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November 29, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies News Release


ATLANTIC CITY - WEEK RECORD: 3-0-0 - SEASON RECORD: 12-4-2 - 1st NORTH DIVISION

BULLIES REWIND: The Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies extended their current unbeaten streak in regulation to ten games last week with a pair of home victories over Long Beach and a strong road win at Trenton on Saturday. The Bullies are 9-0-1 in their last ten games and have the highest point total and second highest winning percentage in the ECHL.

Wednesday, Luke Curtin tallied a goal and an assist and Brett Nowak recorded the go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal in a three-goal second period to lead the Boardwalk Bullies to a 4-2 win over the Long Beach Ice Dogs before 1605 at Historic Boardwalk Hall. Long Beach (9-5-0) opened the scoring at 4:03 of the first period when Yuri Moscevsky stepped out of the penalty box and collected the loose puck at center ice. With nobody between him and Bullies goaltender Jake Moreland, Moscevsky went to the backhand and beat Moreland along the near side to give the Ice Dogs a 1-0 lead. Atlantic City (10-4-2) would tally the equalizer at 6:20 when Paul Caponigri snapped a wrist shot over the left shoulder of Long Beach goalie Olivier Michaud to tie the game 1-1. The Ice Dogs would recapture the lead later in the period. Paul Spadafora found a streaking Chris Kenady cutting into the slot, and Kenady ripped a slap shot over the glove of Moreland at 12:31 to give Long Beach a 2-1 advantage. The Bullies would erupt for a season-high three goals in the second period. Just 18 seconds into the period, Brett Peterson on a two-on-one made a nifty pass across the slot to an open Luke Curtin, and Curtin from the right-wing circle slapped a one-timer past Michaud to tie the game 2-2. Curtin later set-up the go ahead goal as he found Brett Nowak at the right-wing circle, and Nowak moved the puck around the defense and rifled a shot past Michaud at 3:41 to give Atlantic City their first lead of the night 3-2. Derek Edwardson gave the Bullies a 4-2 advantage when he caught Michaud out of position behind the net, curled around to the left wing circle and beat the goalie to the near side at 15:51. Long Beach could not solve Moreland in the third period. Atlantic City out-shot Long Beach 45-26. The 45 shots on goal were a season-high eclipsing the 41 the Bullies had on two occasions, most recently last Tuesday against Dayton. Moreland made 24 saves to earn his eighth win of the season. The Bullies went 1-4 on the power play.

Friday, Paul Caponigri tallied the go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal with just 2:23 remaining in regulation to lead the Boardwalk Bullies to a 3-2 win over the Long Beach Ice Dogs before 2167 at Historic Boardwalk Hall. Rob McFeeters opened the scoring for the Bullies (11-4-2) at 7:10 of the first period when he picked up the loose puck in the high slot and fired a wrist shot over the right shoulder of Long Beach goalie Olivier Michaud to give Atlantic City a 1-0 lead. Long Beach (9-6-0) would fight back with two goals in the second period to take the lead. First, Mike Vellinga beat Bullies goaltender Jake Moreland from the left point with a low shot just off the ice at 7:08 to tie the game 1-1. Marco Rosa gave the Ice Dogs their first lead of the night when he picked up Dan Watson's rebound at the left-wing circle and rifled a slap shot past Moreland at 14:27 on the power play to make the score 2-1. However, the Bullies would net the equalizer before the end of the period. On a two-man advantage power play, Derek Edwardson batted the puck out of mid-air and sifted it through the pads of Michaud at 19:40 of the second to tie the game 2-2 going into the third period. The game remained scoreless until the waning minutes. McFeeters sprung Caponigri at the right-wing circle, and Caponigri ripped a slap shot that beat Michaud top shelf at 17:37 to give the Bullies the 3-2 lead and eventual win. Atlantic City out-shot Long Beach 32-26. Moreland made 24 saves in his 11th straight start to earn his ninth win of the season. The Bullies went 1-5 on the power play.

Saturday, Derek Edwardson recorded his first professional hat trick and his first professional four-point game to lead the Boardwalk Bullies to a 6-3 win over the Trenton Titans before 5224 at Sovereign Bank Arena. The Bullies (12-4-2) opened the scoring just 5:22 into the contest. Rob McFeeters made a terrific cross-ice pass from the right-wing circle to Paul Caponigri charging the net, and Caponigri tipped the puck over the right shoulder of Titans goaltender Chris Houle to give Atlantic City a 1-0 lead. Edwardson gave the Bullies a 2-0 lead as he slapped the puck off Houle's left skate from behind the cage and into the net at 7:13 of the period with the Bullies shorthanded. Trenton (7-2-3) would counter with two goals in a span of 13 seconds after killing off three straight Bullies power plays. Scott Bertoli picked up Matt Zultek's rebound to the right of Bullies goaltender Jake Moreland and lifted the puck over Moreland's shoulder at 17:30 of the period to cut the deficit to 2-1. Nick Deschenes would net the equalizer as he picked up Bertoli's rebound at the left-wing circle and beat Moreland top shelf to near side at 17:43 to tie the game 2-2. The Bullies would regain the lead midway through the second period. Edwardson stripped Titan's defenseman Jerramie Domish of the puck, broke in alone through the slot, and beat Houle along the ice at 12:06 of the period to give the Bullies a 3-2 advantage. Kelsey Muench made it 4-2 at 14:37 of the period on the power play, recording his first professional goal by redirecting Brian Fahey's point shot past Houle. Trenton would cut the deficit to 4-3 as Mathieu Brunelle tipped the loose puck past Moreland at 5:11 of the third period. However, Edwardson achieved his hat-trick just 15 seconds later as he collected his own rebound on the far side of the net and slapped the puck through Houle at 5:26 to give the Bullies a 5-3 lead. Brett Nowak finished the scoring with a power play goal at 14:08 of the period. Trenton out-shot the Bullies 29-24 for the game. Moreland made 26 stops to earn his tenth win of the season in his 12th consecutive start. The Bullies went 2-7 on the power play.

BULLIES "TOP DAWG" AWARD: Each Monday from now until the end of the season, Public Relations and Broadcasting Manager Dan Weiss will select the Bullies "Top Dawg" for the week. For a second consecutive week, Derek Edwardson is this week's "Top Dawg" after tallying a goal in all three games and notching his first professional hat-trick and four-point game in Saturday's win at Trenton. Honorable mention goes out to forward Paul Caponigri who notched a goal in all three games as well and added two assists.

REMARKABLE ROOKIE LINE: The Bullies second line of rookies Derek Edwardson, Paul Caponigri, and Rob McFeeters accounted for nine of the 13 goals scored last week. Edwardson led the charge with a goal in each game, including a hat-trick on Saturday at Trenton. Caponigri wasn't far behind as he tallied a goal in all three games as well. McFeeters recorded a goal and three assists for the week. For the season, the Edwardson-Caponigri-McFeeters line has produced 16 goals and 21 assists. Together, they are also a team-high +26.

FEELING STREAKY: Caponigri is the ECHL's active leader with a four-game goal streak.Edwardson has a point in four straight games and 10 out of his last 13.Brett Nowak has a three-game scoring streak and has a point in 8 out of his last 10 games.Goaltender Jake Moreland has made an ECHL season-high 12 consecutive starts and is unbeaten in his last 10 at 9-0-1.Luke Curtin has scored in 13 out of the team's first 18 games.The Bullies power play has tallied a goal in three straight games and 11 out of the last 13 games overall.

COMPARING THIS SEASON TO LAST: The 2004-05 Boardwalk Bullies are two points ahead of last year's record-setting squad through the first 18 games of the season. At this time last season, the Bullies were 12-6-0 with 24 points and in the middle of a 10-game stretch where the team would win and follow that game with a loss. Offensively, the Bullies are dead even with last year's squad as both clubs notched 55 goals (3.06 goals per game) over the first 18 games, while defensively, the 2003-04 team surrendered 5 fewer goals (41-36) through the first 18 games on their way to setting the club record for fewest goals allowed in a season. Atlantic City's current 10-game unbeaten streak is three games shy of last year's 13-game unbeaten streak which took place from December 12, 2003-January 17, 2004. The 41 wins and 100 points achieved by the 2003-04 Boardwalk Bullies are both club records.

CHECK IT OUT! READING IS COOL: The Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies are in week three of their second annual "Check It Out Reading Program" presented by Ocean City Home Bank. After visits last Monday to Cologne Elementary School in Galloway and Tuesday at Dawes Avenue Elementary in Somers Point, the Bullies will kick off the program with school assemblies at 1:15PM today at Tuckerton Elementary (Marine Street, Tuckerton) and at 2:30PM Tuesday at Slaybaugh Elementary (11 Swift Avenue, Egg Harbor Township). The Bullies reward area students with tickets and other prizes for reading a select number of books between now and February 1

QUEST FOR THE CUP CONTINUES: "Quest For the Cup", the Bullies weekly radio show, continues tonight from 7PM-8PM on ESPN Radio 1450AM and the SurferNetwork live from Maloney's Uptown Sports Bar & Grill at 142 S. Tennessee Avenue in Atlantic City. Tonight, Fraser Clair and Brett Peterson join Dan Weiss for the second half hour.

POWER PLAY FOR UNITED WAY: For a second consecutive season, the Bullies have teamed up with United Way to support the Power Play For United Way. For every power play goal the Bullies score in 2004-05, area businesses including Baumgardner Construction, RLS CopiScan, AtlantiCare, and Glenn Insurance will donate $10 to the United Way of Atlantic County. So far, the Bullies have tallied 18 power play goals, good for $720 towards Power Play For United Way.

WATCH THE BULLIES LIVE IN '04-05: The Bullies have teamed up with B2 Networks to bring you live action of Boardwalk Bullies hockey in 2004-05. Bullies fans will be able to click the Watch the Game Live icon at the Bullies website to view and listen to the game. These broadcasts are available to fans for a charge of $6 per game. All 36 Bullies home broadcasts will be available in addition to over 20 road games in Trenton, Reading, Johnstown, and Wheeling. A cable or DSL Internet connection and Windows Media Player 9 are required to view the games.

UP NEXT: The Bullies take to the road as they battle the Toledo Storm at 7:30PM on Friday and the Johnstown Chiefs at 7PM on Saturday. Catch both broadcasts live on ESPN Radio 1450 and the SurferNetwork. Broadcast time begins 20 minutes prior to face-off with "Bullies Countdown." Atlantic City returns to Historic Boardwalk Hall at 7:05PM on Wednesday, December 8 when they host the Wheeling Nailers. Every Wednesday home game is a "Wild Wednesday." All college students, casino workers, military and service industry personnel get in for just $6 with a valid ID. Enjoy great beer specials all night for just $2. For more information or to order tickets, call (609) 348-PUCK.

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