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Jackals Split Feisty Weekend Series With Komets

December 11, 2006 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Elmira Jackals News Release


Week 9 Recap: The Jackals earned a split of a wildly intense two-game series against the Fort Wayne Komets at First Arena. Earlier in the season, Elmira had established a strong rivalry with Muskegon, playing three very tightly contested games. But after the most physical weekend of the Jackals season, and 387 total penalty minutes later, arguments could be made that Fort Wayne, despite being a non-conference opponent, may have just overtaken the Fury as Elmira's biggest rival in 2006-07.

Friday night the Jackals scored two power play goals and added their UHL-leading 15th short-handed goal of the year as they beat Fort Wayne 3-2; the teams combined for 134 minutes in penalties. Saturday night the Komets turned the tables on the Jackals by scoring 4-straight goals on their way to a 5-3 win and a split of the weekend. Saturday's physical play increased from the previous night, with the teams combining for 253 penalty minutes.

This week the Jackals will host the Port Huron Flags at 7:00 pm at First Arena before heading out on the road for three games in three nights in Michigan: Friday in Port Huron, Saturday in Flint and Sunday in Kalamazoo.

Week 9 Game Results:

12/8/06 Fort Wayne 2 @ Elmira 3

Elmira, NY - Frank Littlejohn scored two power play goals, leading the way to a 3-2 win for the Elmira Jackals over the Fort Wayne Komets Friday night at First Arena.

Elmira came out pressing a very physical style of play, throwing a lot of body checks and even a fight between Frank Littlejohn and Pascal Morency a mere 1:23 into the game. Littlejohn opened the scoring as he redirected a Brent Cullaton shot passed goaltender Kevin St. Pierre for a power play goal at 10:50 of the first period. Cullaton and Scott Drevitch assisted on Littlejohn's 10th goal of the season.

Fort Wayne drew level in the second period when David Huckalo scored at 5:21 on a rebound from J.F. Lebarre and Martin Gascon, tying the game 1-1. The Jackals regained the lead at 11:48 when Chanse Fitzpatrick tipped home Elmira's 2nd power play goal of the game, assisted by Dale Lupul and Scott Drevitch. As the 2nd period came to a close emotions swelled and both teams were involved in a bench-clearing melee, resulting in 70 total penalty minutes, yet astonishingly no game misconducts. Elmira extended their lead to 3-1 at 4:50 of the 3rd period courtesy of Frank Littlejohn's 2nd goal of the game, a short-handed goal assisted by Cullaton and R.C. Lyke. The goal was Littlejohn's 200th career goal in professional hockey. But the Komets would not go away quietly as Daniel Goneau pulled the visitors back to 3-2 with a power play goal at 6:57, Fort Wayne's only power play goal in 11 chances with the man-advantage.

Kris Tebbs earned his 11th win of the season, stopping 34-of-36 shots in goal for the Jackals who improve to 13-8-0 on the season. Kevin St. Pierre suffered his 5th loss of the season, making 20 saves on 24 shots as they Komets fell to 13-6-0. Elmira was 2-for-4 on the power play, adding one short-handed goal, their league leading 14th of the season. Fort Wayne was a dismal 1-for-11 on the power play and lost despite out-shooting the Jackals 36-23 in the game.

12/8/06 Fort Wayne 5 @ Elmira 3

Elmira, NY - Scott Wray scored a mere 23 seconds into the game, but the Fort Wayne Komets scored four-straight goals on the way to a 5-3 win over the Elmira Jackals Saturday night at First Arena. Jackals leading scorer Scott Wray couldn't wait to score his 13th goal of the season, knocking home a rebound from Brent Cullaton and Chris Mann 23 seconds into the game. The goal initiated the Teddy Bear Toss from the fans and the game was delayed for approximately 5 minutes while crews cleared the ice. The Jackals players will deliver the teddy bears collected Saturday night to children currently in area hospitals over the next week. When play resumed the Jackals continued their offensive intensity, but could not get anything passed goaltender Kevin St. Pierre. The Komets tied the game on a Mario Larocque power play goal at 11:29, a wrist shot in the slot that zipped by a screened Kris Tebbs. J.C. Ruid tallied his first goal of the game at 19:21 as he scored a 5-on-3 power play goal, Fort Wayne's second power play goal of the night. Ruid scored his second goal of the game at 13:13 of the second period, extending the Komets lead to 3-1, assisted by Arthur Kiyaga and J.F. Labarre. Ruid was involved in Fort Wayne's 4th consecutive goal at 15:31 of the 2nd period, when he combined with Bogdan Rodenko to setup a wide-open Matt Syroczynski for a 4-1 lead. Despite playing very well in goal, the Jackals replaced Kris Tebbs with newcomer Dave Lemanowicz for the start of the third period. Elmira struck back at 1:25 of the third period when David Morelli unleashed a heavy slap shot that handcuffed goalie St. Pierre allowing Tommy Kotsopoulos to swoop in and tap in the rebound for his 4th game of the season, assisted by Morelli and Dale Lupul. But this night belonged to Ruid, as he completed his hat trick at 11:53, firing a blind-backhand shot that eluded Lemanowicz for a 5-2 Komets lead. Erik Anderson pulled one back when he scored at 16:32, catching St. Pierre totally off guard, after Scott Drevitch had distracted the Fort Wayne defense with several skilled spin moves. Anderson's goal was his 6th of the season and it made the score 5-3 Fort Wayne. Penalties and rough play occurred all night long, as there was no love lost between Fort Wayne and Elmira. The two teams combined for 253 minutes in penalties, with large-scale altercations in each of the three periods. Kevin St. Pierre earned the win in goal for the Komets, making 33 saves on 36 shots as the Komets improved to 13-6-0 on the season. Kris Tebbs was excellent in goal for Elmira, but took the loss as he blocked 28-of-32 shots in 40:00 minutes of play. New Jackals goaltender Dave Lemanowicz saw his first action in an Elmira jersey as he relieved Tebbs for the third period, stopping 8-of-9 shots.

Jackals Player & Goaltender of the Week: (Week 9)

Frank Littlejohn - RW 2 GP, 2 goals, 0 assists, 2 points, +1, 20 PIMs

Frank Littlejohn was the energy leader for the Jackals during their 2-game Week 9 series with the Fort Wayne Komets. Littlejohn scored two goals Friday night; one power play goal and one short-handed goal to lead the Jackals to a 3-2 win over the 1st place Western Conference team. Saturday Littejohn used his physical presence to fire up the troops, dropping the gloves with Nick Tuzzolino, who is 8-inches taller than the Jackals winger. But Littlejohn earned a unanimous one-sided decision. Littlejohn's short-handed goal Friday night was his 5th shorty of the season and it was a milestone: his 200th career professional goal.

Kris Tebbs - G 2 GP, 1-1-0, 3.60 GAA, 0.912 SV%, 62 saves

Kris Tebbs continues to be one of the Jackals most valuable assets with his consistently strong play in goal this season. Tebbs held the high-powered Fort Wayne offense to just 2 goals on 36 shots for his 11th win of the season Friday night. Saturday Tebbs faced 32 shots in the first two periods against the Komets. For the week he posted a 3.60 GAA and a 0.912 save percentage. For the season Tebbs is 11-7-0 with a 3.41 GAA and a 0.911 save percentage.

JACKAL BITES:

* A BIG MILESTONE - Forward Frank Littlejohn scored his 200th career professional goal on Friday night against Fort Wayne. The goal came at 4:50 of the third period and it was his team-leading 5th short-handed goal of the year. He is tied with Muskegon's Todd Robinson (5) for the UHL lead in short-handed goals this season.

* A WHOLE NEW LEVEL - Jackals captain Brent Cullaton recorded his 600th career professional point. The milestone came in the form of his 16th assist of the season (in 15 games played) when he setup Scott Wray's goal at 23 second of the first period. Cullaton has exactly 600 points in 664 games played over his 11-year pro career.

* END OF A STREAK - Goaltender Kris Tebbs was relieved before the third period of Saturday's game against Fort Wayne, ending a long consecutive minutes streak. Over the last 8 games Tebbs had played 517:13 consecutive minutes, spanning from 11/18/06-12/9/06. He has started the last 14-straight games for the Jackals, playing all but two periods in that streak.

* OFFENSIVE PROGRESSION - Defenseman Chris Mann had an assist Saturday night against Fort Wayne giving him 7 points (1goal, 6 assists) in 22 games played this season. In all of last year Mann had 7 points (1goal, 6 assists) in 61 games played. He is on pace to more than triple his offensive output from his rookie season with the Jackals.

* SHORT-HANDED HELPERS - Forwards Brent Cullaton & Scott Wray and Defenseman Derek Miller are in a 4-way tie with Port Huron's Mark Cadotte for the UHL-lead in short-handed assists (3). This is the first season that the UHL has categorized short-handed and power play assists on their official statistics.

* SHOOT TO SCORE - Jackals leading scorer Scott Wray ranks 2nd in the UHL in shots-on-goal. Wray, who leads Elmira in this category, has 111 shots in 22 games played, trailing on Muskegon's Todd Robinson (114 shots).

Coach's Show

Don't miss the next broadcast of The Elmira Jackals Coach's Show LIVE Monday night at 6 pm at the Pioneer Sports Bar & Grill in Elmira. Join Jackals Head Coach Kris Waltze, Voice of the Jackals Owen Newkirk, along with forward Dan Veenema & Goaltender Dave Lemanowicz for the broadcast on News Talk 1230 & 1450 AM WENY or stream it online at www.jackalshockey.com - Fans are encouraged to email their questions for any of the Coach's Show participants to jackalsinfo@jackalshockey.com no later than 3 pm on Monday before the show or they can come to the Pioneer and ask their questions on the air with Route 81 Radio's new wireless microphone feature.

First Arena Rec Rink Hockey Information

The ice is HOT at First Arena - Visit our website for a complete list of Public Skating times and Arena Programs at www.firstarena.com - Come in to the COOL place to be!

The First Arena Rec Rink offers public skating, skating lessons, hockey programs, figure skating, birthday parties, adult hockey leagues and much more....

2006-07 Record: 13-9-0, 26 points (7-5-0 Home, 6-4-0 Road), Third Place, Eastern Conference

Week 10 Schedule: (All games are broadcasted LIVE on MAGIC 92.7 & 97.7 FM)

Wednesday, December 13 7:05 pm vs. Port Huron Flags (6-14-4, 16 pts) Fifth Place, Eastern Conference

Friday, December 15 7:30 pm @ Port Huron Flags (6-14-4, 16 pts) Fifth Place, Eastern Conference

Saturday, December 16 7:30 pm @ Flint Generals (10-14-2, 22 pts) Fourth Place, Eastern Conference

Sunday, December 17 4:00 pm @ Kalamazoo Wings (15-8-0, 30 pts) Second Place, Eastern Conference

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International Hockey League 2 Stories from December 11, 2006


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