Mallards Weekly Update

March 21, 2011 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Quad City Mallards News Release


THIS WEEK

Wednesday, March 23, 7:05 p.m.

i wireless Center

Bloomington PrairieThunder vs. Quad City Mallards

Friday, March 25, 6:30 p.m. Hara Arena

Quad City Mallards vs. Dayton Gems

Saturday, March 26, 6:30 p.m. Hara Arena

Quad City Mallards vs. Dayton Gems

Quad City Bloomington Dayton

33-29-1 (67 points) 35-20-6 (76 points) 30-28-5 (65 points)

6th place, Turner Conf. tied 3rd place, Turner Conf. tied 7th place, Turner Conf.

Coach: Frank Anzalone Coach: Jason Christie Coach: Brian Gratz

RECENT ACTION

Quad City Bloomington Dayton

Thu., Mar. 17 Wed., Mar. 16 Thu., Mar. 17

Wic. 6 QC 4 Msr. 5 Blm. 2 Day. 2 Eva. 1

Sat., Mar. 19 Sat., Mar. 19 Fri., Mar. 18

QC 4 Day. 2 BS 4 Blm. 2 Eva. 3 Day. 1

Sun., Mar. 20 Sat., Mar. 19

Blm. 4 FW 2 QC 4 Day. 2

QUACK TRACKS

Streak Stopped The Mallards halted a three-game losing streak by defeating Dayton last Saturday night.

Tight

The Mallards are in sixth place in the Turner Conference, two points ahead of both Fort Wayne and Dayton. The Mallards and Gems have both played 63 games, while the Komets have played 62. The Mallards would win the tie-breaker (non-shootout wins) should they finish deadlocked with either Dayton or Fort Wayne.

Special Teams Brandon Marino ‚¬â„¢s second period power play goal in last Saturday ‚¬â„¢s win over Dayton ended the Mallards ‚¬â„¢ 0-for-27 power play drought. Quad City, which has now scored once in its last 30 man advantages, ranks fourteenth in the league on the power play (16.3 percent). The Mallards rank third in penalty killing (84.3 percent) after surviving all nine Gems power plays last Saturday- including a pair of two-man disadvantages totaling 2:40 in length- and killing of 14 of their foes ‚¬â„¢ last 15 power plays.

Leader(s) of the Pack Obi Aduba (19-28-48) and Mike McLean (17-31-48) are now tied with the injured Eric Giosa (26-22-48) for the team lead in point scoring.

Iron Men Aduba, Darren McMillan and Jason Kostadine have played in each of the Mallards ‚¬â„¢ first 63 games.

Home Sweet Home

The Mallards won at the i wireless Center last Saturday after dropping their prior two home games and four of their previous five on home ice. Wednesday ‚¬â„¢s meeting with the PrairieThunder is the Flock ‚¬â„¢s regular season home finale.

Rebound

After goaltender David Brown was called up to the American Hockey League ‚¬â„¢s Grand Rapids Griffins (Brown ‚¬â„¢s fifth AHL call-up this season) last Saturday, netminder Adam Russo (14-11-0, 2.77, .921, 1 SO) stopped 24 Dayton shots Saturday evening on the way to halting a personal five-game losing streak.

700 Club Joe Blaznek picked up an assist last Thursday night against Wichita and is now within two points of reaching 700 for his career. Blaznek has scored 326 goals and collected 372 assists over 13 seasons.

Defensive The Mallards rank second in the league in goals allowed (2.71 per game) but did match a season high by surrendering six goals against Wichita last Thursday.

Ins and Outs

Goaltender David Brown last Saturday was called up to the American Hockey League ‚¬â„¢s Grand Rapids Griffins ‚¬Â¦The Mallards last Saturday signed goaltender Justin Grant ‚¬Â¦The Mallards last Thursday signed center Jared Brown ‚¬Â¦Center Drew Akins was granted CHL leave last Thursday ‚¬Â¦Eric Giosa (upper body, effective February 27) and Tyler Kindle (upper body, effective February 26) remain on 30-day injured reserve.

Bloomington

Bloomington has gone 3-4-1 in its last eight games after going unbeaten in regulation (7-0-3) in its prior ten outings ‚¬Â¦The PrairieThunder rebounded from consecutive defeats by winning 4-2 in Fort Wayne last Saturday ‚¬Â¦The Thunder ranks behind only Missouri and Quad City in goals allowed per game (2.89) ‚¬Â¦Jason Dale (17-32-49) is the PrairieThunder ‚¬â„¢s top point producer. Brett Holmberg (23-20-43) leads the team in goals ‚¬Â¦Marco Emond (24-14-2, 2.83, .900, 1 SO) ranks fifth among goaltenders in wins ‚¬Â¦Bloomington has won its last three road games and is 8-1-1 in its last ten away outings ‚¬Â¦The Mallards have gone 7-3-0 against Bloomington this season. The PrairieThunder will play five games in six nights beginning tomorrow evening in Fort Wayne. After visiting the i wireless Center Wednesday night, Bloomington will wrap up the regular season by playing Evansville three times in 48 hours this weekend.

Dayton The Gems have dropped back-to-back games and have gone 2-4-1 in their last seven games ‚¬Â¦Dayton ranks seventeenth in the league on the power play (15.4 percent) ‚¬Â¦Derek MacIntyre has started in goal in seven of eight games since Jeff Jakaitis was called up to the AHL ‚¬â„¢s Portland Pirates earlier this month ‚¬Â¦Mike Vaskivuo (26-33-59) is Dayton ‚¬â„¢s top point scorer ‚¬Â¦Former Mallard forward Chris Lipsett (18-26-44) has piled up nine goals and 22 points in his last 13 games ‚¬Â¦The Gems ‚¬â„¢ three remaining games are against the two teams closest to them in the Turner Conference standings. Dayton visits Fort Wayne Wednesday night before returning home for this weekend ‚¬â„¢s series with the Mallards. The Mallards have gone 5-3-0 against Dayton this season. Quad City will clinch its season series with the Gems by securing at least one point from its two games at Hara Arena this weekend.

UPCOMING HOME GAMES

Thursday, March 23- Mallards vs. Bloomington PrairieThunder Fan Appreciation Night

Mallards playoff tickets and autographed memorabilia will be among the prizes raffled off to fans attending Wednesday night ‚¬â„¢s regular season home finale. The Mallards will finish the evening with a post-game autograph session open to all fans.

TICKETS

Single Game Tickets

Tickets for Wednesday night ‚¬â„¢s game 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 from 10:00 a.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.

2011-12 Season Tickets 2011-12 Mallards season ticket packages are now available. Season ticket holders save off walk-up ticket prices and receive a host of additional benefits. Fans can lock in seats for the next season with a $50 per-seat deposit. The Mallards offer early bird specials- discounted season ticket prices for seats paid for in full by April 1 or May 1- as well as convenient monthly payment plans. For more season ticket information, fans can contact the Mallards at (309) 277-1364 and tickets@myqcmallards.com.

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

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



Central Hockey League Stories from March 21, 2011


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