Rayz return to the ice

October 24, 2006 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Corpus Christi IceRays News Release


Season Record: 0-1-0 (0 points) Home Record: 0-1-0 (0 points) Away Record: 0-0-0 (0 points)

4th Place - Southeast Division T-8th Place - Southern Conference

Week in Review: The Corpus Christi Rayz returned to the ice on Saturday night to host the Laredo Bucks in their opening game of the 2006-2007 season. Despite outshooting the Bucks 33-25, special teams play and a strong Laredo second period gave the Bucks a 4-2 win to spoil the Rayz opening night party. The Rayz held leads at 1-0 and 2-1, but three unanswered tallies in the middle frame propelled the Bucks to victory. The meeting was the first of 13 match-ups this season between the pair of rivals. Saturday night's game was the lone Rayz contest of the 2006-2007 opening weekend. Corpus Christi will now look ahead to their first two-game set and first road trip this weekend. The Rayz travel to Rio Grande Valley on Friday night and play host the Austin on Saturday night.

This Week's Schedule: Friday, October 27th @ Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees 7:35pm

Saturday, October 28th vs. Austin Ice Bats 7:05pm

Last Week's Results: Saturday, October 21st vs. Laredo Bucks 4-2 L

All Rayz home games are played at the American Bank Center. This week's games will be broadcast live on the flagship station of the Corpus Christi Rayz - ESPN 1230AM KSIX and online at the Rayz website - www.ccrayz.com. All home games, along with select road games, are available for viewing on the internet at www.chltv.com.

Practice Schedule: The Rayz will practice at the American Bank Center from 10:00am - 11:30am Wednesday and Thursday morning. The Rayz will also hold a pre-game skate on Friday morning at 10:00am. All media members are invited to Rayz practices unless otherwise slated.

Rayz Cut Down to 18

This season the CHL allowed 21 players on each team's roster for the start of the year, but by Wednesday all teams had to narrow their roster to the league-standard of 18 games. On Tuesday the Rayz waived forward Vin Hellemeyer and defenseman, Travis George, narrowing their roster to the eligible number for this weekend's games.

Shooting Gallery

The Rayz outshot the Bucks in each period of Saturday night's loss. Corpus Christi did not surrender more than ten shots in any period, and held the Bucks to 25 total shots. The defensive effort was a huge improvement on last year's shot allowance. Last season the Rayz ended the year averaging 37.4 shots per game and ranking second to last.

Carter's Starter

Rayz forward Ryan Carter opened up the 2006-2007 scoring with a goal at 7:53 of the first period from Matt Truek and Jay Hardwick. Turek set up the goal perfectly on a pass right through the crease to Carter who was camped out at the right side of the net. Carter is coming off of a career-high, 20 goal season last year. In his four-year career, Carter has increased his goal total each season from the prior year. Last year, Carter got off to a furious pace at the beginning of last year scoring 14 goals in the first 21 games.

Young, But Not Inexperienced

The Corpus Christi Rayz are widely regarded as one of the younger teams in the CHL, however do not have many players who are making their professional debuts this season. Although the Rayz have only two veterans in forward, Matt Turek and defenseman, Geno Parrish, they also had only two players on Saturday who played their first professional game - forwards, Connor Hughes and Adam Powell.

Special Help

The Rayz special teams in the season opener hurt the Rayz against the Bucks. Corpus Christi surrendered two goals on five Laredo power play chances, for a successful penalty kill percentage of 60% - ranked lowest after the opening weekend. The Rayz also finished the weekend as the only team not to score on the power play, going 0 for 9 against the Bucks. The Rayz will look to rebound on special teams this week against the Bees at Bats.

Just the Ten of Us

The Rayz had ten players make their Rayz debut on Saturday night. Eight players returned from last year's roster, including Jason Baird and Blair Stayzer who missed most of the 2005-2006 season due to injury. Six Rayz players in total had points. Half of them were returnees (Carter, Hardiwck, McIver) and half were newcomers to the Rayz (Watters, Turek and Quenneville).

Starting in the Southeast

Corpus Christi is getting familiar with their division rivals right off the bat this season. The Rayz first three games come against Laredo, Rio Grande Valley and Austin, respectively. The early schedule is a foreshadowing of what is to come in the weighted season schedule. Corpus Christi will play a total of 35 times out of 64 games. The Rayz will play Laredo 13 times, the Valley 12 times and Austin 10 times.

Playoff Style Meetings

This weekend's game in Rio Grande Valley will be the only time before December that the Rayz and Bees meet. The single-game meeting will be a rarity for the two clubs this season, who have three separate stints this season where they play three times within a week's span. Among other meetings, the Rayz and Bees will play three times each from Dec. 1st - 8th, Feb. 1st - 3rd and March 3rd - 10th.

This Week in the Community: Rayz players Connor Hughes, Adam Powell and Jason Lepine will be appearing at Flour Bluff Schools on Wednesday afternoon as part of Red Ribbon Week to teach kids the importance of saying no to drugs. The players will be attending Flour Bluff Elementary School and Flour Bluff Intermediate School to speak to students.

The Ice Girls will be appearing at the Corpus Christi Athletic Club on Sunday at 3:00pm for a Halloween Party with patients of Driscoll Children's Hospital.

To book an appearance with the Corpus Christi Rayz players, Ice Girls or Team Mascot, Stinger Ray, please contact Community Relations Coordinator, Dave Gilmore at (361)814-7825.

Rayz Next Home Game: The Rayz will return to the ice on Saturday night to host the Austin Ice Bats on Halloween with Harley Davidson. The game begins at 7:05pm. But fans are encourage to come early for a Halloween street carnival beginning at 5:00pm. There will be a costume contest and giveaways. Plus the Rayz will wear special Harley Davidson, Halloween style jerseys. Tickets start at just $10 and are available now at all Ticketmaster outlets and the American Bank Center Box Office. For more information, please contact the Rayz at (361)814-PUCK.



Central Hockey League Stories from October 24, 2006


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