Rayz Ice Division Leaders Memphis, Austin

Published on December 23, 2002 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Corpus Christi IceRays News Release


ICERAYS REWIND: Rayz goalie Brent Belecki (Calgary, ALB) turned aside 76 of 78 shots he faced this weekend leading the Rayz to upset victories over last season's President Cup finalists Memphis and Austin.

In what was billed as "championship weekend" at Memorial Coliseum, the Rayz kicked it off with a bang upending the defending CHL champion Memphis RiverKings 3-1 on Friday night. Shaun Fairweather (London, ONT) opened the scoring at 14:06 of the 1st period when he intercepted Derek Landmesser's pass at the left-wing circle and blasted a drive by RiverKing goalie Mark Richards to give the Rayz a 1-0 lead. After not converting on a two-man advantage for 1:25 seconds early in the 2nd period, the Rayz would get some redemption when Russell Hogue's (LaSalle, MB) wrist shot from in between the circles trickled off the glove of Richards and into the net at 14:54 for a 2-0 lead.

Perhaps the turning point of the game came late in the 2nd and early in the 3rd period. With Rayz forward John Sicinski (Mississauga, ONT) already off two minutes for obstruction hooking at 18:07, Lloyd Marks (Dawson Creek, BC) was assessed a five minute major for elbowing at 18:46 after slamming Matt Johnson in the attacking zone. It gave the RiverKings a 1:39 second two-man advantage and a 5:00 minute power play, but they could not convert on either. The Kings would get one back midway through the 3rd period when Jay Neal's drive off the faceoff beat Belecki glove-side at 13:10 to cut the lead in half at 2-1.

However, Belecki would hang tough in between the pipes and shut out the Kings for the remainder of the night. Layne Roland (Vernon, BC) added an empty net goal at 19:41 to clinch the 3-1 victory. Belecki was outstanding in net stopping 41 RiverKing shots for his 9th win of the season. The Kings were also 0-8 on the power play, while the Rayz were 0-3 with the man advantage.

Saturday night the Ice Bats came to town looking to avenge a 2-1 loss in the teams last meeting on 11/23/02, but the Rayz scored four 3rd period goals to take a 4-1 win. After a scoreless 1st period, Austin opened the scoring in the 2nd when Shaun Legault deflected Daryl MacArthur's point shot on the power play by the sprawling Belecki at 8:01 to take a 1-0 lead. However, the Rayz would get the equalizer just :44 seconds into the 3rd period. With a power play expiring, newcomer Mike Tilson (Pickering, ONT) rifled a shot from the point, and Sicinski picked up the loose puck out of the crowd and slipped it by Ice Bats goalie Peter Brady to tie the score at 1-1.

The Rayz would then take the lead for good at 3:30 when other newcomer Jaroslav Jabrocky (Poprad, Slovakia) fired a low wrist shot on net that Shaun Fairweather (London, ONT) would tip by Brady to give the Rayz a 2-1 advantage. Cosmo Dupaul (Pointe-Claire, PQ) provided some insurance when he took a nifty behind-the-back deflection from Roland on the power play and drove it home by an out of position Brady at 16:29 to make it 3-1. Roland capped off the scoring when he floated a shot from 75-feet away into the empty net at 19:59 to give the Rayz a convincing 4-1 win.

For a second consecutive night, Belecki was solid in net stopping 35 of 36 Ice Bat shots. He also picked up his first assist of the season on Roland's empty net goal. The Rayz had 36 shots on goal of their own and were also 2-9 on the power play.

TWICE AS NICE: Saturday night's 4-1 victory over Austin gave the Rayz back-to-back wins over the Ice Bats for the first time since the 2000-01 season. That year the Rayz beat the Bats 2-1 on 2/18/01 at the Travis County Expo Center before a 5-3 win at home three nights later. Austin leads the all-time series 25-16-9. The Rayz, who have never beaten the Ice Bats on three consecutive occasions, will go for the hat trick and some history Thursday night at home.

BOW TO BELECKI: Rayz goalie Brent Belecki turned in his strongest performance in net since the opening weekend of the season when stopped 65 of 68 shots in victories against Laredo and El Paso. Belecki turned away 41 Memphis shots on Friday and 35 Austin shots on Saturday marking the first time this season he's allowed just a single goal on back-to-back nights. Belecki also tallied his first assist since the 1998-99 season when he assisted on Layne Roland's empty net goal in the 3rd period against Austin. Belecki had two assists with the Miami Matadors (ECHL) during his first professional season in the '98-99 campaign.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: Late Friday night the Rayz acquired defenseman Mike Tilson from Fort Worth in exchange for forwards Rob Giffin and Lloyd Marks and defenseman Matt Munro. Tilson had 3 goals and 10 assists in 23 games with the Brahmas and is 5th in the CHL in shots on goal. The Rayz also signed free agent forward Jaroslav Jabrocky on Friday. Jabrocky had 4 goals and 6 assists in 24 games with Laredo. Both newcomers made immediate impacts as Tilson had two assists and Jabrocky assisted on Shaun Fairweather's game-winning goal.

THE CARDIAC KIDS: For just the second time this season the Rayz won a game when trailing after two periods. Before Saturday night's win over Austin, the Rayz were 1-8 when trailing after 40 minutes. Consequently, the Rayz are 8-1 when taking a lead into the 3rd period.

JOHNNY ON THE SPOT: IceRays forward John Sicinski continues his hot play. Sicinski chipped in a goal and an assist this weekend giving him 3 goals and 6 assists over the last 8 games. Sicinski has scored in 5 out of the last 6 games and 6 out of the last 8.

BUMPS AND BRUISES: Rayz forward Ken Richardson broke his hand in a fight with Memphis' Riley Cote on Friday and will be out 4-6 weeks. Meanwhile rookie defenseman Joe Savioli who was on the 14-day injured reserve had an MRI last Monday that revealed a torn ACL in his right knee. Savioli will require surgery and will likely miss the rest of the season.

MARTINIS ON "ICERAYS MONDAY": "IceRays Monday" continues tonight from 5PM-6PM at The Martini Bar, located at the corners of Everhart and Saratoga in Corpus Christi. The Voice of the IceRays Dan Weiss hosts the show every Monday on ESPN Radio 1230AM KSIX, and is joined by Head Coach Al Sims and several IceRays players. Tonight many of the Rayz will be on hand to send out their Christmas wishes before the holiday season.

UP NEXT: The Rayz continue a three game series with the Austin Ice Bats as they host the Bats Thursday night at Memorial Coliseum before traveling to Austin for a rematch on Friday. The Rayz complete the weekend with a visit to Laredo on Saturday to battle the Bucks. Game time on Thursday is 7:05PM and 7:30PM for Friday and Saturday night. All games can be heard on 104.5FM The Octopus with Dan Weiss, or on the Internet at www.icerays.com and www.sportsjuice.com. Broadcast time begins at 6:30PM Thursday night and 7PM Friday and Saturday with the "American Tire & Wheel Pregame Show."

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Central Hockey League Stories from December 23, 2002


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