Miller Leads Way With Hat Trick
December 10, 2005 - SPHL (SPHL)
Florida Seals News Release
[KISSIMMEE, Fla.] -The inaugural season of the Orlando Seals brought home a championship trophy behind a 25-5 home record. On Saturday night, when four original members had their jerseys retired, the Florida Seals made history of their own with a 5-2 win on home ice against Knoxville. The win was the sixth in a row for the Seals and their fifth straight at the Silver Spurs Arena.
The night started with a pre-game ceremony retiring the jerseys of Ryan Anderson (11), Zac Boyer (13), David Goverde (30) and Chris LiPuma (29). Then the game started with two quick Seals goals. At the five minute mark Steve Zoryk redirected a John Gurskis shot into the net to give the Seals (10-5-4) the early lead, and allowed the fans to toss teddy bears on the ice for the annual "Teddy Bear Toss."
The Seals extended their lead just past the half way mark of the first period when Craig Miller picked up what would be his first of three goals in the game. The Seals shut down the Ice Bears in the first period mainly due to strong defensive play on the penalty kill. The Ice Bears came into the game with the most potent power play in the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL), but the league's best penalty kill shut them down through the first twenty minutes.
The Seals started the second period short handed and somehow extended their lead. Trevor Hammer scored his first goal of the season when he found the littlest of daylight between goalie Ryan Person and the post just 26-seconds into the middle frame.
The Ice Bears (12-5-4) would make the game tight when their power play scored off the stick of Kevin Swider. K.J. Voorhees shot the puck towards the net and Swider got his stick on the puck and deflected it past Terry Denike who had heavy traffic in front of the Seals net. Two minutes later Jason Bermingham lit the lamp for thirteenth time this season to bring Knoxville within one after two periods.
The current Florida winning streak has been keyed by strong third periods. Saturday night continued that trend as the Seals scored two third period goals to seal the deal. Miller scored his second goal of the game when he stuffed a Zoryk rebound to the back of the net. History was made as Miller finished his hat trick, the first in Silver Spurs Arena history, with an empty net goal at the 18:52 mark of the final frame.
The Seals will finish their four game home stand Tuesday night also against Knoxville. The "Two For Tuesday" game will start at 7:35 pm. All tickets are buy one get one free. To reserve your season tickets or find out more about partnerships with the Seals, call the office at (407) 343-PUCK or go to www.floridaseals.com. Single game tickets for exciting Seals hockey start as low as $10 for an individual and $6 for groups. All home games can be seen live at www.livesportsnetwork.com/sphl.
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