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Mississippi Splits Pair On Road

March 1, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL)
Mississippi Sea Wolves News Release


BILOXI, Miss. – The Mississippi Sea Wolves went 1-1-0 in two road games last week, falling at Louisiana and winning at Texas.

Mississippi is in second place in the ECHL's Central Division with 72 points, six behind the Louisiana IceGators for first and one ahead of the third place Gwinnett Gladiators.

After 57 of 72 games, the Sea Wolves have an overall record of 33-18-6. Mississippi is 17-5-5 at home, 16-13-1 on the road, 2-1 in overtime and 4-5 in shootouts.

On Friday, Mississippi fell 4-0 against Louisiana at the Cajundome, then rebounded on Saturday by defeating Texas 4-2 at Ford Arena in Beaumont.

Mississippi has a three-game homestand this week hosting Pensacola on Tuesday, Florida on Friday and Saturday.

GAMES, BROADCASTS AND PROMOTIONS AT A GLANCE –

Tuesday, Mar. 2 vs. Pensacola Ice Pilots – 6:35 p.m. CT – Mississippi Coast Coliseum
* Broadcast begins at 6:20 p.m. on ESPN Radio WXBD-AM 1490 and online at msseawolves.com
* This is the makeup date for the game originally scheduled for January 17. All tickets from January 17 will be honored.
* Richie Jones, local country music entertainer to perform National Anthem

Friday, Mar. 5 vs. Florida Everblades – 7:35 p.m. CT – Mississippi Coast Coliseum
* Broadcast starts at 7:20 p.m. on ESPN Radio WXBD-AM 1490 and online at msseawolves.com
* 2-for-1 military, sponsored by Keesler Federal Credit Union
* Postgame jersey auction to benefit Youth For Christ

Saturday, Mar. 6 vs. Florida Everblades – 7:35 p.m. CT – Mississippi Coast Coliseum
* Broadcast gets underway at 7:20 p.m. on WTNI-AM 1640 and online at msseawolves.com
* $2 drafts and $2 hotdogs from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
* Jersey Bottle Buddies giveaway to first 1,500 fans

GAME PREVIEWS –

Tuesday, Mar. 2 vs. Pensacola Ice Pilots – 6:35 p.m. CT – Mississippi Coast Coliseum

Mississippi is 6-3-1 against Pensacola this season and 3-0-1 at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. This game marks the 11th of 14 head-to-head meetings.

The Sea Wolves have won the last six games in the season series, after the Ice Pilots took the opening four head-to-head contests. Mississippi won the last game 4-3 on January 16 at the Wolves Den. Travis Lisabeth tallied the game-winning goal, while Greg Gardner turned aside 31 shots to register the win.

Louis Dumont leads Mississippi with 11 points (5g-6a) against Pensacola. Jeff Hutchins is tops with six goals, while the nine assists for Sergei Kuznetsov leads that department in the season series.

Corey Neilson has 10 assists and 12 points to lead the way offensively for the Ice Pilots in the head-to-head battles. Dwayne Hay along with former Pensacola forward Jim Abbott, who now plays for Toledo, have six goals each in the season series.

Mississippi is 43-18-4 all-time in the regular season against Pensacola and 24-6-3 at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.

Friday, Mar. 5 vs. Florida Everblades – 7:35 p.m. CT – Mississippi Coast Coliseum

Mississippi is 1-2-0 against Florida this season, with the opening three games in the season series all played at TECO Arena in Estero. This game is the opener of a two-game series and fourth of five head-to-head meetings overall.

Florida won the last two games, in back-to-back days on February 13 and 14. Brian McCullough netted four goals and Paul Vincent registered four assists in his Everblades debut, as Florida took the first game in the two-game series 5-3. The next day, Florida knocked off Mississippi 6-4, with McCullough collecting four points (1g-3a) for the second straight game. Everblades' Vincent tallied a pair of goals along with Jon Insana in the win.

The teams have also met twice in the preseason, splitting one game each at TECO Arena. On October 11, Florida won 5-3 and Mississippi took the second contest on October 12, 6-3.

Florida's last visit to Mississippi was on December 19, 2001. The Sea Wolves won the contest 5-2 on a Nick Greenough game-winning goal. Mississippi's Chuck Thuss turned away 23 shots to earn the victory defeating Florida's Randy Petruk, who made 28 saves to suffer the loss.

Mississippi is 4-10-1 all-time in the regular season against Florida and 1-4-0 at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.

Saturday, Mar. 6 vs. Florida Everblades – 7:35 p.m. CT – Mississippi Coast Coliseum

This is the fifth and final head-to-head meeting of the regular season.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Center Dwayne Blais netted two goals including the game-winner on Saturday as the Sea Wolves doubled Texas 4-2. The 5-foot-9 and 185-pound Blais has recorded three-game winning markers on the season. A native of Sudbury, Ontario, Blais has a total of 12 goals, 22 points, +2 and 90 penalty minutes this season.

GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK – Greg Gardner went 1-0-0 last week, winning his only appearance on Saturday by turning away 38 of 40 Texas in Mississippi's 4-2 victory. The 6-foot and 190-pound Gardner has compiled an overall record of 21-12-3, with a 2.64 goals against average to go along with his .917 save percentage.

TRANSACTIONS FROM LAST WEEK –
None.

STREAKING SEA WOLVES –
* Greg Gardner has backstopped the Mississippi to back-to-back victories.
* Brent Gauvreau, who is on loan to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL), had points in six straight ECHL games (5g-4a) before moving up on January 25.
* Jeff Hutchins, who is on loan to the Rochester Americans (AHL), picked up points in four consecutive games (3g-2a) prior to being promoted on February 18.

SEA WOLVES APPROACHING MILESTONES –
* Jim Baxter is one goal from tying his career high (netted 16 last season) and three games from 150 in his Mississippi career (147 gp, 36g, 123a, 157 pts, 79 PIM).
* John Evangelista is one assist from 100 in his pro career (323 gp, 61g, 99a, 160 pts, 344 PIM).
* Steffon Walby is one power-play goal from tying Mississippi's all-time leader Dave Paradise at 41.
* Andrei Lupandin is three games from 300 in his pro career (297 gp, 53g, 107a, 160 pts, 228 PIM).
* Sergei Kuznetsov is three goals from 50 in his Mississippi career (206 gp, 47g, 103a, 150 pts, 147 PIM).
* Greg Gardner has 53 career Mississippi wins and is five from tying the all-time team goaltending record (58, Chuck Thuss, 1998-2002).
* Louis Dumont has 454 ECHL career assists and needs six to tie the all-time league record (460, Chris Valicevic, 1993-2002).

TEAM LEADERS –
Goals – Louis Dumont, 28
Assists – Steffon Walby, 45
Points – Steffon Walby, 69
Plus/Minus – Brent Gauvreau, +30
Penalty Minutes – Roger Maxwell, 335
Power Play Goals – Jeff Hutchins, 11
Power Play Assists – Jim Baxter, 23
Power Play Points – Jim Baxter, 29
Shorthand Goals – Anthony Battaglia, 3
Game-Winning Goals – Brent Gauvreau, 7
Goaltender Wins – Greg Gardner, 21
Goals Against Average – Greg Gardner, 2.64
Save Percentage – Greg Gardner, .917

SPECIAL TEAMS (ECHL Rank) –
Power Play – 63-327, 19.3% (10)
Penalty Killing – 269-330, 81.5% (T21)
Shorthand Goals For – 7 (T18)
Shorthand Goals Against – 4 (T4)

INJURED RESERVE –
* Defenseman Chris Cava has been on the 7-day injured reserve since February 22.

CALL UPS –
* Center Brent Gauvreau was loaned to Bridgeport (AHL) on January 25. (11 gp, 3g, 2a, 5 pts, +1, 8 PIM)
* Right wing Travis Lisabeth remains on loan to Manchester (AHL) since February 12. (8 gp, 0 pts, +1, 0 PIM)
* Left wing Jeff Hutchins was loaned to Rochester (AHL) on February 18. (6 gp, 1g, 0a, 1 pt, +2, 25 PIM)

PRACTICES THIS WEEK –
Monday – 10-11:30 a.m.
Tuesday – 10-10:30 a.m., morning skate
Wednesday – 10-11:30 a.m.
Thursday – 10-11:30 a.m.
Friday – 10-10:30 a.m., morning skate
Saturday – 10-10:30 a.m., morning skate
Sunday – No ice available
* All practices are open to the public at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum, unless otherwise noted.
* Dates and times are subject to change.

IN THE COMMUNITY –

Wednesday, Mar. 3 – 7-8 p.m. "Your Home Team," the Sea Wolves weekly radio show for all ages will be on location at the Sea Wolves Outlet Store and 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, by telephone at (228) 594-3707 and online at ticketmaster.com.

Season tickets for 2004-05 are on sale! Flex packs, discounted group tickets and fundraiser opportunities are available for this season by calling (228) 275-WOLF.

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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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