SPHL SPHL

Pee Dee's \'Sirois' scorer

December 19, 2006 - SPHL (SPHL) News Release


Since the SPHL is only in its third season, it stands that the cities where its teams play have hosted other hockey franchises in other leagues. That is certainly the case in Pee Dee, where the Pee Dee (and Florence ) Pride used to play in the ECHL.

The SPHL Cyclones struck pay dirt this off season when 11-year minor pro vet Allan Sirois decided to return to the city where he played for seven seasons. Sirois probably could have found an ECHL club to allow him to continue to play because Sirois did not leave that league due to diminished performance. Instead he got caught up in the Greenville Grrrowl situation that also allowed Fayetteville Coach John Marks to come to the SPHL.

While playing for Marks last season, Sirois scored 48 points in 65 games. But once Greenville folded, the 31-year-old winger, with some family prodding, decided to return to Pee Dee where he continues his fine play with the Cyclones.

"My wife wanted to go back (where she has a job nursing), and going to the city was a great decision," Sirois said. "I get to help out with the young guys and maybe someday I can go into coaching."

While some may have thought Sirois would tear up the league from the start, he actually was held scoreless in two of his first three games in the league.

"The SPHL is a lot better than what I thought," Sirois said. "I saw Jacksonville and Knoxville last year, and it was really fast. But they had a lot of young players."

Sirois started scoring in his usual manner while playing in his fourth game in the league when he scored three points, including an assist on Geoff Rollins overtime winner against Fayetteville. Since that game, no team has managed to completely quiet the line of Sirois, Edan Welch and rookie Chris Rebernik. Welch, perhaps better prepared than Sirois for the SPHL style of play, started a scoring streak 18 games ago, while Sirois has reached 16. Sirois currently sits on top of the league's scoring race, with Welch in hot pursuit, with 37 points in just 18 games.

In addition to his Pee Dee club enjoying his scoring, the points go to good use. Once Sirois inked his pact, the team's ownership and Richards encouraged Sirois to attach his production to a charity drive.

After weighing several options, The Children's Miracle Network, American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association receive support through "Al's All Stars."

Fans can sign up for this program by going to www.peedeecyclones.com to click on Al's All Stars, then follow the online instructions.

Despite Sirois' efforts the Cyclones have struggled to a 5-11-3 record, mainly due to their inability to win one-goal games, as they have gone 1-6-3 in such situations.

"I think we need to slash one goal each game," Sirois said. "(Netminder) Guy ( St. Vincent ) has been playing real well. We have 11 rookies and just two or three returnees, and to jell in a short amount of a week or 10-day training camp is tough. I really believe we're getting better."

SPHL players on the move

As of last week, the only team to lose players to the ECHL had been the Fayetteville FireAntz. But that changed when Huntsville net minder Matt Carmichael and defender Jesse Baraniuk dressed for the Pensacola Ice Pilots. Carmichael did not see any action for the club due to the fact he wanted to return to Alabama. However, Baraniuk played well enough in his first game with the Ice Pilots to earn a contract.

Of course, no week would be complete without a FireAntz move, and this week's transaction saw net minder Chad Collins accept a call from Cincinnati when that team decided he would see game action instead of merely rusting away on the bench.

The club placed Collins in goal for a contest against Johnstown. Collins lost despite playing well. The 25- year-old net minder, who had appeared in 15 ECHL games, stopped 23 of 26 shots against the Chiefs in Cincinnati's 4-3 overtime loss.

They Said It

"He's got nobody in his little stable that's man enough to stand up to anybody, so he has to go out and cry a little bit. John Marks realizes he doesn't have a tough team. They've been called boring to watch, and they are. If the only way they can beat us is to play us five-on-four or five-on-three and then tuck their tail between their legs and run home, that's fine. We'll be playing them again."

Richmond Renegades President and General Manager Allan B. Harvie to John Packett of the Richmond Times- Dispatch

"We dominated the first period. We had a 3-1 lead in the second. Two mistakes cost us two goals and that's the difference in the hockey game. You score five goals at home and you should win. I'm looking at a big picture right now. The guys are playing well and there are going to be nights like this."

Florida Seals Coach Tommy Stewart to Don Money (www.prohockeynews.com, www.floridaseals.com)

"We were hanging out this summer and kind of jokingly, I asked him, 'Why don't you get me a tryout?' He said he would, but I didn't think anything of it. Then about a week later, I got a call from (player/assistant coach Rob) Meanchoff and the rest is history."

Fayetteville netminder Garrett Kindred in explaining to Brett Friedlander of the Fayetteville Observer how teammate Josh Welter arranged a tryout for him with the Fayetteville FireAntz.

"We figure it's one of our biggest rivals in the league and we've got them back to back. They're also a team that's hanging with us in the standings."

Huntsville Coach John Gibson talking about a two-game set against Knoxville with Skip Vaughn of the Huntsville Times.

TEAM NOTES

The week started off poorly as the club learned it would have to play short due to the suspensions of Jeff and Darryl Moor. The schedule called for two games against solid teams, both ahead of the Cottonmouths in the standings. But when all was said and done, the club was quite happy with its work, outscoring the two clubs by an 11-4 margin. Backup net minder Ryan Senft held the Cottonmouths in the game against Richmond as he made 15 stops during the second period to allow the club to hold onto a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes. Columbus salted the game away when Ryan Rutz added to his league-leading goal collection with a pair of third period goals, with single goals chipped in from Mike McIlveen and Lorne Misita. Senft's fine play not only gave the club a win, but allowed it to rest regular starter Chad Rycroft. The contest against the Havoc was a true playoff-style affair for nearly 46 minutes until Mark Prentice knocked in a beautiful cross-crease feed from Craig Stahl to give Columbus a 4-3 lead. Tylor Green finalized the game when he fired in a shorthanded empty-net goal with less than a minute to play. Defenseman Steve Howard buoyed the club early on with a pair of goals as did the fine play of Rycroft, who came up with 40 stops on the evening. The Cottonmouths sit one point behind the Renegades for second place, but own two games in hand over Richmond.

After a promising prognosis early in the week, it turned out that Josh Welter could not play this week and is doubtful for next week after being knocked into the boards against Richmond. The club also headed to Florida minus the services of net minder Chad Collins, but added Jarrett Robertson after the latter was returned by Columbia (ECHL). In the end, the club used a twogoal third period on Saturday night to end up the two-game set against the hot Florida Seals with a split. The first game went to the Seals after they scored five goals on Garrett Kindred and the FireAntz could only come up with three goals themselves despite firing 47 shots on goal. The second game was won after defenders Adam Meyer and Dwight Mullins scored in the third period to seal a 6-5 win. The two offensive-minded clubs combined for 88 shots on goal in the first game and 87 shots on goal in the second affair. Josh Piro scored once and assisted on two other goals, while four players each picked up a goal and an assist. The club received a big boost when Rob Meanchoff came off the injured reserve list. The FireAntz lead the SPHL by scoring an average of 4.78 goals per game.

Florida's win streak reached three games after the club destroyed Jacksonville and handled the Fayetteville FireAntz. However, the club could not carry over the streak to next week, as the FireAntz won in the rematch. The club hosted the Jacksonville Barracudas on Tuesday and treated the visitors rudely. Led by Scott Corbett's two goals, the Seals battered Jacksonville into submission with a 9-1 win. Matt Balser made 44 saves but had his shutout ruined when Jeff Angelidis scored late in the final period. Justin Keller had four points in that contest while Steve Zoryk, Robert Sich, Phil Gianfrancesco and Tim Vitek each chipped in three points. The winning continued, thanks to a four-goal third period against Fayetteville during the first game of a two-game set. This time, it would be Gianfrancesco coming up with a pair of goals. Once again, Balser was in the net and he made 44 stops during the win. But the winning streak would not reach four games even though the Seals took a two-goal lead twice and had a fourth lead in hand against the FireAntz. Balser took the starter's job away from Terry Denike, starting the last five games for the Seals after Denike was pulled against Jacksonville earlier this month.

Despite the fact the club ended the week with a loss in Columbus, the team sits securely in first place with 29 points. The loss to the Cottonmouths snapped a six-game winning streak, which tied Knoxville for the longest such streak in the league this season. Backup net minder Nick Niedert was in goal for the club in the Columbus game and was saddled with the loss, despite making 38 saves in a game that saw the Havoc stay in the contest until late in the third period. Huntsville started the week by sweeping a pair of home games against the Knoxville Ice Bears, the highlight of which was a 2-0 40-save shutout effort by Matt Carmichael. The first game was a more traditional affair as the Havoc scored two late goals to pull out a 6-4 win. The game's outcome looked in doubt until James Patterson lit the lamp with only 39 seconds remaining in regulation. Dan Buccella keyed the victory as he notched a hat trick. Injuries and call-ups in Pensacola led to Carmichael and Jesse Baraniuk taking a trip to Florida to play for the ECHL club. Baraniuk, arguably one of the league's top defensemen this year, played well enough with the Ice Pilots to earn a regular contract. In addition, the club lost Craig Bushey to an arm injury, so Coach John Gibson signed John Hechter from St. Anselm (NCAA) to fill out the roster.

The week started with the club getting killed by the Florida Seals by a 9-1 count. The club followed that win with a crazy 9-8 overtime affair over Pee Dee and then finished with a fine defensive effort against Richmond in a 3-1 win. Goaltending made the difference in Florida, as the Barracudas actually out shot the Seals by a 45-40 margin. But CoreyWogtech gave up seven goals in the first 22:48 of the game while Matt Meacham did a credible job with only two goals against over the last 37 minutes. The Pee Dee game can only be described as crazy as the lead changed eight times and the two clubs combined for 17 goals. Wogtech, back in goal, got strafed for eight scores, but still picked up the win, thanks to Jeff Angelidis, who registered four points and scored the game-tying goal with 17:35 expired in the third period. Jim Murphy scored the game-winning goal with 4:25 gone in overtime. After all the goal scoring, the club settled down for a 3-1 win over the Richmond Renegades. This time, Wogtech authored a positive story as he made 33 saves. Three different players scored for Jacksonville. Wogtech's shutout bid was ended when Brian Goudie broke through with less than three minutes left in the game. Corey Graboski had a tough go of it during the contest as he fought Richmond's Mat Goody twice and Brett Cross once, earning an ejection after the second Goody bout. The two-game winning streak allowed the Barracudas to even their record for the first time since the season began. Ryan Thompson left the club for a job in the private sector and was suspended by the club.

At one point, the Ice Bears sat at 9-2-1 with everyone thinking the highly talented defending champions would run away with the league this season. But the team has lost five games in a row and slipped into a fifth-place tie with Jacksonville. The once-robust offense is clearly to blame, as Knoxville scored just eight times during the slump and has scored only a single goal this weekend. When Kevin Swider scored with 18:33 expired in the third period to tie the Huntsville Havoc at four goals apiece it looked as if the club would break its streak. But James Patterson would score less than a minute later and Knoxville would not score again for the next 78:18. After losing the first game against Huntsville, the Ice Bears were blanked in the rematch despite getting 40 shots on goal. Knoxville then went on to face the last place Pee Dee Cyclones, and promptly got outclassed by a 4-1 score, with only David Segal able to find the range. Knoxville added Patrick Steinmayr earlier in the week, but he fell in right with the rest of the club and was held scoreless in his first three games with the team.

A dominating 4-1 win over the Knoxville Ice Bears can do nothing but build the confidence of the Cyclones. The club out shot the Ice Bears by a 31-29 margin, with net minder Guy St. Vincent posting 28 saves to win First Star honors. The victory came after a confounding 9-8 overtime loss to the Jacksonville Barracudas. Allan Sirois and Edan Welch continued their dominance of the league's scoring charts with two-point efforts against the Ice Bears. Sirois proved even more effective against the Barracudas, as he came up with three goals and three assists, but it went for naught in the loss. Ryan Petz (2-1-3), Art Mnatsakanov (three assists), Welch (three assists) and Chris Rebernik (three assists) also had multiple points in the loss. Both goaltenders took abuse in that game, as St. Vincent was rang up for five goals and Matt LeDuc four. The club made some moves on defense as Patrick Mulligan went out and Mark Hammersmith came in. The schedule gets much tougher as the Cyclones hit the road for four games against quality competition such as the suddenly hot Florida Seals, Fayetteville, Huntsville and the sure-to-belooking- for-revenge Ice Bears.

The club dodged a bullet on the discipline front as Brian Goudie was not suspended for the elbow check that cost Fayetteville's Josh Welter at least a weekend of downtime. However, David Mitchell received suspension for the first two games of a four-game road swing. Richmond started the trip with its offense in neutral and could only come up for two goals in games against Columbus and Jacksonville. The output was especially frustrating, as the first game in Columbus was against the Cottonmouths backup net minder and the second game was against a Jacksonville club that had allowed 17 goals against in its last two games. Tyler Schremp scored the lone goal against Columbus in a 6-1 loss, while Goudie had the honors in a 3-1 loss in Jacksonville. After a sedate game against the Cottonmouths with no fights and only 18 penalty minutes for the team, the lid blew off in Jacksonville. Mat Goody had three fights and picked up 37 penalty minutes, while Brett Cross had a single tussle. Much of the attention was focused on Corey Grabowski, who had the fight against Cross and two with Goody, while Goody's other affair came against Chris Bain. Jay Chrapala continues to start every game in the absence of the injured Doug Groenestege. The road trip continues with games in Florida and Fayetteville.

The Lighter Side!

Happy Birthday
David Mitchell Richmond 22 12/15
Josh Welter Fayetteville 23 12/16
Jason deGuehery Huntsville 30 12/17
Eric Frank Pee Dee 25 12/20
Kahlil Thomas Florida 31 12/22

1) Who scored the first goal of the 2006-07 SPHL season?

Hint: He is a rookie forward who's hometown is listed as being the same as his assistant coach's.

2) Who is the rookie defender who leads all SPHL defenders in goals and points?

Hint: You could consider his first name musical.

3) What rookie netminder is amongst the league leaders in several categories?

Hint: He was supposed to be his team's backup netminder, but he won the starting job.

1) Richmond's Duane Whitehead and Brian Goudie are from The Pas, Manitoba. Whitehead scored just 1:35 into the first game of the season.

2) Fayetteville's Dylan Row has eight goals and ten assists for eighteen points.

3) Florida's Matt Balser has the third best goals against average and save percentage.

Three Stars of theWeek (in no particular order)

Matt Carmichael #29 Huntsville 40 saves in a shutout over Knoxville 12/15

Allan Sirois #12 Pee Dee Three goals and assists 12/14 vs. Jacksonville

Dan Buccella #47 Huntsville Hat trick, assist 12/14 vs. Knoxville

Helping and Honoring

SPHL hockey isn't all just fun and games. All of the league's team are reaching out to the community and doing what they can to help out. Check out some of these upcoming events:

January 26 and 27 in- Columbus will be the Columbus Cottonmouths' first ever Racing Weekend. Tickets to the Richard Petty Meet & Greet at the Snake Pit will be avai lable at the Columbus Cottonmouths front office for only $100. A portion of the proceeds from this "Columbus Cottonmouths Racin' Weekend" will go to benefit the Victory Junction Gang Camp, an organization founded for kids in honor of Adam Petty. This camp enriches the lives of children with serious illnesses or medical conditions by providing fun and exciting experiences in an environment that is conducive to each child's illness. To learn more about this Hole in the Wall Camp, visit victoryjunction. org.

On December 8th Knoxville fans brought new teddy bears and participated in our yearly "Teddy Bear Toss". Fans showered the ice with over 200 Teddy Bears after The Ice Bears scored their first goal. The Ice Bears will deliver a bear to each child in residence at Children's Hospital on Monday, December 18th and hopefully brighten their holiday.

All career stats and bio information provided by The Ice Pages. Check out The Ice Pages at www. prohockeynews.com

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