PrairieThunder clinging to playoff hopes
Published on March 19, 2007 under International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Bloomington PrairieThunder News Release
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Bloomington PrairieThunder, which has won five of its last six games, finds itself 10 points out of the eighth and final spot in the United Hockey League postseason playoff picture with 10 games remaining.
The PrairieThunder, which has a 23-39-4 record and 50 points, is chasing Chicago and Port Huron, which both have 60 points for the final playoff spot. The PrairieThunder can accumulate a maximum of 20 points over their remaining games.
Of its 10 remaining games, Bloomington has five at U.S. Cellular Coliseum and five on the road. The PrairieThunder next sees action Wednesday against Quad City at the MARK in Moline at 7 p.m.
Bloomington then plays at Rockford on Friday at 7:30 p.m. before returning home to meet Port Huron in a 7:05 p.m. contest on Saturday. The PrairieThunder then hits the road for a Sunday game at 1 p.m. at league-leading Muskegon.
The PrairieThunder's final two road games are March 30 at Chicago and April 6 at Kalamazoo. Bloomington's remaining home games are March 31 vs. Quad City at 7:05 p.m., April 1 vs. Rockford at 3:05 p.m., April 5 vs. Fort Wayne at 7:05 p.m. and April 7 vs. Flint at 7:05 p.m.
Against opponent's this week, Bloomington is 3-6-0 vs. Quad City; 3-8-0 vs. Rockford; 2-2-1 vs. Port Huron and 0-4-1 vs. Muskegon.
Thunder 'Player of the Week'
Forward Alex Goupil has been name the Lone Star Restaurant "Player of the Week" for his performance in the team's three games last week.
Goupil scored eight points in the three games by scoring four goals with four assists to help the PrairieThunder to a 2-1 record during the week. Goupil had two goals and an assist in a victory over Kalamazoo; two goals and two assists in a triumph over Flint and one assist in a loss at Chicago. The loss to Chicago snapped a franchise and season-best five-game winning streak for the PrairieThunder.
Goupil, who was the recipient of the award earlier this year, is tied with Mike Zbriger for the team lead in goals with 21 and ranks third on the team in scoring with 41 points. Tyler Rennette is the leader with 47, while Zbriger has 46.
PrairieThunder rumblings
- Veteran center Tyler Rennette has taken over the team scoring lead with 47 points. He is followed closely behind by rookie forward Mike Zbriger with 46, but 19 of Zbriger's points came while he was with Flint. Zbriger was traded to the PrairieThunder in late December.
- The PrairieThunder had a franchise and season-record winning streak of five snapped by Chicago on March 17. It also ended goalie Kris Tebbs' personal five-game winning streak without a loss since joining the team on March 5.
- In his first three games with the PrairieThunder, Tebbs stopped 95 of 99 shots for a .959 save percentage and allowed only 4 goals for a 1.33 goal against average. In his last three games, he has allowed 13 goals on 72 shots for an .819 save percentage and 4.33 goals per game.
- Alex Goupil has been on a scoring tear with eight points in the last three games (4 goals, 4 assists) and 10 in the last five games.
- Defenseman Mark Phenow has contributed an assist in the last four games and 6 of his 9 assists this season have come in the last 10 games. He had only 3 assists in first 28 games.
- John Spoltore has contributed six assists in last three games and there have been only six times in the last 19 games that Spoltore hasn't had a goal or an assist. In his first 12 games with the PrairieThunder he had 5 points. Since that time, he has scored 6 goal with 18 assists in 23 games.
- Tyler Rennette has two straight games with multiple points scored, while Mike Zbriger has scored in six of the last nine games and Brad Thompson has scored goals in two straight games and three of the last four.
- Zbriger is third in the league among rookies in scoring with 46 points. Jon Booras is 13th with 30 points. Zbriger is tied for second in power play goals with eight.
- Jarad Bourassa is tied for third among defensemen in power play goals with seven. He also ranks fourth in goals (14) and shots (196).
- Mike Zbriger and Alex Goupil are the team leader in goals scored with 21.
- The PrairieThunder has a 14-18-1 record at U.S. Cellular Coliseum and a 9-21-3 record on the road.
- The PrairieThunder's shootout record is 5-4. PrairieThunder shootout results among current active players: B.J. Gaustad 4-6, Alex Goupil 2-6, Jon Booras 2-2, Greg Koehler 1-2, Tyler Rennette 1-4, Jarad Bourassa 0-2, Brad Thompson 0-1, Trevor Baker 0-1, John Spoltore 0-2.
- The PrairieThunder has a 15-25-0 record against Western Conference teams and an 8-14-4 record against Eastern Conference teams. The PrairieThunder competes in the Western Conference of the UHL with the Fort Wayne Komets, the Quad City Mallards, the Chicago Hounds and Rockford Icehogs. Competing in the Eastern Conference are the Elmira (N.Y.) Jackals, the Flint (Mich.) Generals, the Port Huron (Mich.) Flags, the Kalamazoo (Mich.) Wings and the Muskegon (Mich.) Fury.
- The PrairieThunder posted a 1-5 record in October; 5-6 in November; 2-11-2 in December; 4-8 in January; and 6-6-2 in February; 5-3 in March.
- The PrairieThunder ranks third in the league in overall attendance, averaging 3,673 per game for 33 games.
- Each time the PrairieThunder scores four or more goals in games at U.S. Cellular Coliseum, its fans are treated to free Big Mac's the day following the game at the seven Twin Cities McDonalds. Thus far, the PrairieThunder has scored four or more goals 10 times meaning 7,908 Big Macs have been given out free. Does not include Thursday's game.
- PrairieThunder franchise firsts: First goal - Tyler Rennette (Oct. 13 at Muskegon); First goal at U.S. Cellular Coliseum - Andre Niec (Oct. 14 vs. Fort Wayne); Largest home crowd - 5,488 (Jan. 27, 2007 vs. Chicago); First hat trick - Trevor Baker (Feb. 16, 2007 at Flint).
PrairieThunder coach
The PrairieThunder is coached by Derek Booth, the Southern Professional Hockey League Coach of the Year last season at Fayetteville (NC). The FireAntz compiled a 31-19 record last season and advanced to the league playoffs. This is Booth's third year as a head coach and he has an 86-82-10 career record including this season.
PrairieThunder leaders
Goals scored -Alex Goupil, Mike Zbriger - 20 (Zbriger had 12 with Flint)
Assists - Tyler Rennette - 30
Points - Tyler Rennette - 47
Shots - Jarad Bourassa - 196 (25 with Rockford)
Penalty minutes - Jarad Bourassa - 104 (17 with Rockford)
Goalie wins - Kris Tebbs - 17 (12 with Elmira)
Goalie saves - Jeff Reynaert - 1,356
Goalie save percentage - Steffan Braunlich .903
PrairieThunder records:
Playing at home: 14-18-1
Playing on the road: 9-21-3
PrairieThunder scores first: 16-13-2
PrairieThunder leads after 1st period: 9-3-2
Opponent leads after 1st period: 5-20-1
PrairieThunder leads after 2nd period: 14-2-1
Opponent leads after 2nd period: 1-31-1
Tied after first period: 9-16-1
Tied after second period: 8-6-2
Game goes into shootout: 5-4
One-goal games: 13-9-4
PrairieThunder has more shots on goal: 9-15-0
Goals for per game: 2.62
Goals against per game: 3.76
Shots per game: 29.38
Shots against per game: 35.20
Penalty killing record: 74-397 (81.4 percent)
Power play opportunities: Bloomington 47-350 (13.4 percent)
Shorthanded goals: 9
Last 10 games: 6-3-2
Last 5 games: 4-1-0
Scoring by periods:
Bloomington 54 64 50 5 - 173
Opponents 77 77 90 4 - 248
Recent PrairieThunder transactions
March 7 - Signed Justin Spencer off waivers
March 3 - Acquired goalie Kris Tebbs in trade with Elmira for rights to Dion Hyman
March 1 - Acquired Casey Handrahan in a trade with Kalamazoo for Ryan Gillis
Feb. 17 - Claimed Kristjan Jefkins off waivers from Elmira
PrairieThunder on injured reserve
Center Trevor Baker on 7-day IR
Goalie Steffan Braunlich on 10-day IR
Right wing Jason Payne on 14-day IR retro to Feb. 12
Coming up next for the PrairieThunder
March 21 - PrairieThunder at Quad City, 7 p.m.
March 23 - PrairieThunder at Rockford, 7:30 p.m.
March 24 - Port Huron at PrairieThunder, 7:05 p.m.
March 25 - PrairieThunder at Muskegon, 1 p.m.
Upcoming PrairieThunder promotions
Saturday (March 24) - Special appearance by the Hanson Brothers from the famed hockey movie "Slap Shot" presented by CEFCU and Insight.
International Hockey League 2 Stories from March 19, 2007
- Hogs centerman earns another Player of the Week nod - Rockford IceHogs
- UHL recognizes week's best - IHL 2
- PrairieThunder clinging to playoff hopes - Bloomington PrairieThunder
- Komets extend Western Conference lead - Fort Wayne Komets
- Mallards Host Bloomington on Wednesday Before Beginning Road Trip - Quad City Mallards
- Flags Bolster Playoff Position in Week 23 - Port Huron Flags
- Kalamazoo Wings Week in Review - Kalamazoo Wings
- K-Wings Raise Over $32,000 for Charity - Kalamazoo Wings
- Rockford trudging through playoff push - Rockford IceHogs
- Generals Weekly Recap - Flint Generals
- Fury magic number at 10 points - Muskegon Lumberjacks
- Muskegon Fury notes - Muskegon Lumberjacks
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