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Louisiana game notes vs. Columbus

January 9, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Louisiana IceGators News Release


Cottonmouths at IceGators – Louisiana and Columbus finish off their five-game season series tonight, with the IceGators holding a 1-1-2 record. The IceGators and Cottonmouths played back-to-back games in Columbus on November 1 and 2, with the Snakes emerging with a pair of 4-3 wins (one in a shootout), while they met November 23 and 24 in Lafayette. In the first of those games, Bruce Richardson tallied a career-best four goals in a 7-3 IceGators win. The next night, the IceGators rallied from a two-goal deficit late to force overtime, but fell 7-6, on Brent Cullaton's goal at 3:18 of overtime. Since the Cottonmouths relocated to Columbus from Hampton Roads, Va., Louisiana is 2-1-2 against them. All-time, counting their record against the Admirals, the IceGators are 5-3-2 against the franchise, including a 3-2-1 home mark.

Saturday night – Kyle Kettles made 31 saves for his first pro shutout, Kenny Corupe scored twice and Derek Boogaard's first pro goal went down as the game-winner, as the Louisiana IceGators routed the Baton Rouge Kingfish 5-0 at the Riverside Centroplex. Bobby Brown had a goal and two assists and Nathan Rempel added a goal and a helper for Louisiana, which rebounded from Friday's 5-2 loss in Arkansas. Kettles made six saves in the first period, 14 in the second and 11 in the third, recording the IceGators' second shutout of the season. He improved to 5-0-4 in his nine-game unbeaten in regulation streak, and for the first time in his last six games Louisiana didn't go into overtime.

Scouting the Cottonmouths – Columbus enters tonight's game winless in four straight (0-3-1) and with just one win in seven games (1-4-2). In their recent seven-game struggles, the Cottonmouths haven't scored more than two goals, including a paltry 2-1 home loss to Columbia on Tuesday, a game that saw them get outshot 23-10. Columbus' high-scoring line of Mike Bishai, Brent Cullaton and Jeff Zehr gave the Snakes a 1-0 lead on the power play at 12:40 of the first period, but Columbia scored a pair of goals early in the second while outshooting Columbus 12-1 in the stanza. Cullaton, Zehr and Bishai is arguably as strong as any in the ECHL. Cullaton, though, is the only one of those three to play in more than 23 games. Cullaton has 39 points (12, 27a). Zehr (16g, 15a) has 31 in 24 games due to injuries and call-ups, although he is with the team now. Perhaps the most impressive player on the Cottonmouths' roster is Bishai. The 23-year-old Edmonton native, a product of Western Michigan, has 28 points (12g, 16a) in just 21 games. Bishai, on a contract with the Edmonton Oilers, was part of the Canada National Team that won the 2002 Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland in December. Another key cog to Columbus' offense was also lost when right wing Sean McAslan was suspended 18 games by the ECHL last week for throwing a stick into the stands and striking a fan. McAslan had 21 points (10g, 11a) in 31 games, and is tied for second on the Cottonmouths with six power-play games. A pair of rookies lead the way in net. Mike Morrison and Matus Kostur split action for most of the season, before the ECHL sat down Kostur for three games for making contact with an official. Morrison is 5-11-5 with a 3.53 goals against average and a ..890 save percentage. Kostur, on a contract with the New Jersey Devils, has struggled keeping the puck out of the net (3.96), but his team has scored goals while he's been in the game, as evidenced by his 10-6-0 record.

Farrish one win from 400 –IceGators head coach and vice president of hockey operations Dave Farrish carries a 399-341-78-9 record into tonight's game. With a victory tonight, Farrish would become the third active ECHL coach with 400 overall coaching victories, trailing Wheeling's John Brophy (1,013) and Greenville's John Marks (657). Farrish sports a 120-44-18 in 2 ½ seasons with the IceGators for a sparkling .709 winning percentage.

An overtime snippet – 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.

McNeil continues to climb – Shawn McNeil's two assists Saturday gave him 138 as an IceGator, moving him past Louis Dumont for fifth place on the team's all-time list. Teammate John DePourcq, currently on injured reserve, ranks fourth with 152 assists. Also, McNeil's 115 goals are two behind Don Parsons for fourth place.

Kettles unbeaten in nine – Kyle Kettles has played exactly half the games of his counterpart Frederic Cloutier, but his laurels are also impressive. Kettles, coming off his first pro shutout Saturday in Baton Rouge, is in the midst of a nine-game unbeaten in regulation streak (5-0-4) and hasn't lost in regulation in nearly two months, since a 4-3 loss in Columbus on November 2. Kettles currently ranks third in the ECHL among goaltenders with a 2.47 goals against average. Prior to Saturday, each of Kettles' last five games have gone into overtime or a shootout.

Kettles had been a road warrior – Tonight, Kyle Kettles will make his first appearance at the Cajundome since a 4-3 win over Mississippi on November 29. Kettles had played each of his last six games on the road. Kettles sports a 3-0-0 mark with a 3.00 goals against average and a .893 save percentage at the Cajundome this season.

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 159 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.

Second period should be key – The second period has been important to each team this season. Louisiana has outscored its opponents 56-34 in the second period, by far the biggest differential in the ECHL. The Cottonmouths, meanwhile, have been outscored 55-33 in the middle stanza, also the biggest differential in the league.

It's all about special teams – The IceGators are 16-1-4 when yielding one or less power play goals this season, but they are 6-7-4 when allowing two or more.

Three's the magic number – Louisiana is 20-2-3 when yielding three or less goals, including a 12-0-1 mark when allowing two or less. When allowing four or more goals, the IceGators are 2-6-5.

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 6. Williamson 72 Augusta

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

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

4t. Sirois 73 Pee Dee 9. Seitz 69 South Carolina

4t. Demarski 73 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 472.5 penalty minutes in just 42 games, which would be the second-highest penalty-minute season in league 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 828 penalty minutes.

Quick hits

· Columbus' Brent Cullaton, who beat the IceGators in overtime November 24, is one of just six players with two overtime/shootout goals against Louisiana. No player has more than two.

· Linemates Bruce Richardson and Daniel Goneau have combined for 18 points (6g, 12a) in four games against Columbus this season.

· Bruce Richardson and Nathan Rempel each have three of Louisiana's eight power-play goals versus the Cottonmouths in 2002-03.

· Columbus has outscored the IceGators 5-3 in the first period in their four meetings this season.

· Bruce Richardson is averaging two points per game at home (12g, 22a in 17 games).

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