Ice Pilots Off To Best Start Ever After the First 32 Games With 41 Points

January 5, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL)
Pensacola Ice Pilots News Release


Ice Pilots go 2-1-0 this past week: The Pensacola Ice Pilots went 2-1-0 this past week and is off to their best start ever in franchise history after their first 32 games with a record of 18-9-5 for 41 points. The Ice Pilots lost on New Year's Eve at Florida 4-1. Tyler Beechey scored the only goal in the game for the Ice Pilots and Brian Eklund was the losing goalie. The Ice Pilots went 0-5 on the power play and Florida went 3-5 on the power play also scoring a shorthanded goal.

The Ice Pilots defeated Texas at home on Friday night 3-2 in a shootout. Dwayne Hay and Jamie Herrington scored the goals for the Ice Pilots in regulation with Herrington scoring with less than two minutes to play to tie the game. Greg Chambers scored the winning goal in the shootout. The Ice Pilots had a franchise record 65 shots on goal in the game. Brian Eklund was the winning goalie for the Ice Pilots.

The Ice Pilots defeated Florida at home on Saturday night 5-3. The Ice Pilots trailed 3-1 going into the third period but scored 4 goals in the last 9 minutes of the game to win 5-3. Jim Abbott, Jean Francois Soucy, Aaron Phillips, Brian Collins and Dwayne Hay scored the goals for the Ice Pilots. Brian Eklund was the winning goalie.

The Ice Pilots have a record of 18-9-5 for 41 points which is good for fourth place in the Central Division of the Western Conference. Visit the Standings page on icepilots.com for the full ECHL standings.

The Ice Pilots play home this Friday and Saturday night. The Ice Pilots will play home to the Mississippi Sea Wolves this Friday night at 7:05 p.m. and will also play home to the Columbia Inferno on Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. The Ice Pilots have a record of 4-1-3 vs. Mississippi this season including a record of 3-1-1 at home and 1-0-2 on the road. The Ice Pilots have an all-time record of 22-33-9 vs. Mississippi including a record of 13-15-4 at home and 9-18-5 on the road. It will be the first ever meeting between the Ice Pilots and Columbia Inferno.

The Ice Pilots will play on the road this Sunday at Louisiana at 4:05 p.m. The Ice Pilots have a record of 3-3-0 vs. Louisiana this season including a record of 3-1-0 at home and 0-2-0 on the road. The Ice Pilots have an all-time record of 20-31-5 vs. the IceGators including a record of 15-10-4 at home and 5-21-1 on the road.

Ladies Night on Saturday Night vs. Columbia at 7:05 p.m. It is Avon Night and Ladies Night. A Ladies Expo will take place at 5:30 p.m. Fans can register at the Expo to win three Avon makeovers. There will be raffles for prizes and giveaways including free massages during the game. The ladies will also have a chance to win dinner with an Ice Pilots player.

Ice Pilots in Fourth Place: The Ice Pilots are in fourth place in the Central Division with a record of 18-9-5 for 41 points. The following are the standings of the Central Division of the Western Conference:

Ice Pilots leaders: Ice Pilots defenseman Corey Neilson leads the team with 39 points and is second in points among defenseman in the ECHL . Neilson leads the league with 24 power play points and 20 power play assists. Neilson is tied for first in the league with 31 assists. Brian Eklund is second in the league with 17 wins and first in the league with 951 saves. Eklund is also second in the league with 1639 minutes played. Jim Abbott is second in the league in scoring among rookies with 32 points and Greg Chambers is third among rookies with 31 points. Chambers is first among rookies with 22 assists and second among rookies with 16 power play points and second among rookies 10 power play assists. Jim Abbott leads the league with 9 power play goals and is second in the league with 19 goals overall. Abbott is first among rookies with 19 goals. Abbott is first among rookies with 17 power play points. Abbott is also fifth in the league among rookies with a .198 shooting percentage. Jean Francois Soucy leads all rookies with 33 minor penalties and is fourth among rookies with 96 penalty minutes.

Ice Pilots off to best start ever after first 32 games: The Ice Pilots are off to their best start ever after the first 32 games of the season. The Ice Pilots have a record of 18-9-5 for 41 points. The second best start was Todd Gordon's first year as Ice Pilots head coach during the sixth season with a record of 18-11-3 for 39 points. The Ice Pilots had a record of 17-12-3 for 37 points during the second season when the Ice Pilots won the Southern Conference Championship and reached the Kelly Cup Finals.

Ice Pilots in the Community: Corey Neilson and Brian Collins will be talking hockey and signing autographs this Tuesday at the Gulf Breeze Library from 4 p.m. 5 p.m. Brad Cruikshank and Jamie Herrington will appear on Q-100's morning show this Wednesday at 8:00 a.m.

Practice Schedule for the week: The Ice Pilots will have off on Monday and will practice at the Civic Center Tuesday through Thursday at 10:00 a.m. The Ice Pilots will have a pre skate on Friday at 10 a.m. and play home to Mississippi on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. The Ice Pilots will have a pre skate on Saturday at 10 a.m. and will play home on Saturday night vs. Columbia at 7:05 p.m. The Ice Pilots will leave after the game on Saturday night and play at Louisiana on Sunday at 4:05 p.m.

Nominated Player of the Week: Aaron Gionet has been nominated for the player of the week picking up two assists in the come back win vs. Florida on Saturday night. Brian Eklund has been nominated for goalie of the week posting a 2-1-0 record this past week.

Ice Pilots All-Stars: Corey Neilson, Greg Chambers and Jason Serbus will represent the Ice Pilots in the Par-A-Dice ECHL All-Star game to be played on January 21st at Peoria, Illinois. Neilson has been selected as a starter for the Western Conference and Chambers will be a reserve. Serbus will be the athletic trainer for the Western Conference team.

Mr . Manatee's Alumni game scheduled for Friday, March 5th at 6:05 p.m. The Ice Pilots are proud to announce the first ever Mr. Manatee's Alumni game to take place on Friday, March 5th at 6:05 p.m. The original game vs. San Diego will take place after the Mr. Manatee's Alumni game at 8:05 p.m. Fans will be able to see both games for the price of a regular season ticket to a game. Former players Shane Calder, Chad Quenneville, Scott Malone, Scott LaGrand, Kelly Hultgren, Nick Stajduhar and Andrew Rodgers along with former Head Coach Al Pedersen and former Assistant Coach George Kozak will participate in the Mr. Manatee's Alumni Game. Other former players could be added as we get closer to the date. Members of the Jr. Ice Pilots, the local media and members of the Senior League will also participate in the Mr. Manatee's Alumni game. The Alumni players and the Ice Pilots original players will be wearing special old timer sweaters sponsored by Mr. Mantee's A Casual Grille. The old timer sweaters will be auctioned off after the game at "The Hangar" with proceeds going to the Florida Restaurant Association Educational Foundation and the Children's Home Society.

Ice Pilots Change Games with Louisiana on January 31st and February 6th. The Ice Pilots will change games with Louisiana on January 31st and February 6th. Instead of the Ice Pilots play at Louisiana on January 31st, the Ice Pilots will no play at home vs. Louisiana on January 31st. The Ice Pilots will play at Louisiana on February 6th instead of at home on February 6th. The reason being is to accommodate the Cajundome for a Three Doors Down Concert. Fans can use their home game tickets for February 6th for the home game on January 31st.

Season Ticket Packages are available with year round payments: Full season ticket packages and 16 game packages are available with year round payments. The following is a list of the full season ticket plan with year round payments: $22 seats for floor and glass is $49.99 per month, $15 seats for sides is $35.99 per month, $13 seats for goal and lower upper level is $32.99 per month, $10 seats for upper level is $24.99 per month.

Group Tickets: Group tickets are available at the Ice Pilots office. A group of 15-24 will receive $2 off per ticket and scoreboard recognition. A group of 25-99 will receive $2 off per ticket, scoreboard recognition, the group leader receive two free tickets with a minimum of 25 tickets purchased and group members are eligible to become an MVP. Each group member fills out and MVP card, (Cards are mailed with the group tickets), and drops the card in the MVP box at customer service before the game, and has the opportunity to win a valuable prize! Groups of 100 or more will receive scoreboard recognition, two free tickets, MVP cards plus $3 off per ticket and an opportunity to perform the national anthem or participate in the ceremonial puck drop (Subject to availability and approval).

Birthday Parties: Celebrate your birthday with the Ice Pilots. The Ice Pilots birthday party package includes hot dogs, cokes, cake and 10 $13 lower goal game tickets, a special gift pack for the birthday person delivered by Iceman, a birthday card signed by the Ice Pilots and scoreboard recognition. The package price is $179 for a party of 10. $15 is added for each additional guest. For more information call 432-PUCK.

Assigned Players from Tampa Bay: The Ice Pilots currently have seven players on the roster assigned from Tampa Bay. They are goalies Brian Eklund, Evgeny Konstantinov and forward Dwayne Hay. Forward Jean Francois Soucy, forward Ryan Craig and defenseman Jeremy Van Hoof and Andreas Holmqvist are also assigned from Tampa. Ryan Craig and Jean Francois Soucy have been called up to Hershey.

Kerr's Kids: This season the Ice Pilots are introducing "Kerr's Kids." Thanks to Ice Pilots owner Tim Kerr and SMG (Pensacola Civic Center), the Ice Pilots would like to invite six children and their escorts to a game. The Ice Pilots wi! ll provide free admission, a goodie bag for each child and SMG will provide a hot dog and soda for each guest. Accessible seating will be arranged for "Kerr's Kids" in section 105. If you are interested in attending one of the Ice Pilots home game through "Kerr's Kids" please contact the Ice Pilots office at 432-7825 and ask for Melinda Palmer.

Listen to games on the Ice Pilots Hockey Network: Fans can listen to Ice Pilots games on the Ice Pilots Hockey Network. The network includes flagship station WCOA AM 1370, Mediacom's preview guide channel, Cox Media channel 2 and at icepilots.com sponsored by Sports Avenue. The pre-game show on Friday night begins at 7:00 p.m. The pre game show begins on Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. and the pre game show begins on Sunday at 3:30 p.m.

Coach's Radio Show has new location this season: The Ice Pilots Coach's Radio show is broadcasted from the Gutter Lounge at Phoenix Crossing inside the new Liberty Lanes this year located at 3200 North Palafox Street. The show is broadcasted on the Ice Pilots hockey network from 6 p.m. 7 p.m. Fans can hear the radio show on WCOA AM 1370 and on the internet at www.icepilots.com sponsored by Sports Avenue. Fans can meet the players, head coach Todd Gordon and members of the Ice Pilots office staff all season long. Forward Dwayne Hay and Brian Eklund will be the player guests tonight.



ECHL Stories from January 5, 2004


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