Mallards Dominate Home Ice
November 17, 2003 - United Hockey League (UHL)
Quad City Mallards News Release
Moline, IL â The Quad City Mallards earned two decisive home victories this past weekend, improving their home record to 3-0-0 this season. They have outscored their opponents 15-3 in games at The MARK of the Quad Cities. Their 2-0-1 record last week makes them unbeaten in regulation (6-0-1) in their last seven games. The Mallards have the best winning percentage in the Western Conference and the second best in the United Hockey League. This week, Quad City battles for first place in the West with a pair of games against Muskegon. Friday is Ladies Night with the World Famous Chippendales, who will perform after the 7:00 p.m. contest vs. the first-place Fury. After a Saturday visit to Muskegon, the Mallards return home for Iowa Wireless Family Fun-Day Sunday, when they take on the Missouri River Otters at 4:00 p.m.
LAST WEEK (2-0-1):
· Friday, Nov. 14 (at) Rockford IceHogs 4, Quad City Mallards 3 (shootout)
· Saturday, Nov. 15 (at) Quad City Mallards 5, Rockford IceHogs 1
· Sunday, Nov. 16 (at) Quad City Mallards 4, Fort Wayne Komets 1
THIS WEEK (All times Central):
· Friday, Nov. 21 â 7:00 p.m. â Muskegon Fury at Quad City Mallards
Ladies Night with the World Famous Chippendales, after-game performance free for all adult
ticket holders.
· Saturday, Nov. 22 â 6:40 p.m. â Quad City Mallards at Muskegon Fury
· Sunday, Nov. 23 â 4:00 p.m. â Missouri River Otters at Quad City Mallards
Iowa Wireless Family Fun-Day Sunday, with "Kangaroo Jack" showing at 1:35 p.m., pre-game
skate at 2:00 p.m., FREE posters to the first 2,500 kids 15 and under
Standings
At 7-1-1 (.833), with 15 points, the Mallards are one point behind the Muskegon Fury (8-4-0) for first place in the Western Conference. Quad City has three games in hand on Muskegon. The Mallards' winning percentage is the best in the Western Conference, and second overall to the Richmond RiverDogs (9-1-0, .900).
Ladies Night this Friday â Your ticket is your admission to the Chippendales!
Friday's 7:00 p.m. game vs. the Muskegon Fury is Ladies Night with the World Famous Chippendales. The dancers will make a special appearance at the game, then perform a post-game show at The MARK of the Quad Cities. All adults with tickets to the game are admitted to the Chippendales post-game show at no additional charge. Drink specials at the game from Q106.5's Dwyer & Michaels are $1 virgin daiquiris and margaritas, $2 with alcohol.
Tickets range from $6.50 to $15.50 and are on sale now at The MARK box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at (563) 326-1111, and online by following the Tickets link at www.qcmallards.com.
Iowa Wireless Family Fun-Day Sunday
This Sunday's 4:00 p.m. game vs. the Missouri River Otters at The MARK is an Iowa Wireless Family Fun-Day Sunday game. Doors open at 1:30 p.m. A special showing of the family favorite film "Kangaroo Jack" on the MallardsVision big screen starts at 1:35 p.m. There is open skating from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. The first 2,500 kids 15 and under will each get a free Mallards poster, courtesy of Reynolds Ford, Maid-Rite, and KWQC-TV. There will also be plenty of fun and educational activities for the kids at the game.
Future Home Games
· Thursday, Nov. 27, 7:00 p.m. vs. Muskegon Fury â Thanksgiving Night
· Saturday, Nov. 29, 7:00 p.m. vs. Kalamazoo Wings â Meet WWE's "Mankind" Mick Foley
· Wednesday, Dec. 10, 7:00 p.m. vs. Rockford IceHogs
· Saturday, Dec. 27, 7:00 p.m. vs. Fort Wayne Komets â Valley Bank Mallards Stocking Cap Night
· Sunday, Dec. 28, 4:00 p.m. vs. Kalamazoo Wings â Iowa Wireless Family Fun-Day Sunday
Personnel
· LW Rob Voltera reassigned from Hershey Bears, a Mallards AHL affiliate, 11/14
· Activated C Jason Goulet from 10-day injured reserve 11/14
· Activated F Marty Goulet from 7-day injured reserve 11/15
· D Louis Robitaille remains on callup with AHL Portland Pirates, a Mallards affiliate (effective 10/28)
Team Leaders (UHL Ranking)
Goals 7 C Martin Hlinka (tied for fifth)
Assists 6 C Jon Francisco, D Tom Menicci
Points 10 D Tom Menicci
Plus/Minus +8 D Tom Menicci (tied for first)
Penalty Min. 34 LW Rob Voltera
PP Goals 5 C Martin Hlinka (second)
GW Goals 2 RW Jason Sessa (tied for fourth)
SH Goals 1 Four players (tied for third)
Shots on Goal 25 D Dylan Mills
Shooting Pct. .389 C Martin Hlinka (first)
Wins 4 G Jeff Reynaert
Goals Against 2.44 G Jeff Reynaert (third*)
Save Pct. .932 G Jeff Reynaert (second*)
* Minimum 150 minutes played
Top of the Charts
The Mallards have allowed 2.44 goals per game this season, the fewest in the UHL. They rank second in offense with 3.89 goals per game. Quad City also leads the league with an 87.5% penalty killing success rate.
Home Cooking
The Mallards are 3-0-0 at home and have outscored their visiting opponents 15-3. They have successfully killed off 17-of-17 opponents' power plays at The MARK. RW Jason Sessa has scored four goals in three home games, including two game-winners.
Consistency
The Mallards have outscored their opponents in each period, 11-7 in the first, 10-7 in the second, and 14-7 in the third. The only other UHL team to do so is Columbus. However, the Mallards' opponents have more shots on goal in each period. Opposing teams have 107 shots on goal to Quad City's 92 in the first period, 91-84 in the second, and 110-88 in the third. The Mallards are the only UHL team to be outshot in each period.
A Night of Firsts
C Lanny Gare and RW Drew Otten each scored the first goal of their pro careers in Saturday's 5-1 win over Rockford. F Marty Goulet got the first point of his pro career with a third-period assist.
Last Week's Games
Friday, Nov. 14 â (at) Rockford IceHogs 4, Mallards 3 (shootout)
Rob Voltera ripped a shot from the right point to tie the game with 0:00.6 remaining in the third period to earn the Mallards a shootout point. The IceHogs' Chris Paradise, who scored two goals in regulation, was the only player to score in the shootout. Hugo Proulx scored on a rebound in the first period for his 500th point as a Mallard. He is the franchise's all-time leading scorer. With the score tied 1-1, Steve Gibson gave Quad City its last lead of the game late in the first period. Jason Goulet earned two assists for the Mallards. The Hogs piled up 40 shots on goal. G Jeff Reynaert made 37 saves to remain unbeaten in regulation in his last four games and stopped three-of-four Rockford shootout attempts.
Saturday, Nov. 15 â (at) Mallards 5, Rockford IceHogs 1
The Mallards rallied from a 1-0 second-period deficit to tie the game, then scored four power play goals in the final two periods to put it away. Goaltender Masahito Haruna made 23 saves and was named the game's number one star, as he won in his home debut and improved his record to 2-0-0. Rookie Jon Francisco's back-door one-time of a Dylan Mills pass tied the game in the second period. Just 1:25 later with the Mallards on the power play, rookie Lanny Gare flipped in a rebound for the game-winning score. Early in the third, rookie Drew Otten backhanded in a rebound for another power-play tally and a 3-1 lead. Martin Hlinka made it 4-1 with his team-leading seventh goal of the season, also on a power play. Jason Sessa capped off the scoring with one last man-advantage goal. Andy Fermoyle and Patrick Nadeau each earned two assists.
Sunday, Nov. 16 â (at) Mallards 4, Fort Wayne Komets 1
Tom Menicci assisted on three goals and scored one of his own. Goaltender Jeff Reynaert stopped 35-of-36 shots on goal, including 15-of-15 in the third period. No goals were scored while the teams had the same number of skaters on the ice. With an early first-period delayed penalty called against Fort Wayne, Menicci blasted a shot from the point that rookie Drew Otten deflected in for his second goal in as many games. Quad City made it 2-0 when Jason Sessa scored on a rebound of a Menicci shot during a 5-on-3 power play. The Komets' Ryan Severson foiled the shutout on a shorthanded breakaway. Reynaert made the initial save, but was unable to locate the puck before it was knocked into the net to make it 2-1 Mallards at the first intermission. Following a scoreless second frame, the Mallards struck again on the power play early in the third, with defenseman Terry Hollinger's shot from the point deflecting off a defender for his first goal of the season. Menicci added an empty-netter in the final minute.
This Week's Games (All times Central)
Friday, Nov. 21, 7:00 p.m. â Muskegon Fury at Mallards â 6:30 p.m. on Fox Sports Radio 1230 and www.qcmallards.com
Saturday, Nov. 22, 6:40 p.m. â Mallards at Muskegon Fury â 6:10 p.m. on Fox Sports Radio 1230 and www.qcmallards.com
The Fury (8-4-0) will have played four more games than the Mallards by the time they meet on Friday. Muskegon visits winless Missouri on Thursday. The top four scorers for the Fury are all returning players from last year's team, which fell to the Mallards in six games in the Western Conference Finals. Robin Bouchard (8g, 10a, 18pts) is the UHL's leading point scorer. He is followed on the team scoring list by Brant Blackned (7g, 7a, 14pts), UHL assists leader Todd Robinson (1g, 13a, 14pts), and Scott Hollis (6g, 5a, 11pts). Jeff Nelson, who had a five-point game in the Mallards' 7-4 loss at Muskegon on Oct. 25, was called up and remains with the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins, coached by former Fury bench boss Danton Cole. Among the familiar faces in Muskegon's lineup are Rustyn Dolyny and all-time UHL games played leader Scott Feasby.
Sunday, Nov. 23, 4:00 p.m. â Missouri River Otters at Mallards â 3:30 p.m. on Fox Sports Radio 1230 and www.qcmallards.com
The River Otters (0-10-2 pending games Wednesday vs. Fort Wayne, Thursday vs. Muskegon, and Friday at Rockford) are beginning to close in on the all-time UHL winless streak of 19 games, set by the Saginaw Gears in 1999. They have scored 23 goals in 12 games, a league low average of 1.92 per game. They have allowed a league high 3.92 goals per contest. G Brian Regan (0-5-2, 3.14 GAA) has posted a fine .917 save percentage while splitting time with G Tim Knudsen (0-5-0, 4.35 GAA, .868 Sv%). Charlie Blyth (5g, 3a, 8pts) and Joe Ritson (2g, 4a, 6pts) are the leading scorers among returning players. Jeff Petruic is the team's scoring leader with ten points (5g, 5a), followed by rookie Jesse Heerema (5g, 3a, 8pts), who is tied for the league lead in goals by first-year players. George Cantrall, who played 23 games for the Otters three seasons ago, leads all rookies with six major penalties and 62 penalty minutes.
Player of the Week
D Tom Menicci is the Mallards' nominee for Sher-Wood UHL Player of the Week for Nov. 10-16. He finished the week with a four-point effort (1g, 3a) in Sunday's 4-1 win over Fort Wayne. For the week, the second-year Mallard totaled five points (1g, 4a) with a +4 plus/minus rating in three games. For the season, Menicci is tied for the league lead with a +8 plus/minus rating, is tied for the lead among defensemen with four goals, and leads the Mallards with ten points (4g, 6a).
Goaltender of the Week
G Jeff Reynaert is the Mallards' nominee for UHL Goaltender of the Week. He moved up to third in the league in goals against average (2.44) and second in save percentage (.932) by stopping 72-of-76 shots in Friday's 4-3 shootout loss at Rockford and Sunday's 4-1 win over Fort Wayne. For the week, Reynaert's numbers show a 1-0-1 record, a 2.02 goals against average and a .947 save percentage.
Webbed Feats
· The Mallards set a UHL season high with four power play goals in Saturday's 5-1 win over Rockford. They also have the UHL season high with three shorthanded goals in the 6-1 win over Flint on Nov. 8.
· C Jon Francisco has at least one point in all six road games.
Milestone Watch (regular season play)
· RW Hugo Proulx scored his 500th point as a Mallard with a first-period goal Friday in Rockford. Proulx is the all-time franchise leader with 307 assists and 502 points.
· RW Steve Gibson played in his 300th Mallards game on Sunday. Only two other players, Mark McFarlane (393) and Hugo Proulx (385) have more games in a Mallards uniform.
Tickets on sale now!
Tickets for all Mallards home games are available at The MARK of the Quad Cities box office, at all Ticketmaster locations, by phone at (563) 326-1111, and online by following the Tickets link at www.qcmallards.com.
On The Air
Hear all Mallards games live on Fox Sports Radio 1230 (WFXN-AM), beginning with the Pre-Game Show 30 minutes before the opening face-off. The live broadcast concludes with the Allstate Insurance Post-Game Show, presented by the Polly McDowell and Del Newton agencies, featuring play-by-play highlights including the Allstate Good Hands Play of the Game. The broadcasts can also be heard through the Mallards web site, www.qcmallards.com.
• Discuss this story on the United Hockey League message board...
United Hockey League Stories from November 17, 2003
- Mallards Dominate Home Ice - Quad City Mallards
- RiverDogs Bounce Back after Win Streak Ends - Richmond RiverDogs
- COLUMBUS RIDES SIX-GAME WIN STREAK TO FIRST PLACE IN THE UNITED HOCKEY LEAGUE - Columbus Stars
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
