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IceGators split, go 1-1-0 on road

November 18, 2002 - ECHL (ECHL)
Louisiana IceGators News Release


The IceGators split two games on the road last week, winning impressively in Jackson on Tuesday before falling to Pensacola on Friday. Louisiana played without its full roster both nights due to callups, injuries and suspensions resulting from last weekend's melee in the penalty box against Greenville.

Tuesday, Bobby Brown scored two goals and added an assist, and Kyle Kettles turned aside a career-best 29 shots, as the IceGators snapped the Jackson Bandits' five-game winning streak with an impressive 4-1 win at Mississippi Coliseum.

Daniel Goneau and Shawn Skiehar also scored, J.P. Morin had a pair of assists – his first points as an IceGator – and Kenny Corupe chipped in with two helpers for Louisiana, which earned its second straight win.

Kettles made nine saves in the first period, 11 in the second and nine in the third to snap a two-start losing streak. Teammate Frederic Cloutier had played the last four games in net.

Former IceGator Mike Oliveira scored and Adam Hauser made 29 saves for Jackson.

Neither goaltender was touched until early in the second, when Oliveira put the Bandits in front at the 1:50 mark. Kevin Grimes launched a shot from the point, and Kettles made the initial save, but Oliveira was there to scoop in the rebound.

The rest of the period was all IceGators, as Louisiana scored three times. Brown tied the game at 3:45 with his first of the game and fourth of the season, picking up a loose puck off the stick of Morin and putting it past Hauser.

Goneau put Louisiana up 2-1 at 8:04 of the period. He battled for the puck along the boards, got the puck to Corupe, who passed to Morin. The defenseman slid a back-door pass to Goneau in the slot, and Goneau put the puck in the net for his seventh tally of the season.

A strong stand by Kettles and a nice defensive play by Brown helped lead to the IceGators third goal. Kettles stopped two shots from close range, and the puck bounced to the point. Brown blocked a shot just inside the blueline and led a 2-on-1 up ice with Dennis Shiryaev. Brown carried the puck along the left boards and ripped a shot from the circle over Hauser's glove.

Friday was all Pensacola, as Greg Pankewicz had two goals in a five-goal second period and Trevor Allman also scored twice and added an assist, as the Ice Pilots routed the IceGators 6-1.

Nathan Rempel scored and Cloutier stopped 24 of 30 shots in two periods of action for Louisiana.

Coming attractions:

TUE, LA @ MIS, 7:05 p.m.

IceGators begin week two points behind Sea Wolves for second place, holding a 2-1 edge in the season series. The teams last met November 3 in Biloxi, with Mississippi holding on for a 4-3 win.

FRI, LA vs. BR, 7:05 p.m.

Free magnetic schedule to first 1,000 fans, sponsored by Women's and Children's Hospital and the Medical Center of Southwest Louisiana. The Kingfish are 0-6-3 since their last win, a victory against the IceGators on October 26.

SAT, LA vs. CBS, 7:05 p.m.

Cottonmouths enter week in midst of the Southeast Division race, having had a two-game winning streak snapped Sunday against Augusta. Columbus took two games from the IceGators, one in a shootout, earlier this month in Georgia.

SUN, LA vs. CBS, 4:05 p.m.

Scrub Night. Help the IceGators honor workers in the medical field. Call 234-4423 to book your group today!

Community update – Chris Taliercio will visit St. Genevieve Elementary School this Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. to read to second graders. Wednesday, the IceGators will be at the new Sam's Club on Ambassador Caffery at 4 p.m. to take part in a vision program for underprivileged children.

McNeil held shotless - Shawn McNeil was held without a shot in Friday's loss in Pensacola, just the fourth time in his IceGators career that has happened. McNeil last failed to record a shot on March 12, 2000 - his rookie season. He had fired a shot on goal in each of the last 160 games before Friday. Even without a shot on Friday, McNeil's 78 shots lead the ECHL by 12 over Jeff Bes and Brad Church.

Magic number of three - The IceGators are a perfect 8-0-0 when scoring three or more goals. They haven't won when scoring less than three goals, - an 0-5-2 mark.

McNeil gets 200th PIM - Shawn McNeil's 12 penalty minutes Friday pushed him over the 200-penalty minute mark in his career. He's the 23rd IceGator to get to the 200 minute mark in that category.

IceGators usually rebound nicely - Friday's 6-1 loss in Pensacola was just the franchise's ninth loss by more than five goals in its history. The IceGators had lost by five goals just once previously in the Dave Farrish regime - a 5-0 defeat by South Carolina in February 23, 2001. Louisiana, however, usually rebounds after a bad loss. The IceGators are 5-3 all-time after a loss by five or more goals, although they did follow up that 5-0 loss to the Stingrays with a 5-1 loss the next night in Greenville.

Rebounding, part 2 - IceGators goaltender Frederic Cloutier was pulled Friday for just the second time in his career. The last time he was pulled was in a 4-1 loss to Mississippi on January 11. Cloutier, who allowed five goals on eight shots through one-plus period in that game, went on to win his next 11 decisions, starting it off with a 25-save performance in a 5-1 win over Baton Rouge.

Cloutier climbing - Frederic Cloutier has played in net for 2809 minutes with the IceGators, just 137 minutes behind Mike Valley for fourth place on the team's all-time list.

Power play update - The IceGators scored at least one power play goal in each of their first 11 games this season, but have gone three of the last four without a tally with the man advantage. Louisiana hasn't scored a power play goal in the last two games, the first time the team's done that since December 1-7 of last season. The IceGators had a hard time clicking on the power play in the first third of last season, even going from October 14-November 10 - a span of seven games - without a power-play goal. Louisiana still ended up ranking fifth in the league in power play last season at 20.0 percent. Currently, the IceGators are clicking on 21.2 percent of their power plays, ranking them 12th. Reading leads the ECHL at 26.0 percent.

Another McNeil tidbit - Last season, Louisiana lost just five times in regulation (40-5-1) when Shawn McNeil had at least one point. This season, the IceGators are 7-5-1 when he has a point.

Second period had been so kind - Going into Friday, the IceGators had excelled in the second period, outscoring their opponents 22-8. The Ice Pilots ended that, outscoring Louisiana 5-0. Frederic Cloutier had only given up six goals total in the second period in his first 10 starts of the season.

Rempel can eclipse career high, already - Nathan Rempel has seven goals in 14 games, tying his career high for goals in a season. In 2001-02, Rempel's second as a pro and first with the IceGators, Rempel had 17 points (7g, 10a) in 60 games. Rempel has 16 career goals in 116 professional games.

Putting the first one on the board - Friday, the IceGators scored first for just the second time in nine road games this season. Louisiana also scored first November 9 at Arkansas, a game it ended up losing 3-2 in overtime.

Don't forget to watch Chomp Time, the weekly television show dedicated to the Louisiana IceGators. Andy Davis hosts Chomp Time, every Sunday at 10:30 a.m. on Fox-15.

Player of the Week Nominees

Forward Bobby Brown

Had three points (2g, 1a) and was a plus-one in two games last week, leading IceGators to 1-1-0 record...All three points came in 4-1 road win at Jackson that saw Louisiana play with seven healthy forwards...Was a plus-three for the game...Had first fighting major of season on Friday...Second on IceGators with 19 points (5g, 14a), one point behind Shawn McNeil...Assist total ties Kevin Mitchell for tops on the team.

Goaltender Kyle Kettles

Went 1-0-0 with a 0.75 goals against average and .971 save percentage last week, appearing in two straight games for first time in career...Made 29 saves in 4-1 road win against Jackson on Wednesday, his first win since October 19...Relieved Frederic Cloutier to start third period of 6-1 road loss to Pensacola on Friday, stopping all five shots he faced in the final stanza...Is 2-2-0 with a 2.54 goals against average and a .904 save pct.

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