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Revenge Factor at play for Ice Bats

November 3, 2006 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Austin Ice Bats News Release


Setting the Stage: The Austin Ice Bats of the Central Hockey League are 1-2-1 on the young 2006-2007 CHL season. The Ice Bats have begun play at all-new Chaparral Ice Arena, located on I-35 between Howard Lane and Wells Branch Parkway.

This weekend, the Ice Bats host division rivals Laredo and Corpus Christi with a chance for revenge, after dropping games to both rivals last week.

A look back: After a win in their season opener, the Ice Bats managed just one point in three games last week. Last Friday, Lubbock scored three shorthanded goals to move past the Ice Bats, 4-2 at Chaparral Ice Arena.

The Bats got off to a fast start with a Mike Tucciarone goal 5:22 into the contest, and a Julian Smith score just 59 seconds later. But Lubbock cut the lead in half on former Ice Bat Bobby Brown's power play goal late in the first. In the second, Ice Bats errors led to two of the shorthanded scores. Stacey Bauman tied the score at 2:26 and Simon Watson potted the eventual winner midway through the period.

The Ice Bats made a furious attempt to tie the game late, but Brown's second goal, a shorthanded empty-netter, wrapped it up in the final seconds. The Bats outshot the Cotton Kings, 44-25, but Lubbock goalie Kyle Stanton made 42 stops.

Last Saturday, forward Justin Quenneville's tip-in goal 63 seconds into overtime boosted Corpus Christi to a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over the Ice Bats at the AmericanBank Center.

The Ice Bats took the lead 5:41 into the contest, as defenseman J.F. Picard slid a shot from the point through traffic for a power play goal. But the Rayz tied the score 1:33 later off a face-off win, resulting in Ryan Carter's shorthanded goal below the right circle.

The Bats took their second lead midway through the second period. Winning a foot race and taking the puck from Quenneville, Austin defenseman Terry Virtue started a rush that ended in a John McNabb goal. McNabb threaded a low wrist shot from the right circle to beat Corpus goalie Ron Vogel stick-side at 9:07.

Quenneville would score the first of his two goals on the tail end of a five-on-three power play early in the third. The Ice Bats spent much of the third period shorthanded, putting the Rayz on the power play six times in the period. That included a stretch of four consecutive minutes, the first two spent down by two skaters.

The Ice Bats weathered that stretch to send the game to overtime, but Quenneville tipped in Steve Pelletier's pass from center point to provide a quick answer in OT.

On Sunday, Laredo forward Jeff Genovy scored a hat trick, as the Bucks outpaced the Ice Bats, 5-3 at Chaparral Ice Arena. Genovy's power play goal put the Bucks up 3:23 into the game, but Austin's Aaron Davis tied the score about nine minutes later. The Ice Bats then took the lead 1:35 into the second, when winger John McNabb pick-pocketed his opponent and scored a shorthanded goal, sliding the puck between Laredo goalie Eric Marvin's legs.

The teams then traded goals in quick succession. Laredo's Philippe Seguin tied the game just 28 seconds after McNabb's goal, but Davis was on the board again 62 seconds after that. Bats defenseman Terry Virtue gloved down the puck at the blue line to keep the play alive, resulting in Davis' second goal.

Genovy retied the game about three minutes later. Then in the third, the Bucks' Kris MacPhee scored the eventual winner on an Austin turnover, and Genovy completed the hat trick with an empty net goal in the final minute. Genovy totaled four points on the afternoon, McNabb three in the loss.

Decline the Penalty: The Ice Bats have given up four shorthanded goals, most in the league through two weeks.

Brotherly Love?: Saturday's game will feature a matchup of two brothers. Ice Bats defenseman Chad McIver, obtained last week from Memphis, will at times be guarding brother Derrick, a forward with Corpus Christi.

Potential Bite Victims: Don't be misled by a slow start for Laredo (2-3 after a Halloween loss to Corpus Christi). Coach Terry Ruskowski will have the Bucks whipped into shape before long, and Laredo is starting to get some of the pieces back in place. Skilled forward Ladislav Kouba has been cleared to play, although the Bucks are still without perennial MVP candidate Jeff Bes, also awaiting approval of his immigration status. Defenseman Adam Rivet (team-leading six points) has taken up the slack in blue-line scoring with Serge Dube (3 goals, 2 assists) now moved from d-man to forward. Forward Tyler Lawson will sit for a bit this week after compiling 33 penalty minutes in two weeks. Goalie Nathan Marsters (who played 37 games in the American League last year) is 1-2, with a 3.39 GAA so far.

Corpus Christi has won its last two games over Austin and Laredo to even its record at 2-2. But Coach Ken McRae still has work to do, as the Rayz have converted on just three of 34 power play chances, and rank 16th in killing penalties (73.1%) early on. Center Justin Quenneville's a nice player, leading the team with 4 goals and 3 assists, including both game-winning goals. Two-way stud Ryan Carter has 4 goals and 2 assists and winger Derrick McIver 5 points. Ron Vogel has appeared in three of Corpus' four games, sporting a 2-1 mark and 2.99 GAA. The Rayz will make a long trip from Amarillo Friday to get to Austin for Saturday's game.

The Series: The Ice Bats are now 14-25-1 lifetime against Laredo, after winning just once in eight meetings last season, and dropping the first meeting this season.

The Bats have more wins against Corpus Christi lifetime than any other opponent, with a 54-28-8 record in the series. The Bats were 6-2-2 against the Rayz last year.

Comments From the Coach:

On Last Week: "I was disappointed in the outcome of the Lubbock game because I thought we dominated them. We gave up two shorthanded goals, and I don't think (goalie) Kevin Couture played as well as he could have. He'll certainly have another crack at it. In Corpus, we certainly wanted to win, but after experiencing some travel problems and then killing all the penalties we had to in the third period, I'll take the point earned. Then Sunday, we didn't play badly, but we didn't do the little things to win. In the third period, they made a play to score the winner, and all it was, was their guy finishing a check. They did that on Sunday, we didn't. We have to do those little things better."

On This Week: "I think the guys have a good understanding of the system, we just have to get grittier in the hard areas, in front of the net and in the corners. We've got the makings for a good team. We've got big defenseman who are mobile, and we've got a lot of guys that can skate. We just have to get to what I call the 'hard areas' and finish plays."

The "New" Bat Cave: This season, the Ice Bats begin a new era at Chaparral Ice Arena, located on I-35 between Howard Lane and Wells Branch Parkway. Friday is Scout Night, with free trading card sets to all fans, courtesy of Guaranty Bank and Farmers Insurance.

In addition to providing tickets through the Ice Bats office at 927-PUCK, the Bats are for the first time utilizing Front Gate Tickets as the team's ticket outlet. Fans may conveniently purchase tickets at any Front Gate Tickets location, including Stubbs BBQ, Waterloo Records and Encore Video & CD.

Fans may order on-line through the Ice Bats website at www.icebats.com. Phone orders may be placed by calling (512) 927-PUCK, or 1-888-512-SHOW. Individual game tickets range in price from $15 to $35, depending on section, with discounted rates for groups of 15 or more. Fans may call the Ice Bats ticket office at (512) 927-PUCK, or log onto the team's website at www.icebats.com for more information.

In the Air: Once again, all Ice Bats away games will be broadcast on ESPN Radio, 1530 on the AM dial. The station will broadcast all road games during the 2006-07 regular season and CHL Playoffs. The games will also be available on-line, through the station website at www.espnaustin.com. Ice Bats VP of Broadcasting, Media/PR Glen Norman will handle play-by-play duties for a ninth straight season.

Bats in Cyberspace: Bats fans can learn the latest about their team by logging on to www.icebats.com. Home or away, Bats fans can also follow the action with real-time scoring on the website, courtesy of Pointstreak.com. Fans will be able to access a game box score in real-time, as well as those of all other CHL games being played.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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