Rail Yard Dawgs Game Notes: #8 Rail Yard Dawgs vs #1 Rivermen - Challenge Round Game 1
April 11, 2018 - SPHL (SPHL)
Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs News Release
ROANOKE RAIL YARD DAWGS
(26-26-4), 8th SPHL, 56 Pts
PEORIA RIVERMEN
(38-13-5), 1st SPHL, 81 Pts
CHALLENGE ROUND - GAME 1
Wednesday, April 11, 2018 - 7:00 PM
LaHaye Ice Center - Lynchburg, VA
Broadcast: SPHL Live | Mixlr
LAST TIME OUT: Brad Barone stopped 25 of 26 shots faced, Zach Tatrn, Matt Beer and Phil Bronner all scored and the Rail Yard Dawgs beat the Peoria Rivermen in the regular season finale, 3-1, Saturday night at Carver arena.
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED: The top seeded Rivermen selected the Rail Yard Dawgs as their first opponent in the SPHL's inaugural Challenge Round selection on Sunday. Peoria had its choice of any of the bottom four seeds in the postseason and chose the eighth seed Dawgs.
YOU AGAIN?: Roanoke and Peoria will have played as many as seven games in a row against one another at the end of the best-of-three series in the Challenge Round. The Dawgs finished out their regular season with four consecutive games against the Rivermen, during which they went 1-3-0. Overall, Roanoke is 1-4-0 against Peoria this season.
TEMPORARY HOMES: All three of the possible games in the Challenge Round series between the Dawgs and Rivermen will be played at venues other than the usual home arenas for the respective teams. Roanoke did not have access to Berglund Center thanks to a previously scheduled event; pushing the opening game to Lynchburg and Liberty University's LaHaye Ice Center. Peoria is dealing with a similar situation that has pushed games two and three of the series to Owens Center, the Rivermen's backup practice rink.
? IT FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME ? : Wednesday represents the first playoff game in Rail Yard Dawgs franchise history. It is the first postseason game for a Roanoke based franchise since the now defunct Roanoke Express lost to the Florida Everblades in the first round of the ECHL's Kelly Cup Playoffs in April of 2004.
A POTENTIAL SERIES STEALER: Roanoke employs the SPHL's leader in save percentage; Brad Barone paced the league in the regular season with a .917% mark. His 2.93 GAA was fourth-best in the league and he finished with 1000 saves on 1091 shots faced.
GHOSTS OF PLAYOFFS PAST: Peoria finished the regular season as the SPHL's points champion, winners of the William B. Coffey trophy for the third time in the last four years. The Rivermen have been unable to convert that into a President's Cup championship, however, as they lost in the finals each of the last two seasons. Peoria was the number three seed in 2016-17 and fell to Macon in the championship round. The current Rivermen roster includes six players who skated on last year's runner-up team.
UP NEXT: Game two of the best-of-three Challenge Round will take place on Friday night at Peoria's Owens Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:15 PM CDT.
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