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NAHL Corpus Christi IceRays

IceRays Alumni Report

April 28, 2015 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Corpus Christi IceRays News Release


We are now down to just two alumni players as the grind of playoff hockey whittles the field in the 27th edition of the IceRays Alumni Report.. Both remaining forwards saw their teams knocked out of postseason play in decisive games last Tuesday, so only defensive players remain: one American Hockey League (AHL) goaltender and one United States Hockey League (USHL) defenseman.

The rise of Pheonix Copley ('10-'11) has continued into the Calder Cup Playoffs for the Hershey Bears with more impressive numbers in their opening round matchup against the Worcester Sharks. Despite playing both of their opening games last weekend in Massachusetts, the North Pole, Alaska, native stayed strong in net by stopping 41 of 42 shots in Friday's 4-1 win as well as 33 of 34 shots in Saturday's 3-1 win. For his professional playoff debut, Copley is showing the strength of a veteran, displaying a 2-0-0 record with just two goals against and a .974 save percentage as the best-of-five series traverses back to Chocolatetown starting Wednesday evening at 6:00 p.m. Central Time. However, with the Washington Capitals reassigning Philipp Grubauer to the Bears today, the goaltending decision could become very interesting for Bears Head Coach Troy Mann. Games four and five, if necessary, will be played on Friday at 6:00 p.m. Central Time and on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. Central Time.

The Clark Cup Playoffs in the USHL are down to just four teams, and none of the top-seeds are moving out of the opening round, which means that the run for the Sioux City Musketeers came to an end. In their decisive fifth game against the Sioux Falls Stampede, the Musketeers were rolled 6-1 last Tuesday from the Tyson Events Center as an exclamation point to that series. It's the only series to play a full five games, and through those five games forward Jake Durflinger ('13-'14) was kept away from scoring with a team-leading 19 penalty minutes. That ends the first season in the USHL for the former IceRays leading scorer, earning seven goals and 15 assists for 22 points with a -1 and 227 penalty minutes in 63 total games.

With the Stampede advancing to the Western Conference Finals, they'll have to tackle the Tri-City Storm in another best-of-five series to determine who will make a final run for the Clark Cup. The Storm hold home-ice advantage for the second-straight series, and as the highest remaining seed would, in turn, also have home-ice advantage for the Clark Cup Finals if they were to advance. They started strong with a 4-2 win on Friday night from the Viaero Event Center and take a 1-0 series lead. Chase Berger led the way with two goals, one of which would become the game-winner. Defenseman Jalen Schulz ('12-'13) picked up a minus and two penalty minutes despite the win, moving up to six penalty minutes through three games this post-season. The Storm will host game two on Wednesday night before traveling to Sioux Falls for game three on Friday night. If necessary, game four will be on Saturday night and game five will come back to Tri-City next Tuesday.

Despite the odds, the Val-d'Or Foreurs did the unthinkable in the President Cup Playoffs and came back from a 3-0 series deficit against Baie-Comeau Drakkar to win their seven-game series 4-3 with a 4-3 overtime win last Tuesday night on the road. Baie-Comeau led 3-1 after a strong opening period, but the Foreurs scored two goals in the third period to send the game to overtime before Alexis Pépin notched the series-clincher just 4:18 into the extra frame. It looked to be a deep run for Drakkar after a commanding series lead, but their season ends early. Forward Chad Pietroniro ('11-'12) closed out his second part-time Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) season, earning two assists with 82 penalty minutes and a -4 rating in 31 total games.

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