Inferno Sweep the Pride to Advance to Southern Conference Finals

April 21, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Columbia Inferno News Release


Chris Pittman and Robin Carruthers each had two goals for the Inferno and Shawn Wansborough had one as they slide past the Pee Dee Pride in game three of the Southeast Division Finals. The Inferno will face the Mississippi Sea Wolves in the Southern Conference Finals on Wednesday, April 23rd at the Carolina Coliseum. Mississippi also swept their series with the Louisiana Icegators that ended on Tuesday. Chris Pittman started the scoring for the Inferno at 15:09 of the first period with assists to Trevor Demmans and Darrell Hay. Pee Dee tied the game at 6:27 of the second period with a goal by Eric Naud. Columbia still fought back as Pittman scored his second of the game at 12:37 as he pick up the rebound off of a Sean Owens shot. Robin Carruthers would give the Inferno a 3-1 lead at 14:14. Hay and Tim Smith assisted on the goal. Carruthers was still hot as he scored his second goal of the night at 3:57 of the third period off of a pass from Barrie Moore. Shawn Wansborough sealed the deal with his second goal of the playoffs at 13:42 from Matt Ulwelling and Demmans. Patrick Couture stopped 24 of 25 shots to record his fifth win in post season.

THE WEEK AHEAD SOUTHERN CONFERENCE FINALS

Wednesday, April 23rd vs. Mississippi Sea Wolves @ Carolina Coliseum 7:05pm

Game 1 – This will be the first time in franchise history for the Inferno to make the Southern Conference Finals. Last season the Pee Dee Pride knocked the Inferno out with only minutes left in game five of the Southeast Division Semi-finals. This is also the first game ever between these two teams in regular or post-season play.

Friday, April 25th vs. Mississippi Sea Wolves @ Carolina Coliseum 7:05pm

Game 2 – Mississippi finished the regular season in first place of the Southwest Division with a record of 44-24-4 for a total of 92 points (four behind the Inferno). The Inferno and Sea Wolves are 6-0-0 in post season play.

Playoff Record: 6-0-0 Position: Won Series 3-0

Weekly Record: 1-0-0 Southeast Division Champions

INFERNO NUMBERS

Record: 6-0-0

Home: 4-0-0

Road: 2-0-0

Goals: 5 – Robin Carruthers

Assists : 8 – Rejean Stringer

Leading Scorer: 9 – Matt Ulwelling, Trevor Demmans, Rejean Stringer

Power Play: 40.0% - 1st

Power Play Goals: 4 – Barrie Moore

Penalty Kill: 79.3% - 15th

Short Handed Goals: N/A

Game Winning Goals: 2 – Chris Pittman

Plus/Minus: +8 – Darrell Hay

Goaltending: Patrick Couture, 5-0-0, 1.98 GAA, .917 save percentage

INFERNO PLAYOFF STREAKS & HIGHLIGHTS

Robin Carruthers has six points in his last four games (4g-2a)...Trevor Demmans has at least a point in each of his last six games (2g-7a)...Demmans is also the number one scoring defenseman in the ECHL with his nine points...Darrell Hay has three assists in his last two games...Rejean Stringer has one goal and eight assists in six games...Chris Pittman leads with two game winning goals...Tim Smith is among the top scoring rookies in the league during post season play with 3 goals and 5 assists...Corey Hessler is ranked first with two power play goals among rookies...Darrell Hay and Corey Hessler are among the top five scoring defenseman in the league.

MISSISSIPPI PLAYOFF FACTS

This is the seventh season for the Mississippi Sea Wolves in the East Coast Hockey League. They won the Kelly Cup in seven games during the 1998 – 1999 season against the Richmond Renegades. Before advancing, they beat the South Carolina Stingrays in the Southern Conference Quarterfinals, the Florida Everblades in the Southern Conference Semifinals and the Pee Dee Pride in the Southern Conference Finals. In the 2001-2002 season, Mississippi beat the Pensacola Ice Pilots in the Southwest Semifinals and the Jackson Bandits in the Southwest Finals to advance to the Southern Conference Finals but lost to the Greenville Grrrowl. They have made two other appearances in 1996 – 1997 being swept by Birmingham in the first round of the playoffs and in 1999 – 2000 losing to the Louisiana Icegators in the Southern Conference Quarterfinals 3 games to 1. They did not qualify for the playoffs during the 1997 – 1998 and 2000 – 2001 seasons.

TRANSACTIONS

4/17/03 Delete Derek Crimin (RW) placed on 7-day IR.



ECHL Stories from April 21, 2003


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