Mississippi Faces Louisiana in Southwest Division Finals
April 7, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Mississippi Sea Wolves News Release
BILOXI, Miss. â The Mississippi Sea Wolves defeated the Pensacola Ice Pilots in three straight games, advancing to the Southwest Division Finals against the Louisiana IceGators.
Mississippi and Louisiana both completed the regular season with 92 points. The Sea Wolves were awarded the top seed in the division due to the East Coast Hockey League's tiebreaker system. When two teams tie in points, the team with more wins during the regular season receives the higher seed. Mississippi posted a team record 44 victories, while Louisiana finished with 40 regular season wins.
Last week, the Sea Wolves won all three games against the Ice Pilots in the Southwest Division Semifinals by scores of 5-1. Mississippi took its two home games on Wednesday and Friday. Then on Saturday, the Sea Wolves wrapped up the series at Pensacola.
The Week Ahead at a Glance:
Monday, April 7 â Team practice open to the public from 4:00-5:30 p.m.
Tuesday, April 8 â Team practice open to the public from 10:00-11:30 a.m.
Wednesday, April 9 vs. Louisiana IceGators â 7:05 p.m. CT
Game 1 â Southwest Division Finals (Best-of-Five Series) Mississippi Coast Coliseum, Biloxi, Mississippi
Thursday, April 10 â Day off.
Friday, April 11 â Team practice at Cajundome. Time to be determined.
Saturday, April 12 at Louisiana IceGators â 7:05 p.m. CT
Game 2 â Southwest Division Finals (Best-of-Five Series) Cajundome, Lafayette, Louisiana
Sunday, April 13 â Day off.
Series Preview:
This is the second postseason meeting between the teams. Louisiana won the 2000 Southern Conference Quarterfinals, 3 games to 1. The IceGators took Game 1 and Game 2 at the Cajundome by scores of 3-2 and 7-3. The Sea Wolves survived Game 3 at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum, 3-2. Louisiana wrapped up the series at the Wolves Den in Game 4 by a final of 4-2.
During the regular season this year, Mississippi went 4-8-0 against Louisiana.
The Sea Wolves were 2-4-0 at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. The IceGators won the last game at the Wolves Den, 6-2 on December 20. It was the last regulation loss for Mississippi at home. Since December 20, the Sea Wolves have reeled off 14 straight home wins and are unbeaten in 20, going 18-0-2 at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
The IceGators won four of six head-to-head games at the Cajundome. Louisiana won the last meeting between the teams, 5-3 on March 22.
Dave Paradise led Mississippi with seven goals and 13 points against Louisiana. Paradise, Steffon Walby and Jim Baxter each had six assists to lead the Sea Wolves in that department against the IceGators.
Shawn McNeil scored 12 goals and totaled 19 points for Louisiana against Mississippi. Nathan Rempel tallied nine assists to top the list for the IceGators versus the Sea Wolves.
The Sea Wolves all-time regular season overall record against the IceGators after 54 games is 26-24-4.
Mississippi's all-time regular season home record at the Wolves Den through 27 games is 16-10-1.
The Sea Wolves all-time regular season road record at the Cajundome is 10-14-3 after 27 games.
Player of the Week:
Forward Sergei Kuznetsov collected six points over the three victories last week. The 6-foot and 200-pound native of Yaroslavl, Russia scored one goal and added an assist in Game 1. He registered a helper in Game 2 and highlighted his week by tallying two power play goals and an assist in Game 3. Kuznetsov also finished the week with a plus-3 rating.
Goaltender of the Week:
Greg Gardner backstopped Mississippi to the three-game sweep over Pensacola by surrendering just three goals and making 101 saves. The 6-foot and 190-pound native of Mississauga, Ontario turned away 28 shots in Game 1, stopped 27 in Game 2 and capped off the series with 46 saves in Game 3.
Streaking Sea Wolves:
Mississippi enters the series with a team record 14 straight wins at home and 20-game unbeaten streak at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum, going 18-0-2 over that span. The last regulation loss suffered by the Sea Wolves at the Wolves Den was on December 20 against Louisiana.
Forward Cody Bowtell has points over his last five games (4g-4a).
Forward Kent Davyduke also has a five-game point streak (1g-6a).
Forward Travis Lisabeth has points over four consecutive games (2g-2a).
Defenseman Jim Baxter has five assists over his last three games and six points over his last three contests (1g-5a).
Forward Sergei Kuznetsov has a three-game point and assist streak (3g-3a).
Forward Dave Paradise has points over his last three games (2g-4a).
Goaltender Greg Gardner has a three-game win streak intact.
Netminder Sean Matile won his last two starts.
Injured Reserve: Defenseman Chris Cava and forward Stu Pietersma are on the injured reserve.
Individual playoff game tickets are available at all TicketMaster locations, the Mississippi Coast Coliseum box office and by calling 228-594-3707.
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