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Rayz Take 2 of 3 Over Weekend; Lose Roland For A Month

January 6, 2003 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Corpus Christi IceRays News Release


WEEK RECORD: 2-1 SEASON RECORD: 15-16-1 3RD SOUTHEAST

RAYZ REWIND: The Corpus Christi Rayz took two of three games this past weekend, beating Odessa at home Friday 5-1 and Bossier-Shreveport in Louisiana on Saturday 4-3, before losing to the defending President Cup Champion Memphis RiverKings in Southaven, Miss., last night 2-1. The Rayz lost more than one game however as leading scorer Layne Roland suffered a third degree separation of his right shoulder on Saturday and is expected to be out of the lineup 4-6 weeks.

The Rayz started the weekend on a great note by thumping Southwest division-leading Odessa 5-1 on Friday at Memorial Coliseum. The Rayz opened the scoring at 11:08 of the 1st period when Russell Hogue (LaSalle, MB) found a streaking Jaroslav Jabrocky (Poprad, Slovakia) coming down to the right side right off a penalty kill, and Jabrocky slipped it by Jackalopes goalie Mike Gorman for an early 1-0 lead. The Rayz would increase their lead at 18:18 of the 1st on the power play when Mike Tilson's (Pickering, ONT) point shot was deflected in front of the net by John Sicinski (Mississauga, ONT) past Gorman to make it 2-0 at the end of the period. It was all the Rayz would need but they would get more in the 2nd frame when rookie newcomer Martin Beck (Prostejov, Czech Republic) put home his own rebound at 14:55 for his first professional goal increasing the lead to 3-0. The Jackalopes would finally awake from their slumber early in the 3rd period when Sebastien Thinel found Scott Green open in front of the net and Green one-timed the pass by goalie Brent Belecki (Calgary, ALB) to cut the lead to 3-1. Yet Belecki was once again on his game that night and didn't allow the Jackalopes another goal. Jabrocky picked up a second goal at 12:13 of the period, his first professional 2-goal game, and Tilson scored his first regulation goal in a Rayz uniform at :28 seconds later at 12:41 to cap off the scoring and give the Rayz a 5-1 win. Jabrocky finished the night with 2 goals and an assists and Belecki stopped 30 of 31 Jackalopes' shots for his 11th win of the season.

On Saturday the Rayz traveled to Bossier City, LA, looking for their 3rd consecutive and their first winning streak since the beginning of the season. For the second straight night the Rayz opened the scoring in the 1st period when Martin Beck slipped from the right circle to defenseman Trent Brandvold (Smithers, BC) coming in from the blue line, and Brandvold slapped a one-time drive by Mudbugs goalie Jonathan Forest at 7:47 to give the Rayz a 1-0 lead. The Bugs fought back in the 2nd period to tie the score when Chris Brassard lost the puck off his tape, but it fell right to Jason Campbell in front of Brent Belecki and Campbell would put it by Belecki top shelf at 12:45 to tie the score at 1-1. The Rayz would quickly tack on two more, beginning with John Sicinski's 15th goal of the season off a turnover created by Cosmo Dupaul (Pointe-Claire, PQ) at the Mudbugs line at 13:48 of the 2nd. Dupaul would then get in on the scoring act on the power play when Mike Tilson's shot from the right point deflected off Forest and bounced right in front of Dupaul who put it home at 16:41 to give the Rayz a commanding 3-1 lead after two periods. However, early in the 3rd period, Mudbug's defenseman Gavin Hodgson slammed forward Layne Roland (Vernon, BC) off to the boards just to the left of the Rayz bench catching Roland's right shoulder in between the boards and the steel. Roland left the game with what was diagnosed as a separated shoulder and did not return. The Mudbugs took advantage of the absence of the Rayz top scorer picking up two goals in the period to the tie the game at 3-3. The contest appeared to be heading for overtime until Dupaul created another turnover in the Mudbugs zone with less than a minute remaining and found the trailer Jaroslav Jabrocky in between the circles who slapped home the game-winning goal at 19:10 to give the Rayz the 4-3 win. Once again Belecki was outstanding in net turning aside 42 of 45 shots, while the Rayz could only muster 26 shots on goal.

Sunday the Rayz went for the hat-trick against the Memphis RiverKings in Mississippi but lost 2-1. After a scoreless 1st period, the RiverKings struck first on the power play in the 2nd when Derek Landmesser at the right point slipped a pass to the left circle for Khalil Thomas and Thomas found Michael Stastny open in between the circles. Stastny one-timed the pass from Thomas along the ice by goalie Brent Belecki at 2:26 to give Memphis a 1-0 lead. Stastny would strike again at 3:54 when he took the puck away from Jason Carriere (Winnipeg, MB) at the RiverKings blue line and streaked in alone on Belecki. Stastny went to his backhand and slipped the puck top shelf by the Rayz netminder to increase the lead to 2-0. The Rayz would cut the deficit in half 1:00 minute later when John Cilladi (Phoenix, AZ) passed the puck up the middle of the ice and Shaun Fairweather (London, ONT) tipped onto the tape of a streaking Jaroslav Jabrocky. Jabrocky came in alone on Memphis goalie Jean-Francois Racine and put a backhand by the sprawling netminder at 4:54 of the 2nd to cut the RiverKings lead to 2-1. Unfortunately, that would be the final time the Rayz would see the back of the net for the rest of the game. The Rayz had a great opportunity late in the 2nd period and early in the 3rd when Ben Gorewich was assessed a 5 minute major for boarding at 15:52 and a game misconduct. Armed with a 5 minute power play, the Rayz could only muster 2 shots on Racine and failed to come away with any goals. Racine hung tough in the final period turning aside all 8 Rayz shots he faced, making 21 saves for the win. Belecki turned aside 20 of 22 Memphis shots in a losing effort..

CALLING GENERAL HOSPITAL: Rayz forward Layne Roland will visit the doctor on Monday to have his right shoulder examined. The early prognosis is that Roland will be out 4-6 weeks. Roland will likely join defenseman Brett Colborne and forward Ken Richardson currently on the injured reserve. Roland also becomes the 11th Rayz player to miss a game due to injury this season joining Alex Kholmeyev, Joe Savioli, John Cilladi, Kenny Goetz, Lloyd Marks, Rob Giffin, Jason Renard, Ryan Prentice, Colborne, and Richardson

JUMP FOR JABS: Rayz rookie forward Jaroslav Jabrocky enjoyed a career weekend scoring 4 goals and adding 2 assists in 3 games, placing him in contention for the CHL Player of the Week. Jabrocky recorded his first 2-goal and 3-point game Friday vs. Odessa, and scored the game-winner Saturday in Bossier-Shreveport beating Mudbugs goalie Jonathan Forest at 19:10 of the 3rd period to give the Rayz a 4-3 win.

MORE MILESTONES: Rayz forward John Sicinski recorded his 400th professional point Friday night vs. Odessa with his 14th goal of the season. Sicinski has 173 goals and 228 assists in 296 career games. Also Rayz defenseman Mike Tilson picked up his 100th career assists Saturday at Bossier-Shreveport. Tilson has 40 goals and 100 assists in 228 games. With his next win goalie Brent Belecki will win his 100th career game. Rookie Martin Beck tallied his first professional goal on Saturday.

BOW TO BELECKI: Speaking of Belecki, the goaltender has allowed just 17 goals in his last 9 starts (1.89GPG) less than 2 goals per game. Over that span, Belecki has turned aside 279 of 296 shots, a save percentage of .942%. Belecki ranks among the league leaders in both wins and saves.

MARTINIS ON MONDAY: "Rayz Monday" continues tonight at the Martini Bar located at the corners of Everhart and Saratoga in the Everhart Park Plaza from 5PM-6PM on ESPN1230 KSIX. The Voice of the Rayz Dan Weiss hosts the show each and every Monday taking calls for the head coach Al Sims and several Rayz players. Tonight the European connection of Martin Beck and Jaroslav Jabrocky joins Dan following Coach Sims at 5:30PM.

UP NEXT: The Rayz continue the grueling month of January with three more games this week. The Rayz will host the Fort Worth Brahmas on Wednesday and the El Paso Buzzards Friday at Memorial Coliseum. Game time for both nights is scheduled for 7:05PM. On Saturday the Rayz will travel to Laredo to battle the Bucks for the 7th time this season. Game time at the Laredo Entertainment Center is scheduled for 7:30PM. All games can be heard on the Rayz flagship station 1045 The Octopus or on the internet at www.sportsjuice.com with Dan Weiss and Rick Dames. Broadcast time for Wednesday and Friday is 6:30PM and 7:00PM on Saturday with the "American Tire and Wheel Pre-Game Show."



Central Hockey League Stories from January 6, 2003


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