Retooling Does Not Result In Immediate Success

Published on January 9, 2005 under SPHL (SPHL)
Asheville Aces News Release


Having lost three games in a row this weekend, the Asheville Aces find themselves in seventh place in the SPHL standings, two points behind the Fayetteville Fire Antz who also cling to the sixth and final playoff position. The tough weekend started on Thursday night at home with a loss to Columbus (6-2). The team then traveled to Columbus where they battled hard but still could not beat the Snakes, losing 10-6 in a wild affair. Saturday night in Jacksonville proved to be the same story as the team could only score two in a 7-2 loss to the Barracudas.

But, Aces Head Coach Jeff Brubaker is not hitting the panic button. He spent the past two weeks making moves to shore-up his defense corps including trading away Peter Cermak, Andris Vegners and Sergei Visegorodcevs. Added to the roster so far, are Chris Cloutier, Nobumasa Kinugasa, Chris Kovalcik, and Ryan Crowther. "When you make that many changes to your lineup, you can't expect the guys to gel right away. We played a very solid game Thursday night which was a good sign. Unfortunately, we couldn't keep up with Columbus on Friday or Jacksonville last night. But, we are staying in Jacksonville this week and the guys are going to be spending a lot of time together on and off the ice so I am hopeful that they come together as a group and that will translate to some wins," Brubaker said.

Some positive signs this past weekend included the Aces putting up six goals in Columbus on Friday night with many players contributing to the scoresheet. The Aces also showed signs of being a much tougher team to play against as they played very physical all three nights including goalie Mark Scally who challenged Cottonmouth goalie Terry Friesen to a fight on Friday resulting in both goalies being ejected from the game.

One area the Aces are still addressing is defense. Despite some moments of incredible goaltending, it is clear they are allowing their opponents far too many chances to put the puck in the net. Since the New Year's Day game against Columbus, the Aces have been outshot 195 to 123. With three days of practice before meeting the Cudas again in Jacksonville on Thursday, the Aces will look to work on ways to reverse this trend and start generating offense of their own.

Following Thursday's game in Jacksonville, the Aces return home to face the struggling Winston-Salem Polar Twins on Friday and then the Knoxville Ice Bears on Saturday. Both games are at 7:30 p.m. at the Asheville Civic Center.

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SPHL Stories from January 9, 2005


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