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Polar Twins\' win one of three

December 13, 2004 - SPHL (SPHL)
Winston-Salem Polar Twins News Release


The Winston-Salem Polar Twins played three games in three days at home this past week, including the club's first home game since November 7.

Thursday, December 9 v. Knoxville: On Thursday night, the Polar Twins hosted the Knoxville Ice Bears in the fourth of nine meetings this season. The Polar Twins had a 2-1 lead early in the second on goals from Chester Gallant and Trevor Karasiewicz but the Ice Bears stormed back, scoring six goals in a ten minute span of the second for a 7-2 score heading into the second intermission. K.J. Voorhees netted two in that span, with Mike Craigen, Kevin Swider, Marcus Forsberg, and Darren Cain scoring one each. Winston-Salem closed the gap in the third, getting goals from Jason Rollins, his first of the season, and Lajoie, but it was too little too late as the Ice Bears held on for the 7-4 final.

Friday, December 10 v. Huntsville: Friday night the Polar Twins hosted the Huntsville Havoc for the first time in franchise history. Following a scoreless first period, the Polar Twins took charge of the game, scoring four goals in the second period for their first win since November 25.

Polar Twins captain Rhett Dudley got things started early in the second, netting his third goal of the season at 1:15 of the frame for a 1-0 lead. Chester Gallant quickly made it 3-0 with his first of two on the night. Havoc goaltender Adam MacLean made the initial save on Troy Ilijow's shot but Chester Gallant wristed home the rebound for his fifth goal of the season at the 3:35 mark. Gallant put the Polar Twins up 3-0 on a power play tally at 6:27.

Ilijow gave the Twins the 4-0 lead at 8:33 of the second period, converting on a rebound in the slot for his first goal of the season. Rollins and Kovalcik received assists on the play, which marked the Polar Twins largest lead of the season. Huntsville closed the gap to three goals on James Patterson's tenth of the season, a power play tally at 10:45 of the middle frame. That would be all the Havoc could get by Cruz, who stopped 53 of 54 shots he faced for his first win of the season. Jason Bone capped the scoring for the Polar Twins with an empty net goal with less than two minutes remaining in the game.

Saturday, December 11 v. Columbus: On Saturday, the Columbus Cottonmouths visited Winston-Salem for the second time this season. Troy Ilijow's second goal in as many games got things started for the Polar Twins. Winston-Salem then grabbed the 2-0 lead on Shaun Aebig's team-leading eighth goal of the season, a power play tally at 10:01 of the second period.

Columbus cut the Polar Twins' lead down to one at 12:42 of the second. The Cottonmouths tied the game at 2:40 of the third period on Tim Green's tenth of the season but the Polar Twins regained the lead just over four minutes later with a goal by Geoff Rollins at 6:53 of the period.

Winston-Salem would hold that lead until two consecutive power plays for the Cottonmouths resulted in two goals within 1:03 of the third to make it 4-3 Columbus. First it was Cameron Breikreuz who tied the game 3-3 at the 15:46 mark. Tom McMonagle followed to put Columbus up 4-3. McMonagle added his second of the night, an empty net goal at 19:00, for the 5-3 final.

Calendar

Upcoming schedule of appearances, practices, games, and promotions

Practice: Monday & Tuesday 9:30-11:30 a.m. LJVM Annex

Upcoming Games

Thursday, December 16 Polar Twins @ Huntsville Havoc 8:30 p.m. Von Braun Civic Center

Friday, December 17 Polar Twins @ Jacksonville Barracudas 7:35 p.m. Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena

Saturday, December 18 Macon Trax @ Polar Twins 7:30 p.m. LJVM Coliseum Annex

Upcoming Promotions

Saturday's game against Macon will feature the first ever Polar Twins Teddy Bear Toss. Fans are encouraged to bring a new stuffed toy to the game that can be thrown on the ice following the first Polar Twins goal. Everyone that brings a stuffed toy will receive $2 off the regular ticket price. All toys will be donated the Toys for Tots.

Upcoming Appearances*

Monday, December 13

8:00 a.m. FOX8 Morning News

Rhett Dudley, Shaun Aebig, Graham Dearle, Troy Ilijow, Chester Gallant, and Marcus Willy will deliver the toys collected at last week's games on the air during the FOX8 morning news broadcast. Thursday, December 16

10:30 a.m.

Special Olympics Christmas Classic Youth Bowling Tournament

AMF Lanes 811 Jonestown Road, Winston-Salem

PAWZ will present awards to the top bowlers in this year's elementary school bowling division.

Monday, December 20

7:00 p.m. Hanes Mall

Players from the Polar Twins will visit Hanes Mall Food Court to sign autographs.

*players appearing subject to change without notice

Transactions

Roster changes for the week

12/09/04 Signed F Geoff Rollins

12/11/04 Signed D John Watson

12/11/04 Placed F Brett Cross on team suspension

Rollins makes strong impression

Newly-signed forward putting up points

Polar Twins forward Geoff Rollins, signed last Thursday, picked up six points (2G, 4A) in the three games he has played so far with the Polar Twins. The rookie forward from Okotoks, Alberta played four games for the University of Saskatchewan this season. In 2002-03, the 6-2, 200-pound left wing played in 39 games for the Kindersly Klippers of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, yielding 57 points (31G, 26A) and 57 penalty minutes.

Other notable performances:

Jomar Cruz with 53 saves, en route to his first win of the season

Troy Ilijow with four points (2G, 2A) in three games

Chester Gallant with three goals in three games

Polar Twins Notes

Nuggets of knowledge from the statistic wizards at Pointstreak.com

The Polar Twins continue to lead the league in penalty minutes with a total of 619 on the season (an average of 34.39 minutes per game).

Winston-Salem has the most shorthanded goals in the SPHL with two.



SPHL Stories from December 13, 2004


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