Jackals Take Two out of Three on Weekend

Published on March 4, 2003 under ECHL (ECHL)
Elmira Jackals News Release


It was the best of weekends, it was the worst of weekends, but overall, the Jackals took two out of three games against Eastern Conference opponents to start a stretch of five straight games at home. The Jackals beat Port Huron and Flint Friday and Saturday, respectively, but continued to struggle against the Adirondack IceHawks, posting their lone loss of the weekend on Sunday against the birds from Glens Falls. 2/28/03 JACKALS 5 – Beacons 2

The Jackals opened the weekend against a Port Huron team that had gone 6-2-0 under new head coach Bruce Ramsay on Friday night, but one of those previous defeats was in Ramsay's first game as head coach against the Jackals on Valentine's Day.

The Jackals opened the scoring just 30 seconds into the game when Kris Mallette put a shot through traffic and over the left shoulder of goaltender Kory Cooper for his second of the season from Eddy Lowe and Corey Neilson. Port Huron would retaliate, however, when Bobby McKillop found the twine behind Marco Emond at 11:24 to make it 1-1 after the opening frame.

Elmira took over in the second period, scoring three times to move ahead 4-1. Glenn Stewart scored at 6:57 from Randy Murphy, and then Aaron Phillips followed with a power play goal at 10:32 from Stewart and Murphy. Stewart would net his second of the night to round out the second stanza scoring, with help from Murphy and Phillips at 18:38.

In the third, Port Huron scored quickly, trying to get back in the game. Derek Wood's goal at 1:39 moved the Beacons to within 4-2, but a Mike Thompson goal proved to be the backbreaker at 11:17. Eddy Lowe chipped in the helper to complete the 5-2 win. Marco Emond stopped 20 of 22 Beacon shots for the win, while Kory Cooper was once again saddled with the loss, turning aside 31 of 36 shots.

3/1/03 JACKALS 7 – Generals 5

The Jackals aren't the type of team that gets involved in offensive slugfests very often, but Saturday night was one of those times at the Coach USA Center. Of course, if you were to pick a team that would fit that type of profile, the Flint Generals are an immediate forerunner. Both teams combined for 12 goals in the Jackals' 7-5 win.

Elmira opened the scoring at 4:51 of the first period when Brad Wingfield lit the lamp from Rob Guinn and David Lessard. Mike Thompson doubled the lead to 2-0 when he beat Flint goaltender Paxton Schafer at 8:14 from Corey Neilson and Eddy Lowe. Jim Duhart replied immediately, drawing the game within one at 8:35. But Neilson would score on the power play for Elmira at 10:47 from Lesssard and goalie Marco Emond to grab the two-goal lead back. Flint once again responded, as they would all night, crawling back to within a goal at 11:06 on Tom Perry's goal to make it 3-2. The Jackals would chase Schafer, however, on Wingfield's second of the night at 11:58 from Mike Hofstrand. The Flint starter only stopped four of eight shots before being replaced by Sean Weaver. The opening period ended with Elmira in front 4-2, as Weaver saw only two shots the remainder of the way.

The second period featured three more goals, with Flint once again narrowing the gap to a goal at 2:29 when Jay Woodcroft scored to make it 4-3, but Elmira came right back with a Glenn Stewart marker at 9:21 from Hofstrand and Aaron Phillips to regain the two goal edge. The Jackals pushed it to a 6-3 lead before the end of the second period on a Phillips marker at 18:23 from Neilson and Randy Murphy. Through two periods of play, Elmira was out shooting Flint 22-14.

The Generals made a game of it once again in the third, scoring twice to pull within a goal again. Dale Greenwood scored twice, the first coming at 4:42, and the next at 9:06, to make the Jackals sweat. But Murphy would score at 15:42 from Phillips and Stewart to push the game out of reach, and Elmira skated off with a 7-5 victory. Emond stopped 22 of 27 Flint shots for the win, while Weaver blocked 20 of 23 in relief of Schafer.

3/2/03 JACKALS 1 – IceHawks 4

The Jackals looked to complete the weekend sweep against Adirondack on Sunday in matinee action. But the IceHawks came in and scored three times in the first period to build a lead the Jackals couldn't overcome to spoil the bid.

Dominic Chiasson started the scoring with his 50th of the year, an unassisted goal at 5:30 of the first period. Elmira's only spark of life came from Aaron Phillips, whose goal was his 27th of the year to tie him for the team lead with Glenn Stewart. R.C. Lyke and Randy Murphy picked up assists on the goal. Adirondack would grab two more goals from J.C. Ruid at 10:21 and Alex Dumas at 17:59 to make it 3-1 IceHawks after one period of play.

There was no scoring in the second, and the IceHawks cemented the win with the lone goal of the third. Bogdan Rudenko's 27th of the year from Hugo Belanger and James Patterson salted the game away at 4:49 for a 4-1 Adirondack victory. Marco Emond took the loss, stopping 22 of 26 shots, while Martin Villeneuve turned aside 34 of 35 Jackal attempts.

* * *

Elmira looks to finish up a five game home stand this week against Fort Wayne on Thursday and Adirondack on Friday. Both games start at 7 pm, and this is the Jackals' last game against Fort Wayne this season. On Saturday, the Jackals will play in Glens Falls at the Civic Center against the IceHawks in a 7:30 pm matchup. Tickets for this weekend's and all remaining Jackal home games may be purchased through the Coach USA Center Box Office, open 10 am to 6 pm Monday – Friday, and 10 am to 4 pm on Saturday. Seats may also be obtained through all TicketMaster locations, on line at www.TicketMaster.com, or charge by phone at (607) 722-3711.

STEWART WINS PLAYER OF THE MONTH HONORS FOR FEBRUARY!

Stewart led all Jackal scorers during the month of February, and had four and eight game scoring streaks with in the month. Stewart notched a trio of three-point games, and scored multiple points in 10 of 12 games in which his name found the score sheet. Stewart also finished even or better in all but one contest during February, the exception being a 4-1 loss to the Adirondack IceHawks on 2/8/03.

PLAYER AND GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK NOMINATIONS:

Aaron Phillips – RW 3 GP, 3-2-5, +2 rating, 12 shots, one PP goal, two game winners.

Phillips scored the game-winning goal in both Jackal wins this weekend, his 5th and 6th game winners of the year. That leaves him one short of the team mark set by Greg Olsen in 2000-01. Phillips is currently tied for the team league in goals with Glenn Stewart at 27.

Marco Emond – G 2-1-0, 3.66 GAA, .853 save %, 1 assist, 64 saves on 75 shots

Emond found a way to win two out of three this weekend for the Jackals, facing 75 shots total for the week. He also picked up an assist on the Jackals' third goal against Flint on Saturday.

JACKAL BITES:

- Marco Emond's next win will tie him with Christian Soucy for wins in a single season. Soucy recorded 29 wins in the 2001-02 campaign for Elmira.

- The Jackals' streak of consecutive games with a power play goal ended on Sunday vs. Adirondack. Elmira had marked with the man advantage in eight straight contests, dating from 2/14 vs. PTH until Saturday vs. FLT. Over that stretch, the team recorded 10 man up goals on 29 advantages for a 34.5% effectiveness rating.

- Randy Murphy has already broken his previous season high assist mark (48) for the Jackals with 52 helpers so far, and is closing on David Lessard's team record for points. Lessard notched 81 points last season, and Murphy currently has 76 points with 12 games remaining. Murphy also now owns the Jackal record for power play goals in a season with 12 so far this year.

- Glenn Stewart was held without a point on Sunday to snap an eight game scoring streak. Stewart gathered 8-7-15 over that span, scoring multiple points in six of those eight games. He is currently second on the Jackals in scoring, and tied for first in goals with Aaron Phillips (27).

- Elmira's last six regulations losses have all come against either Adirondack or Fort Wayne, dating back to Jan. 18th.

- The Jackals face only one Western Conference opponent for the rest of the year, but they play them three times. The Jackals visit Kalamazoo to play the Wings on 14 and 15 March, while the K-Wings come to the Jackals for one game on 21 March.

NEWS AND NOTES:

The Elmira Jackals Coach's Show will air live from Patrick's, 303 College Ave. on Tuesday at 7 pm. Along with Jackals Head Coach Todd Brost, Tom Callahan, and WiNZ's Joe Munroe, Marco Emond and Aaron Phillips are scheduled for the broadcast. Tune it in on your home for Jackals Hockey, WiNGZ 104.9!

Jody Robinson remains with Bridgeport of the American Hockey League. Robinson, who has been on recall since 2/7/03, has two assists and a +2 rating in 13 games.

The Burgess Family welcomed new addition Evan on Thursday back in Ottawa. He is the second child in the family. The Burgess' already have a daughter Vanessa, age 6. Trevor is expected to rejoin the team on Wednesday.

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