Ice pack the net and the house
by Mike Wallin
Published on January 24, 2004 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Indianapolis Ice
The rolling Indianapolis Ice continued their winning ways Saturday night, defeating the Memphis RiverKings 4-1. Indianapolis filled the net as well as Conseco Fieldhouse as 15,028 seats were sold for "Pack the House" night. The attendance is the largest in Ice Central Hockey League history and trails only Oklahoma City's mark of 16,873 for the largest ever in the league.
Veteran Mario Doyon (13,14) notched two goals for Indy while Bernie John (11) and Jason Selleke (10) also the lit the lamp. Both of Doyon's scores as well as John's came on the powerplay. On the night, the Ice converted three of eight man-advantage opportunities.
"The key to any powerplay is to get the puck back to the point and crash the net," said Doyon. "It doesn't matter how hard the shot is from the point, it's a matter of disrupting the goaltender and jumping on rebounds."
Indianapolis, 24-15-1 (49 points), won for the eighth time in ten starts since January 1st. The Ice defeated the RiverKings 3-2 on Friday night and have moved to within four points of Memphis while having played five fewer games.
Netminder Jeff Sanger came within thirty-six seconds of shutting out Memphis, however Jay Neal (16) spoiled the perfect bid. Sanger turned aside 26 shots to improve his record to 14-10 on the season.
"It doesn't matter if you win 1-0, 5-4 or 10-1," said Sanger. "Shutouts are always great, that's for sure, but getting the win is what's important. This is such a big series for us. Now we need to complete the weekend with a win tomorrow."
Sanger will be back between the pipes as Memphis and Indy complete the big three game weekend series with a 5:00 face-off at Pepsi Coliseum.
Central Hockey League Stories from January 24, 2004
- Ice pack the net and the house - OSC Original by Mike Wallin
- Eagles score four unanswered to beat Mudbugs, 4-1 - Colorado Eagles
- Saint in net - Corpus Christi IceRays
- Jacks End Bucks 10 Game Win Streak - Laredo Bucks
- Austin @ Rio Grande Valley Preview - Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees
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