Port Huron Icehawks Will Wrap Up Season Series With Flint This Week

Published on March 24, 2008 under International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Port Huron Icehawks News Release


PORT HURON, Mich. - With the International Hockey League playoff race heating up, the Port Huron Icehawks continue to sit at second place in a tight standings picture. Last week, they picked up three of six possible points in the standings and improved to 34-29-2-2 on the season with a win, a loss and an overtime loss.

The Icehawks are 5-3-2-0 in their last ten games with all three losses in regulation coming at the hands of the first place Fort Wayne Komets. At second place, they currently hold on to home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs with 72 points. The Icehawks also have the second best winning percentage in the league (.537), behind only Fort Wayne, who has already clinched the regular season championship and a playoff berth.

Port Huron leads third place Muskegon by three points, fourth place Flint by four points, and fifth place Kalamazoo by five points. Flint has three games in hand on Port Huron, while Muskegon has two games in hand.

With just three weeks left to play in the regular season, the Icehawks have the league's lightest remaining schedule, with only two road games and seven home contests left to play.

They will kick off a five-game home stand with three tilts this week as they take on the Bloomington PrairieThunder on Wednesday and host the Flint Generals on Friday and Saturday.

The game with Bloomington is the first of two remaining games with the PrairieThunder this season. The Icehawks lead the season series with Bloomington 8-3-0-2 and also lead at McMorran Arena 3-1-1-0.

The meetings with the Generals mark the final times Port Huron will play Flint this season. The Icehawks currently lead the season series 8-6-0-0 and also lead at McMorran Arena 4-2-0-0. The Generals, who have faced a rough schedule and several injuries, have not fared well as of late, with a 2-8-0-2 record in the month of March.

A Look Back: On Wednesday, the Icehawks soared to their fourth consecutive victory as they defeated the Kalamazoo Wings 3-2 at McMorran Arena. The Icehawks lit the lamp first when Jamie Lovell scored at 4:30 in the first period on assists from Donnie Margettie and Kris Vernarsky. With the goal, Lovell extended his goal streak to three games. The Icehawks held onto a 1-0 lead until early in the second stanza when Jamie Vanderveeken took advantage of a K-Wings 5-on-3 and shot a puck past Icehawks goalie Larry Sterling. Five minutes later, Kalamazoo scored again, this time shorthanded, to pull out to a 2-1 lead. Port Huron answered back midway through the second period, however, as Jeff Zehr and Kris Vernarsky both chipped in goals just over a minute apart. Vernarsky's goal came on the Kalamazoo power play and marked the forward's fourth shorthanded tally of the season, which leads the team. Neither team scored in the third period.

On Friday, the Icehawks battled to the end in a tough contest with the Fort Wayne Komets, but could not overcome several late penalties and lost 3-2 at McMorran Arena. The two teams entered the third period tied 2-2 and seemed primed to head into overtime, until a Port Huron tripping penalty set up a Fort Wayne power play with just over two minutes to play in the stanza. Mathieu Curadeau took advantage of the situation and notched his second goal of the night at 19:23 to propel the Komets to victory.

On Saturday, battled back from a two goal deficit on Saturday but the rally attempt fell short as they lost in overtime to the Muskegon Fury 3-2 at L.C. Walker Arena. The Icehawks were forced to play shorthanded for most of the overtime period, as a Kris Vernarsky hooking penalty set up a Fury power play just 39 seconds into the extra stanza. Dan Riedel capitalized on the situation at 2:25 and notched his second goal of the night to give Muskegon the win.

The game got off to a physical start with a brawl that saw four players from each team receive fighting penalties just nine seconds into the contest, including goaltenders Larry Sterling and Isaac Reichmuth.

The first period went scoreless, but Muskegon struck twice in the second to pull to a 2-0 lead. Port Huron fought back in the third, however, with Jeff Zehr scoring on the 5-on-3 at 4:16 in the period and Jamie Carroll notching a goal on assists from Rich Hansen and Joe Markusen at 12:08 to send the game into overtime.

A Sterling Performance: Goalie Larry Sterling turned in another big weekend for Port Huron, with a 3-2 win Wednesday over Kalamazoo and a 3-2 overtime loss at Muskegon on Saturday. He is 4-0-2-0 in his last six games and has not lost in regulation since February 23. He is tied for second in the league in wins with 20 and is ranked third behind Fort Wayne's Kevin Reiter and Nick Boucher in goals against average with a 2.56 GAA.

Rookie Roundup: Jereme Tendler made a big impression in his first game as an Icehawk on Friday, notching his first professional goal in the first period against Fort Wayne. The rookie from American International College (Springfield, MA) was signed to a professional tryout prior to Friday's game.

Markusen And A Zehr On A Tear: Forward Jeff Zehr and defenseman Joe Markusen both had points in all three of the Icehawks games last week. Zehr now has eight points (3g, 5a) in his last ten games; while Markusen has seven points (3g, 4a) in his last ten.

Injury Updates: Jeremy Tucker was added to the seven day injured reserve last week (03/20/08), while Mike Olynyk was moved to 14-Day IR (03/09/08) and Robert Snowball was moved to 21-Day IR (03/05/08). Olynyk and Snowball will both be eligible to return for Wednesday's game.

Upcoming Home Games:

Wednesday, March 26 vs. Bloomington, 7 PM: Peck Schools Night. Taco Bell Winning Wednesday.

Friday, March 28 vs. Flint, 7:30 PM: Bucket Boys performance. Recognition of Marine City High School State Champion Football team. Free Hawkettes poster to first 500 fans.

Saturday, March 29 vs. Flint, 7:30 PM: Labatt's Jersey Auction. Free team poster giveaway to first 1,000 fans.

Practice Info: Team practices are open to the public and held Tuesday through Thursday from 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. and most Friday's from 10 a.m.-11 a.m. at McMorran Arena, 701 McMorran Blvd., downtown Port Huron.

Icehawks on the Radio: All 76 of the Icehawks regular season games, along with all playoff contests will air on AM 1450 WHLS and AM 1590 WHLX for the 2007-2008 season. RadioFirst Sports Director Dennis Stuckey will return to the booth to call all the action both at home and on the road.

The Icehawks weekly radio show "Coaches Corner" will air every Thursday from 6 p.m.-7p.m. at the Huron Athletic Club, 319 Huron Avenue, downtown Port Huron. Head coach and general manager Stan Drulia and several players will join RadioFirst sportscaster Dennis Stuckey for the broadcast which will air on AM 1450 WHLS and AM 1590 WHLX.

Icehawks on the Internet: All Port Huron Icehawks games can be viewed online live with B2 Networks. Broadcasts cost $6 each and can be purchased 10 minutes before the start of the game. To view you must have a current version of Windows Media Player and a high speed internet connection. More information can be found at www.ihl-hockey.com or www.b2livetv.com.

Get Your Tickets: Tickets are available now at the Icehawks offices, McMorran Arena box office, all Ticketmaster locations and www.ticketmaster.com. Ticket information can be found online at www.porthuronicehawks.com. Walk-up tickets for children 14 and under and senior citizens 62 and over are just $5 when purchased on game days at the Port Huron Icehawks office or the McMorran Arena box office. For more info call 810-966-3800.

Season Tickets On Sale Now: The Port Huron Icehawks are coming back for another season. Don't miss a single minute of the hard-hitting checks, amazing goals and smooth saves. Season ticket packages for the 08-09 season are on sale now! Tickets are not only packed with great incentives, but are more affordable than ever. Packages are just $539 for center ice seats and $349 for all other sections. Reserve your seats now. Visit the Icehawks office or call 810-966-3800.

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International Hockey League 2 Stories from March 24, 2008


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