring on a rebound goal with three minutes left.

Smart had three goals and an assist, Lardner a goal and three helpers to lead scoring.

Player Plaudits: As was hoped when he was obtained in a trade from Bossier-Shreveport, Jonathan Forest has more than stabilized the team's goalie situation. Forest now ranks among the top five league goalies, at 7-3-2, with a 2.13 goals-against average and .930 save percentage. Forward Gerald Tallaire leads the team in scoring with 4 goals and 16 assists. Linemate Brett Seguin is second with 19 points. And Brent Hughes has a team-most 8 goals, to go along with 3 assists. Forward Shawn Legault leads the team with 94 penalty minutes.

Potential Bite Victims: A tough opener for the week, Bossier-Shreveport won all three games last week to get to 12-6-2. Now the Mudbugs are just four points behind Memphis for the Northeast lead, with a whopping four games in hand. Why change what's working? Bossier continues to use the same recipe of goaltending and defense that led them to three titles. They allow just 2.35 goals per game, 3rd-best in the league, and lead the CHL on the penalty kill (90.4%). Goalie Ken Carroll ranks 2nd in wins and minutes played, at 12-6-2 with a 2.14 GAA. Forward Chad Spurr leads the team with 9 goals and 11 assists, and forward Chris Brassard also has 20 points. The Mudbugs are a sound 4-4 as a road team.

Now 9-9-3, Corpus Christi has slipped to a close 4th in the Southeast. Still under the stewardship of interim coach Pat Dunn, the Rayz have played shorthanded of late. Gone on call-up is top scorer Ed McGrane, who has 14 goals and 7 assists in 19 games. Center Jay Woodcroft (9 goals, 8 assists) is second on the team. But the Rayz, now the league's most penalized team, are missing key cogs Brad Wingfield and Ken Richardson to recent suspensions. Wingfield, third on the team with 17 points, also leads the league with 140 penalty minutes. And Richardson ranks 4th with 102 minutes. When actually on the power play instead of killing penalties, d-man Mike Tilson excels, with 5 power play goals to go along with 11 assists. Goalie Brent Belecki ranks 3rd in minutes played, at 8-7-3 with a 2.90 GAA. 7-5-2 at home, the Rayz rest before welcoming the Bats.

Potential Bite Victims, continued: One point behind the Bats, Rio Grande Valley is 11-8-2. Although second-to-last in the league on offense (2.33 goals per game), who needs scoring when your goalies are playing like the Bees'? Named Goalie of the Week for the second time after his third shutout last week, Jeff Levy is 9-7-1 with a 2.29 GAA.

And in limited play, Jacque Vezina is 2-1-1 with a 1.54 GAA and .952 save percentage. Of course, the Killer Bees won't want to roll the dice on close games for too long. Leading six players in double figure scoring, Matic Kralj, Troy Linna and Mike Rees have just 12 points each. 4-5-1 at home, Rio Grande has a tough home-and-home with Laredo before the Bats go down Saturday.

The Series: The Ice Bats are 11-16-7 lifetime against Bossier-Shreveport. This season, the Ice Bats have pulled out a shootout and an overtime win against the Mudbugs, both by 3-2 scores and both played in Bossier City.

The Bats are 41-17-3 lifetime against Corpus Christi, 1-1-1 this year. Home ice has held, but only because of comeback efforts in the last two meetings. The Bats lost 3-0 at Corpus November 6th, then led 3-0 before losing 4-3 in a shootout November 20th, also in Corpus Christi. In the last meeting November 29th, the Bats rebounded from a 2-0 deficit to claim a 3-2 win at home.

Austin is 1-2 in three close games against Rio Grande Valley, with all three also going to the home team. The Killer Bees shut out the Bats 2-0 in the last meeting, November 28th in Hidalgo.

Comments from the Coach:

On last week: "Our team responded and we're getting better, but we're not there yet. When we work hard and commit ourselves to a game, we're a good team. When we play 20 minutes a night, we're not. Just because we've won some games, we're not going to get overconfident. But we're getting a little more consistent. And when we have everyone playing a full 60 minutes a night, that's what we're looking for."

"Brandon Carper definitely adds an element to our hockey club we didn't have, especially on the power play. He's poised with the puck and sees plays a lot of players wouldn't see. But the most significant change on our club since the start has been Jonathan Forest. He continues to play very well for us."

On this week: "We know we have to be ready for Bossier. They're always a good team and it's always a tough game. But then the divisional games are also very important for us. A lot of our guys are starting to play better, and I'm happy about that. But I don't know that we've turned that corner, where we know we're going to win. We just need to be more consistent day in and day out in hockey games. I'm not sure we played a full 60 minutes even against Wichita-- there were spots where we laid back a little. But we're getting better."

Cave, Sweet Cave: Thursday's game will be the last at home for the Ice Bats until December 27th. Fans who bring a new or gently used toy for the Williamson County Sheriff "Brown Santa" program will receive a free ticket to a future home game. Thursday also marks the debut of the Dodge "Score-O" contest, with lucky contestants shooting to win a new Dodge truck.

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. In addition to group tickets, season tickets remain on sale at the Ice Bats office, in full-, half-season, or 10-game plans. Free Belfry Club membership is still included for all new full season packages, as well as free parking for all full-season and half-season plans.

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.

In the Air: For the second straight season, all Ice Bats away games will be broadcast on News Talk 1260, 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. New on the site, fans can explore the complete line of Ice Bats merchandise, on sale through Chaparral Gear just in time for the holidays.

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:

Thur., Dec. 11h, 7:30pm, vs. Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, at Travis Co. Expo Center, Austin, Texas

Fri., Dec. 12th, 7:05pm, vs. Corpus Christi Rayz, at Memorial Coliseum, Corpus Christi, Texas

Sat., Dec. 13th, 7:35pm, vs. Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees, at Dodge Arena, Hidalgo, Texas

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Central Hockey League Stories from December 9, 2003


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