Kingfish Weekly

February 3, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Baton Rouge Kingfish News Release


Breaking through: The Kingfish broke their scoring drought on the power play in yesterday's 5-4 overtime win over the Louisiana IceGators as the Kingfish went 2-for-5 on the power play and scored on their first two opportunities. Coming into yesterday's game, the Kingfish had been 0-31 on the man advantage while going 0-7-1 in their last eight games.

I though you were a fighter? Kingfish forward Jason Norrie tallied his 18th goal of the season as he picked up the game winning overtime goal in yesterday's 5-4 win over the IceGators. Despite being known around the league as an enforcer, Norrie is just two goals shy of his career high of 20 goals in a season and has already surpassed his previous ECHL career high goal total earlier this year.

On the Board: Kingfish defenseman Tom Kaiman tallied his first professional goal in Saturday's 5-2 loss at Pensacola. Kaiman, a rookie out of Michigan Tech, began the season with Arkansas before being acquired by the Kingfish. Kaiman tallied eight goals during his four-year college career.

Jumping out to a lead: The Kingfish scored first for just the 11th time this season in Sunday's 5-4 overtime win over the IceGators. The Kingfish are 6-3-2 when scoring the first goal in a game. Before Sunday's game, the last time the Kingfish scored the first goal of the game, they beat the Pensacola Ice Pilots, 4-3 almost a month ago on

January 5, 2003.

In state rivals: The Kingfish are 3-3-2 this season against the IceGators. It's the best record against any division rival this season for the Kingfish. With four games remaining this season against the IceGators, two at home and two on the road, the Kingfish have already picked up more points and just as many wins as they did last season against the IceGators.

Against the Northwest: The Kingfish might want to think about jumping divisions and playing in the Northwest division next season. They have played some of their best hockey of the season against the Northwest division and have gone 3-1-1 this year. The Kingfish host the Peoria Rivermen this Saturday, the last opponent this season for the Kingfish from the Northwest division.

Who's on the bench? The Kingfish have been playing with a short bench for a much of January. Steve Cheredaryk and Forrest Gore remain on the 30-day IR, while Brian Leitza and Ryan Trsek are on the 7-day IR. The Kingfish also played this past weekend without Clark Jones (shoulder), Mike Perna (groin) and Dan Sullivan (personal leave).

Last Week's Games: 1-1-1, 3 pts.

January 31st, Pensacola 4, Kingfish 3 (SOL)

Pensacola jumped out to an early 2-0 lead as the Ice Pilots used 47 saves from Maxime Gingras in the win. Kevin Cloutier gave Pensacola the 1-0 lead with a shorthanded goal at the 4:10 mark of the first period. A power play goal by Trevor Allman at the 15:52 mark of the first gave the Ice Pilots a 2-0 lead after one. The Kingfish tallied two goal 38 seconds apart in the second to tie the game up. Skating four aside due to coincidental minor penalties, Jerry Gernander beat Gingras at the 6:31 mark of the second to cut the lead to one. Bryan Richardson tied the game up at two at the 7:09 mark of the middle stanza. The Ice Pilots took the 3-2 lead before the end of the second with a power play goal by Louis Dumont at the 15:29 mark of the second. Richardson tied the game up at three with 1:11 remaining in the final period. Brad Dexter tallied the only goal in the shootout to give the Ice Pilots the 4-3 shootout win. Niklas Sundberg made 46 saves in the losing effort for the Kingfish.

February 1stt, Pensacola 5, Kingfish 2

Pensacola used three second period goal to down the Kingfish, 5-2. Matt Poapst opened the scoring at the 6:34 mark of the first to give Pensacola a 1-0 lead. The Kingfish tied the game up at one on a goal by Tom Kaiman at the 12 minute mark of the period. Pensacola regained the lead before the end of the period on a power play goal by Chris Minard at the 14:10 mark of the period. Gregor Baumgartner gave the Ice Pilots a 3-1 lead at the 3:06 mark of the second; Brad Dexter's power play goal at the 5:52 mark extended the lead to three; Kevin Cloutier's shorthanded tally at the 11:17 mark of the period closed out the scoring in the second. Bryan Richardson tallied the only goal in the third period to cut the Pensacola lead back to three at the 16:40 mark of the period. Jeff Blair made 39 saves in the losing effort.

February 2, Kingfish 5, Louisiana 4 (OT)

The Kingfish scored first for just the 11th time this season on a goal by Marquis Mathieu on a 5-on-3 power play. Jerry Gernander gave the kingfish a 2-0 lead about a minute later with another power play goal. The IceGators cut the lead to one on a power play goal by Shawn Skiehar at the 11:33 mark of the first period. Shawn McNeil's power play goal at the 6:31 mark of the second period tied the game at two and Rod Sarich's power play goal at the 9:48 mark gave the Gator's the 3-2 lead midway through the second period. The Kingfish battled back as Dwayne Blais tied the game up at three as he beat Kyle Kettles at the 12:41 mark of the second. The IceGators regained the lead at the 14:01 mark on a goal by Chris Taliercio. Marquis Mathieu's break away goal just 34 second later tied the game up at four. Jason Norrie scored the game winner at the 2:48 mark of overtime to put the game away.

This Week's Games:

Friday, February 7, 2003, vs. Louisiana, 7:05 p.m. (104.5, WZRB)

Ninth meeting this season between the Kingfish and the IceGators. Kingfish are 3-3-2 against the IceGators this season and are 2-1-1 at home. The Kingfish have been outscored 30-24 overall against the IceGators this season.

Saturday, February 8, 2003, vs. Peoria, 7:05 p.m. (sportsjuice.com)

Third and final meeting this season between the Kingfish and the Rivermen. The Kingfish and Rivermen split the two earlier meetings this season in Peoria. Kingfish are 2-3-0 all time against the Rivermen.

This Week's Practice Schedule:

All practices are open to the public unless otherwise specified, Please call to verify practice times.

Monday: day off

Tuesday: 10 a.m. skate – Leo's Ice Land (near Cortana Mall)

Wednesday: no skate - conditioning

Thursday: 10 a.m. skate – Leo's Ice Land (near Cortana Mall)

Friday: Game vs. Louisiana, 7:05 face off (pre game skate approx 10 a.m.)

Saturday: Game vs. Peoria, 7:05 face off (pre game skate approx 10 a.m.)

Sunday: day off

Get Your Group On: Call the Kingfish office at 225-336-GOAL to find out about special rates and benefits for groups and birthday parties at a Kingfish game. Check out all the fun an excitement at the ‘Fish Tank' this season.

Around Town: Join a handful of Kingfish players at the Albertson's on Greenwell Springs road this Wednesday, February 5th. The Kingfish will be signing autographs from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.



ECHL Stories from February 3, 2003


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