PrairieThunder This Weekend

December 18, 2009 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Bloomington PrairieThunder News Release


BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Two games against a pair of the International Hockey League heavyweights faces the Bloomington PrairieThunder as it continues its six-game home stand against Muskegon on Saturday and Fort Wayne on Sunday.

Both games are at U.S. Cellular Coliseum with Saturday's contest against the league-leading Lumberjacks starting at 7:05 p.m. and Sunday's matinee affair against the two-time defending IHL champion Komets getting underway at 4:05 p.m. Both games can be heard on wjbc.com

The PrairieThunder will be looking for its first victory in three games against Muskegon. Bloomington dropped 9-3 and 5-2 decisions at Walker Arena, making this the first trip to U.S. Cellular Coliseum for the Lumberjacks.

Bloomington has moved into sole possession of third place in the standings, thanks to a three-game overall and home winning streak. The PrairieThunder is 9-2-1-0 at home this season and 56-60-6-4 all-time on its ice.

The Lumberjacks, who play at Dayton tonight, will be playing only their 11thgame of 26 away from home when they take the ice in Bloomington. Muskegon, which had a 16-5-0-3 overall record (35 points) before the game at Dayton, was 4-2-0-3 in road games.

Muskegon has the top three scorers in the league with Robin Bouchard (43), Todd Robinson (40) and the injured John DiPace (32), Bouchard leads the IHL in goals scored with 24, power play goals with seven and game-winning goals with five. Robinson is first in assists with 28 and power play assists with 10.

Bloomington's Craig Macdonald ranks fourth in the league in scoring with 30 points, teammates Jon Booras (22) and Billy Bagron (20) are sixth and seventh, respectively. Macdonald has four-game winning goals.

Muskegon goaltender Sebastien Centomo tops the league in victories with a 10-4-0-2 record. He carries a 2.27 goals against average and a.916 save percentage. Bloomington's Andrew Martin is riding a three-game winning streak where he has allowed just four goals, while posting a.948 save percentage.

Bloomington leads the league in power play percentage at 21.6 (22 goals in 97 chances) and is third on the penalty kill (81.4 percent). The Lumberjacks lead the league in goals scored (86), assists (140), points (226) and power play goals (23).

The PrairieThunder is 1-2 in games against Fort Wayne with the lone victory coming at home. The Komets, who play at Quad City tonight, had a 12-8-0-1 record (25 points) and tied with Dayton for fourth in the standings. The Komets were 5-6 on the road heading to Quad City.

Sunday is Bloomington Meats Kids Day at U.S. Cellular Coliseum. Youngsters (12 and under) can purchase kids meals for $3, which includes a hot dog compliments of Bloomington Meats, chips, soda and a PrairieThunder pencil. Youth game tickets are half off at $4.



International Hockey League 2 Stories from December 18, 2009


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