PrairieThunder This Week
Published on October 21, 2009 under International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Bloomington PrairieThunder News Release
Upcoming games: Friday (Oct. 23) at Fort Wayne, 7 p.m.; Saturday (Oct. 24) at U.S. Cellular Coliseum vs. Dayton
Radio: Friday's game can be heard on WTRX (93.7 FM) beginning at 6:45 p.m.; Saturday's game can be heard on the internet only wjbc.com beginning at 6:50 p.m. Greg Halbleib has the call for both games.
B2 network: Friday at Six Strings Entertainment Club, 512 Main, Street, Bloomington. Six Strings carries the b2 network feed live of all PrairieThunder road games. Doors open two hours before game time with food, drink specials and prize giveaways part of the night. Children are welcomed when accompanied by an adult.
Records: Bloomington (1-1-0-0, 2 points); Fort Wayne (1-1-0-0, 2 points); Dayton (0-1-1-0, 1 point)
Tickets: Tickets for all PrairieThunder games are available at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum box office, calling Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000 or 309-585-0507, ext. 304.
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The Bloomington PrairieThunder kicks off its 38-game International Hockey League home season Saturday at 7:05 p.m. against Dayton at U.S. Cellular Coliseum after three straight games on the road to open the 2009-10 campaign.
But first things first.
Bloomington plays at two-time defending IHL champion Fort Wayne at 7 p.m. Friday at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in the Komets' home opener. Fort Wayne has won their last five home openers and is undefeated in regulation in its last 14 home openers.
The PrairieThunder will be looking to snap at five-game losing streak against the Komets, dating back to last year, and three straight in Fort Wayne. Bloomington is 13-26-0-1 in the all-time series against Fort Wayne and 5-15 in games at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.
Friday's game marks the debut of high-scoring forward Jamie Carroll, who was obtained in a trade with Port Huron last week. Carroll was eighth in the league in scoring a year ago with 80 points (28 goals, 52 assists) and should complement the play of PrairieThunder captain and MVP Jon Booras (100 points), along with Brett Holmberg, Bill Bagron, Craig Macdonald and Ryan Finnerty.
Saturday's game against the upstart Dayton Gems (one of two new franchises in the league this season along with Quad Cities) marks the second meeting between the two teams. Bloomington earned a 4-2 win last Sunday, thanks to a pair of two-point efforts from Booras (two goals) and Macdonald (two assists), solid defensive play and strong goaltending by Paulo Colaiacovo.
Dayton plays its first road game Friday at Muskegon before making the five-plus hour trek to Bloomington. The Gems are led by Mark Versteeg-Ltywyn and goalie Ryan Mior.
The PrairieThunder is 3-0 in home openers and 47-57-4-6 at home overall. Bloomington is 7-10 in all games in October and 5-4 at home during the Halloween month. The PrairieThunder is 33-34-2-6 in games played on Saturday.
Visit from the commissioner: Recently hired IHL commissioner Dennis Hextall will be in attendance at Saturday's home opener. The former NHL all-star will drop the ceremonial first puck prior to the start of the game.
Dressed in white: The PrairieThunder will break out its new white sweaters, which will serve mainly as road jerseys, Saturday. A few modifications have been made to all the PrairieThunder jerseys this season, thanks to the efforts of equipment manager Mark Kincher. The team will wear a third gold jersey on selected Sunday games. The PrairieThunder has not had a third jersey since its first season.
Misc. PT notes: When Jon Booras scored three points last weekend, it pushed his career total to 201 and his PrairieThunder total to 200. The Billings, Mont., native had one point with Muskegon on a assist in one of the first games of his brief stint with the Lumberjacks. He is in his fourth year with the PrairieThunder and is the career leader in games played (225), points scored (200) goals (47) and assists (86)...Booras is tied with Ryan Finnerty (one goal, two assists) and Craig Macdonald (three assists) for the team lead in points.
Honoring summer readers: The entire PrairieThunder organization will salute individuals (from toddlers to adults), who completed the summer read program sponsored by the public libraries in Bloomington-Normal and Central Illinois. Individuals who completed the program were awarded one free ticket to Saturday's game.
Pre-game tailgate party: Six Strings Entertainment Center will sponsor a pre-game tailgate prior to Saturday's home opener, beginning at 4:30 p.m. Food, beverages and music by the two-man acoustics band MERGE LIGHT will highlight the event.
International Hockey League 2 Stories from October 21, 2009
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