USHL Omaha Lancers

Lancers Gameday

March 10, 2007 - United States Hockey League (USHL)
Omaha Lancers News Release


The Lancers return to the Pepsi Coliseum one more tonight to meet the Indiana Ice in a 7:05 PM Eastern time contest. Tonight's game is the final game of the regular season for the two teams, and the Lancers, having already clinched the regular season series edge, will go for a four-game sweep of Indiana.

The Lancers enter tonight's contest with a record of 29-13-4 for 62 points and first place in the USHL West Division (first place in the overall league standings). The Lancers lead second-place Sioux City and Lincoln in the West Division standings by three points. A 15-game non-loss streak is on the line this weekend, as the Lancers have gone 13-0-2 since mid-January. It's the longest active streak of games without a regulation time defeat, and the longest streak of its type overall this season. Ten games of that skein have come on the road, the longest active streak of its type in the USHL, dating back to January 19th. On the road, Omaha is 15-7-3 and bring a two-game winning streak to the rink tonight. The two-game win streak is tied for the second-longest active streak in the USHL. Both wins in the current streak have also come on the road, the longest active streak of its type in the league. After tonight's game, the Lancers return home to host Cedar Rapids on Friday, March 16th and Des Moines on Saturday, March 17th.

The Ice enters tonight's play with a record of 22-19-5 for 49 points and third place in the USHL East Division chase. Indiana is five points in front of fourth-place Green Bay in the East Division standings and ten points behind second-place Cedar Rapids. Indiana is 15-5-3 in home games this season, but are 3-6-1 in its last ten contests and will be looking tonight to stop a three-game losing skid.

RECENT HISTORY

The Lancers won the first two games of the season series with the Ice with a sweep of games at the Mid-America Center, both by scores of 4-1 on December 15th and again on December 16th.

In the first game, four separate players scored goals, including Patrick Schafer and Corey Toy. Schafer, Robby Dee, and Mark Olver each finished with two points for the night, as Schafer and Dee scored goals and Olver provided two assists. In his first game as a Lancer goaltender, Drew Palmisano stopped 19 of 20 shots in earning the victory in net.

In Saturday's victory, Olver and Adam Comrie each scored goals and each added a pair of assists apiece for a three-point night for each player. Schafer added another goal and another assist for two more points and Toy went plus-three for the game. Palmisano earned another victory in the crease for the Lancers with a one-goal, 25 save effort.

In the 2005-06 season, the Lancers won four of five meetings with Indiana (4-1-0, eight points), with Schafer scoring two goals in the five games. In the 2004-05 campaign, the Lancers were 3-1-0 in four games. In the overall series between Omaha and Indiana, the Lancers lead by a margin of 9-2-0. The Lancers have never lost in Indiana since the Ice came to Indiana from Danville, Illinois, when they were called the Danville Wings and played one season in the USHL. In that season, the Lancers went 3-0-1 against the Wings.

LANCERS REWIND

Two goals in twenty seconds, both coming from forward Andrew Conboy, sparked the Lancers to a 7-3 victory over the Indiana Ice in Indianapolis on Friday, March 9th.

After Eric Kattelus opened the scoring for Indiana just 1:34 into the first period for a 1-0 first intermission lead, Conboy scored the first of his two goal flurry at 2:09 of the second period, followed by his second goal at 2:29, for a 2-1 Lancer lead. Barry Almeida added to that margin with a power play goal, his seventh goal of the year and his second power play score, at 12:29 of the middle frame for a 3-1 second intermission advantage.

The eventual game-winning goal came off the stick of Ben Arnt, his eighth goal of the season, at 5:46 of the third period for a 4-1 lead, which became 5-1, when Mark Olver scored his team-leading 23rd goal of the year at 12:16, just one second after Eric Olimb returned to the ice after serving a penalty for Indiana.

The Ice fought back with goals from Nick Bailen and Brent Gwidt to bring the game back within two goals at 5-3, but the Lancers finished the game off with scores from Pat Schafer (15th) and Travis Novak (6th) for the final score of 7-3 for the Lancers.

Indiana won the shot clock battle with 33 shots on goal to the Lancers' 31, but winning goaltender Drew Palmisano stopped 30 shots on net in getting his 16th win of the year (16-8-4, 15-2-1 with Omaha). Alex Kangas suffered the loss for Indiana with a 24 save, seven goal performance.

Omaha was 1-for-5 on the power play, while Indiana went 0-for-7.

LANCERS ARE GOING FOR 30

A win by the Lancers tonight would be significant in that it would be win number 30 and continue a streak that dates back to the 1992-93 season. The Omaha/River City Lancer organization has not gone without a 30 win season since a Mike Guentzel-coached team won 35 games in his first year as coach, while winning both the 1993 Anderson Cup and the Clark Cup championships. Guentzel would coach another Clark Cup winner the next season, before Mike Hastings took over and posted a 30-14-4 record in his first season as Lancer coach. That continued the 30-win watermark which has never been breached since. The 2001-02 Lancer team posted a 46-12-3 mark, winning the West Division title and the Anderson Cup championship.

OLVER BACK ON TRACK

After being shut off the scoresheet on February 24th at Chicago, Mark Olver has returned to stat sheet in a big way, with one goal and four points in his last two games, including a three point night last evening against the Ice. The Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada native is now one points of moving into the USHL's top-ten of scoring leaders with 23 goals and 50 points. Olver is tied for sixth place among goal scoring leaders and is tied for third among plus-minus leaders at plus-23. Olver's two shorthanded goals put him tied for sixth in that area and he's also tied for second in the league in game-winning goals at five. The Northern Michigan recruit is fifth in the USHL in shots on goals at 161. Olver has scored two goals and has eight points in three games against Indiana. Mark has the fourth-longest overall point streak in the league, posting 23 points in 11 games between January 19th and February 23rd.

ALMEIDA ON A TEAR

Lancer forward Barry Almeida scored a power play goal in last night's win against the Ice, giving him six goals in his last four games. The goal-scoring streak is the longest active streak in the USHL. The Springfield, Massachusetts native also has collected 10 points in his last four games. Almeida is a Boston College recruit, who came to Omaha at mid-season after recovering from an eye injury suffered early last summer. He has played 17 games with the Lancers.

THURBER ON A ROLL

Another assist for Matt Thurber last night has given him five in his last three games, dating back to a game in Chicago on February 24th. The Wisconsin recruit from Beaver Dam, Wisconsin also has 13 points in his last eight contests, dating back to February 6th. That's the longest active point streak in the USHL

PALMISANO CONTINUES HIS INDIANA MASTERY

Lancer goaltender Drew Palmisano continued his mastery of the Indiana Ice while in a Lancer uniform in last night's 7-3 victory. Palmisano stopped 30 of 33 shots on goal, and had allowed only one goal until the 15 mark of the final period last night, when the Ice scored two goals in two minutes, before the Lancers put the contest away with two matching goals later in the game. The win was Palmisano's third straight win over Indiana this season with Omaha. In those three games, Drew has posted a scintillating 1.67 goals-against-average and has a .937 save percentage. For the season, Palmisano has a 16-8-4 record, a 2.87 goals-against-average (7th-best in the USHL), and a save percentage of .913 (fourth-best in the USHL).

BEST IN THE WEST, BEST AGAINST THE EAST

While the Lancers remain in a close battle for the top spot in the West Division of the USHL, their play against the East Division remains dominant, compared to other West Division squads. The team's 17-1-2 record against the East (36 points) is the best record in the USHL against inter-division opposition. The only blemish to their record against East remains a 4-0 shutout to Waterloo in October, and in recent weeks, shootout losses in February to Cedar Rapids and to Chicago.

LANCERS, ETC.....

In overtime games, the Lancers are 2-1, and are 5-3 in shootouts this season and are 15-5-1 when they score the first goal.

The Lancers have moved into the top five in scoring offense and scoring defense averages. Offensively, the Lancers have averaged 3.67 goals a game, while allowing an average of 3.22 goals a contest.

When leading after two periods, the Lancers are 18-1-1 and are 8-0-1 when ahead after forty minutes on the road.

Last night's four-goal outburst in the third period puts the Lancers in a long list of ten teams who have scored four times in the final period of play. It's the first time for the Lancers, while Indiana has scored four times in the final twenty minutes on two different occasions.

INDIANA ICE CHIPS

After tonight's game, the Ice will return to the Pepsi Coliseum on Wednesday night to host East Division leader Waterloo, then travel Friday to Chicago, followed by a Saturday game against the Steel in Indiana. Garrett Roe leads the Ice in scoring with 51 points, on 20 goals and 31 points. Ryan Scott is fourth in the USHL in penalty minutes with 143 for the season, followed by Ron Cramer in fifth place with 141. Scott is tied for third in the league standings for major penalties with nine. Greg Squires leads the Ice in shorthanded goals with three, putting him in a three-way tie for third place in the USHL in that category (Lancer forward Jarmo Jokila also has three shorthanded goals). Mike Embach is fourth in the USHL in minor penalties with 48. Alex Kangas leads the Indiana goaltenders with a 3.24 goals-against-average, a 16-13-5 record and a save percentage of .901. Kangas is fifth in the circuit in minutes played with 1965 and fifth in the league in saves with 967. Indiana leads the league in penalty minutes taken with 1448, minors with 454, and majors with 48. Indiana also has taken 18 ten-minute misconduct penalties and eight game-misconduct penalties. The Ice leads the USHL in average penalty minutes taken at 31.48. Indiana is 2-3 in overtime games and 1-2 in shootouts. Against the West Division this season, Indiana has an 8-11-2 record. The Ice is 16-0-1 when ahead after two periods, but 0-13-2 when trailing after one period of play. Indiana ran off a seven-game home winning streak between November 11th and January 3rd, the longest overall home winning streak of the season in the USHL. The Ice took 22 minor penalties in one game this year (February 6th) and took 130 penalty minutes in one contest on January 27th.

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