IceGators take top spot in Central Division

Published on February 9, 2004 under ECHL (ECHL)
Louisiana IceGators News Release


Lafayette, LA - The Louisiana IceGators have regained the top spot in the Central Division with a 33-12-2 record and 68 points. The Gators are in second place overall in the ECHL, two points behind the league-leading Wheeling Nailers. They sit four points ahead of their closest division rival, the Mississippi Sea Wolves. The past week saw the Gators play four games, three of them at home. They finished the week with a 3-1-0 record.

Tuesday's game against the Texas Wildcatters was a hard fought victory that saw the Gators battle back from a three-goal deficit to win 5-3. Ed McGrane put the Gators on the board with a close shot from the side of the crease. Bobby Brown blasted the puck from the slot and hit goaltender Davis Parley in the logo. The puck bounced out and McGrane collected it and stuffed it short-side over the line. Semir Ben-Amor collected his fourth goal of the year when a shot from Brian Herbert ricocheted off Parley, the goalpost, a Wildcatter defenseman and Armands Berzins before Ben-Amor collected it and shot it near side into the net. Bobby Brown earned his second goal of the evening less than a minute later on a rebound from Maxime Fortunus. Ed McGrane tallied his second assist of the evening on Brown's goal. Armands Berzins scored his ninth goal of the season, with help from Brian Herbert, with his second assist on the night and 11th of the season. Chris Taliercio had the second assist on final goal.

The Gators were not as successful against the Ice Pilots on Friday night at the Cajundome, when they fell to the Pilots 5-2. The Ice Pilots led by only one goal at the end of the first period. Gator netminder Derek Gustafson kept the Pilots scoreless for the first 18:54 of the period, until Tyler Beechey managed to slide the puck under Gustafson's glove. The second period saw the Pilots leap out to a 4-0 lead. While Gustafson fended them off for the first half of the second frame, Brian Collins beat Gustafson with a short-handed goal, to put the Pilots up 2-0. The Pilots also scored two even-strength goals 15 seconds apart, at 19:15 and 19:30, to end the second period. Evgeni Artukhin beat Gustafson top-shelf for the 3-0 lead and Wes Mason clanged one off the post with 30 seconds left on the clock. The Gators kept up a steady volley of shots on Brian Eklund, but were unable to solve the Pilots' netminder. Semir Ben-Amor put the IceGators on the board early in the third period. The Gators had the man-advantage and were finally able to beat Eklund. Ben Storey bounced the puck off Eklund and Ben-Amor capitalized on the rebound. Storey scored the second Gators' goal less than three minutes later when Bobby Brown won a face-off and shot the puck straight to Storey at the blue line. Storey wound up and blasted the puck past Eklund for his 14th of the year. The Pilots managed to put one more puck past Gustafson when Jean-Francois Soucy shot in a high wrister that clanged off the crossbar and across the line.

Maxime Fortunus tallied three points (1g – 2a), Alex Materukhin scored two goals, and Ed McGrane posted two assists to help the IceGators defeat the Mississippi Sea Wolves and gain the top spot in the Central Division on Saturday night. Fortunus scored his second goal of the season when a long shot from center ice beat the Sea Wolves' Sean Matile. Matile had just fended off a flurry of Gators' shots and was stretching when Fortunus dumped the puck into the Wolves zone. The puck flew past a surprised Matile and put the Gators on the board first. Gators' netminder Derek Gustafson started his third straight game and was perfect in net for almost 40 minutes. Late in the second period, the Sea Wolves crashed the net and managed to get the puck in from the corner. With a Sea Wolf laying face down in the crease, Steffon Walby shot from the side and Louis Dumont deflected the puck past Gustafson. It was the only shot that would beat the Gators' netminder. Materukhin's 15th goal came at the 11:55 mark of the third period. His sixth game-winning goal of the season came when he caught a rebound of a shot by Ed McGrane and put it past Matile to break the 1-1 tie. Fortunus earned his first assist and second point of the evening on the goal. Materukhin's 16th goal was a top-shelf wrister on the break-away. Ed McGrane, who earned his second assist of the night, sprang Materukhin into the Wolves' zone. Fortunus completed his three-point night with the second assist on the goal.

Sunday welcomed the Florence Pride to the Cajundome for the first of two tilts with the Gators this season.The first period was scoreless and each team had just one man-advantage opportunity. The Florence Pride opened the scoring in the second period at the Cajundome. Just 1:25 into the period, Jeff Szwez put the Pride up by one goal. Chris Taliercio evened the score with his first goal back in a Gator sweater. The even-strength goal came at the 15:44 mark when Ben Storey stormed the blue line and streaked down the side boards. His cross-ice pass hit Armands Berzins on the tape and Berzins shot at Matt Underhill. The Pride netminder popped a rebound back out and the puck bounced off Taliercio's thigh pad for the first Gator tally. Semir Ben-Amor scored the go-ahead goal three minutes later when Jamie Johnson sprang Konstantin Kalmikov into the Pride zone. Kalmikov drew Underhill's attention and then shot the puck across to Ben-Amor who wristed it into the twine and put the Gators up 2-1. The Gators held on to their one-goal lead until the end of the third period. The Pride pulled Underhill for the extra skater. The Gators won the face-off in their own end and the puck shot to Ed McGrane, positioned by the bench. McGrane corralled the puck and skated unhindered into the Wolves' end. He shot the puck in from the left blue line for his 9th goal of the season.

UPCOMING GAMES

@ Texas Wildcatters – February 13, 2004 @ 7:05 pm – The twelfth tilt of the season between the Gators and the Wildcatters will take place at Ford Arena in Beaumont. The Gators lead the season series 10-1 after their comeback 5-3 win over Texas last Tuesday at the Cajundome..

@ Pensacola Ice Pilots – February 14, 2004 @ 7:05 pm – The Gators travel back to the Hangar in Pensacola, to face-off against the Ice Pilots for the eleventh time this season. The Gators lead the season series 5-3-2.

San Diego Gulls – February 16, 2004 @ 7:05 pm – The San Diego Gulls travel from the west coast to the Frozen Swamp for their only game against the Gators this season. These two teams have never faced each other before.

PROMOTIONS

Wednesday, February 11, 2004 – "Miracle": The IceGators team and staff will attend a screening of the Disney release "Miracle". The movie tells the story of the 1980 Olympic gold medal winning USA hockey team. The screening will be at the United Artists Theater on Kaliste Saloom. Tickets for the IceGators' showing can be purchased in advance at the theater. Adult tickets are $7.75 and children's tickets are $5.50. There will be a short autograph session prior to the movie.

Monday, February 16, 2004 – Ladies Night: All Ladies will get Buy One, Get One Free tickets for the game against the San Diego Gulls. The drink special is $2 Margaritas. Post-game activities will feature the Data-A-Gator Bachelor Auction. Eight Gators will be auctioned off for dates. Proceeds will benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation and Race for the Cure.

IN THE COMMUNITY

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, February 10, 11, 12, 2004 – An IceGator will visit St. Pius Elementary to make a classroom visit.

WHO'S HOT

Bobby Brown – The Player of the Week nominee is currently tied for second place among ECHL goal-scorers with 27. The right wing has 49 points (23g – 18a) in 47 games this season and he is second in the league in shots on goal with 217.

Maxime Fortunus – The rookie defenseman tallied a goal and two assists against the Mississippi Sea Wolves on Saturday and has one goal and three assists in his last four games. He has a league-leading +23 among ECHL rookies.

IN OTHER NEWS...

Happy New Year: The calendar year 2004 has been very good to the line of Bobby Brown, Ed McGrane and Alex Materukhin. McGrane has 26 points as an IceGator, 20 of them (6g – 14a) have come during the new year. Materukhin has more than doubled his point performance by scoring 19 points (7g – 12a) in 2004. Not to be outdone by his younger linemates, Bobby Brown has pumped in 11 goals during the same time span and is tied for 2nd in the league in goals with 27 lamp-lighters.

Nobody Does It Better: The IceGators are leading the league in power play percentage for the fifth week in a row, although their percentage dropped slightly. Louisiana has a power play percentage of 23.71% The Gators have scored 60 goals on 253 man-advantage chances this season.

Hit Me With Your Best Shot: Three IceGators still top the list of shot-takers around the ECHL. Konstantin Kalmikov is first in the league with 249 shots. Bobby Brown is right behind him with 217 shots. Ben Story has caught up to his team captain and is now in third place with 216 shots on goal. This also puts Storey at the top of the shots list among ECHL defensemen.

I've Got the Power: Bobby Brown, Ben Storey and Matt Zultek (Trenton) are tied for second in the league in power play goals with 12 apiece. Additionally, Storey is tied with Jean-Franc Dufour (Wheeling) for third in the league in power play assists with 19 man-advantage helpers. Storey's 14 goals also leads ECHL defensemen scorers.

Injury Report: Center Kenny Corupe remains on thirty-day injured reserve. Left wing Dennis Shiryaev has been placed on thirty-day injured reserve.

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