Inferno Weekly Release 12-12-05

December 12, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
Columbia Inferno News Release


NOTE: TIME CHANGE FOR SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17th against the Florida Everblades will now be played at 3:05pm. Gates will open at 2:05pm and the box office will open at 1:30pm.

THE WEEK AHEAD Tuesday, December 13th Inferno @ Gwinnett Gladiators 7:05pm Arena @ Gwt Ctr.

The Inferno is 1-0-0 against the Gladiators this season and 8-4-1 all-time. The last time these two teams met as this past weekend when the Inferno won in a sudden death shootout. Gwinnett is tied for third place with 25 points (11-5-3).

Wednesday, December 14th Inferno @ Charlotte Checkers 7:05pm Chr. Bobcats Arena

This is the third of 10 games between the Inferno and Charlotte. Columbia is 2-0-0 against the Checkers this season and 18-6-4 all-time. The last time these two teams met, the Inferno won 1-0. Charlotte is in 7th place in the South Division with 21 points (10-9-1).

Friday, December 16th Inferno vs. Toledo Storm 7:05pm Carolina Coliseum

This is the second time the Inferno and the Storm meet in franchise history. The Inferno is 0-1-0 all-time against Toledo. The Storm is in fourth place with 23 points (10-7-3) in the North Division of the American Conference.

This is the only time they will meet this season.

Saturday, December 17th Inferno vs. Florida Everblades 3:05pm Carolina Coliseum

The last time the Everblades and Inferno met, Florida won 3-0. The Everblades and Inferno are tied for first place with 26 points but Florida has three games at hand. The Inferno is 0-1-0 this season and 15-12-1 all-time against the Everblades.

LAST WEEK Tuesday, December 6th INFERNO 1 Charlotte 0

The Columbia Inferno beat the Charlotte Checkers 1-0 as goaltender Chris Houle earns his second shutout of the season. After a scoreless first period, Brandon Nolan scored his fifth goal of the season, the only goal of the game at 16:58 of the second period. Travis Lisabeth and Derek Eastman had the assists on the game-winning goal. Houle stopped all 32 shots he faced to improve his record to 7-6-1.

Friday, December 9th Inferno 1 WHEELING 2

The Columbia Inferno battled the Wheeling Nailers but came up short as the fell 2-1. Wheeling opened the scoring at 7:02 of the first period with a wrister shot by Kurtis McLean. Columbia scored on the power play at 9:58 of the second period by Mike Stathopoulos as Travis Lisabeth sends him a backyard pass. Brandon Nolan had the second assist. McLean scored his second goal of the night at 16:50 for the game winner off of a rebound shot from Tim Verbeek. Chris Houle was between the pipes for the Inferno stopping 25 of 27 shots on goal. This was his 10th straight start in a row. The Inferno went 1-for-10 on the power play and was 7-for-7 on the penalty kill.

Saturday, December 10th INFERNO 5 Gwinnett 4 (SO)

Derek Eastman scored the game winning shootout sudden death goal as the Inferno defeat the Gwinnett Gladiators 5-4. Brad Schell scored the only goal of the first period for the Gladiators at 7:38. Columbia then scored four goals in the second period to take a 4-1 lead. John Longo scored shorthanded 50 seconds in to the second with help from Leon Hayward. Hayward scored his ninth goal of the season at 5:22 with assists to Gary Gladue and Travis Lisabeth to take the one goal lead. Mike Stathopoulos received a pass from Chris Cava and netted his seventh goal of the season at 14:44. Hayward scored his second goal of the night on the power play at 18:15 with Lisabeth and Brandon Nolan on the helpers. Gwinnett came out in the third period with three unanswered goals to tie the game at four, including the tying goal with 26 seconds of regulation. After a scoreless overtime period, it came down to eight shooters in the shootout where Eastman scored for the win. The Inferno improves their record to 12-8-2. Chris Houle played the net for the Inferno and recorded his eighth win of the season (8-7-1).

Overall Record: 12-8-2 Position: Tied 1st place (26 points)

Weekly Record: 2-1-0 ; South Division Along with Florida

INFERNO NUMBERS Record: 12-8-2

Home: 6-5-1

Road: 6-3-1

Goals: 10 -Leon Hayward

Assists : 11 - Derek Eastman

Leading Scorer: 17 - Leon Hayward

Power Play: 15.7% (19th in ECHL)

Power Play Goals: 3 -Chris Cava, Leon Hayward

Penalty Kill: 84.5% (9th in ECHL)

Short Handed Goals: 1 - Mike Stathopoulos, Dave Bonk

Game Winning Goals: 2 - Leon Hayward

Penalty Minutes: 92 - Nick Greenough

Plus/Minus: +6 - Brandon Nolan

Goaltending: Chris Houle, 8-7-1, 3.50 GAA, .901 save percentage

INFERNO HIGHLIGHTS Travis Lisabeth is on a six game assist streak and has 10 points in his last six games (2g-8a)...Leon Hayward had three points (2g-1a) in his last game...Mike Stathopoulos has a goal in each of his last two games... Brandon Nolan is on a six game point streak and has 9 points in his last six games (3g-6a).

TRANSACTIONS 12/05/2005 Add JAMES DEMONE (D) assigned by Manitoba (AHL) 12/06/2005 Delete EVAN SHAW (D) suspended by team 12/08/2005 Delete BRAND CRAWFORD-WEST (G) released 12/09/2005 Add PAT BERRIGAN (G) traded from Charlotte



ECHL Stories from December 12, 2005


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