Jackals Take Two of Three In 5-Day Road Trip

November 8, 2004 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Elmira Jackals News Release


Week 4 Game Results:

11/3/04 JACKALS 4 - Richmond 2

Richmond, VA - The Elmira Jackals recorded their first road win of the season Wednesday morning as they defeated the Richmond Riverdogs 4-2 at the Richmond Coliseum.

In front of 3,159 fans, mostly Richmond-area middle school students, the Jackals seemed the better team at 10:30 am. Elmira was very opportunistic with their chances in the opening period, scoring twice on the power play to open a 2-0 lead after twenty minutes. UHL leading power play goal scorer and Sher-Wood Player of the Month for October Jason Sessa scored his 6th power play goal at 9:00, as he smartly maneuvered past the fallen Jeff Sanger and slotted the puck into the net; assists came from Trevor Burgess and George Pujacs. Later in the period defenseman Vaclav Zavoral snapped a wrist shot over the catching glove of Sanger from Jeff Antonovich and Burgess at 15:18 for a 2-0 lead.

The Riverdogs were given a late wake-up call in period number two when Ryan Prentice scored a shorthanded goal to spoil Greg Hewitt's shutout bid and to bring Richmond back within one. The Jackals killed off 6 minutes of penalties in the first 8 minutes of the middle frame, including a minute and a half 5-on-3 to start the period, but conceded the goal to Prentice with a mere 33 seconds left on the clock.

Not to be outdone by Sessa's first period scoring, Greg Koehler took it upon himself to take charge in the final period. Koehler corralled a rebound from a Burgess shot from the point and zipped the puck past Sanger for a 3-1 lead at 5:19, which would be the eventual game winner. The Riverdogs again made things interested when they made it 3-2 at 16:57 when Jonathan Gagnon's wrap-around shot slipped through Hewitt's pads. But Koehler would ice the game at 18:18 with his second goal of the game, a power play strike assisted by Burgess and Jamie Thompson. Although Koehler would deservingly be named the game's #1 star, Burgess' 4-assist game cannot go unnoticed.

Hewitt made 31 saves on 33 Richmond shots for his 6th victory of the year, while Sanger stopped just 18-of-22 in goal for the Riverdogs.

11/5/04 Jackals 5 - Port Huron 3

Port Huron, MI - The Elmira Jackals, led by Jeff Antonovich's two-goal performance, overcame a 2-0 deficit to beat the Port Huron Beacons Friday night 5-3. Meeting for the first time since last year's Eastern Conference Finals, the Jackals were eager to take advantage of Port Huron's slow start at McMorran Place Arena. But after a scoreless first period, it was the Beacons who scored first. Nine minutes into the second periods Trevor Edwards opened the scoring, getting assists from Nick Lees and Chris Slater. Two minutes later on the power play Lees, who was appearing in his first ever game for Port Huron, gave his team a 2-0 lead from Edwards and Andrew Shier.

It was said in the arena that the Beacons had just played their best period of hockey this season and the fans were wound up at McMorran, but none of them were prepared for Elmira's third period response. Elmira scored four straight goals to open the period and out-scored Port Huron 5-1 in the final 20 minutes. Jeff Antonovich started things off at 1:45 as he poked in a rebound from Darren Van Oene and Adam Nittel. After bombarding Stu Dunn in the Port Huron net, the Jackals got the equalizer from an unlikely source. Former Beacon defenseman Simon Poirier took a shot from the blue line off a face off that slipped past Dunn at 10:00; assisted by Greg Koehler and Jamie Thompson.

But the story of the third period was the Antonovich, Van Oene, and Nittel line which had its best offensive night to date. Antonovich scored his second goal of the game at 11:27, again assisted by Van Oene and Nittel, to put Elmira into a 3-2 lead. The onslaught continued as Jason Sessa scored his 7th power play goal of the year at 14:53 from Trevor Burgess and Van Oene to cap four straight goals by the Jackals. Only the stellar play of Lees broke the ever rushing tide of Elmira attacking pressure. Lees scored his second goal of the contest by skating through the defense and beating goaltender Greg Hewitt between the pads to cut the lead to 4-3 at 17:20. But this game had been snatched away and now belonged to the Jackals.

The "next mayor of Elmira" Eddy Lowe zipped in an empty net goal from the red line with 34 seconds remaining in the game to put the Beacons to bed; assists on the final goal went to Hewitt and Carl Drakensjo.

Hewitt looked sharp as usual as he recorded his 7th win of the season, moving Elmira's 1st place Eastern Division record to 7-3-0 on the year; he finished the game with 23 saves on 26 Port Huron shots. Dunn made 24 saves on 29 Elmira shots in the loss.

11/6/04 KALAMAZOO 5 - Jackals 3

Kalamazoo, MI - The Kalamazoo Wings scored five-straight goals Saturday night as they downed the Elmira Jackals 5-3 at Wings Stadium.

The exact opposite to the previous night in Port Huron, it was the Jackals who took the early lead only to have it foiled by Kalamazoo. Elmira got on the scoreboard at 12:53 of the first period when Jeff Antonovich scored his third goal in two games, a one-timer from a Jamie Thompson pass. Jason Sess also earned an assist on the goal.

In the second period, Elmira made it 2-0 on their only power play chance of the game. UHL leading scorer Greg Koehler lit the lamp at 7:38, with just two seconds remaining on Tim Turner's penalty, again assisted by Thompson and Sessa. The Jackals held the two goal lead for most of the period until a late power play goal sparked a flood of five straight Kalamazoo goals. Daniel Carriere scored at 17:44 from Ryan Barnes and Andrew Luciuk to cut the lead in half. Then as time expired David Hukalo's shot found the net and referee Mike Mondalek ruled that it had beated the buzzer, tying the game at two.

The Wings carried their momentum into the final twenty minutes and took their first lead when Hukalo scored his second goal of the game on the power play at 3:14 from Tom Ditzer and Yannick Carpentier. Five minutes later it was 4-2 courtesy of a Tim Turner wrist shot. Kalamazoo scored their 5th goal at 10:10 of the period on an Andrew Luciuk backhand shot, giving the Wings a 5-2 lead. Elmira got one back two minutes later when defenseman Simon Poirier one-timed the puck over the catching glove of Wings' goalie Chad Alban; Poirier's second goal in as many games, assisted by Antonovich and Nathan Gillies.

Alban earned Kalamazoo's 5th win of the season as he stopped 23-of-26 in goal, while Greg Hewitt turned away a colossal 45-of-50 K-Wings shots. Perhaps a big key to the game was the power play chances, Kalamazoo was 2-for-5, while Elmira scored a goal on their only time on the man-advantage.

JACKALS PLAYER AND GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK: (WEEK 4)

Jeff Antonovich - C 3 GP, 3 goals, 2 assists, 5 pts, +2

Center Jeff Antonovich had a return to form this week as he broke out for his first three goals of the season, and added two assists. Wednesday morning in Richmond he began his revival with an assist in Elmira's 4-2 over the Riverdogs. Friday night in Port Huron, Antonovich two-goals led a 5-goal third period, where the Jackals came back from a 2-0 deficit after two periods to win 5-3. Saturday in Kalamazoo, the Coleraine, Minnesota native scored his third goal in two games to give Elmira a 1-0 lead in the first period. He added an assist on Simon Poirier's third period goal in the Jackals 5-3 loss to the K-Wings. The 29-year old's big weekend helped him regain the 8th place position on the Jackals All-Time Scoring chart, just one game after Carl Drakensjo had passed him.

Greg Hewitt - G 3 GP, 2-1-0, 3.33 GAA, .908 SV%, 99 saves

Greg Hewitt finished the week with another fantastic show of both goaltending and sheer endurance. The London, Ontario native began the week with a 31 save performance in the Jackals 4-2 victory over the Richmond Riverdogs Wednesday morning. He then stood his ground Friday night in Port Huron, helping Elmira overcome a 2-0 deficit after two periods to win the game 5-3, in the first meeting of the two teams since last year's Eastern Conference Finals. The win was Hewitt's UHL leading 7th victory of the season, and the goaltender has appeared in 10 of the Jackals' first 11 games this season. Saturday night in Kalamazoo Hewitt was bombarded with 50 shots on goal, and the 27-year old stopped a season high 45 shots in a 5-3 loss.

JACKAL BITES:

* MUSICAL CHAIRS - The Jackals All-Time Scoring Chart Shuffle continues. After his 5 point week, C Jeff Antonovich is now tied with Mike Hofstrand for 7th on the list with 88 career points for Elmira.

* HE'S TOP 5 CALIBER - D Trevor Burgess has hit two milestones in one week. The Captain has crossed the 100 point plateau, thanks to a 4-assist game against Richmond. Burgess has 102 career points for Elmira and that helped him pass Greg Olsen to take over 5th place on the Jackals All-Time Scoring Chart.

* DISHING OUT GOALS - LW Jamie Thompson is currently riding the wave of a 3-game assist streak. Starting against Richmond last Wednesday, Thompson has 4 assists over the last three contests and 14 points overall this season.

* FLYING HIGH AT THE FIRST ARENA - LW Jamie Thompson has an even better streak going this season. Thompson has scored at least one point in every home game this season, equating to a 7-game home scoring streak, amassing 10 points in the process that began on opening night (10/15/04).

* TEAM GOALS - The Jackals scored 12 goals in three games this past week, putting them in a tie with the Rockford IceHogs for the UHL league lead in Goals scored by a team. Both Rockford and Elmira have scored 42 goals as a team so far this season.

* JACKALS LEADING THE WAY - Elmira can be proud to have some impressive individual scorers currently on their roster. C Greg Koehler and RW Jason Sessa are tied for the UHL lead with 18 points each, while D Trevor Burgess is tied with Adirondack's Scott Drevitch for the League lead in scoring by a defenseman, each with 9 points this year.

NEWS AND NOTES:

Elmira Jackals Team Leaders:

Goals: Greg Koehler (10)
Assists: Jamie Thompson (10)
Points: Jason Sessa, Greg Koehler (18)
Plus/Minus: Jason Sessa (+3)
Penalty Minutes: Chris Shaw (45)
Power Play Goals: Jason Sessa (7)
Short Handed Goals: Carl Drakensjo, Jamie Thompson (1)
Shots: Jason Sessa (41)
Shooting Percentage: Carl Drakensjo (30.0%)
Saves: Greg Hewitt (342)
Wins: Greg Hewitt (7)
GAA: Greg Hewitt (3.40)
Save Percentage: Greg Hewitt (.910)

Live Jersey Auction

The Jackals will be holding a LIVE auction following Saturday night's game with the Motor City Mechanics. On the block will be the special edition 5th Anniversary commemorative jerseys that will be worn by the team for the three home games this week. Potential bidders must be at the game in order to participate in this auction.

Jackals Jam

Don't forget to log on to Jackalshockey.com to voice your opinion on the next planned Skills Segment for Jackals Jam. Broadcaster Owen Newkirk will be going over the art of Fighting, and we want your feedback on which player you would like to see "rough up" the voice of the Jackals. Jackals Jam airs every Sunday night at 11:00 pm on WENY-TV (ABC).

GOALS FOR THE GLOVE HOUSE UPDATE:

Jamie Thompson added to his point total Friday night in the Goals for Glove House Fundraiser. The Jackals forward dished out four assists in three road games this past week for Elmira. Through eleven games Jamie has fourteen points coming on four goals and ten assists, putting him in a 6-player tie for 10th in scoring in the UHL.

With each point that Jamie makes throughout the season he and Harding Harley-Davidson are asking you to pledge a gift to support Glove House programs and services.

To be a part of the fundraiser just fill out a pledge form at any of the convenient locations list below and drop your form in the box provided at each location. Jamie's points will be tallied at the end of the season determining your gift to help our communities children and families.

You can fill out a pledge card at any of the following locations throughout the season:
The DogHouse Jackals Merchandise Shop
Harding Harley-Davidson
Select Jackals Home Games
Glove House
Dick's Sporting Goods
Cappy's
Club Nautilus
Pal's Sports Center
Klein's All-Sports

Coach's Show

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 center Jeff Antonovich and left wing Darren Van Oene for the broadcast. Tune in on WiNGZ 104.9 FM or stream it online at www.jackalshockey.com - Fans are encouraged to email their questions for any of the Coach's Show participants to jackalshockey@jackalshockey.com no later than 3 pm on Tuesday.



International Hockey League 2 Stories from November 8, 2004


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