PrairieThunder This Week
March 1, 2010 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Bloomington PrairieThunder News Release
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Having won three of four games in a five-day span last week, including two on the road, the Bloomington PrairieThunder gets a short break from the rigors of its International Hockey League schedule.
Bloomington, which is making a strong bid for the first postseason playoff berth in the team's four-year history, is idle until Friday when two-time defending Turner Cup champion Fort Wayne comes to U.S. Cellular Coliseum for a 7:05 p.m. battle.
It's the only home game for the PrairieThunder in a three-week span that has the team on the road for eight contests. Bloomington, which doesn't return home after Friday's game until March 17, began the rugged eight-game road slate by taking back-to-back victories at Flint and league-leading Muskegon last weekend.
The victory in Muskegon was the first in six games for the PrairieThunder this year and helped push the team's overall record to 25-22-2-5 ahead of Friday's game with Fort Wayne. Bloomington has 57 points and sits in fourth place in the standings. Quad Cities trails the PrairieThunder for the final playoff berth by seven points.
Bloomington plays at Quad Cities on Sunday in a 4:05 p.m. matchup. The PrairieThunder hasn't won in five tries at the i wireless Center in Moline this year.
The PrairieThunder has a 3-6-0-1 mark against Fort Wayne this year, including a 2-3 record at U.S. Cellular Coliseum. This game marks the final time the Komets, which sit behind Port Huron by one point for second place in the standings, play in Bloomington during the regular season.
Bloomington rallied from a first-period deficit twice last week after having done so only one time in 19 previous attempts. The PrairieThunder also remained unbeaten when leading after the first period (21-0-1-2) and second period (22-0-1-2).
Bloomington's Craig Macdonald and Jon Booras finished the month of February as the No. 3 and 4 scorers in the league with 64 and 62 points, respectively. Macdonald is tied for first in the league in power play goals with 11 and game-winning goals with nine. He is second in goals scored with 32, while Booras is second in overall assists with 44 and power play assists with 18.
Teammate Zac Pearson, who had a team-high string of five straight games with at least one goal scored broken last week, is tied for the league lead in short-handed assists with three and is second in short-handed goals with four. The PrairieThunder leads the league with 13 short-handed goals.
Meanwhile, the PrairieThunder's Jason Lepine is tied for second in overall scoring among defensemen with 36 points on eight goals and a league-leading 28 assists. Lepine tops all defensemen in the league in power play assists with 15. Teammate Matthew Spiller is third among defensemen with five power play goals.
*More Thunder rumbles*
The PrairieThunder has a 20-7-0-2 record on the three teams behind it in the standings and a 5-15-2-3 mark on the three teams ahead of it in the standings. Bloomington has 11 of its remaining 22 games against the three teams (Flint 5, Quad City 4 and Dayton 2) trying to catch it in the standings.
Bloomington is 20-3-1-2 when scoring the game's first goal.
Craig Macdonald leads the team with 64 points on 32 goals and 32 assists. He also leads the team with nine game-winning goals and 16 "Stars of the Game" designations.
Captain Jon Booras is tops on the team with 19 multi-point games and a plus-minus rating of plus-9.
Entering this season, center Bill Bagron had 37 points on 14 goals and 23 assists in 71 games. In 53 games this year, the second-year player already has 37 points on 20 goals and 17 assists in 53 games.
Likewise, defenseman Justin Sawyer had scored one pro goal in four seasons (191 games). This year he already has three goals.
Matt McIlvane, Jason Lepine, Zac Pearson, Justin Sawyer and Craig Macdonald are the only players to have appeared in all 54 games this year.
*Military Night*
Friday's game marks Military Night with the PrairieThunder and individuals with military IDs will be able to purchase general admission tickets for half price ($6) and tickets for family and friends for the discounted price of $9 at the box office prior to the game.
It's also Family Four-Pack Night where families can purchase four tickets and receive four hot dogs and four sodas for $44. 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.
International Hockey League 2 Stories from March 1, 2010
- Mallards To Meet Fans Tomorrow At Hardee's In Rock Falls, Morrison - Quad City Mallards
- Mallards' Jones Once More Named IHL Goaltender Of The Week - Quad City Mallards
- Bicek Named IHL Player Of Week - Muskegon Lumberjacks
- Komets Streak Into March; Gems Visit Wednesday, Generals Return Sunday - Fort Wayne Komets
- Bloomington Racking Up The Shorthanders - IHL 2
- IHL Awards Weekly Honors For Week Twenty - IHL 2
- PrairieThunder This Week - Bloomington PrairieThunder
- Skalde Radio Show Tuesday - Bloomington PrairieThunder
- Generals Weekly Notes - Flint Generals
- Lumberjacks Expand League Lead - Muskegon Lumberjacks
- Lumberjacks Weekly Notes - Muskegon Lumberjacks
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