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October 18, 2004 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Elmira Jackals News Release


Week 1 GAME RESULTS:

10/15/04 JACKALS 3 - Fort Wayne 2 (SO) (3-1 in Shootout)

The Jackals jumped all over the defending Tarry Cup Champion Komets as soon as the first puck dropped. Just thirteen second into the new season former Jackals defenseman Rob Guinn received a two-minute minor penalty for tripping and the hometown boys would not waste their chances. Newcomer Jason Sessa knocked home the first goal scored in the UHL this season just 1:11 into the first period; a power play goal assisted by Vaclav Zavoral and Jamie Thompson. Fired up by the home crowd, Elmira extended their lead to two at 7:08 when rookie Derek Campbell scored his first goal of the year from Sessa and the First Arena was all smiles. The second period was the complete opposite. Despite out-shooting Elmira 17-11 in the first period, the Komets were without a goal. But a delay of game Bench Minor called on the Jackals at 0:00 of the period, for a warm-up violation, seemed to set the tone of the middle frame. Fort Wayne did not score on the ensuing man-advantage, but they did cut the lead in half when Kevin Kotyluck scored at 4:26 from Sean Venedam and Dustin Virag. Both teams played evenly but it was the Komets who would draw level late in the period. Forward Chris Grenville took advantage of some space right in front of the crease and beat Jackals Goaltender Greg Hewitt at 17:20; assists coming from Shane Kenny and Tim Kruekl. After a fairly eventful but goalless third period, the defending Eastern Conference champions found a shootout in their opening night fate. Both Virag and Jamie Thompson scored in the opening round of the shootout; then after Hewitt stoned P.C. Drouin, Jason Sessa gave Elmira the lead for good. In round three both goaltenders made fine saves, but it was Hewitt who again denied Fort Wayne, this time Grenville. Leading 2-1 with one round pending, Adam Nittel unleashed a vicious wrister into the top shelf, beating Kevin St. Pierre over the catching glove, to seal victory for the Jackals. Hewitt, who earned the #2 star honors on the night, finished with a massive 42 saves on 44 Komet shots during open play and 3-of-4 in the shootout for the win. St. Pierre stopped 34-of-36 in regulation, 1-of-4 in the shootout to earn a point for Fort Wayne. The Jackals return to the ice Saturday as they host the expansion Danbury Trashers for the first time.

10/16/04 Jackals 5 - Danbury 2

Elmira, NY - The Elmira Jackals started their first winning streak Saturday night as they beat the Danbury Trashers 5-2 in their second game of the season. If scoring 71 seconds into the game Friday night wasn't fast enough for Jackals fans, Jason Sessa decided to one-up himself. On Saturday the former Quad City Mallard buried a quick wrist shot past Danbury goaltender Scott Stirling just 61 seconds into the contest; Sessa's goal was assisted by Eddy Lowe and Derek Campbell. Elmira would put 17 shots on goal in the first period, but fail to add to their lead. In period two, things started to open up. Elmira broke out with a 2-0 lead when Carl Drakensjo beat Stirling with a backhand in traffic at 9:06; assisted by Adam Nittel. At 15:49 on the power play Sessa got number two, this time from captain Trevor Burgess and Elmira was cruising with a three-goal lead. But Danbury, who won their franchise opener against Adirondack, would not go quietly. The Trashers scored their first goal of the night when John Morlang scored the team's first ever short-handed goal at 17:26 from Mike Bayrack and Jeff State. Danbury made things interesting halfway through the third period, making the score 3-2 when Jim Duhart scored his first goal for the Trashers. But that was as close as they would come to the Jackals on this night. After being taken down on a breakaway by Mario Larocque, who actually threw his stick at the puck, Sessa was awarded a penalty shot at 14:18. Sessa increased his goal scoring account to four on the year, as he beat Stirling with some fancy puck handling to get his hat trick. Jamie Thompson scored the team's second power play goal of the night to cap the scoring at 16:26 with help from Alex Andreyev and Greg Koehler. Penalties and fisticuffs highlighted the game; the two teams combined for 193 minutes in penalties. Gerry Hickey was ejected for head butting Chris Shaw during their first period scrap, Rumun Ndur got a game misconduct for abuse of the officials and Brad Wingfield received his walking papers late in the third period for deliberately removing his elbow pads prior to a fight with Charlie Elezi. Jackals' goalie Greg Hewitt finished with 32 saves on 34 Danbury shots. Stirling was peppered for 40 shots; he blocked 35 of those for the loss. Elmira was 2-for-9 on the power play and had 14 penalties for 64 minutes, while Danbury was 0-for-4 with the man advantage and ended with 25 penalties for 129 minutes. The Jackals return to the ice Wednesday October 20th at 7:00 p.m. as they host the Adirondack Frostbite for the first time in the regular season.

JACKALS PLAYER AND GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK: (WEEK 1)

Jason Sessa - RW 2 GP, 3 goals, 1 assist, 5 pts, +1

Jason Sessa made an immediate and lasting impression on his new teammates and the fans in Elmira. During the opening weekend, Sessa came out of the gates on fire, scoring his first goal just 71 seconds into the season, adding his first assist six minutes later and then scored a key shootout goal in a 3-2 overtime win over the current Tarry Cup holders, the Fort Wayne Komets. Saturday night Sessa turned up his game, recording his first hat trick as a Jackal. He scored his first goal of the night just 61 seconds into the first period, 10 seconds faster than in the first game. In the second period he deposited his second power play goal of the year into his growing account, the eventual game winner. In the third period he scored on a penalty shot, finishing off the trick, and putting himself into second in the UHL in scoring this week.

Greg Hewitt - G 2 GP, 2-0-0, 2.00 GAA, .949 SV%, 74 saves

Greg Hewitt continued the trend of new acquisitions shining for Elmira; also he did everything he was asked, stop enough pucks to help the Jackals win. Hewitt did just that, stopping 74-of-78 shots and posting a 2.00 goals against average. Friday night the 5'7" goaltender out-shined Komet's All-Star Kevin St. Pierre, making 42 saves and blocking 3-of-4 attempts in extra time, leading the Jackals to a 3-2 shootout victory. Saturday Hewitt shook off a quiet first period by turning away 24 shots in the last two periods, beating the expansion Danbury Trashers 5-2 in a penalty loaded contest.

JACKAL BITES:

* DON'T WASTE TIME - RW Jason Sessa has proven to have a quick trigger finger when it comes to the opening face off. Friday against Fort Wayne he scored the first Jackals goal of the year 71 seconds into the game. Saturday he one-uped himself, scoring 61 seconds into the match against Danbury.

* NEW KID IN TOWN - LW Derek Campbell's 1st period goal against Fort Wayne was the first goal, and point, recorded by a Jackals' rookie this season. Campbell added his

* HAT-TRICK HERO - RW Jason Sessa's hat trick Saturday versus Danbury was the first three-goal performance in Elmira this season, and one of five in the UHL during the opening weekend. Sessa also had a goal in Friday's opener, giving him a team-leading four on the year.

* CLIMBING THE LADDER - RW Carl Drakensjo scored his first goal of the season in the first period Saturday night against Danbury. That puts him one point behind Rob Guinn for 10th All-Time in Jackals Scoring. Drak has 77 points (27 goals and 50 assists) in 154 games played.

* WELCOME BACK - RW Carl Drakensjo's first period goal against Danbury Saturday was the first goal scored by a returning player for Elmira this season. LW Jamie Thompson would become the second Jackal from last season to score when he notched a power play goal in the third period of the same game.

Don't miss the The Elmira Jackals Coach's Show broadcast LIVE this Tuesday night from Patrick's Pub, 303 College Ave. at 7pm. Join Head Coach Todd Brost and Voice of the Jackals Owen Newkirk, along with forward Jason Sessa and goaltender Greg Hewitt for the broadcast. Tune in on WiNGZ 104.9 FM or stream it online at www.jackalshockey.com.



International Hockey League 2 Stories from October 18, 2004


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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