Mallards Playoff Update

March 31, 2014 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Quad City Mallards News Release


QUACK TRACKS

Last Week

The Mallards closed the regular season on a four game winning streak. That Mallards kick-started that run with a 2-1 win last Wednesday in Allen, a victory that halted Quad City's three game losing streak. Lopsided wins over the last place Chill Friday and Saturday in St. Charles followed before the Mallards brought down the curtain on the campaign with a 5-3 victory over the Governor's Cup regular season champion Missouri Mavericks yesterday. By stringing together four consecutive victories the Mallards matched their second longest winning streak of the season.

Five Hole

The Mallards finalized their opening round match-up with Rapid City last Saturday evening. The Mallards clinched fifth place with their 5-0 whitewashing of the Chill last Saturday night while third place Allen's victory over Denver locked Rapid City into fourth place. The Mallards finished three points ahead of the sixth place Brampton Beast.

Spirit of 76

The Mallards finished the season with 76 points, matching their highest total since the team returned to the ice in 2009-10. The Mallards previously reached 76 points in 2011-12 though they failed to qualify for the playoffs that season.

Milestone

Mallard coach and general manager Terry Ruskowski yesterday moved into a tie for second place in league history with his four hundred forty-second career CHL regular season coaching win. Ruskowski is now even with former Bossier-Shreveport and Arizona coach Scott Muscutt in CHL coaching wins.

On the Road

The Mallards, who played eight of their final 11 games on the road, won their final three road tilts and finished the regular season 14-12-7 away from home.

Home Sweet Home

With yesterday's win, the Mallards finished the regular season 19-11-3 on home ice.

Busy

The Mallards went 4-3-0 while playing seven games in the final ten days of the regular season and 5-5-2 while playing twelve times in the final 19 days of the campaign.

Rough Road

The Mallards played nine of their final twelve games against the top four teams in the CHL- Missouri, Denver, Allen and Rapid City- and went 2-5-2 against that foursome during that stretch.

Goals, Goals, Goals

The Mallards scored at least five times in each of their final three games and produced a total of 17 goals over those three contests after scoring just six times in their prior four games combined.

Between the Pipes

Thomas Heemskerk started and won the Mallards' final four regular season games and last Saturday in St. Charles made 22 saves on the way to his third shutout of the season. Each of Heemskerk's three shutouts came against the Chill. As a team, the Mallards totaled six shutouts this season- three from Heemskerk and three from Ty Rimmer.

Shorties

The Mallards scored while shorthanded in each of their final two games to finish the season as the league leaders in shorthanded goals. Jeff Lee scored the Mallards' eleventh shorthanded goal last Saturday in St. Charles. Mike Stinziani scored the club's twelfth yesterday.

High Five

Thomas Frazee scored his first career hat trick and the Mallards' second of the season and set a personal career high and team season high by piling up five points in last Friday's 7-3 win in St. Charles. Frazee scored again yesterday against Missouri to finish as the team leader in goals with 24, one ahead of linemate Lee.

60

By scoring the game winning goal in the third period yesterday Lee became the only Mallard to reach 60 points this season.

Perfect Attendance

Lee, Matt Boyd and Mike Monfredo played in each of the Mallards' 66 regular season games. Captain Darren McMillan played in the first 65 games before being rested yesterday.

Flocking

A crowd of 5,218 watched yesterday's regular season finale at the iWireless Center. The Mallards welcomed a total of 11,020 fans to their final two home games.

Streaking

Lee (2-2-4), Vladimir Nikiforov (1-5-6) and Mike Monfredo (2-2-4) finished the regular season on a four game point scoring streaks. Nikiforov recorded ten points (four goals and six assists) in his final nine games...Frazee produced seven points (four goals and three assists) in his final three games...Stinziani registered six points (two goals and four assists) in his last three games and 17 points (five goals and 12 assists) in his final 14 games...Justin Fox notched five points (three goals and two assists) in his final three games...Jordan Mayer had seven points (one goal and six assists) in his final seven games.

Leaders

Heemskerk and Rimmer finished tied for third in the CHL shutouts (3), while Heemskerk ranked fifth in goals against average (2.73) and sixth in save percentage (.907) and Rimmer was seventh in save percentage (.906), wins (18) and goals against average (2.84)...Gergo Nagy and Frazee finished tied for second in shorthanded goals (3) and Nagy was tied for tenth in plus/minus rating (+18)...Among rookies, Frazee was tied for third in goals (24), ranked fourth in points (47) and finished fifth in assists (23)...Among rookies, Nick Grasso ranked eighth in points (27) and was tied for eighth in assists (21)...Among defensemen, Matt Duffy and Benjamin Dieude-Fauvel finished tied for seventh in goals (11) while Dieude-Fauvel also ranked seventh in assists (29) and points (40)... Nicholas Rioux finished eighth in assists (27) among defenseman...Monfredo finished tenth among defensemen in assists (25)

Special Teams

While the Mallards finished the regular season ninth in power play percentage (14.) they did score on the man advantage in each of their final four games. In addition to leading the CHL in shorthanded goals (12), the Mallards finished fourth in penalty killing (83.7 percent).

Head to Head

The Mallards and Rush are approaching their first ever playoff meeting. The regular season series between the two clubs finished even, with each team posting a record of 3-2-1. The Mallards were 2-1-0 at home against the Rush and 1-1-1 in Rapid City. The Mallards have gone 12-8-2 all-time against the Rush- 7-4-0 at the iWireless Center and 5-4-2 on the road. The Mallards' Nagy (2-4-6) and the Rush's Konrad Reeder (3-3-6) and Jesse Schultz (1-5-6) were the top point scorers in this year's season series.

Ins and Outs

The Mallards today added rookie forward Joe Perry to fill one of two slots available for amateur players joining CHL clubs for the playoffs...Goaltender Rimmer returned to the Mallards today after being recalled by Oklahoma City of the AHL last Monday...Forward Mike Hellyer (upper body) was added to the Mallards' active playoff roster after missing the final 22 games of the regular season while on injured reserve... A playoff roster spot is available for forward Jim McKenzie though McKenzie has been with the AHL's Iowa Wild since signing a professional tryout agreement January 8...Forward Gabriel Levesque was place on 14-day injured reserve today after suffering lower body injury in yesterday's game against Missouri...Forward Jordan Lane and goaltender Eric Levine were left off the playoff roster

UPCOMING HOME GAMES

Wednesday, April 9, 7:05 p.m. - Mallards vs. Rapid City

Round One, Game Three

The third game of the series will be the Mallards first home game of the 2014 playoffs. Tickets for game three start at just $2.

Friday, April 11, 7:05 p.m. - Mallards vs. Rapid City

Round One, Game Four

The Mallards and Rush will clash in the second of the Mallards' two guaranteed home playoff games.

Saturday, April 12, 7:05 p.m. - Mallards vs. Rapid City (if necessary)

Round One, Game Five

The Mallards will host the fifth game of the opening round should it prove necessary.

ON THE AIR

Fox Sports Radio 1230 is the radio home of Mallards Hockey Presented by Genesis Power Sports Performance. Mallards games broadcast on AM 1230 also stream live online at www.wfxn.net . A limited number of Mallards games will not air on Fox Sports Radio 1230 due to conflicts with University of Illinois basketball and football and Green Bay Packer football. Audio webcasts of games that do not air on AM 1230 are available at myqcmallards.net. CHL-TV pay-per-view video webcasts of all Mallards games are also available at myqcmallards.net. For a full Mallards broadcast/webcast schedule, go to http://myqcmallards.net/schedule/broadcast_schedule/ .

TICKETS

Single Game Tickets

Single game tickets for Mallards home playoff tilts are now available. Fans can contact the Mallards at (309) 277-1364 or info@myqcmallards.com for more information about tickets. Single game tickets are also available at the i wireless Center box office, at Ticketmaster outlets, through www.ticketmaster.com or through Ticketmaster charge-by-phone toll free. The box office is open weekdays from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and on game days from 10:00 a.m. until the start of the second period.

Group Tickets

Groups of at least ten receive savings off the walk-up price and a host of group benefits. Mallards group tickets are a great fit for youth organizations, friends, co-workers, family groups, religious groups, school functions and business events. For more group ticket information, fans can contact the Mallards at (309) 277-1364 or info@myqcmallards.com .



Central Hockey League Stories from March 31, 2014


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