SPHL Knoxville Ice Bears

Ice Bears This Week

Published on October 21, 2002 under SPHL (SPHL)
Knoxville Ice Bears News Release


KNOXVILLE, TN- After three straight years of dwindling attendance and financial struggling hockey was officially dead in Knoxville. Business relationships had been soured, people had lost interest...but apparently someone forgot to tell the Knoxville Ice Bears and their fans!

Friday night after an impressive pre game ceremony that included the retiring of the number 32 jersey for Ray Blakney; the name the team contest winner, the junior Ice Bears skating on the ice, and a thunderous fireworks display, the Knoxville Ice Bears entered the playing surface to the roar of a sellout crowd in the Knoxville Civic Coliseum. 4,480 fans packed the Bears den for the team's inaugural game versus the Cape Fear Fire Antz and the Ice Bears responded. It took Knoxville all of 29 seconds to get on the board as Todd MacIsaac showed up his former coach and several of his past teammates receiving a pass from Steve Zoryk and blistering it by Fire Antz Goaltender Geoff Derouin for a 1-0 lead. A minute and forty-nine seconds later, Zoryk and MacIsaac would hook up again, as Zoryk zipped a one-timer off the MacIsaac pass into the back of the net for an early 2-0 lead. Cape Fear would battle their way back into the game just a minute thirty-seven later as Chris Migliore pulled the Antz within one after a power play goal. The score would remain 2-1 over the next 16 plus minutes until early on in the second period when Kevin Swider found the back of the net 21 seconds into the period giving the Ice Bears a 3-1 lead. With the crowd in a frenzy, no one expected what they would see over the next ten and a half minutes. Steve Zoryk would score his second goal at the 3:05 mark. Then Kevin Swider would notch his second five minutes and fifty-seven seconds into the second period, followed by a quick pair of Jacque Rodrigue goals giving the Bears a 7-1 lead with just under twelve minutes to play in the middle frame. But the onslaught was far from over as Kevin Swider would light the lamp two more times in a span of a minute twenty-two seconds, giving him four goals on the night. With a 9-1 lead at the end of two, the Ice Bears would start the third just the way they started the previous two periods as K.J. Voorhees buried a pass in the back of the twine with just three minutes and twenty-two seconds gone in the third period.

With the Bears cruising 10-1, Knoxville Head Coach Tony Martino would give Goaltender Fred Beaubien a rest bringing in Paolo Della Bella to man the pipes. Cape Fear's Marc Genest would score a couple of goals in the third period, but nothing could ruin Knoxville's Season Premiere as the Bears rolled 10-3.

"Our guys played with a lot of energy tonight", said Head Coach Tony Martino. "We got a couple of quick goals to start, but it was a pretty tight game until the second. It seemed like we could do no wrong in that period. Sometimes things just happen that way".

Ice Bears General Manager Tommy Benizio was ecstatic about the contest as well. "We had to turn over 350 people away from this game", he said. "The crowd was awesome! They were yelling and screaming and having a great time. That's what we want to be. A place that anyone can come and have a good time. Of course it helps when you win 10-3, but I think people would have had just as good of a time if it were a 4-3 game. This is a great hockey town, and I think it's safe to say that hockey does work in Knoxville"!

Saturday night the Ice Bears would take the ice in the T.D. Waterhouse Centre in Orlando, Florida to battle the preseason favorites, the Orlando Seals. The two teams would play a spirited first period with the teams' trading goals off of turnovers. Chris Cerella would bury a shot top shelf after an Ice Bear giveaway to take the 1-0 lead, but newcomer Gatis Tseplis evened the score at one after he intercepted a pass at the blue line. Orlando would take a 2-1 lead after one, when a deflected pass off of Jim Bermingham's stick squibed by Fred Beaubien for the freakish goal. Orlando flexed their muscle in the second with two goals from Louis Goulet and increased their lead to 5-1 in the third after a Todd Bennett score. The Ice Bears continued clawing and battling as Kevin Swider tallied his fifth goal in two games making it 5-2. The teams would battle to a stalemate the rest of the way giving Orlando a hard fought victory.

"They have a quality team and we came out flat", said Ice Bears Coach Tony Martino. "You have to play your best versus a team like Orlando to have a chance. That's the bottom line. We played well in the third, but we needed it sooner. We have to regroup now and get ready for St. Pete".

Sunday night Knoxville would visit the Bayfront Centre in St. Petersburg, Florida for the teams first match-up with the St. Pete Parrots. Andrei Savchenko would net the only goal of the opening period taking a pass from Steve Zoryk while short handed and flipping it top shelf for a 1-0 lead. In the second Knoxville would jump out to a 2-0 lead when Steve Zoryk ripped a power play goal 4:16 into the period. St. Pete would come roaring back though, netting back-to-back goals from Rob Schweyer and Cory Dzikowski to tie it at two heading to the third period. St. Pete would take their first lead of the contest with 12 minutes to play as Cory Dzikowski struck for his second goal of the game giving the Parrots a 3-2 lead, but Andrei Savchenko would tie it up with just 2:09 to play sending the game to overtime. Both teams had some chances in the three on three fiasco, but both Goaltenders would step up forcing a shoot-out.

The Ice Bears would convert on 3 of their 4 shots while holding the Parrots to one goal to give the 4-3 decision to Knoxville. Gatis Tseplis would get credit for the teams' fourth goal.

"This was a good win for us tonight", said Ice Bears Head Coach Tony Martino. "We had a lead, but they came back on us. It's tough to play in front of empty seats, but you have to give them a lot of credit. Again, we had them down, and they came back to take a lead in the third and nearly held it. We were fortunate to get to a shoot-out and pick up a point tonight".

NOTES

Player of the week!

Kevin Swider has been named the Ice Bear of the week after his blistering performance of the weekend. Swider accumulated 5 goals and 4 assists over the three games for an amazing nine points, including four goals in the home opener versus Cape Fear! Congratulations Kevin!

Latvian Laser!

Former New Mexico Scorpion Gatis Tseplis became the latest former Tony Martino player to join the Ice Bears on Saturday. The ‘Latvian Laser' lived up to his nickname scoring two goals in two games for the Bears over the weekend. A solid defenseman, Tseplis is known for his lighting quick shot.

Attendance leaders!

Although they have only played one game in the Knoxville Civic Coliseum, the Knoxville Ice Bears lead the Atlantic Coast Hockey League in attendance averaging 4,480 fans per game! Orlando ranks second with 4,452 fans per game with Macon and St. Pete in third and fourth place.

This week (all times Eastern)
Tuesday: Practice, 10 a.m. – Noon, Ice Chalet, Knoxville
Wednesday: Practice, 10 a.m. – Noon, Knoxville Civic Coliseum
Thursday: Ice Bears at Macon Trax; 7:30 p.m., Macon Coliseum
Friday: Macon Trax at Ice Bears; 7:30 p.m., Knoxville Civic Coliseum
Saturday: Ice Bears at Cape Fear Fire Antz; 7:30 p.m., Crown Coliseum

Next week (all times Eastern)
Friday: Ice Bears at Macon Trax; 7:30 p.m., Macon Coliseum
Saturday: St. Pete Parrots at Ice Bears; 7:30 p.m., Knoxville Civic Coliseum

Miscellaneous

Jim Bermingham leads the league in assists with four. Alex Alepin smashes the competition in penalty minutes with a league leading 35. Knoxville is the only Atlantic Coast Hockey League team to have a short-handed goal. Fred Beaubien's 3.60 GAA is good for 5th best in the league, while his 50 saves ranks fourth. Defenseman Jacque Rodrigue leads the team in shots with 8. The Ice Bears lead the league in seven different team categories; Goals, Assists, Points, PIM's, Majors, 10-MIN Misconducts, Game Misconducts and Short Handed Goals for.

Check out the Knoxville Ice Bears Statistics

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