Louisiana game notes vs. Arkansas

Published on November 7, 2002 under ECHL (ECHL)
Louisiana IceGators News Release


RiverBlades at IceGators – Louisiana looks for its 11th win in its last 12 tries against Arkansas when the two teams hook up tonight at the Cajundome in the first of a home and home series that wraps up Saturday night at Alltel Arena. The IceGators have won both of this season's meetings, including a convincing 5-2 home win on October 25. Chris Taliercio and Nathan Rempel each scored twice and Frederic Cloutier made 22 saves for the win. The victory improved Louisiana to 16-6-3 all-time against the RiverBlades. Twelve of the first 17 meetings between these two teams were decided by one goal, but just two of the last eight have been, including and IceGators 6-5 shootout win on October 13. The IceGators have won six straight home meetings with Arkansas by a combined score of 28-11 to up their record on home ice against the RiverBlades to 8-3-1.

Sunday night – Mike Scott and Dave Paradise scored 31 seconds apart in the second period and Steffon Walby added his second shorthanded score in as many nights later in the stanza for what proved to be the game-winner, as the Mississippi Sea Wolves downed the Louisiana IceGators, 4-3, at Mississippi Coast Coliseum. Greg Gardner made 36 saves and Jim Baxter also scored for Mississippi. Shawn McNeil, Bruce Richardson and Kevin Mitchell each scored for Louisiana, which is 0-3-1 in its last four road games and is in danger of losing three straight road contests in regulation for just the sixth time in franchise history. Frederic Cloutier made 25 saves to fall to 5-1-1.

Scouting the RiverBlades – Arkansas (6-2-2) is on a roll, having gone unbeaten in regulation (4-0-1) in its last five since a 5-2 loss at the Cajundome on October 25. Two of the four wins were one-goal decisions, including a 5-4 home victory over Columbia on Sunday. Ernie Hartlieb had a pair of goals, including the game-winner, while Terry Marchant, Damon Whitton and Mike Sandbeck each had a goal and an assist. Jimi St. John yielded four goals on 27 shots in the opening two periods, but Jason Saal held the Inferno scoreless on 10 shots in the third period as the RiverBlades rallied from a 4-3 decifit. Marchant has proven to be a valuable commodity since being signed in the off-season, as he leads the ‘Blades with 13 points (5g, 8a). Hartlieb is tops with six goals. Saal, a former IceGator, is 5-2-2 with a 3.09 goals against average and a .917 save percentage this season. His backup has equaled Saal's numbers, albeit in less time. St. John, a rookie out of NCAA Lowell, has picked up just one decision, a win, in three games, but has a 2.42 goals against average. Marchant (3g, 4a) and Hartlieb (5g, 2a) each have seven points in the unbeaten streak, while Hartlieb is a team-best plus-seven in the span. Saal has particularly stepped up his play since allowing five goals on 33 shots in the October 25 loss, going 3-0-1 with a 1.76 goals against average.

What a difference a year makes for Arkansas – The RiverBlades are continuing the success they showed in the second half of last season, when they erased a miserable start to miss the playoffs by just four points. Arkansas is 6-2-2 for 14 points this season. In 2001-02, the RiverBlades didn't accumulate 14 points until, amazingly, their 24th game, a 5-0 home win over Macon on December 15. The IceGators already had 48 points and an 11-point Southwest Division lead at that point.

McNeil climbing the ranks – Last week, Shawn McNeil moved past Louis Dumont for fifth place on the team's all-time goal list with 104. Dumont had 102. Don Parsons is fourth with 117, and if McNeil keeps up his current streak, it may not take him long to get there. McNeil and teammate John DePourcq are in a hot race for fifth place on Louisiana's all-time points list. McNeil's 224 points have him in fifth, while DePourcq is two points behind.

Another McNeil tidbit – Winger Shawn McNeil's 10-game point streak is the longest in the ECHL this season, and is also two points shy of the longest point streak of his career. McNeil had a point in 12 straight games from January 19-February 16, 2001. McNeil had 10 goals and 10 assists in that span. Last season, it took McNeil 18 games to reach the 10- and 11-goal plateaus, the quickest he has done it in his career.

Rookie Sarich in some pretty fine territory – IceGators defenseman Rod Sarich has an assist in four straight games, the best streak ever by a Louisiana rookie blueliner and the longest such streak by an IceGators rookie since Shawn McNeil's five-game assist streak from March 9-17, 2000. McNeil also had a four-game streak that season, from February 11-16. The longest assist streak by an IceGators rookie is a six-game span by John Spoltore from February 28-March 8, 1996. Spoltore had nine assists in that span. The only other IceGators rookie to have an assist in four straight games is Rob Valicevic, also in the 1995-96 season.

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 78 goals, four more than Dany Bousquet (now playing in Europe) and five more than former teammate Jay Murphy, now on injured reserve with Greensboro.

Mitchell, Rempel, Brown have points in nine of 10 games – Kevin Mitchell, Nathan Rempel and Bobby Brown each have at least a point in nine of the IceGators' 10 games. Mitchell has a league-high 10-game penalty minute streak. The defenseman leads the ECHL with 18 minor penalties.

Rempel happy to see RiverBlades – Nathan Rempel has 12 goals in 70 ECHL games, and five of those 12 goals have come in eight games against Arkansas. Rempel has seven goals against the remainder of the league in 62 contests. Three of Rempel's goals against the RiverBlades have come this season.

Better starts needed – Louisiana has failed to score first in six of its last seven games, including all three in an 0-2-1 road showing last weekend. In four of the last five games, the IceGators have given up a goal in the opening 1:11 of the contest. Overall, Louisiana has allowed its opponent to score first in seven games this season. In 2001-02, just 19 opponents hit the scoreboard before the IceGators did, and Louisiana went 9-8-2 in those games.

DePourcq needs one goal to pass Weingartner – John DePourcq's 70 goals have him one shy of Rob Weingartner for seventh on the IceGators' all-time goal list.

"Piggy" looking to break through against Arkansas – John DePourcq has played in five career games against the RiverBlades without scoring a goal, the most games he's played against any ECHL team without getting a marker. Of course, DePourcq did secure the season-opening 6-5 shootout win over Arkansas with the goal in the shootout, but that tally didn't count for his individual statistics. DePourcq has scored against 18 different ECHL teams. He has the most goals against Jacksonville (13), which will re-enter the league next season.

Saal snippets – Arkansas netminder Jason Saal, who played for the IceGators in the 2000-01 campaign, is having an outstanding season at 5-2-2, but imagine if he didn't face Louisiana. Saal's goals against average of 3.09 would drop to 2.46 without his two games against the IceGators – a 6-5 shootout loss on October 13 and a 5-2 loss at the Cajundome on October 25. Saal hasn't fared well against the IceGators in his career. He sports a 2-5-3 record, a 4.03 goals against average and a .886 save percentage against Louisiana, having also played against the IceGators with South Carolina and Peoria. Saal's two wins against the IceGators came on March 5, 2002, with Arkansas, and way back on February 11, 1996, with South Carolina. Saal, though, has been one of the best goaltenders ever in the ECHL, particularly in the calendar year 2000. Saal is 27-10-9 since January 1, 2002.

It's all in the family - The NHL, AHL, ECHL combination of Minnesota, Houston and Louisiana has a record of 23-3-3 for a sparkling .845 winning percentage. Each team has one loss in regulation.

Quick hits

Shawn McNeil has points in each of his last 17 regular-season games, dating back to last season. He has 26 points (15g, 11a) in that span.

Shawn McNeil has scored Louisiana's first goal in six of 10 games. Six of his 10 goals have given the IceGators a lead.

The IceGators have at least one power play goal in each of their last 14 games, dating back to last season.

Louisiana is 6-3-1 in its first 10 games this season. It took the IceGators 32 games last season to drop their third in regulation (27-3-2).

Dennis Shiryaev has 33 fighting majors with the IceGators, one behind Dennis Maxwell for fifth place on the team's all-time list.

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ECHL Stories from November 7, 2002


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