Louisiana game notes at Arkansas

January 14, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Louisiana IceGators News Release


IceGators at RiverBlades – Coming off just their second regulation loss to Arkansas this season on January 3 in North Little Rock, tonight Louisiana tries to rebound with a victory. The IceGators, who are 0-1-1 in their last two trips into ALLTEL Arena, are 4-2-2 this season against the RiverBlades. In the last meeting on January 3, Mike Cirillo and Jason Bermingham each scored two goals and Jason Saal made 28 saves in a 5-2 victory in a game that was much closer than the score indicated. Nathan Rempel tied the game at 2-2 early in the second before Bermingham's second tally of the game midway through the stanza put Arkansas back on top. The score stayed that way until Cirillo lit the lamp with 4:33 gone in the third. He added his second goal at 13:12 to cap the scoring. Frederic Cloutier made 29 saves to take the loss. Louisiana's success this season has moved the IceGators, who play host to Arkansas on Sunday, to 18-8-5 all-time against the RiverBlades. In North Little Rock, Louisiana is 8-4-3.

Thursday night – Bruce Richardson tied his career-high with five points (2g, 3a) and rookie Kyle Kettles began his stint as a No. 1 goalie with a bang, making 30 saves for his franchise record-tying second straight shutout, as the Louisiana IceGators pounded the Columbus Cottonmouths 7-0 at the Cajundome. The victory was IceGators head coach and vice president of hockey operations Dave Farrish's 400th career coaching victory, and came just two days after IceGators front office volunteer Rhonda Crain Franklin died at the age of 36. There was plenty of support to go around for Kettles, besides Richardson. Bobby Brown and Daniel Goneau each had a goal and two assists, while Cal Benazic and Chris Taliercio each added a goal and a helper. Rod Sarich chipped in his second pro goal.

Scouting the RiverBlades – Arkansas is a roll since a 6-2 loss in the Cajundome on December 21, going 5-1-2 in next eight games, culminating in a 4-2 home win over Mississippi on Friday in the fourth game of a five-game homestand that wraps up tonight. Friday against Mississippi, Matt Pagnutti had a goal and two assists, while Buddy Smith and Terry Marchant each added two helpers. Jason Saal made 21 saves for the win, helping Arkansas turn aside six of seven Mississippi power plays. Smith, Arkansas' All-Star starter, has been on fire all year and he lead the team with 57 points (19g, 38a), a total that has him tied with Louisiana's Bruce Richardson for second in the ECHL. Jason Bermingham (20g, 25a) and Ernie Hartlieb (17g, 26a) are also averaging more than a point per game. The strong blueliner corps is led by Eric Long (6g, 26a) and Pagnutti (11g, 22a), who have combined for 14 power-play goals. Saal is the go-to guy in net, having gone 15-10-6 with a 3.05 goals against average in 31 games. He is backed up by rookie Jimi St. John, who is 5-3-1 with a 3.36 goals against average.

Kettles needs 14:02 of shutout play to set new franchise mark – Kyle Kettles' shutout streak is up to 153:07, just 14:01 shy of tying Frederic Cloutier's club-record 167:08 mark. Cloutier has the top three shutout streaks in team history - 167:08 (Oct. 26-Nov. 10 of last season); 161:56 (March 2-March 12) and 157:38 (11/30-12/9). The longest shutout streak ever by an ECHL netminder is 236:03, by Hampton Roads' Darryl Paquette in the 1996-97 season.

Team shutout streak nearly a record as well - The IceGators' team shutout streak, dating back to a 5-2 loss in Arkansas on November 8, is up to 126:48, which is the third best in team history and just 16:52 away from tying the franchise record. Louisiana's longest shutout streak was from November 3-10 of last season by Marc Magliarditi and Frederic Cloutier (143:40). The duo also combined for a 142:15 streak from November 23-29. The previous third longest streak was 123:45, set over the final two-plus games of last season. Louisiana has never recorded three straight shutouts and is just 60 minutes away from doing so. The IceGators had their first two sets of back-to-back shutouts last season.

Watch these four guys closely – The RiverBlades' quartet of Buddy Smith, Jason Bermingham, Matt Pagnutti and Ernie Hartlieb have combined for 52 of the team's 83 points against Louisiana this season. The foursome has notched 62.7 percent of Arkansas' scoring output versus the IceGators.

A matchup to watch – Shawn McNeil and Jason Saal have a friendly rivalry that went back to Saal's days with the IceGators in 2000-01. This season alone, McNeil has seven goals against Saal.

Not afraid to go the extra mile – The IceGators have gone to overtime 14 games this season, most in the ECHL. The IceGators are 3-4 in overtime games and 3-4 in games decided in a shootout. Louisiana is 3-2 after regulation at home but just 3-6 on the road. The most times that the IceGators have gone into overtime or a shootout in one season is 18, in 1999-2000. That season, Louisiana was 9-9, including a 7-3 home mark. The ECHL record for most overtime/shootout games in a season is 25, by Toledo in the 1995-96 campaign.

Three straight decided in regulation – Louisiana has played three straight games that have ended in regulation for the first time since November 28-30.

McNeil closing in on Parsons – Shawn McNeil's 115 goals as an IceGator rank him two behind Don Parsons for fourth place on the team's all-time list. Also, McNeil's 139 assists are 13 behind John DePourcq for fourth on the IceGators' ledgers. McNeil has passed Ron Handy (132) and Louis Dumont (137) on the assist list this season, while he got by Dumont on the goal list.

Kettles unbeaten in 10 – Kyle Kettles is in the midst of a 10-game unbeaten in regulation streak (6-0-4) and hasn't lost in regulation in more than two months, since a 4-3 loss in Columbus on November 2. Kettles currently ranks second in the ECHL among goaltenders with a 2.29 goals against average and fourth with a .924 save percentage. Kettles' two recent outings, wins of 5-0 and 7-0, have been welcomed relief. Prior to the two games, each of Kettles' last five games had gone into overtime or a shootout.

Richardson's five-point game was his second - Bruce Richardson's other five-point game also came against Columbus, a four-goal, one-assist performance in a 7-3 win at the Cajundome on November 23. Richardson, who picked up the 25th five or more point game in team history, is just the fourth player to have more than one such game in a season in team history. Richardson also joins John Spoltore (five), Chris Valicevic (four), Don Parsons (three), Jon DePourcq (two) and Jay Murphy (two) as IceGators with more than two career five-point games.

Corupe at 99 points – IceGators center Kenny Corupe, coming off his second two-goal game of the season Saturday against Baton Rouge, is one point away from 100 in his pro career. In 160 games, Corupe has 39 goals and 60 assists. Corupe showing up on the scoresheet has been ultra important to the IceGators this season. The team is 5-0-3 when Corupe has a goal and 12-0-4 when he has a point.

McNeil leads all ECHL goal scorers, since 2000-01 – Shawn McNeil has more goals than any other ECHL player since the beginning of the 2000-01 season. McNeil has 88 goals, four more than former teammate Jay Murphy, who is currently on IR with Greensboro. Below are the players with the most ECHL goals since the 2000-01 season.

1. McNeil 88 Louisiana 3t. Williamson 74 Augusta

2. Murphy 84 Greensboro 7. Schneider 71 CHL – Laredo

3t. Bousquet 74 NA 8t. Tiltgen 70 WCHL – San Diego

3t. Sirois 74 Pee Dee 8t. Seitz 70 South Carolina

3t. Demarski 74 Greenville 10t. Two tied 68

Boogaard living up to expectations, and more – IceGators winger Derek Boogaard, who scored his first pro goal Saturday, came to the team with the reputation as the top enforcer in Canada's western junior hockey ranks, and he hasn't disappointed. Boogaard has 90 penalty minutes in eight games, picking up at least one penalty in each game for the third longest current streak in the ECHL. If Boogaard continues his current pace, he would finish the 2002-03 season with 443.3 penalty minutes in just 42 games, which would be the second-highest penalty-minute season in team history. Louisiana's Rob McCaig had 512 penalty minutes in 1995-96. If you project Boogaard's current pace out on a 72-game season, he would finish with 760 penalty minutes.

A lineup that clicks – Daniel Goneau has 17 goals, and Bruce Richardson has an assist on 11 of them. Goneau has also helped out on eight of Richardson's 18 tallies.

Quick hits

· Tonight will be Kyle Kettles' first start against Arkansas. Frederic Cloutier played the previous eight games against the RiverBlades, going 4-2-2 with a 3.49 goals against average.

· Former IceGator Jason Saal is 6-6-4 lifetime with a 3.68 goals against average and a .892 save percentage against Louisiana.

· All three of Eric Long's goals this season against Louisiana have come on the power play. He is second on the team in man-advantage goals versus the IceGators. Jason Bermingham has four power-play goals.

· Cal Benazic's 11 goals are second among ECHL blueliners, one behind Columbia's Corey Hessler.

· The IceGators are 17-1-4 when yielding one or less power play goals this season, but they are 6-7-4 when allowing two or more.



ECHL Stories from January 14, 2003


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