PrairieThunder Out to Extend Streak to Even Dozen
Published on February 10, 2009 under International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Bloomington PrairieThunder News Release
Looking to extend its franchise-best and International Hockey League season-high unbeaten streak to an even dozen, the Bloomington PrairieThunder sits out on a two-game-in-three-days road trip.
Bloomington, which has won six of its last seven games, treks to Kalamazoo for a 6:11 p.m. contest Wednesday before heading to Muskegon for a 6 p.m. tussle on Friday. The PrairieThunder returns home on Monday for a special 3:05 p.m. Kid's Day game at U.S. Cellular Coliseum.
The PrairieThunder has a 20-22-1-3 record for 44 points and fifth place in the standings, just 10 points behind the Wings for the final post-season playoff berth with 30 games remaining.
Bloomington was 19 points away from a playoff berth at the beginning of 2009. But since coach Jarrod Skalde made some major personnel changes following the Jan. 3 game, the team has responded by posting a 10-2-0-3 record.
The PrairieThunder is 8-0-0-3 over its last 11 games, with seven going to a shootout. The PrairieThunder is 4-3 in the shootouts and hasn't lost in regulation since a 7-4 setback at Muskegon on Jan. 16.
Bloomington is 7-12-0-2 on the road and holds a 13-10-1-1 record at home. The PrairieThunder holds a 6-3-0-1 mark against Kalamazoo for the season. The team is 5-5-1-0 against Muskegon with a 2-3 record at L.C. Walker Arena.
The PrairieThunder is 9-1-0-2 when leading after the first period with an impressive 11-3-0-1 record when leading after two periods. Bloomington is 12-1 when scoring five or more goals and 8-0-0-1 when limiting the opponent to two or fewer goals.
Ludzik in net
Rookie goaltender Ryan Ludzik has a 8-1-3 record over his last 12 starts and is on a seven-game unbeaten streak to move his season mark to 9-7-1-2. He started the year 1-4.
He has dropped his goal against average nearly one point to 3.72 and improved his save percentage nearly two points to .894 over the last month. His last loss in regulation came Jan. 15 in Port Huron.
No crying Wolfe
The PrairieThunder has been in good hands when Ludzik hasn't played too.
Jason Wolfe, who was signed by the PrairieThunder a week ago, suffered his first loss last week in Kalamazoo after winning his first three starts. He has a 3-0-0-1 record and three of the four games Wolfe has been involved in have been shootouts. He has stopped 15 of 18 shots in the shootouts and had a string of 14 straight snapped against the Wings.
Player of the Month
Bloomington PrairieThunder player Jon Booras is the reigning International Hockey League Pepsi Player of the Month for his performance during January.
The 5-foot-11, 195-pound Booras finished the month of January with 19 points (8 goals, 11 assists) and a plus-7 rating in 13 games, while leading the PrairieThunder to a 7-3-1-2 record.
More on Jas
The Slovokian native has had the winning goal in four of the last six PrairieThunder victories, including two shootouts. He is 4 for 6 in shootouts for the PrairieThunder.
No. 1 line clicking
The No. 1 line of Henry Kuster, Booras and Jas has been clicking since joining forces 14 games ago. The trio has scored 25 goals with 35 assists for 60 points. The PrairieThunder has a 10-2-0-3 record with this trio on the frontline beginning Jan. 3.
Jas has scored 21 points in 19 games with a plus-7 rating since joining the team. He has scored at least one point in 13 of the 18 games he has played with Bloomington. Jas has scored a point in 10 of the last 13 games.
Kuster has 18 points in 15 games and 47 between his time in Muskegon and Kalamazoo to rank ninth in the league. He scored a goal 29 seconds into his first game with the PrairieThunder on the way to a four-point night (2 goals, 2 assists). See below for Booras statistics.
Shootouts galore
In its first 35 games, the PrairieThunder had been extended past regulation two times, while earning one shootout victory and one overtime loss.
In its last 11 games, the PrairieThunder has been involved in seven games that have been extended past regulation and into shootouts. The team has a 4-3 record in those games.
Injury list
Goaltender Scott Fankhouser is on the 45-day injured reserve list with a high ankle sprain. During his recovery time, Fankhouser has taken on a more active role in coaching, administration and community services.
Defenseman Jason Lepine continues on the injury list while recovering from ACL surgery. He expects to return to action in March.
Leaders of the pack
Center Jon Booras has already surpassed his career-high point total for a season with 61 in 44 games. He has 25 goals and 36 assists. Last season he had 57 points (29 goals, 28 assists) in 74 games.
He is third in the league in scoring and has already notched more assists than he had last season. Booras is also second in the league in power play goals with 10 and first with three short-handed assists.
Booras has scored at least one point in 33 of the 45 games he has played, including multiple-point efforts 18 times. He has scored at least one point in 13 of the last 16 games and had a streak of six in a row snapped at Kalamazoo.
Booras is the franchise leader in games played (192), goals scored (69), assists (86) and points (155).
Shaun Fisher is the team's top scorer among defensemen with 23 points (5 goals, 18 assists), while Adam Tomkow is the top scoring rookie with nine points (3 goals, 6 assists).
Cardiac kids
The PrairieThunder has grabbed two of its last three victories from the depths of defeat by scoring the game-tying goal with 0.9 seconds (Jon Booras vs. Muskegon) and 54 seconds (Travis Granbois at Muskegon) remaining in the third period.
Slapshots, etc.
Brett Holmberg has scored at least one point in 12 of the last 17 games he has played for 16 points. He missed two games with a concussion. The second-year player has already tallied 43 points in 44 games to surpass the 31 he scored last year in 76 contests.
He currently ranks 10th in the league in scoring.
Marty Standish has scored 27 points in the last 27 games. There have only been 11 times in the 33 games Standish has played with the PrairieThunder that he hasn't recorded a point.
Standish holds the record for the quickest goal scored to start a game (11 seconds) in franchise history. Four times this season, the PrairieThunder has scored a goal within the first 42 seconds of the game. Those scores came 11, 29, 38 and 42 seconds into a game.
Defenseman Nick Goyens scored his first professional goal midway through the third period Saturday at Kalamazoo to forge a 1-all tie.
Goaltender Ryan Ludzik recorded his first professional assist in Sunday's game against Kalamazoo.
Center Brent Clarke's next game will be the 100th of his professional career.
International Hockey League 2 Stories from February 10, 2009
- PrairieThunder Out to Extend Streak to Even Dozen - Bloomington PrairieThunder
- Don't Miss Dollar Day on Wednesday - Muskegon Lumberjacks
- Icehawks Enter Week 18 In First Place - Port Huron Icehawks
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