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Mississippi Drops to Third

January 5, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL)
Mississippi Sea Wolves News Release


BILOXI, Miss. – The Mississippi Sea Wolves went 1-1-1 over three home games last week and fell into third place in the ECHL's Central Division with 44 points, two behind second place Louisiana and three points off the pace set by Gwinnett.

The Sea Wolves have played 36 games, which is the halfway point of the season, and have an overall record of 19-11-6. Mississippi is 9-2-5 at home, and has a record of 10-9-1 on the road.

On Tuesday, Mississippi topped Texas, 4-3, at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. The Sea Wolves gained a point in the 4-3 shootout loss versus Columbia on Friday. Then Mississippi concluded its week on Saturday by suffering a 3-1 setback at home to Louisiana.

Mississippi begins a three-game road trip on Friday by visiting Pensacola, traveling to Louisiana on Saturday and wrapping up on Sunday with a game at Columbus.

GAMES AND BROADCASTS AT A GLANCE –

Friday, Jan. 9 at Pensacola Ice Pilots – 7:05 p.m. CT – Pensacola Civic Center, Pensacola, Fla.

* Broadcast begins at 6:50 p.m. on ESPN Radio WXBD-AM 1490 and online at www.msseawolves.com

Saturday, Jan. 10 at Louisiana IceGators – 7:05 p.m. CT – Cajundome, Lafayette, La.

* Broadcast starts at 6:50 p.m. on WTNI-AM 1640 and online at www.msseawolves.com

Sunday, Jan. 11 at Columbus Cottonmouths – 3 p.m. CT – Columbus Civic Center, Columbus, Ga.

* Broadcast starts at 2:45 p.m. on WTNI-AM 1640 and online at www.msseawolves.com

GAME PREVIEWS –

Friday, Jan. 9 at Pensacola Ice Pilots – 7:05 p.m. CT – Pensacola Civic Center, Pensacola, Fla.

Mississippi is 4-3-1 against Pensacola this season and 2-3-0 at the Pensacola Civic Center. The contest marks the ninth of 14 games in the season series.

The Ice Pilots took the opening four games in the season series, but the Sea Wolves have rebounded to win the last four in a row. In the last head-to-head contest on December 27, Mississippi's Jim Baxter scored a power-play goal in overtime to give the Sea Wolves a dramatic victory.

Sea Wolves' Louis Dumont leads Mississippi with five goals and 10 points against his former team. Sergei Kuznetsov and Baxter each have seven assists to top that department.

Ice Pilots' Corey Neilson (2g-9a) and Greg Chambers (3g-8a) both have 11 points in the season series against Mississippi. Jim Abbott is first for Pensacola in the games versus the Sea Wolves with six goals.

Mississippi is 42-18-4 all-time in the regular season against Pensacola and 19-12-1 at the Pensacola Civic Center.

Saturday, Jan. 10 at Louisiana IceGators – 7:05 p.m. CT – Cajundome, Lafayette, La. Mississippi is 2-2-3 against Louisiana this season and 2-1-0 at the Cajundome. It's the eighth of 14 games in the season series.

The IceGators won the last meeting between the teams, 3-1 on January 3 at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. Louisiana used three power-play goals to win the game.

Sea Wolves won the last head-to-head meeting at the Cajundome, 7-2, on December 14. Mississippi scored four power-play goals in the victory. Jim Baxter led Mississippi offensively by netting two goals and three assists.

Jim Baxter leads Mississippi with nine assists and 11 points against the IceGators. Steffon Walby is the Sea Wolves leader with five goals in the head-to-head games.

Louisiana's Ben Storey leads the IceGators with six assists and eight points in the season series. Bobby Brown has scored six goals against Mississippi to top the IceGators in that department.

Mississippi is 28-26-7 all-time in the regular season against Louisiana and 12-15-3 all-time at the Cajundome.

Sunday, Jan. 11 at Columbus Cottonmouths – 3 p.m. CT – Columbus Civic Center, Columbus, Ga. The season series is tied 2-2-0. Mississippi is 0-1-0 at the Columbus Civic Center this season. It's the fifth of nine games in the head-to-head battles.

The Cottonmouths took the only game at the Snake Pit, 3-1 on December 26. The loss for Mississippi snapped its 10-game unbeaten streak. Columbus goal scorers were Kenton Smith, John Morlang and Colin Pepperall. Jeff Hutchins replied for Mississippi. Sea Wolves' Greg Gardner made 42 saves to suffer the loss, while Cottonmouths' Matus Kostur stopped 16-of-17 to pick up the win.

Brent Gauvreau is tops for the Sea Wolves with five assists and seven points against the Cottonmouths this season. Steffon Walby and Hutchins have each netted three goals to lead Mississippi in the games versus Columbus.

Pepperall has three points (1g-2a) to lead Columbus in points in the head-to-head meetings against Mississippi. Smith and Morlang have a pair of goals each to top the Cottonmouths versus the Sea Wolves.

Mississippi is 8-3-0 all-time against Columbus during the regular season and 2-2-0 all-time at the Columbus Civic Center.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Right wing Travis Lisabeth netted goals in each of Mississippi's three games last week, totaling four overall, including a game-winner and power play marker and had a +2 rating. The 6-foot and 200-pound Lisabeth tallied the game-winner with 1:20 to go in regulation time in the win against Texas on Tuesday. He followed it up with two goals against Columbia on Friday, in the Sea Wolves shootout loss. Lisabeth finished off his three-game set by notching Mississippi's only goal in the loss against Louisiana on Saturday. In 32 games this season, the third-year pro has 11 goals, 18 points and 63 penalty minutes.

GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK – Sean Matile appeared in each of the Sea Wolves three games last week posting a 1-1-1 record. The 6-foot-4 and 215-pound Matile had his 10-game unbeaten streak (8-0-2) snapped on Saturday against Louisiana in the 3-1 loss. Overall this season, Matile has played in 14 games, compiling a 9-2-2 record with a 2.85 goals against average and .904 save percentage.

TRANSACTIONS FROM LAST WEEK –
1/1/04 Delete Greg Gardner, G, recalled to Rochester (AHL)
1/2/04 Delete Steffon Walby, RW, placed on 7-day injured reserve
1/2/04 Add Chuck Thuss, G, signed as emergency back-up
1/2/04 Add Andrei Lupandin, D, activated off 7-day injured reserve
1/3/04 Delete Andrei Lupandin, D, placed on 7-day injured reserve
1/3/04 Add Chris Cava, D, activated off 7-day injured reserve
1/3/04 Add Jody Green, G, signed as emergency back-up
1/3/04 Delete Chuck Thuss, G, released as emergency back-up

STREAKING SEA WOLVES –

* Patrick Rochon has assists in five consecutive road games (5a).

* Travis Lisabeth has four goals over his last three games.

* Steffon Walby has three assists over his last two games and has a nine-game point streak at home (8g, 11a, 19pts).

* Steve O'Rourke has assists (2a) in back-to-back games.

SEA WOLVES APPROACHING MILESTONES –

* Brent Gauvreau is one point from 200 in his pro career (240 gp, 73g, 126a, 199 pts)

* Sergei Kuznetsov is one assist from 100 in his pro career and five goals from 50 in his pro career (233 gp, 45g).

* Jim Baxter is three games from 300 in his pro career (297 gp, 66g, 180a, 244 pts).

* Austin Miller is four games from 100 in his pro and Sea Wolves career (96 gp, 8g, 15a, 23 pts).

* Bob Woods is five wins from tying the Sea Wolves coaching wins record (180 gms, 104-61-15, .619 WPCT) set by Bruce Boudreau (210 gms, 109-75-26, .581 WPCT from 1996-99)

STEFFON WALBY WATCH –

(Regular season totals with Mississippi - 148 gp, 102g, 127a, 229 pts, 37 PPG, 18 GWG)

* Four goals from tying all-time Sea Wolves leader Dave Paradise (106 goals in 262 games)

* Three assists from tying Dave Paradise (130 assists) for second all-time in Mississippi history. Patrick Rochon is first with 189 assists in his Sea Wolves career.

* Seven points from tying all-time Sea Wolves leader Dave Paradise at 236 points

* Four power-play goals from tying all-time Mississippi leader Dave Paradise at 41.

TEAM LEADERS –

Goals – Louis Dumont, 19
Assists – Brent Gauvreau, 31
Points – Steffon Walby, 47
Plus/Minus – Brent Gauvreau and Steffon Walby, +25
Penalty Minutes – Roger Maxwell, 180
Power Play Goals – Jeff Hutchins, 9
Power Play Points – Jim Baxter, 23
Shorthand Goals – Anthony Battaglia, Brent Gauvreau, Sergei Kuznetsov and Steve O'Rourke, 1

Game-Winning Goals – Brent Gauvreau, 5
Goaltender Wins – Greg Gardner, 10
Goals Against Average – Greg Gardner, 2.65
Save Percentage – Greg Gardner, .919

SPECIAL TEAMS (ECHL Rank) –

Power Play – 46-212, 21.7% (3)
Penalty Killing – 180-225, 80.0% (26)
Shorthanded Goal For – 4 (T16)
Shorthanded Goals Against – 2 (T3)

INJURED RESERVE – Right Wing Steffon Walby and defenseman Andrei Lupandin are on the 7-day IR.

IN THE COMMUNITY –

Wednesday, Jan. 7 – 7-8 p.m. "Your Home Team" Sea Wolves weekly radio show, for all ages at Club Caribe in Biloxi. Catch the show live on ESPN Radio WXBD-AM 1490.

Groups, organizations and companies that are interested in having members of the Sea Wolves appear at an event, are invited to call 228-388-6151.

Individual game tickets start at $9 for children and $11 for adults. Tickets are on sale at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum box office, all TicketMaster locations and by calling 228-594-3707.

Flex packs, discounted group tickets and fundraiser opportunities are available by calling 228-275-WOLF.

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