Rayz year filled with ups and downs

Published on March 16, 2004 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Corpus Christi IceRays News Release


Corpus Christi, TX – The Corpus Christi Rayz concluded their 2003-04 Central Hockey League season on Sunday night with a 4-3 loss to the Odessa Jackalopes. The Rayz finished the roller coaster year with a final record of 23-38-3.

The season saw a lot of adversity and changes as the Rayz kept trying throughout the entire 64-game year to mold together and field a winning team. However, in the end, Corpus Christi was unable to find their way into the playoffs and missed the postseason for the third straight year. The 38 losses by the Rayz are a new franchise high for a single season.

The Rayz saw a lot of different personnel come and go throughout the year. By the time the final buzzer ended the Rayz season on Sunday night, Corpus Christi had gone through three coaches – Al Sims, Pat Dunn and Malcolm Cameron – and 35 different players. That is one player shy of doubling the regulated 18 man roster the CHL allows at any point during the year. The Rayz finished their season with a 16-14-2 record at home and a 7-24-1 record on the road. Their final win of the season came Friday night as the Rayz put up a franchise record 59 shots against the Austin Ice Bats in 3-2 come from behind victory.

Defenseman Mike Tilson finished the season as the team's leading scorer with 34 points. Tilson was the only defenseman in the CHL to lead his team in scoring. Ken Richardson, Jay Woodcroft and Jonathan St. Louis all tied for the team lead in goals with 16. Brad Wingfield led both the Rayz and the CHL in penalty minutes with 357, just 17 shy of the franchise high mark. Patrick Levesque finished with the most games played in a Rayz uniform with 62 and was the leading rookie scorer on the team with 27 points. He finished 15th in the league among rookie scorers.

The special teams for the Rayz continued to struggle throughout the season. After having the top man advantage unit in the league a year ago, the Rayz finished the season with the 15th best power play in the league at 12%. Their penalty killing was last in the league at 79.8% Mike Tilson led the team in power play goals with eight, and five different players scored a shorthanded goal apiece for the Rayz this year.

In the sixth season in the Coastal Bend, the Rayz had many ups and downs throughout the year. The turning point of the season ended up being the nine game road trip from December 16th – January 3rd. 23 games into the season, the Rayz were two games over .500 and contending for second place in the division. After the 1-8 road trip, the Rayz returned well behind the playoff contenders and were never able to make up the gorund they needed. One of the better points for the Rayz season was winning exciting games, down the stretch. The Rayz finished with a 7-2 record in shootouts, the best shootout, winning percentage of any team in the CHL.

The highlight of the shootouts came on November 20th when the Corpus Christi Rayz battled from a 3-0 deficit to tie the game against Austin in Pat Dunn's first game as interim Head Coach. The Rayz and Bats went 13 rounds before Trent Brandvold scored the game winning goal to complete the remarkable comeback victory. The win sent the Coliseum crowd into a frenzy and Brent Belecki's 12 shootout saves stood as a season high mark for the league.

That November 20th game is just one of many great memories that the Rayz will have of the Memorial Coliseum as Corpus Christi closed the doors this season on the Memorial Coliseum, most likely for the final time. The Rayz will shortly move into a new arena, leaving behind the only home that Corpus Christi hockey has ever known. At the conclusion of Saturday night's home finale, a moving ceremony had the Rayz players tossing shirts and gifts to a standing room only crowd of 3,600 fans – the largest attendance of the season. Head Coach Malcolm Cameron and Rayz Captain Ken Richardson addressed the crowd and said their goodbyes, followed by a 90 minute autograph and photo session with the team and the fans.

As the Rayz move forward and on to newer and better things in Corpus Christi, the Memorial Coliseum and 2003-04 season will always be a part of the lasting memories of Corpus Christi hockey. While the season on the ice was not the most successful in Rayz history, Corpus Christi did entertain their fans. 12 home games this season were decided by one goal and the Rayz went 7-3-2 in those games.

Through the ups and downs, wins and losses, the 2003-04 Corpus Christi Rayz stayed committed to the cause of putting together a playoff caliber team. All the changes that took place throughout the year were part of an effort to land the team in the postseason. Unfortunately for the Rayz, time ran out on the season, but the efforts are already underway for next year. Not even a week into the off-season, the Rayz have already begun planning for the upcoming year, both on and off the ice, and are doing everything possible to ensure that the Rayz will carry over the excitement and effort from this past year and add a winning record to the mix for the best season of Rayz hockey in South Texas.

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Central Hockey League Stories from March 16, 2004


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