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Mississippi Rides Road to First Place

December 16, 2002 - ECHL (ECHL)
Mississippi Sea Wolves News Release


BILOXI, Miss. – The Mississippi Sea Wolves capped off three consecutive road games with victories last week. The Sea Wolves have 38 points and are in a three-way tie for first place in the 27-team East Coast Hockey League points race, along with Louisiana and Atlantic City.

The Sea Wolves handled the Pensacola Ice Pilots at the Hangar, 4-1 on Thursday. The next night at Louisiana, Mississippi slipped past the IceGators, 3-2. Then Saturday, the Sea Wolves defeated the Baton Rouge Kingfish, 4-1 at the Riverside Centroplex.

After 29 games, the Sea Wolves have compiled a record of 18-9-2. At home, Mississippi has posted a record of 10-6-1. While, the Sea Wolves road record stands at 8-3-1.

The Week Ahead at a Glance:

Monday, Dec. 16 – Practice open to the public – 10:00-11:30 a.m.

Tuesday, Dec. 17 – Practice open to the public – 8:00-9:30 a.m.

Wednesday, Dec. 18 at Arkansas RiverBlades – 7:00 p.m. – Alltel Arena, Little Rock

Thursday, Dec. 19 – Day off

Friday, Dec. 20 vs. Louisiana IceGators – 7:35 p.m. – Mississippi Coast Coliseum

Saturday, Dec. 21 vs. Jackson Bandits – 7:35 p.m. – Mississippi Coast Coliseum (Game 7 of Nextel Cup. Sea Wolves lead season series against the Bandits, 9 points to 4.)

Sunday, Dec. 22 vs. Arkansas RiverBlades – 5:05 p.m. – Mississippi Coast Coliseum

Game Previews:

Wednesday, Dec. 18 at Arkansas RiverBlades – 7:00 p.m. – Alltel Arena, Little Rock

Just the second of 12 head-to-head games in the season series and first of six at the Alltel Arena this season. Arkansas won the only game played the Mississippi Coast Coliseum on November 1, by a 4-3 score. Mike Cirillo scored the game-winning goal for the RiverBlades. Arkansas goaltender Jason Saal made 21 saves, outdueling Mississippi netminder Greg Gardner, who turned away 33 shots.

The game marks the first time Arkansas forward Mike Renzi goes up against his former team. Renzi was traded to the RiverBlades last Wednesday, December 11 for future considerations. He appeared in five games with Mississippi, scoring one goal and picking up two assists, along with four penalty minutes. Renzi has two goals and one assist in three games with Arkansas.

The Sea Wolves lead the all-time series against the RiverBlades, 13-6-2.

Friday, Dec. 20 vs. Louisiana IceGators – 7:35 p.m. – Mississippi Coast Coliseum

It's Game 9 of 12 in the head-to-head match-up. Louisiana leads Mississippi in the season series 5-3. The Sea Wolves have won the past two games, 3-2 on December 13 at the Cajundome, and 4-3 in overtime on December 8 at the Wolves Den. Last Friday at Lafayette, Mississippi forward Darryl Campbell scored the game-winner. Sea Wolves goaltender Sean Matile stopped 24 of 26 shots, beating Frederic Cloutier, who made 32 saves on 35 shots.

On December 8, Sea Wolves rookie Kent Davyduke scored just five seconds into overtime. It was the fastest goal in East Coast Hockey League overtime history. Greg Gardner backstopped Mississippi, by making 25 saves. Louisiana goalie Kyle Kettles stopped 37, only to suffer the loss.

Sea Wolves veterans Dave Paradise and Steffon Walby lead the way offensively against Louisiana, both counting eight points. Paradise is tops in goals with five. Walby leads the way with five assists.

IceGators' Shawn McNeil has been a force against Mississippi this season, tallying seven goals and collecting five assists for 12 points in eight games. Defenseman Kevin Mitchell has six assists, which leads Louisiana.

The Sea Wolves all-time record against the IceGators through 50 games is 25-21-4.

Saturday, Dec. 21 vs. Jackson Bandits – 7:35 p.m. – Mississippi Coast Coliseum

It's Game 7 of 12 in the battle for the Nextel Cup. Sea Wolves lead season series against the Bandits, 9 points to 4.

Jackson won the last match-up, 2-1 on December 7 at the Bandits Barn. Nick Theriault scored the game-winner and Adam Hauser made 18 saves to preserve the victory.

In two appearances against Jackson, Mississippi goaltender Sean Matile has not allowed a goal in just over 74 minutes of action. He has stopped all 39 shots highlighted by a 2-0 shutout performance on November 15, making 35 saves in his Sea Wolves debut. That was the last game at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum between the teams. The Sea Wolves have won both games at the Wolves Den, with the other victory coming on October 13, by a final score of 4-3.

Sea Wolves' Dave Paradise is tops in points against the Bandits, with four goals and four assists. Forward Cody Bowtell and defenseman Jim Baxter both have five assists in the head-to-head games with Jackson.

Bandits' Jeff Bes leads Jackson in points against Mississippi, registering three goals and three assists. Forward John McNabb also has three goals versus the Sea Wolves.

Sunday, Dec. 22 vs. Arkansas RiverBlades – 5:05 p.m. – Mississippi Coast Coliseum

The third match-up of the season and second game between the teams in five days. The last game at Biloxi was on November 1, won by Arkansas 4-3.

Transactions:

12/09 Delete AUSTIN MILLER (D) placed on 7-day IR
12/10 Delete MIKE RENZI (RW) traded to Arkansas
12/11 Add STEFFON WALBY (RW) activated off IR

Player of the Week:

Defenseman Jim Baxter registered eight points by tallying one goal and picking up seven assists in the three victories last week.

On Thursday, Baxter collected three assists in the 4-1 win at Pensacola. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound native of Brantford, Ontario followed it up by posting three more assists in Friday's 3-2 victory over Louisiana. Then on Saturday, the 23-year-old scored one goal and added another helper in Mississippi's 4-1 win at Baton Rouge.

Baxter has eight goals and 25 assists for 33 points to go along with 31 penalty minutes in 29 games for Mississippi this season. He also has nine multi-point games and the Sea Wolves record in those games is 9-0-0. Baxter is in his second season with Mississippi and fourth year of professional hockey.

Goaltender of the Week:

Sean Matile went 2-0 in his appearances last week. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound native of Vernon, British Columbia backstopped the Sea Wolves to a 3-2 victory at Louisiana on Friday. The 27-year-old turned away 24 of 26 IceGators shots. Matile started consecutive games for the first time this year on Saturday at Baton Rouge, turning away 30 of 31 Kingfish shots in the 4-1 win.

Matile has won four straight games and is 5-2-0 this season with a 1.39 goals against average and ..949 save percentage. He is in his first season with Mississippi after being acquired in a trade with the Florida Everblades on September 4 for cash. Matile is in his fourth season of professional hockey.

Injured Reserve:

Left wing Josh Bennett and Austin Miller are on the 7-day injured reserve.
Goaltender Mike Buckley and defensemen David Cornacchia remain on the 30-day IR.

Streaking Sea Wolves:

Rookie forward Kent Davyduke has points in four straight games (3g-3a) since joining Mississippi in a trade with the Trenton Titans on December 5 for future considerations and cash.

Veteran forward Dave Paradise has a four-game points streak (4g-3a).

Defenseman Jim Baxter has recorded points in three consecutive games (1g-7a) and assists in three straight contests (7a).

Goaltender Sean Matile has a four-game win streak.

Netminder Greg Gardner has posted wins in two consecutive games

Sea Wolves ‘On the Air':

Tune into live play-by-play on the Sea Wolves flagship radio station Q 92.5 FM. The hard-hitting, fast paced hockey excitement is also available across the internet at MsSeaWolves.com by clicking on ‘Listen Live', which links to SportsJuice.com.

Sea Wolves in the Community:

Monday, December 16
12:30 p.m.
Christmas Corner at the library at North Bay Elementary (1st Grade) Josh Bennett, Darryl Campbell, Austin Miller and Patrick Rochon

12:30 p.m.
Christmas Corner at the library at Popps Ferry Elementary (2nd Grade) Cody Bowtell

Groups, organizations and companies interested in having members of the Sea Wolves appear at an event, are invited to call 228-275-WOLF (9653).

Individual Sea Wolves game tickets are available at all TicketMaster locations, the Coliseum box office and by calling 228-594-3707.

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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.

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