Louisiana game notes at Texas

Published on November 26, 2003 under ECHL (ECHL)
Louisiana IceGators News Release


IceGators at Wildcatters – Louisiana makes it second trip to the new Ford Center to battle the expansion Texas Wildcatters tonight. The last time the two teams met the Wildcatters' Josh Snowden scored two goals and Davis Parley turned aside 46 shots, as Texas held on for a 4-3 victory over IceGators at the Cajundome. Ben Storey and Konstantin Kalmikov each had power play goals, Armands Berzins scored his first pro goal and Derek Gustafson finished with 18 saves for Louisiana, which saw its five-game winning streak come to an end. The IceGators ruined the Wildcatters building opener with a 3-1 win on November 8th. In that game, the teams combined for a whopping 193 penalty minutes – 113 by Texas. The Wildcatters franchise previously played in Huntington, W.Va., and is now Louisiana's closest rival (two hours down I-10). The IceGators enjoyed their meetings with the Blizzard, going 3-0-0 in the 1995-96 and 1996-97 seasons.

2003-04 IceGators/Wildcatters matchups (Second of 15 meetings; LA 1-0-0 overall, 0-0-0 home, 1-0-0 road)
Saturday, Nov. 8: Louisiana 3 at Texas 1
Saturday, Nov. 16 – Texas 4 at Louisiana 3
TONIGHT – Louisiana at Texas
Sunday, Nov. 30 – Texas at Louisiana
Friday, Dec. 5 – Texas at Louisiana
Friday, Dec. 12 – Texas at Louisiana
Friday, Jan. 16 – Louisiana at Texas
Saturday, Jan. 17 – Louisiana at Texas
Friday, Jan. 23 – Louisiana at Texas
Saturday, Jan. 24 – Texas at Louisiana
Tuesday, Feb. 3 – Texas at Louisiana
Friday, Feb. 13 – Louisiana at Texas
Sunday, Feb. 22 – Louisiana at Texas
Sunday, Feb. 29 – Texas at Louisiana
Wednesday, March 3 – Texas at Louisiana

Sunday night – Ben Storey finished with a goal and two assists and Frederic Cloutier turned aside 29 shots for his 50th win as an IceGator, as Louisiana beat the Columbus Cottonmouths 4-1 at the Cajundome. Bobby Brown, playing in his 500th pro game, also scored and Ben Kilgour and Konstantin Kalmikov added a tally apiece for Louisiana, which has won two of their last three games.

Scouting the IceGators – Louisiana hits the ice tonight having won two of its last three. After suffering a 3-2 loss to the Augusta Lynx the night before, the IceGators put four goals up on Columbus to win 4-1. Ben Storey led the way with the game-winning goal and two assists. Frederic Cloutier stopped 29 shots for his 50th win. Bobby Brown added a goal in his 500th game as a pro. Ben Kilgour and Konstantin Kalmikov added tallies in the IceGator victory. Kenny Corupe is having a breakout season thus far, averaging more than a point per game, with 15 points (3g, 12a) in 13 games. He carries an 11-game point streak and ten-game assist streak into tonight's game. In addition, he is tied for the team led in points with 15. Defenseman Ben Storey (5g, 10a), who had a goal and two assists on Sunday night, is tied for Corupe with 15 points. Bobby Brown (7g, 4a), who scored a goal Sunday in his 500th professional game, has 11 points tying him for third on the team with Konstantin Kalmikov (7g, 4a), who has seven goals – to tie with Brown for first on the team in goals – and Defenseman Josh Mizerek (0g, 11a). Louisiana's leading rookie scorers are Jamie Johnson (1g, 7a) and Ben Kilgour (3g, 2a), who has five points in eight games after beginning the season with Idaho. The IceGators defense is helping the goalies, allowing just 34.38 shots per game (sixth in the ECHL). The hot goaltending has helped Louisiana's offense, which is averaging 3.00 goals per game. Derek Gustafson is 3-3-0 with a 2.44 goals against average, while Cloutier is 6-1-0 with a 2.44 goals against average. Cloutier has won five straight. The duo has combined for a 2.23 goals against average, third in the 31-team ECHL.

Scouting the Wildcatters – Texas has just three wins in its last 12 games (3-8-1) and coming off a 4-0 loss Sunday against Mississippi. The Wildcatters, who lost their building opener to the IceGators, are 2-3 at home in their first season. The Wildcatters were shutout 3-0 in their last home game by Augusta on Saturday. Texas had a rough schedule early on waiting for its new arena to be completed, starting the season on a seven-game road trip, which came on the heels of a pre-season training camp in Idaho. The Wildcatters' most dangerous weapon on offense is Bobby Cunningham, who is averaging nearly a point per game, with 10 goals and 11 assists in 15 games. Cory Morgan (3g, 9a) and former IceGator Tony Lawrence (5g, 7a) have also reached the double-digit plateau in points. The Wildcatters have been struggling on the defensive end. Texas is yielding 4.00 goals per game, last in the 31-team ECHL. The goalies aren't actually playing badly, considering the team is allowing 38.87 shots per game. The Wildcatters netminders being tested are Jason Cugnet and Davis Parley. Parley has been the most consistent early on, going 3-3-0 with a 3.68 goals against average and a good .907 save percentage. Cugnet is 1-7-0 with a 4.26 goals against average. His best game, though, was in a 3-1 loss to the IceGators on November 8th.

IceGators' Brown plays in 500th pro game – Louisiana captain Bobby Brown played in his 500th professional contest Sunday night. Brown tallied a goal in the IceGators' 4-1 victory. Brown has 419 points (180g, 239a) in 500 pro games. Brown has played 272 of his 500 games in the ECHL and 90 more on the AHL/IHL level.

Standings update - The IceGators enter tonight's game 9-4-0 for 18 points. Louisiana is seven points behind first-place Gwinnett but with three games in hand, and two points behind second-place Mississippi with four games in hand. Texas is 4-10-1 for nine points, in sixth place in the Central Division, six points behind fourth-place Augusta.

IceGators power play on top – Louisiana enter tonight's game as the top-ranked power-play unit in the ECHL at 26.9 percent. The IceGators were 1-for-4 on the power play Sunday. Louisiana went 0-for-2 on the power play Saturday night against Augusta. It was just their second game this season without a man-advantage goal. Louisiana has scored 18 of its 37 regulation goals this season on the Louisiana Motors Pontiac power play (49 percent), with two more coming with the goalie pulled for a delayed. On the Acadiana Bottling Pepsi Penalty Kill, Louisiana is 51-of-58 (87.9 percent). That puts the IceGators, who have killed off 27 of 29 shorthanded chances in the last six games, 4th in the league.

Corupe has points in new career-best 10 games –

IceGators centerman Kenny Corupe has at least a point in 11 straight games, including one assist in ten consecutive contests. Corupe has 13 points (3g, 10a) in the last 11 games, dating back to October 24 at Florida, and has a point in all but one of the IceGators' game this season. Corupe's point streak is five better than his previous longest ECHL streak, set with Johnstown from March 9-24, 2001. His previous career-best nine-game point streak was with CHL Odessa from February 12-March 7, 2002. His ten-game assist streak is also a new career-high.

Storey has nine-game point streak – Louisiana defenseman Ben Storey has one point in nine straight games, with five goals and eight assists in that span. The nine-game point streak is five better than his previous ECHL high, set twice, most recently from February 16-22 of last season with Lexington. Storey's previous career-high point streak was five games, from December 29, 1999-January 9, 2000, with AHL Hershey.

IceGators' scoring streak is franchise best – The IceGators have scored in 153 straight regular-season games, dating back to a 1-0 shootout loss to Mike Tamburro and Jackson at the Cajundome on October 17, 2001. That's the longest regular-season streak in team history by 18 contests. Louisiana went 135 games without being shut out from the franchise's first game, on October 13, 1995, to a 1-0 loss at Baton Rouge on March 22, 1997. In the team's current streak, they have been held to one goal on 19 occasions, including November 24 at TECO Arena against Florida. The IceGators have recorded an astounding 17 shutouts since they were last kept off the scoreboard. Mississippi and Greg Gardner did shut out Louisiana in the post-season in April.

Cloutier gets 50th win as an IceGator – Frederic Cloutier, the league MVP in 2001-02, has rejoined the IceGators and will look to continue to climb the IceGators' charts. On Sunday, he became the second IceGator ever with 50 wins with the team. Cloutier, who is 50-12-7 with the IceGators and in the ECHL, has a goals against average with the team of 2.00, which trails only Marc Magliarditi (2.26) on the team's ledgers. He is second all-time in the ECHL in that category, trailing only Curtis Sanford (2.17). Cloutier's eight shutouts are also a team-best (Kyle Kettles, 5). Cloutier has 54 wins in his first 80 pro contests, having picked up win No. 50 on November 1 in Columbus. Cloutier's all-time pro marks are 54-15-9 with a 2.36 goals against average and .924 save percentage.

Farrish fifth among ECHL coaches with 147 wins – IceGators head coach and vice president of hockey operations Dave Farrish is 147-60-22 with the team. He is fifth among active ECHL coaches in victories in the league, behind Greenville's John Marks (342), Greensboro's Rick Adduono (207), Reading's Derek Clancey (152) and Gwinnett's Jeff Pyle (148). Farrish's 147 wins are just 23 shy of Doug Shedden's team record. Farrish's .690 winning percentage is third all-time in the ECHL, behind Don Jackson (.758) and Troy Ward (.722). Both of those coaches coached just one season, though.

Kalmikov loves the game-winner – Winger Konstantin Kalmikov has 28 goals as an IceGator, and seven of them have been game-winners (25 percent), including ones November 14 and October 18 of this season. Kalmikov also scored the deciding shootout goal in a 3-2 win at Mississippi on November 7, but that doesn't count as a game-winning goal.

Shiryaev up to No. 9 – Louisiana's Dennis Shiryaev has been racking up the penalty minutes lately, and his seven PIM's Sunday gave him 483 in his IceGators career. That total is good for ninth place on the team's all-time list. Shiryaev has 93 penalty minutes in 13 games this season. Next on the ledgers is Roger Maxwell (542).

They can hold a lead – In the three-year Dave Farrish era, Louisiana has dropped just five games in regulation when leading after 40 minutes. The IceGators are 110-5-4 when taking a lead into the third period under Farrish. As amazing as those numbers are, consider this: Louisiana is 50-1-2 on the road when leading after 40 minutes, with the only blemish being a 3-2 loss in Peoria on January 4, 2001 – Farrish's first season. In that game, Louisiana led 2-0 after one period and 2-1 after 40 minutes. The IceGators went on to lose the next two games of the road trip, in Peoria and Toledo, by a combined 12-6 margin. Louisiana has had to recover in a shootout to win two games this season that they led after two periods, both against Mississippi – October 17 and November 7.

And the youth shall lead them – The IceGators have 10 players on their roster born in 1980 or later. Armands Berzins, who won't turn 20 until December 27, is the ECHL's youngest player.

‘Gators have four straight road wins - Louisiana has won four straight on the road, bettering last season's three-game run from December 20-29. The last time Louisiana won five straight on the road was from December 28, 2001-January 26, 2002, during the team's record 116-point campaign. The IceGators won't go on the road again until November 26 at Texas.

Keep them coming – Tonight, Louisiana will play a Central Division rival from the Western Conference for the eighth time, and will look to go 9-0-0 against them. The IceGators and Roanoke (6-0-0) are the only teams undefeated against their own division. Roanoke plays in the Southern Division of the Eastern Conference.

Quick hits

· The IceGators are 9-2-0 when scoring at least one power play goal, but are 0-2-0 in the two games they haven't recorded a tally with the man advantage.

· Louisiana is 5-1-0 when scoring first and 3-3-0 when allowing the game's first goal. The lone loss when scoring first occurred Saturday against Augusta.

· The IceGators are 8-0-0 when yielding two or fewer goals, and 1-4-0 when allowing four or more.

· Louisiana has been outshot just twice all season, the last time being at home on Sunday against the Columbus (LA-22, CBS-30.

· Louisiana has allowed just two power play goals on 31 chances at home (93.5 percent).

· Texas' Tony Lawrence played two games with Louisiana in 2001-02 after finishing up his collegiate career at St. Thomas University, the same school that gave the IceGators Steve Aronson.

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ECHL Stories from November 26, 2003


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