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IceGators push lead in Southwest to four

January 27, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Louisiana IceGators News Release


Week in review: LA 5, MIS 4; PEN 5, LA 1; LA 5, PEN 4 (OT)

The IceGators extended their Southwest-Division lead to a season high-tying four points this week, going 2-1-0, winning a pair of home games in thrilling fashion thanks to hat tricks. Louisiana has 60 points - four more than each Arkansas and Mississippi. In the tightly contested Southwest race, no team has held more than a four-point lead all season.

Sunday, Nathan Rempel completed the hat trick with the overtime game-winner, as the IceGators outlasted the Pensacola Ice Pilots, 5-4.

John DePourcq had his first four-point game in more than three full years and Shawn McNeil added three helpers as the line of DePourcq, McNeil and Rempel combined for 10 points (4g, 6a). Kenny Corupe also scored, Cal Benazic had two helpers and Kyle Kettles – playing his third game in as many nights for the first time after facing 44 shots Saturday night – made 19 saves to improve to 10-5-4.

Louisiana trailed 3-0 in the game, but got a late goal in the first from Nathan Rempel, then goals in the second from Rempel, DePourcq and Corupe.

Pensacola tied the game in the third on a Matt Poapst goal, but Rempel squeezed one underneath Maxime Gingras at 3:07 of overtime to lift Louisiana to its third straight home win.

The IceGators' win avenged a 5-1 loss at the hands of the Ice Pilots in Pensacola on Saturday. Former IceGator Louis Dumont had two goals and two assists in the victory, while Greg Pankewicz had a goal and two helpers.

Kenny Corupe scored a power-play goal and Kettles deserved a better fate, stopping a career-best 39 shots for Louisiana.

In Friday's first-place battle, McNeil finished his hat trick with the game-winner with 3:15 left in regulation, as Louisiana beat Mississippi, 5-4, to take over first place.

McNeil became Louisiana's fourth-leading all-time scorer in the game, passing Don Parsons with his first goal.

Bobby Brown began his reign with the "C" in fine fashion, scoring two goals after IceGators captain Bruce Richardson was loaned to AHL Hershey earlier in the day. DePourcq, Rempel and Daniel Goneau each contributed two assists, while Kyle Kettles made 23 saves for Louisiana.

Coming attractions:

FRI, LA vs. FLA

7:05 p.m.

"Church Night"

The Everblades make their first trip into the Cajundome since October 25, 2000. The IceGators are 5-3-1 all-time against the Everblades, including a 4-0-0 mark at home. Former NFL player Derrick Moore and Satellite Soul highlight Church Night.

SAT, LA vs. FLA

7:05 p.m.

"Boy Scout Night"

The IceGators and Everblades wrap up their mini series on Boy Scout Night at the Cajundome. Louisiana will wear special Boy Scout jerseys, to be auctioned off on the Internet for the next month.

SUN, LA vs. BR

4:05 p.m.

"Girl Scout Night"

The first-place IceGators battle the last-place Kingfish in a rematch of their thrilling New Year's Eve game. Louisiana scored twice in the final minute to avoid the shutout and force overtime, then won the contest on Shawn McNeil's shootout goal.

Kettles has started eight straight - Rookie Kyle Kettles has started the last eight games in net for Louisiana, the first IceGators netminder to make that many consecutive starts since Sean Gauthier began nine straight games from November 19-December 10, 2000. Kettles' current streak is tied for the fifth longest such streak in team history. Marc Delorme's team record is 11 games (February 19-March 13, 1996), while Delorme also played in 10 straight, as did Doug Bonner.

DePourcq picks up 350th pro point - IceGators center John DePourcq picked up his 350th career point in Sunday's four-point effort. DePourcq currently has 353 points (113g, 140a) in 267 pro games, including 229 points (71g, 158a) in 180 games with the IceGators. DePourcq's 71 goals in an IceGators uniform have him tied with Rob Weingartner for seventh on the team's all-time list, and his 158 assists are 16 behind Jay Murphy for third on the franchise's ledger.

Rempel only second with hat trick OT/SO game-winner - Nathan Rempel became just the second IceGator in team history to notch his third goal of the game in an overtime or shootout. Bob Berg is the only other to accomplish the feat, against Jacksonville on March 8, 1996, in a 5-4 win. That tally came in a shootout. The ECHL no longer counts shootout goals as game-winners for individuals. John Spoltore finished a four-goal game with a shootout game-winner on March 26, 1999, in a 5-4 win at Greenville.

More hat trick happenings- The IceGators already have four hat tricks this season (Shawn McNeil, Nathan Rempel, Bruce Richardson and Tony Tuzzolino) - including two last week. Last season, they had only four all season and in 2000-01, they finished with two. This marks the first time since 1998-99 that the IceGators have had four different players record hat tricks (Don Parsons, John Spoltore, John Varga, Jay Murphy). Louisiana's record for most individual players with hat tricks in a season is five, set in 1995-96 and in 1997-98.

Rally 'Gators - The IceGators are 8-7-0 when trailing after one period and 4-9-2 when trailing after two. Louisiana's win on Sunday was its second this season when trailing by three goals. The IceGators rallied from a 3-0 deficit for a 5-4 overtime win over Arkansas on December 6.

But they had a lot of chances - Pensacola became the first team to put up four power-play tallies on the IceGators since Jackson on December 22, 2001. Jackson, which won that game 5-2, was 4-for-4 with the man advantage. The last team with four power-play goals at the Cajundome was New Orleans, in a 7-5 Louisiana win on March 25, 2000. The Ice Pilots were 4-for-10 on the power play Sunday.

McNeil takes over special teams lead - Defenseman Kevin Mitchell has missed the last 16 games while in AHL Bridgeport, and Shawn McNeil has finally taken over the lead in the special teams point race. McNeil has 25 (11g, 14a) points on special teams - one better than Mitchell - including 23 on the power play (10g, 13a). McNeil's 10 power-play tallies are a career-high, and he leads the team in that category.

McNeil a "vet" - Sunday, Shawn McNeil played in his 250th pro game. He also tied Ryan Shanahan for seventh on the team's all-time list with his 247th game with the IceGators.

Finishing up strong - Louisiana has picked up at least a point in seven of its eight attempts when playing the third game in three nights, going 5-1-2.

Still OT leader - Louisiana evened its mark in overtime/shootout games at 8-8, having played a league-high 16 contests - just two games shy of its team record. The IceGators are 5-4 in OT and 3-4 in a shootout, while also going 5-2 after regulation at home.

One-goal games - Louisiana has played 26 one-goal games, one behind Baton Rouge for the ECHL high, going 12-6-8. The IceGators are 8-2-2 at home in one-goal games, including three straight wins.

Player of the Week Nominees

Left wing Shawn McNeil -

Had six points (3g, 3a) in leading IceGators to 2-1-0 mark, including fourth career hat trick...Completed hat trick with fourth game-winner of season late in third period of 5-4 win over MIS in first-place showdown on Friday...Sunday, assisted on Louisiana's first three goals as IceGators rallied from 3-0 deficit for 5-4 OTW vs. PEN...Second on team and tied for seventh in league with 59 points (26g, 33a)...Leads IceGators with 26 goals and tied for team lead (N. Rempel) with four game-winning goals.

Goaltender Kyle Kettles -

Went 2-1-0 with a 4.26 goals against average and a ..862 save percentage last week...Made 23 saves in 5-4 win over MIS on Friday, lifting IceGators into sole possession of first place...Stopped career-best 39-of-44 shots in 5-1 loss at PEN on Saturday...Turned aside 19 shots in 5-4 OTW vs. PEN on Sunday, playing three games in three nights for first time in his career...Has a 10-5-4 mark with a 2.75 GAA - 10th in the ECHL.

IceGators' Practice schedule:

Monday - Off

Tuesday - 10-11:30, Cajundome

Wednesday - 10-11:30, Cajundome

Thursday - 10-11:30, Cajundome

Friday - 10-11, Cajundome, vs. FLA 7:05

Saturday - 10-11, Cajundome,vs. FLA 7:05

Sunday - vs. BR 4:05

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