Record Breaking Mallards Prepare for Clash with Flint
Published on April 1, 2002 under United Hockey League (UHL)
Quad City Mallards News Release
Joe Dimaline, Andy Fermoyle Make Their Marks On The League
Moline, IL - The defending United Hockey League Colonial Cup champion Quad City Mallards finished the 2001-02 regular season season with a five-game winning streak, setting new league single season records for most wins, most consecutive home wins, most road wins, most road standings points, and highest penalty killing percentage. Individually, Joe Dimaline set a new league mark for the lowest goals against average, while breaking the franchise record for highest save percentage. Defenseman Andy Fermoyle led the league in plus/minus rating.
The records are all a prelude to the Mallards' defense of the Cup, which begins with home games this Wednesday and Friday against their archrivals, the Flint Generals. Tickets are now on sale for all Western Conference semifinal home games.
LAST WEEK (4-0-0)
Wednesday, Mar. 27 - (at) Quad City 6, Port Huron 2
Friday, Mar. 29 - Quad City 5, (at) Rockford 4
Saturday, Mar. 30 - (at) Quad City 6, Fort Wayne 2
Sunday, Mar. 31 - Quad City 2, (at) Missouri 1
QUAD CITY vs. FLINT - WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS (all times Central)
Game 1 Wednesday, Apr. 3 7:00 p.m. The MARK of the Quad Cities
Game 2 Friday, Apr. 5 7:00 p.m. The MARK of the Quad Cities
FRIDAY IS FAIRFIELD INN RALLY TOWEL NIGHT - FREE RALLY TOWELS FOR THE FIRST 6,000 FANS!
Game 3 Saturday, Apr. 6 6:30 p.m. IMA Sports Arena, Flint, MI
Game 4 Monday, Apr. 8 6:00 p.m. IMA Sports Arena, Flint, MI (if necessary)
Game 5 Tuesday, Apr. 9 7:00 p.m. The MARK of the Quad Cities (if necessary)
PERSONNEL
3/27 - G Brant Nicklin reassigned from Hershey Bears (AHL), a Mallards affiliate C Jason Ulmer remains on callup with the AHL's Portland Pirates, a Mallards affiliate. Ulmer has 25 points (9 goals, 16 assists) and a +8 plus/minus rating in 69 games with Portland. F Kyle Kidney will return to the Mallards on Tuesday from his callup to Hershey (AHL).
PLAYOFF TICKETS ON SALE
The Mallards will host up to 11 playoff games. Tickets for all Western Conference semifinal home contests (Games 1, 2, and 5) are on sale now at The MARK box office, at Ticketmaster outlets in the Quad Cities, by phone at (563) 326-1111, and online at ticketmaster.com. Tickets for subsequent rounds will go on sale at the conclusion of the previous round. The best-of-seven Western Conference finals are planned for April 11-22, with the best-of-seven Colonial Cup championship series set for April 24-May 5.
WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINAL PREVIEW - Quad City Mallards vs. Flint Generals
Series records:
QC: 5-3-2, 4.00 goals per game
FLT: 5-4-1, 3.70 goals per game
Leading scorers in the season series:
QC: Patrick Nadeau (5g, 7a), 12 pts
Steve Gibson (6g, 4a), 10 pts
FLT: Bobby Reynolds (7g, 7a), 14 pts
Martin Woods (1g, 13a), 14 pts
This is the fifth time these heated rivals have met in the postseason. Flint swept an opening round series in the Mallards first year, 1995-96. Then, Quad City defeated the Generals in the Colonial Cup finals twice in a row, 4 games to 2 in 1996-97, and 4 games to 3 in 1997-98. Flint took a 4 games to 0 sweep of the championship series of 1999-00.
Quad City set UHL single season records for most wins (57), most consecutive home wins (15), most road wins (27), most road standings points (55), and highest penalty killing percentage (88.3). The Mallards did all that despite the losses of key players Steve Gibson (14 games to injury), Chad Power (retired after 26 games), Aaron Miskovich (three stints on the injured list), and Brian McCullough (57 games to injury). Though the Mallards had only one player, C Kevin St. Jacques, finish in the top 20 in league scoring, several wound up averaging more than a point per game in Quad City uniforms, including St. Jacques (10GP, 5g, 10a, 15pts), Gibson (60GP, 31g, 37a, 68pts), LW Jesse Rooney (38GP, 21g, 20a, 41pts), RW Hugo Proulx (38GP, 22g, 31a, 53pts), and LW Brian McCullough (17GP, 9g, 9a, 18pts). For the season, three 30-goal scorers have all been playing on the same line lately: St. Jacques (30-46-76), Rooney (30-26-56), and Gibson. Key personnel moves included the trade acquisitions of Rooney, from Rockford, and St. Jacques, from Adirondack, as well as the mid-season return of Proulx. G Joe Dimaline (38-7-1) established a new UHL record with a 2.16 goals against average and broke the franchise record with a .917 save percentage, while tying for the league lead with 38 wins. He is paired with Brant Nicklin (18-7-0), who ranked sixth in the UHL with a 2.45 goals against average. Defensively, though their marks were eclipsed by Muskegon, the Mallards broke the previous league records for fewest goals allowed (home, road, and overall) and fewest power play goals allowed. Andy Fermoyle led the league with a +53 plus/minus rating, while Dan Bjornlie ranked third overall (behind Steve Gibson's +50) and second among defensemen with a +43. The Mallards have led the league in attendance every year of their existence, averaging 6,628 fans per home game this season.
The Generals made a late season charge to earn a playoff berth by winning their last five games of the regular season and going 15-5-3 in the final 23 contests. LW Bobby Reynolds (45g, 59a, 104pts), captain Jim Duhart (52g, 43a, 95pts), D Martin Woods (27g, 68a, 95pts), RW Scott Hollis (35g, 39a, 74pts) and C Dale Greenwood (23g, 51a, 74pts) are the scoring leaders. Woods led all UHL defensemen in goals, assists and points. The Generals also got offensive contributions from late additions RW Sean Ritchlin, who scored 21 points in 21 games, and LW Jason Melong, who chipped in 22 points in 21 games. G Stu Dunn, acquired in a mid-season trade with Port Huron, finished the regular season 24-19-3, with a 2.92 GAA and an .892 Sv%. He is paired with Brad Guzda, last season's UHL leader in GAA and Sv%, who was acquired at the trade deadline from Knoxville for ex-Mallards D Milan Sejna. Flint tied for the league lead with 83 power play goals.
LAST WEEK'S GAMES
Quad City Mallards 6, Port Huron Border Cats 2 - Wednesday, Mar. 27, at Moline, IL
Jesse Rooney's first career hat trick, goals number 26, 27, and 28 on the season, helped the Mallards overpower the Border Cats, 6-2, tying the UHL record with their 14th consecutive home victory. The Mallards peppered Port Huron goaltender Matt Mullin with a team season-high 56 shots, including 24 in the third period, when they scored two early goals to put the game away. Aaron Miskovich (12), Brandon Sampair (20), and Patrick Nadeau (19) also scored for Quad City. Kevin St. Jacques and Andy Fermoyle each had two assists. Brant Nicklin, who returned from a callup to the AHL's Hershey Bears, made 19 saves for the win in his first game in 11 days.
Quad City Mallards 5, Rockford IceHogs 4 - Friday, Mar. 29, at Rockford, IL
The Mallards tied the all-time single season wins record at 55 with strong efforts in the first and third periods. Brian McCullough (8) and Jesse Rooney (29) scored in the first period for a 2-0 lead. The IceHogs rallied with three straight goals to lead 3-2 going into the third period. But the Mallards mounted a stirring comeback, with three straight goals in a 7:19 span from Kevin St. Jacques (28), Hugo Proulx (21), and Patrick Nadeau (20). Rockford scored with 2:36 remaining, but Joe Dimaline made spectacular saves in the final moments while the IceHogs had the extra attacker. Dimaline finished with 40 stops.
Quad City Mallards 6, Fort Wayne Komets 2 - Saturday, Mar. 30, at Moline, IL
The Mallards earned their 56th win of the season, setting an all-time league single season record. They also set a new mark of 15 consecutive home wins. Kevin St. Jacques led the Mallards attack with two goals, including his 30th of the season, and two assists. Rookie Jesse Rooney also netted number 30, to go with two assists. Steve Gibson kept up his torrid scoring pace with two assists. Kerry Toporowski set career highs in assists (16) and points (18) by starting a tic-tac-toe series of passes leading to Brian McCullough' s goal early in the third period. Andy Fermoyle's game winning goal was his fourth among the eight goals he has scored in his two pro seasons.
Quad City Mallards 2, Missouri River Otters 1 - Sunday, Mar. 31, at St. Charles, MO
All the scoring took place in the second period, with Hugo Proulx and Patrick Nadeau each earning a goal and an assist. Nadeau's game winner resulted from some perfect tic-tac-toe passing by the Mallards. Frederick Jobin fired the puck from the right point into the left circle for Proulx. While everyone expected Proulx to shoot, he instead one-timed a pass into the high slot for Nadeau, who knocked it in for the final Mallards goal of the regular season. Quad City finished a remarkable 20-0-0 in games in which Proulx scored at least one goal. Brant Nicklin ended the regular season with a strong effort, making 33 saves.
HIGH POWERED
The Mallards go into the playoffs with the power play, a weakness earlier in the season, now one of their strengths. They converted 15 of their final 33 opportunities of the regular season, for an outstanding 45.5% success rate.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Rookie F Jesse Rooney is the Mallards nominee for Sher-Wood UHL Player of the Week. In the final four regular season games, he scored 7 points (5 goals, 2 assists) with a +6 plus/minus rating. Rooney scored his first career hat trick, including the game winning goal, in Wednesday's 6-2 win over Port Huron. He scored a goal in Friday's 5-4 win at Rockford, and added his 30th goal of the season and two assists in Saturday's 6-2 win over Fort Wayne, before being held scoreless in Sunday's finale, a 2-1 win at Missouri.
GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK
Brant Nicklin is the Mallards nominee for UHL Goaltender of the Week. He went 2-0-0 with a 1.50 goals against average and a .945 save percentage. He stopped 19 shots in Wednesday's 6-2 win over Port Huron and made 33 saves in Sunday's 2-1 win at Missouri. Nicklin finished the regular season 18-7-0, while ranking fifth in the league with a 2.45 goals against average and sixth with a .912 save percentage.
PLAYER OF THE MONTH
LW Steve Gibson is the Mallards nominee for Sher-Wood UHL Player of the Month for March. In 18 games, he scored 31 points, on 13 goals and 18 assists, and earned an impressive +27 plus/minus rating. His efforts included a pair of game winning goals and a hat trick in the Mar. 17 5-1 win over Knoxville. Gibson had 11 multiple-point games, including nine straight Mar. 2-17.
GOALTENDER OF THE MONTH
Joe Dimaline is the Mallards nominee for UHL Goaltender of the Month. He finished the season with a strong 8-2-0 effort, with a 2.92 goals against average and a .910 save percentage.
ON THE AIR
All Mallards games, home and away, are broadcast live on WOC TalkRadio 1420. Fans can also hear the game through the Mallards web site, qcmallards.com. Fans in The MARK can tune their headset radios to 106.9 FM to hear the in-house broadcast feed.
United Hockey League Stories from April 1, 2002
- Record Breaking Mallards Prepare for Clash with Flint - Quad City Mallards
- River Otters UHL Weekly Release #25 - Missouri River Otters
- Knight-Line - New Haven Knights
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