IceGators Game Notes

Published on April 9, 2003 under ECHL (ECHL)
Louisiana IceGators News Release


Sea Wolves vs. IceGators – Mississippi and Louisiana will meet for the second time ever in the post-season, while the IceGators won this season's series 8-3-1. The teams' other playoff meeting was in the Southern Conference Quarterfinals in 2000, with Louisiana emerging with a four-game series win. The IceGators won Games 1 and 2 at home, Game 2 a 7-3 win with the help of a Matt Pagnutti hat trick, before dropping a 3-2 Game 3 decision in overtime in Biloxi. Louisiana rebounded, though, with a 4-2 Game 4 win at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum, getting a pair of goals from Mike Murray, including the game-winner. The IceGators advanced that season to the Kelly Cup Finals, where they lost to Peoria in six games. This season, Louisiana went 4-2-0 at home versus the Sea Wolves and 4-1-1 at home. The IceGators, who finished in a tie for first place with Mississippi, went 3-2-1 in the final six meetings this season. The teams met just three times after Christmas, and Louisiana is making its first trip to Biloxi since December 20, when it handed the Sea Wolves their last regulation loss, 6-2. The IceGators are 28-18-8 all-time in the regular season against Mississippi, including an 18-8-2 home mark and a 10-10-6 record in Biloxi. Since a five-game winless streak from December 29-February 8 of last season, Louisiana is 10-3-1 versus the Sea Wolves.

IceGators blow by Arkansas in division semis – Louisiana didn't have an easy time with the RiverBlades, but they did outscore Arkansas 7-2 in the three-game series. Arkansas' two goals scored in a three-game set tied an ECHL record for futility. That was mostly because of rookie goalie Kyle Kettles, who sported a 0.67 goals against average and a .976 save percentage in the series. Offensively, Louisiana was paced by Nathan Rempel, who emerged from a five-game suspension with both goals in a 2-1 Game 2 win and another game-winning tally in the 3-1 Game 3 victory. Newcomer Andrew Proskurnicki, a former Sea Wolves player, had two goals in the series, and a point in all three games. Martin Bartek and Shawn McNeil scored Louisiana's other goals in the set. The IceGators didn't have a single player with a minus rating for the series.

Sea Wolves swamp Ice Pilots in division semis – As expected, Mississippi got little of a challenge from limping Pensacola in the Southwest Division Semifinals, sweeping the series with three consecutive 5-1 wins. Sergei Kuznetsov had two goals and an assist in Saturday's win in Pensacola, moving him into a tie with Cody Bowtell, Dave Paradise and Jim Baxter atop the team's balanced post-season points list with six. Eight different Sea Wolves had a goal in the series, while 12 players had a point. Bowtell, Kuznetsov and Steffon Walby each had two power play goals, while Bowtell, Walby and Mike Scott each had a game-winner. Walby led the team with 89 regular-season points (42g, 47a), was a first team All-ECHL performer but didn't get the league MVP nod despite playing for a division champion. Goalie Greg Gardner won all three games, with an impressive 1.00 goals against average and a .971 save percentage. Gardner is durable (he played in 55 regular-season games), and he is backed up by Sean Matile, who went 12-7-0 during the regular season.

Louisiana playoff history – Louisiana is making its eighth straight trip to the post-season, having gone 45-35 after the three-game division semifinal sweep. At home, the IceGators are 28-18, while on the road they are 17-17. Louisiana has won 11 of 18 playoff series in its history, with the last loss coming in the 2002 Southwest Division Semifinals against Jackson. Louisiana has been knocked out in the Kelly Cup Finals two times, the conference finals twice and the first round three times.

Mississippi playoff history – The Sea Wolves have made the playoffs in each of the last two seasons and five of their seven campaigns in Biloxi. Mississippi, which won the 1999 Kelly Cup over Richmond, lost in four games the 2002 Southern Conference Finals to eventual Kelly Cup champ Greenville. The Sea Wolves, who lost to Louisiana in the 2000 Southern Conference Quarterfinals, have won eight of their last 10 playoff series since getting swept by Birmingham in their inaugural attempt in 1997. Five of the 10 playoff series wins have been by sweep, including two last season and this year's Southwest Division Semifinal victory over Pensacola. Mississippi is 27-14 overall in the post-season, including a very impressive 16-5 home mark. On the road, the Sea Wolves are 11-9.

IceGators have habit of winning Game 1's – Heading into tonight, the IceGators have played 13 best-of-five series, and they have won Game 1 an astounding 12 straight times. The IceGators are 10-2 when winning game one, with one of the blemishes last season when Jackson turned it around after a 6-1 loss in Game 1 for a five-game victory in the Southwest Division Semifinals. The last time the IceGators dropped a Game 1 in a best-of-five series was in their first playoff game, against Jacksonville, on March 27, 1996. Louisiana went on to lose that series in five games.

Sixty-four percent of Game 1 winners last season advanced – Of the 14 best-of-five series played in the 2002 Kelly Cup playoffs, the team that won Game 1 went on to win the series nine times (64 percent). In the divisional semifinal round this season, all seven completed rounds were won by the Game 1 winner. Roanoke and Greensboro met in Game 4 last night.

Kettles has eight straight wins – Rookie netminder Kyle Kettles is in the midst of one of the best ECHL runs in recent memory. The 21-year-old has won eight straight starts dating back to March 15, with a super 0.75 goals against average and a .975 save percentage, having given up just six goals on 238 shots. In those eight starts, Kettles has three shutouts – including only the fourth IceGators post-season blanking ever. Kettles started all three games in the Southwest Division Semifinals, becoming just the second rookie goalie to start a Game 1 for Louisiana. Evgeny Konstantinov was the other, in the 2000-01 campaign. Kettles has been an ironman this season, starting 14 straight games and 26 of 28 at one point. Kettles has started 32 of the last 38 games. The rookie went 21-12-7 with a 2.61 goals against average and a .919 save percentage during the regular season.

McNeil leads playoff charge - Shawn McNeil is one of only three IceGators (minimum 30 games played) in team history to average more than a point per game in the playoffs. He has 45 points (19g, 26a) in 39 games. McNeil's goal in Game 1 against Arkansas was his 19th post-season tally, tying him with Chris Valicevic and Rob Weingartner for third place on the team's all-time playoff list. John Spoltore is second with 32. McNeil's 26 assists are two behind Jay Murphy for third on the team's all-time list.

Walby needs a point – Mississippi's Steffon Walby led the team with 89 points (42g, 47a) in the regular season, and having him on the scoresheet has been vital to the Sea Wolves. Mississippi went just 2-10-1 in the regular season when Walby was in the lineup and didn't have a point. Surprisingly, the Sea Wolves were 7-4-2 when Walby was on the injured reserve list this season.

Great Scott – Sea Wolves rookie Mike Scott, obtained from Atlantic City for cash on October 29, improved all season, and there wasn't a player better in the ECHL the last 20 games. In those 20 contests, Scott had 31 points (13g, 18a), and his team went 15-5-0.

Special teams updates – Mississippi's power-play unit hardly put anything up on the board in the first half of the season, but don't tell that to Pensacola, which watched the Sea Wolves score on 10-of-22 chances (45.5 percent) on the man advantage in the division semifinals. The Sea Wolves finished the season tied for 10th in the ECHL with a 19.5 percentage on the power play. Against Louisiana, Mississippi hit on just 11.0 percent of its chances, but the Sea Wolves improved greatly after starting 1-for-38 versus the IceGators. Louisiana, meanwhile, finished the season in ninth in the ECHL with a 20.0 power play percentage, including a scorching 27.1 percent against Mississippi. Shawn McNeil had six power-play markers against the Sea Wolves, while teammate Bobby Brown chipped in four. The IceGators scored at least one power play goal in 11 of the 12 meetings. The Sea Wolves penalty kill ranked just 18th in the regular season (81.5 percent), but they held Pensacola to one power play goal on 17 chances. Louisiana's penalty kill ranked 11th (82.0 percent), a marked improvement from early in the season. The IceGators allowed Arkansas just one power play goal in 12 chances during the division semifinals.

Quick hits

Shawn McNeil had 12 goals, including six on the power play and two game winners, and 19 points against Mississippi this season.

Louisiana's Cal Benazic had seven points (1g, 6a) and was a team-best plus-nine against Mississippi this season.

IceGators rookie goalie Kyle Kettles went 2-1-1 with a 3.52 goals against average and a .886 save percentage versus the Sea Wolves in 2002-03.

Mississippi veteran Dave Paradise had seven goals, 13 points and was plus-five against Louisiana this season, all team bests.

Sea Wolves captain Steffon Walby had 12 points (6g, 6a), two power play goals, two shorthanded tallies and a game-winner against Louisiana this season.

Mississippi goaltender Greg Gardner was 2-5-0 with a 3.64 goals against average this season against the IceGators, and 30-12-4 versus the remainder of the ECHL.

Sea Wolves goalie Greg Gardner is 4-2 with a 1.99 goals against average in six post-season games – all in the ECHL – while mate Sean Matile is 2-1-0 with a 3.02 goals against average in three appearances.

Mississippi's Steffon Walby has participated in 89 career playoff games, including 76 in the AHL, and has 62 points (27g, 35a) in his post-season career.

The IceGators Shawn McNeil has scored six career regular-season goals against Mississippi backup Sean Matile, tied with Pee Dee's Ron Vogel for the second most in his career. McNeil scored on former teammate and former Arkansas RiverBlade Jason Saal 11 times.

Mississippi carries a 14-game home winning streak and an 18-0-2 home unbeaten streak into this game, with the last loss coming December 20 against the IceGators. Louisiana has handed the Sea Wolves four of their seven home regulation losses this season.

The Sea Wolves players have totaled 190 points (71g, 119a) in 318 pro playoff games, while Louisiana has 157 points (60g, 97a) in 255 contests.

Mississippi has six total pro championships on its roster, including director of player development Chuck Thuss' Kelly Cup total. Two Sea Wolves, captain Steffon Walby and coach Bob Woods, each have an AHL Calder Cup to their credit. The IceGators have no players or coaches with an ECHL championship.

IceGators winger Nathan Rempel has two straight game-winning goals, just the second player in team history to accomplish that feat in the playoffs. Louis Dumont was the other, in Games 1 and 2 the first round against Mobile in 1997. Only Dumont (four) has more game-winners in one post-season than Rempel and a handful of other former IceGators, including Konstantin Kalmikov in 2002.

Louisiana's Shawn McNeil picked up his only pro fighting major when he duked it out with Mississippi's Sean Peach, then with New Orleans, in Game 1 of the 2001 Southern Conference Quarterfinals.

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