Jackals streak to five straight wins

Published on October 30, 2006 under International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2) News Release


LAKE ST. LOUIS, MO --- After starting the season 0-2-0, the Elmira Jackals have won their last five contests in the United Hockey League (UHL). The Jackals scored just one goal total in their two losses to open the season, but have found their scoring touch to secure five straight victories, including two shootout wins.

Right wing Yevgeny Lazarev (5g, 4a) and left wing Scott Wray (4g, 5a) have paced the team with nine points each during the streak. Lazarev netted a "hat trick" (3g) which included two shorthanded goals in the 8-5 win vs. Flint on Friday. Wray tallied four points (2g, 2a) in Friday's victory. Defenseman Dale Lupul has been an offensive spark from the blueline as he has registered eight points (3g, 5a) during the winning streak.

The goaltending tandem of Kris Tebbs and Shawn Degagne has played a major role in Elmira's recent success. Tebbs has not allowed more than two goals in his three wins during the streak and has stopped all seven attempts he has faced in the two shootout wins for the Jackals. Degagne has made a combined 59 saves while earning two wins during the streak.

The penalty killing unit for the Jackals has had plenty of work this season as the team leads the league in penalty minutes (331). Despite the penalties, Elmira has successfully stopped 89.3% of their opponent's power play opportunities over the last five games, plus has scored four shorthanded goals during that span.

Elmira currently has the second most wins (5) in the UHL. They will face a tough test this coming weekend as the undefeated Muskegon Fury (7-0-0) visit First Arena in Elmira for back-to-back games with the Jackals.

599 AND COUNTING - With Saturday's 4-3 win vs. the Kalamazoo Wings, the Muskegon Fury earned the 599th win in their UHL history. That is the most wins all-time in the league. The Fury will go for win 600 at Elmira on Friday, November 3rd.

BROTHER VS. BROTHER - Sunday's match-up between the Port Huron Flags and the Kalamazoo Wings featured a pair of brothers on the opposite sides of the ice. Defenseman Josh Elzinga of the Flags took on defenseman Adam Elzinga of Kalamazoo in the first of 13 meetings between the two teams this season. Big brother Adam got the best of this meeting as the Kalamazoo Wings earned a 3-2 shootout victory.

ALONE AT THIRD - Kalamazoo Wings head coach Mark Reeds earned his 310th career victory in the UHL when the K-Wings defeated Port Huron 3-2 in the shootout on Sunday. He ranks third all-time in the league and currently sits 51 wins behind all-time leader Greg Puhalski, who coaches the Chicago Hounds. Reeds was tied at 309 wins with Robbie Nichols, who is the General Manager of the Elmira Jackals.

ON THE POSITIVE SIDE OF THINGS - Members of the Muskegon Fury currently claim the top seven spots overall in the UHL for plus/minus rating. The team has a combined plus-94 rating as each player on the squad has an even or better rating.

KOMET SUPPORTERS - The Fort Wayne Komets have averaged 8,628 fans through their first three home games. That average currently ranks third in all of minor professional hockey.

COUNTDOWN TO 20 MILLION - The UHL now sits 133,375 fans away from hitting the 20 million mark in all-time attendance. The mark is estimated to be reached in mid November as the league is currently averaging 3,585 fans per game.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Bloomington PrairieThunder - (0-2-0) - Rookie goaltender Steffan Braunlich made his first professional start on Thursday, then made a second straight start on Saturday. Despite two losses, Braunlich was solid making a total of 74 saves between the two contests...Bloomington has gone just 2 of 27 on the power play during their recent four-game losing streak...Forward Garett Cameron has a point in three of his first four games with the squad... Bloomington currently ranks fourth in the UHL with an average attendance of 3,815.

Chicago Hounds - (0-1-0) - Marty Magers is the only goaltender to see game action for the Hounds through their first four games. He has a 2.53 GAA and .937 SPCT. His SPCT ranks second among UHL goaltenders...Right wing Adam Kostichka scored a shorthanded goal in Saturday's 3-2 loss to Rockford. Both of his goals this season have been shorthanded...Defenseman Bob Rapoza has an assist in three of four games this season for the Hounds... The Hounds play their first home game on Friday at the brand new Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

Elmira Jackals - (2-0-0) - The Jackals lead the league with five shorthanded goals...J.F. Soucy (67) and Curtis Tidball (62) rank on top of the UHL in penalty minutes...Forward David Morelli is tied for the league lead with two game-winning goals...After being held scoreless in the first five games of the season, center Erik Anderson dished out three assists in Friday's 8-5 victory vs. Flint. He leads the UHL with two shootout goals...As a team, the Jackals have a plus-30 rating in their last five games...Two of the last three games for Elmira have gone to the shootout.

Flint Generals - (0-1-1) - Forward Steve Roberts leads the UHL with 41 shots on goal...The Generals rank tied for third in the league on the power play (16%)...They also rank third with 12 power play goals...Flint has had the most power play opportunities (75) in the UHL...Forward Dave Frawley scored the team's first even strength goal of the year at 8:11 of the first period on Friday. He added a second even strength goal in the second period. Prior to those goals, all eight goals by the Generals this season had been scored on the power play...Right wing Jan Jas has five points (1g, 4a) over the last three games.

Fort Wayne Komets - (2-0-0) - Center Bruce Richardson notched his 300th career point on Friday with his third assist of the game. He finished the night with four assists...The Komets did not surrender a power play goal this weekend stopping all 13 opponent opportunities...Fort Wayne ranks first in the UHL on the power play (31.1%) after going 7 of 21 (33.3%) on the power play during the weekend...Left wing Daniel Goneau is riding a five-game point streak...Left wing J.C. Ruid (3g, 4a) and defenseman Guy Dupuis (2g, 5a) each have seven points during their last three games.

Kalamazoo Wings - (1-1-0) - Center Shawn Snider has a point in all five games for the club this season...Tom Askey leads all UHL goaltenders with a 1.75 GAA and .944 SPCT...Kalamazoo has killed off all 25 of their opponent's power plays while on the road this season...Goaltender Ryan Nie made his first pro appearance on Sunday and earned a 3-2 shootout win vs. Port Huron. He stopped all four shootout attempts...The K-Wings have scored first in all five games this season...In just his second professional game, right wing Justin Cross scored both

goals in regulation during Sunday's 3-2 shootout win.

Muskegon Fury - (2-0-0) - It is the second season in a row that the Fury have finished the month of October with an undefeated record...Muskegon has at least one power play goal in each of their first seven games...Goaltender Clayton Pool has won all three games the Fury have played on the road this season, posting a 2.33 GAA and a .917 SPCT...Muskegon has not allowed more than three goals in a game this season...Center Todd Robinson (7g, 14a) continues to lead the league in scoring. He has 367 assists in 360 career games with the Fury.

Port Huron Flags - (1-1-1) - The Flags snapped their five-game winless streak with a 4-2 win vs. Quad City on Saturday...After trailing 2-0 to Kalamazoo in the third period on Sunday, Port Huron netted two goals in a span of 20 seconds to send the game to a shootout...In his first game with the Flags on Friday, defenseman Pat Sutton scored the first goal of his professional career and dished out an assist in the game...Goaltenders Noah Ruden (2.35) and Dustin Traylen (2.43) currently ranked third and fourth in GAA among UHL netminders.

Quad City Mallards - (1-1-0) - Right wing Chad Woollard (2g, 7a) has a hand in nine of the Mallards 11 goals this season...The line of Woollard, Glenn Detulleo, and Matt Radoslovich accounted for four of the five Mallard goals during the two-game week...Quad City killed off 19 opponent power plays in the last two games...After trailing 2-0 on Thursday to Bloomington, the Mallards scored three unanswered goals, including two in the final 5:29 to earn their first victory of the season...Rookie forward Ray Smegal scored his first professional goal in the win.

Rockford IceHogs - (1-1-0) - The IceHogs have out-shot their opponents in all six games this season. They have out-shot by a total of 251-171, the largest margin in the UHL...They lead the league averaging 41.83 shots per game...Winger Jesse Bennefield has a point in five of six games this season...Winger Robin Big Snake is on a six-game penalty streak...Rockford has committed the second fewest minor penalties (48) in the league this season... The IceHogs have allowed just two power play goals on 21 opportunities (90.5%) at home, but allowed seven of 17 (58.8%) on the road this season.

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International Hockey League 2 Stories from October 30, 2006


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