Picking up the points

February 24, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Baton Rouge Kingfish News Release


The Kingfish have been playing some of their best hockey lately and picked up more than one point in a single week since the beginning of January when they downed the Pensacola Ice Pilots twice in one weekend on January 3rd and the 5th. It's just the fourth time all season long that the Kingfish have won more than one game in a weekend.

I thought you were a fighter? Jason Norrie, known around the ECHL as an enforcer, has been scoring goals for the Kingfish – and lots of them. He tied his career high for goals in a season in last Tuesday's 5-4 loss to Arkansas as he chipped in his 20th goal of the season. With the departure of Bryan Richardson, Norrie now leads the Kingfish in goals scored this season. He isn't taking anything away from his game as he has still accumulated 153 penalty minutes on the year.

M.A.S.H. Unit: The Kingfish might want to think about changing their logo from a Kingfish to a red cross due to the amount of injuries this season. Through 58 games this year, the Kingfish have lost 170 man-games due to injuries, that's more than 2 full season's worth of games.

Steppin' right in: Chris Bell jumped into the Kingfish line up and started producing right away. He had a goal and an assist in his first game with the Kingfish on Tuesday, the only goal in Saturday's 8-1 loss against Mississippi and chipped in an assist in Sunday's 4-3 shootout win at Arkansas. Before coming to the Kingfish, the centerman tallied 15 goals and 20 assists for 35 points in 51 games with the Greensboro Generals.

The Winner: Mike Kiesman tallied the game winner in Friday's 3-2 overtime victory over the Pensacola Ice Pilots. It was Kiesman's second game winning goal of the season and the second of his pro career. His first game-winning goal came against the Mississippi Sea Wolves on November 24th and helped the Kingfish snap their 11 game winless streak. On Sunday, he got things going for the Kingfish as he put home Baton Rouge's first goal on the power play. Kiesman seems to have found his home here in Baton Rouge after spending parts of the past three seasons with 8 different teams including the Kingfish. He has put up career numbers in all offensive categories while continuing to play out of position as a defenseman for the Kingfish.

Last Week's Games: 2-2-0, 4 pts.

February 18th, Arkansas 5, Kingfish 4

The Kingfish and the RiverBlades exchanged goal all night long, but it was Arkansas who came out on top. Four minutes into the game, Dean Stork gave Arkansas a 1-0 lead. Joe Guenther tied the game at one on the power play midway through the first. The RiverBlades then took a 3-1 lead in the first intermission as Mike Sandbeck scored at the 13:03 mark followed by Terry Marchant's tally two minutes later. The Kingfish cut the Arkansas lead to one off the stick of Sam Paquet with 38 second left in middle stanza. Buddy Smith's goal at the 5:44 mark of the third regained the RiverBlades two goal advantage. Chris Bell made it 4-3 at the 8:36 mark of the third but again, Arkansas pushed its lead back to two goals as Eric Long's power play goal with 4:35 remaining proved to be the difference. Jason Norrie added his 20th for the Kingfish with 4 seconds left in the final period but it wasn't enough in the 5-4 loss.

February 21st, Kingfish 3, Pensacola 2 (ot)

Mike Kiesman tallied the game winner for the Kingfish as time expired in the overtime session. The Kingfish jumped out to a 1-0 lead six and a half minutes into the first period as Sam Paquet picked up the goal as he punched the puck past an out of position Maxime Gingras. The Ice Pilots rebounded in the second as they scored twice in the middle stanza to take a 2-1 lead after two. Kerry Ellis-Toddington's power play goal early in the second tied the game at one. Greg Pankewicz gave the Ice Pilots their only lead of the night as he slipped the puck past Niklas Sundberg on a breakway to give Pensacola a 2-1 lead. Midway through the third, Marquis Mathieu slipped into an opening in the high slot and ripped a shot that beat Gingras to far side to tie the game up at two on the power play as Kiesman then won it in overtime. Niklas Sundberg made 26 saves in the win.

February 22nd, Mississippi 8, Kingfish 1

Mississippi used six goals in the first two periods and was perfect on the power play to dump the Kingfish, 8-1. Kent Davyduke gave Mississippi a 1-0 lead on the power play. Stu Pietersman pushed the lead to two goals while Mike Scott made it 3-0 late in the period. Jeff Blair replaced Sundberg as the second period began but the Sea Wolves continued to capitalize on the power play. Sergi Kuznetsov beat Blair with the extra attacker just 1:33 into the second period. A minute and a half later, Campbell picked apart the Kingfish defense and beat Blair with a slap shot from the slot. Campbell added his second of the night, a shorthanded tally, at the 8:29 mark of the second as he beat Blair on a break away. The Kingfish's only goal of the evening came off the stick of Chris Bell as he flipped the puck over Greg Gardner at the 15:25 mark of the second period. In the third, Mississippi extended its lead to six goals as Kuznetsov beat Blair at the 6:22 mark of the period. The Sea Wolves put the their 8th and final goal behind Blair at the 11:49 mark of the third off the stick of Jim Baxter for the 8-1 win.

February 23rd, Kingfish 4, Arkansas 3 (so)

After spotting the RiverBlades a 1-0 lead on a goal by Eric Long on the power play, the Kingfish answered late in the period with their own power play goal. Mike Kiesman tied the game at one with time expiring on the power play. In the second, the Kingfish took a 2-1 lead on a weird goal at the 6:58 mark of the second period. Fankhouser got caught out of his net and couldn't clear or cover the puck as Mathieu threw the loose puck to the slot. An Arkansas defenseman tried to glove the puck down but instead threw the puck into his own net as Mathieu got credit for the goal. Sam Paquet then tallied a shorthanded goal two minutes later to give the Kingfish a two-goal lead. Arkansas battled back as Terry Marchant cut the lead to one before Matt Pagnutti tied the game at three at the 18:38 mark of the second. Neither team could capitalize on chances in the third period or in overtime, but it was Joe Guenther's shootout goal in round six that proved to be the winner.

This Week's Games:

Wednesday, February 26th, vs. Arkansas, 7:05 p.m. (104.5, WZRB)

Kingfish and RiverBlades split two games last week with each team winning on the road. The Kingfish are 3-6-1 this season against the RiverBlades while two of their three wins have been in a shootout. Despite being shutout once by the RiverBlades, the Kingfish have tallied at least three goals in eight of ten meetings with Arkansas.

Friday, February 28th, @ Mississippi, 7:35 p.m. (104.5, WZRB)

This contest is Game 10 of the Coca-Cola Cup Challenge with the Sea Wolves leading the series 8-1-0. Mississippi has used the power play to its advantage in each of their last two wins against the Kingfish including a perfect 4-for-4 in last Saturday's 8-1 win.

Saturday, March 1st, vs. Florida, 7:05 p.m. (sportsjuice.com)

Sunday, March 2nd, vs. Florida, 4:05 p.m. (104.5, WZRB)

After facing the Everblades, the Kingfish will have just two remaining non-divisional games left this season. The Kingfish are 3-3-2 this season against teams not from the Southwest Division. Saturday's match up is just the third against the Southeast this season for the Kingfish. Baton Rouge is 2-4-0 all time against the Everblades.

Get Your Group On: Call the Kingfish office at 225-336-GOAL to find out about special rates and benefits for groups and birthday parties at a Kingfish game. Check out all the fun an excitement at the ‘Fish Tank' this season.

Next Year: Show your support for the Kingfish by reserving your season tickets for next season. Call the Kingfish at 336-4624 to place your $25 refundable deposit to reserve your seats for next season. Season ticket packages start at just $198 per seat!



ECHL Stories from February 24, 2003


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