Mallards Weekly Update

January 10, 2011 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Quad City Mallards News Release


QUACK TRACKS

Climbing The Mallards have won five of their last six games to move four games over .500 for the first time since finishing the 2006-07 United Hockey League season 37-28-11. .

Road Warriors The Mallards have won five straight away games to move over .500 on the road for the season (10-9-0).

Home Sweet Home The Mallards start a six game home stand Friday night against Rapid City. The Flock has dropped its last two home games.

Workin' Overtime

The Mallards defeated Fort Wayne 1-0 in overtime yesterday when Joel Gasper scored 11 seconds into sudden death. With that victory, the Flock improved to 4-0 in games decided in overtime this season and 5-0 in contests settled in either overtime or the shootout.

Big Night

The Mallards set team season highs for goals in one game and in one period (five in the third) in last Saturday's 7-4 win at Evansville.

Brown Out

David Brown made 28 saves yesterday at Fort Wayne on the way to his league-leading third shutout of the season. Brown has posted those three shutouts in his last six games after going the first 109 games of his four-year pro career without registering a shutout. Brown now ranks third in the CHL in save percentage (.923) and fourth in goals against average (2.57).

Soldiering On

The Mallards have gone 6-2-0 since forwards Mike McLean (the team leader in points and assists at the time of his injury) and Tyler Shelast and goaltender Adam Russo were placed on injured reserve retroactive to the Mallards' December 23 loss at Missouri.

Obi on the Up Obi Aduba (12-18-30) picked up an assist in last Saturday's win at Evansville to become the first Mallard to reach 30 points this season. Aduba has scored 12 goals and totaled 29 points in his last 28 games.

Special Teams The Mallards have gone 2-for-27 on the power play over their last five games. Quad City ranks fourth in the league in power play efficiency (20.0 percent). The Flock has gone 17-for-17 on the penalty kill in its last four games and now ranks sixth in the league (83.6 percent).

G-Man

Eric Giosa (16-10-26) notched the first hat trick of his career (and an assist) in last Saturday's win at Evansville. Giosa's was the first hat trick recorded by a Mallard since Patrik Levesque scored three goals on February 10, 2010 in a 6-3 Quad City win over Dayton. Giosa has also taken over the team lead in goals. He has scored ten times and totaled 16 points in his last 13 games.

Trifecta Joel Gasper (6-6-12) scored the overtime game winner yesterday at Fort Wayne and has scored three times in the Mallards' last two games after scoring a total of three goals in his prior 30 games.

You're an All-Star Darren McMillan will represent the Mallards at Wednesday night's CHL All-Star Game in Rapid City. McMillan was selected to replace teammate McLean, who cannot participate due to injury. The host Rush will take on the CHL All-Stars at 6:35 Wednesday evening. Mallards Director of Media Relations and Broadcasting Brian Lavelle will be part of the All-Star broadcast team on CHL TV. Fans can watch the live pay-per-view video webcast of the game at http://chltv.neulion.com/chltv/.

Firsts Kevin Cooper debuted for the Mallards last Friday against Tulsa and picked up a pair of assists- his first two points as a Mallard- in last Saturday's win at Evansville.

Ins and Outs The Mallards last Monday signed left wing Cooper and waived left wing Eric Slais...McLean (lower body), Shelast (lower body) and winger Brandon Marino (hand) are all on 10-day injured reserve...Russo (lower body) is on 14-day goaltender injured reserve.

Rapid City

The Rush enters the All-Star break in first place in the Turner Conference, one point ahead of second place Bloomington and Missouri. Rapid City has gone 9-4-0 in its last 13 games. The Rush toppled league leader Allen 4-2 last Saturday night. Rapid City has identical 9-6-2 home and road records. Ryan Menei (18-24-42) is tied for seventh in the CHL in goals and tied for eighth in points. Rapid City goaltender Danny Battochio ranks second in the league in minutes played (1647:05) and is tied for second in wins (14).

Dayton

The Gems are winless (0-1-2) in their last three games and have gone 5-7-2 in their last 14 games. Jeff Jakaitis has been in goal in 11 of Dayton's last 12 games and in 26 of the Gems' 32 contests this season. Jakaitis ranks second in the league in save percentage (.926) and third in minutes played (1567:13). The Gems give up an average of three goals per game- the fourth best mark in the league. The Gems are winless (0-3-1) in their last four road games. Mike Vaskivuo (12-16-28) leads Dayton in goals and points. Former Mallard forward Chris Lipsett (8-13-21) is on injured reserve.

UPCOMING HOME GAMES

Friday, January 14- Mallards vs. Rapid City Rush

Mallards Cap Giveaway Presented by WLLR

The first 1,000 fans ages 13 and over through the doors of the i wireless Center for the Mallards' game against Rapid City this Friday night will receive free Mallards caps.

Saturday, January 15- Mallards vs. Dayton Gems

Mallards Replica Youth White Jersey Giveaway Presented by Q106, i wireless and the Dispatch Argus

The first 1,000 fans ages 12 and under arriving for the Mallards game against the Gems will receive free Mallards replica youth white jerseys.

Post-Game Event

Van's, 3333 N. Harrison, Daveport

After Saturday's game fans will have the chance to meet all of their favorite Mallards at the team's post-game event at Van's in Davenport.

TICKETS

Single Game Tickets

Tickets for all Mallards regular season home games are available in person at the i wireless Center box office, at Ticketmaster outlets, through www.ticketmaster.com or through Ticketmaster charge-by-phone toll free at 1-800-745-3000. The ticket office is open Monday through Friday 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 other than Sunday from 10:00 a.m. until the end of the first period. On Sundays on which the Mallards play at home the ticket office will be open from 1:00 p.m. until the end of the first period.

Group Tickets Groups of at least ten can receive savings off the walk-up price and a host of other great group benefits when purchasing Mallards tickets. Mallard 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 and tickets@myqcmallards.com.

Mini Plans

Mallard mini plans are also available to meet any budget or schedule. For more information on ticket packages fans can contact the Mallards at (309) 277-1364.

ON THE AIR

Mallards Hockey Presented by Genesis Power Sports Performance

Fans can listen to all the action of Mallards Hockey Presented by Genesis Power Sports Performance this week and throughout the season on 93.9 WYEC-FM and on www.myqcmallards.com. Coverage starts with the Mallards Pre-Game Show Presented by Genesis Sports Medicine 30 minutes before opening faceoff. Live pay-per-view video webcasts of Mallards action are also available at www.myqcmallards.com courtesy of CHL-TV.

Between the Pipes

"Between the Pipes," the Mallards' weekly television show, has returned on Mediacom's MC22 channel for the 2010-11 season. New editions of "Between the Pipes" air each Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. and are rebroadcast several times each week. Full weekly listings of "Between the Pipes" broadcast times can be found throughout the season on MC22's website, www.mc22.net. The program features a condensed version of the Mallards' Game of the Week interspersed with interviews with Mallards Coach and Director of Hockey Operations Frank Anzalone and Mallards players, updates on the Mallards' activities in the community and more.



Central Hockey League Stories from January 10, 2011


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.

OurSports Central