River Otters UHL Weekly Release #25

Published on April 1, 2002 under United Hockey League (UHL)
Missouri River Otters News Release


RIVER OTTERS GRAB THIRD PLACE IN THE WESTERN CONFERENCE WITH NINE IN A ROW; FACE THE MUSKEGON FURY IN THE FIVE-GAME CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS

ANNIHILATE KNOXVILLE 8-2 ON WEDNESDAY; DOMINATE THE WINGS 6-1 IN KALAMAZOO ON FRIDAY BLOW BY ROCKFORD 6-3 ON SATURDAY; NIPPED BY QUAD CITY 2-1 ON SUNDAY

River Otters 3-1-0 in Week 25

Missouri opens the five-game Western Conference Semifinals in Muskegon on Wednesday, April 3

Record GP W L SOL PTS 3rd place, Western Conference Total 74 41 24 9 91 Home 37 22 11 4 48 Away 37 19 13 5 43

THE RECAP:

Wednesday, March 27, 2002 vs. Knoxville Game #71 UHL Game #498 River Otters 8 Knoxville 2

Seven different Missouri River Otters scored, as they routed the visiting Knoxville Speed 8-2 in front of 2,538 on Wednesday night.

After Knoxville's Dave Gilmore scored his 25th of the season on a breakaway at 10:24 of the final period, the River Otters quickly grabbed their five-goal lead back 36 seconds later. Winger Jason Gudmundson flipped in a backhand shot, his 30th tally of the year, to make it 7-2.

Gudmundson and winger Joe Ritson both hit the 30-goal mark in the game, giving the River Otters four 30-goal scorers for the season. Center Dustin Whitecotton (36) and winger Lonnie Loach (31) have also tallied 30 or more goals this year.

Winger Scott Perry finished the eight-goal barrage at 12:20 of the third. Perry brought the puck down the right wing, cut in under a defender and slipped the puck past goaltender Jeff Dudych for his ninth of the season.

Missouri (39-23-9, 87 points) extended their season-high winning streak to seven games. They have also won a season-high six on home ice. They are back in a tie for third place in the Western Conference with Fort Wayne after the Komets lost 5-4 in Flint tonight. They finished their season series with the Speed with a record of 10-1-1, winning the final seven games in a row. Mark Reeds has notched at least 39 wins in each of his six seasons as a head coach. Knoxville (19-50-2, 40 points) has lost nine games in a row, tying a UHL season high for games without a win. They have also lost 12 in a row on the road, three shy of the UHL season high of 15 straight road losses set by Rockford.

Friday, March 29, 2002 @ Kalamazoo Game #72 UHL Game #503 River Otters 6 Kalamazoo 1

For the second game in a row the Missouri River Otters needed an early wake-up call from the opposition to get their game in order and then skate to the victory.

Kalamazoo took a 1-0 lead at 4:50 of the opening period on winger Randy Holmes' 27th of the year, but Missouri answered with two goals before the end of the period and four over the final two sessions to win 6-1 before a crowd of 3,154 on Friday night at Wings Stadium.

Winger Darin Kimble's tally, his 12th of the season, was the game winner. It came at 12:49 of the first period, 1:08 after center Dustin Whitecotton had tied it on the power play with his 37th of the season. It was Kimble's third goal in the past two games.

Missouri (40-23-9, 89 points) extended their season-high winning streak to eight games with the victory. With Flint's 7-3 win in Fort Wayne tonight and Missouri's win, the River Otters have clinched a playoff berth in the 2002 Colonial Cup playoffs. A win tomorrow night over the Rockford IceHogs will secure third place in the Western Conference and a first-round meeting with the Muskegon Fury. Kalamazoo (29-36-8, 66 points) is winless in their last eight games (0-4-4).

Saturday, March 30, 2002 vs. Rockford Game #73 UHL Game #514 River Otters 6 Rockford 3

Winger Lonnie Loach scored a natural hat trick in a span of 4:01 in the second period, pacing the Missouri River Otters to a 6-3 defeat of the visiting Rockford IceHogs before a crowd of 6,007 on Saturday night at the Family Arena.

Loach notched his first at 9:19 of the second, snapping in a Darin Kimble centering pass on the near post. It was Loach's 33rd of the season and put Missouri up 4-1.

His second tally, and 34th of the year, came on a two-on-one with center Eric Murano 1:36 later. Murano raced into the Rockford zone on left wing and snapped a cross-ice pass to Loach, who received it in stride and slid it past Rockford goaltender Steve Debus. Murano became the 11th player in Family Arena history to notch four assists in one game.

Loach completed the natural hat trick at 10:55 of the second for a 6-1 Missouri lead. Defenseman Kevin Chabbert broke in on left wing and snapped a pass to Loach, who was at the near post for the deflection. It was Loach's fourth hat trick on Family Arena ice, the most by one player.

Missouri (41-23-9, 91 points) extended their season-high winning streak to nine games, one shy of their franchise record of 10 in a row, set in November 2000. With the victory, the River Otters assured themselves of a first-round meeting with the Muskegon Fury in the 2002 Colonial Cup Playoffs. The five-game series will begin on Wednesday, April 3 in Muskegon. Missouri finished their 17-game season series with the IceHogs with a record of 10-5-2. Rockford (27-41-6, 60 points) had their franchise-record, four-game road winning streak snapped in the loss.

Sunday, March 31, 2002 vs. Quad City Game #74 UHL Game #515 River Otters 1 Quad City 2

The Missouri River Otters closed out the 2001-2002 regular season with a loss, getting edged 2-1 by the archrival and defending Colonial Cup Champion Quad City Mallards in front of an Easter Sunday crowd of 1,236.

All of the scoring came in the second period. Quad City opened it on the power play at 5:08. Winger Hugo Proulx rifled in his 22nd of the year from the top of the left circle, beating Missouri's Aaron Vickar over the left shoulder.

The Mallards made it 2-0 at 12:54. Defenseman Frederick Jobin fired a pass to the side of the Missouri net for Proulx, who pulled Vickar out of position and sent it to a waiting Nadeau in the high slot. Nadeau easily popped in his 21st of the season, the eventual game winner.

The River Otters made it 2-1 with 2:42 left in the second. Winger Curtis Voth scored his ninth of the season on a third chance effort in front of the Mallards goal, slamming the puck underneath Quad City netminder Brant Nicklin.

Missouri (41-24-9, 91 points) finished the season with the same record as last year. Their season-high, nine-game winning streak was halted; it was one shy of a franchise record 10 in a row set in November 2000. Missouri finished their season series against the Mallards with a 3-9-2 record. Quad City (57-15-2, 116 points) extended their UHL record for wins in one season to 57. They also set a UHL record for the most road victories, 27, and most road standings points with 55.

--Keeping Track--

-Nine Is Our Number-

The River Otters pushed their season-high winning streak to nine games before it was halted in the regular season finale on Easter Sunday in a 2-1 loss to the archrival and defending Colonial Cup Champion Quad City Mallards. Missouri's franchise record for consecutive wins is 10, set on November 12, 2000. Their previous season high for consecutive wins, five, was established on January 9. Missouri had also won seven in a row on home ice, which was four shy of their franchise record 11 set at the beginning of their inaugural season in 1999-2000. Their previous season high for consecutive home wins, four, was achieved on February 22.

-The Third Seed For A Second Time-

Missouri finished as the third seed in the Western Conference playoffs for the second year in a row. They will begin a five-game Western Conference Semifinal series with the second-place Muskegon Fury on Wednesday, April 3. The Fury posted the second best record in the UHL but finished second in the Western Conference, as Quad City won their third straight Tarry Cup Championship with a 57-15-2 record. Game time for Game One, which will be played in Muskegon, is 6:00 p.m. at L.C. Walker Arena. Game Two will be Friday, April 5 in Muskegon. Game time is 6:30 p.m. at L.C. Walker Arena. The series then shifts to St. Charles. Game Three is Sunday, April 7 at 6:15 p.m. at the Family Arena. Game Four (if necessary) is Monday, April 8 at 7:15 p.m. at the Family Arena. Game Five (if necessary) would return the series to Muskegon on Tuesday, April 9. Game time is 6:00 p.m. at L.C. Walker Arena. The winner will play the winner of the other Western Conference Semifinal series between the Mallards and the Flint Generals.

-A Muskegon Mission-

The River Otters were 3-1-1 in the regular season against the Muskegon Fury, their Western Conference Semifinals opponent. Missouri was 1-1-0 at home against them and undefeated in three games (2-0-1) at L.C. Walker Arena, where the series begins on Wednesday, April 3. Center Dustin Whitecotton leads the River Otters against the Fury with six points (2g, 4a); wingers Joe Ritson (3g, 2a) and Jason Gudmundson (2g, 3a), his linemates, have five points each. Missouri's special teams against the Fury were superb. They were 5-for-17 (29.4 percent) with the man advantage in five games and gave up just one goal to Muskegon in 20 chances on the penalty kill (95 percent efficiency rating).

-Forty For Average-

Missouri became just the third team in UHL history to average 40 or more wins per season over their first three as a franchise. With a 9-1-0 run in their final 10 games, they finished with exactly the same record as last year – 41-24-9. Missouri has averaged 40.3 wins per season (121 total) in three UHL seasons. The Quad City Mallards and the Knoxville Speed (Madison Monsters) averaged 40 or more wins in their first three seasons (1995-98). The Mallards averaged 45.3 wins per season (136 total) and the Speed averaged 40.7 wins (122 total).

-Reeds Reaches Benchmark-

Head coach Mark Reeds has won at least 39 games in each of his six seasons as a head coach – three with the River Otters (1999-Present) and three with the Peoria Rivermen (1996-99). He has averaged just over 41 wins per season (41.2) in that time, eclipsing the 40-win mark in four of his six seasons. Reeds has guided the River Otters to a 41-24-9 record in each of the last two seasons.

-The Top Line Treatment-

Missouri's top line of center Dustin Whitecotton and wingers Jason Gudmundson and Joe Ritson accounted for 35.3 percent (252 of 714) of the team's points this season. The line was comprised of three of the team's top four scorers. Whitecotton, a strong candidate for the UHL MVP award, led the team in goals (37), power play goals (T-14), assists (58), points (95) and plus/minus (+15); he was third in shots (233). The River Otters were 2-5-2 without Whitecotton, who was called up to the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League (AHL) for eight games. Gudmundson was third in goals (32), power play goals (10) and points (80), and he was fourth in assists (48) and shots (223). Ritson was first in game-winning goals (6), power play goals (T-14) and shots (282), and he was fourth in goals (31) and points (77).

-The Thirty-Goal Throng-

The River Otters had four 30-goal scorers during 2001-2002 season, more than any other UHL club. Center Dustin Whitecotton led the way with 37, which set a new franchise mark for tallies in a season. The previous mark was set last year by center Eric Murano, who posted 33. Winger Lonnie Loach followed that up with 35 goals, the second most in one season in franchise history. Wingers Jason Gudmundson and Joe Ritson also hit the 30-goal mark with 32 and 31, respectively. The team's four 30-goal scorers also broke the 200-shot barrier. Ritson had the most with 282; Loach followed with 262; Whitecotton had 233; and Gudmundson registered 223. Quad City, Flint and Rockford all had three 30-goal scorers this season.

-Saying No To Sunday Games-

With their 2-1 loss to the Quad City Mallards on Sunday, Missouri dropped to 1-3-1 at home on Sundays. They were 1-4-0 on the road on Sundays and finished with a 2-7-1 record overall. The River Otters will host Game Three of the Western Conference Semifinals against Muskegon this Sunday, April 7 but there will be one difference... a game time of 6:15 p.m.

-The Lamp Lighting Loach-

Winger Lonnie Loach fired in a natural hat trick (three consecutive goals) on Saturday against the Rockford IceHogs; it was the first one by a River Otters player this year. It was his fourth career hat trick on Family Arena ice, the most by one player. It was the first time in Family Arena history that a player scored three goals in one period; it happened in the second period. Loach netted 35 goals this season, the most he had notched in one season over the past six. This year's output equaled the 35 he posted with the Detroit Vipers of the now-defunct International Hockey League in 1995-96. He is 15 points shy of 1,000 in regular season action on North American soil. Including the playoffs, Loach hit the 1,000-point mark on December 14, 2001 in Flint, setting up Eric Murano's first goal of the season at 16:04 of the second period.

-Murano Makes A Difference-

Center Eric Murano, who re-signed with the River Otters on December 1, joined a team that was 7-10-3 in their first 20 games. Over the last 54 with Murano, the team was 24-14-6. He posted 75 points (26g, 49a) in just 54 games; it was his third-highest point total for one season in his career. Last year, he eclipsed the 100-point mark with 102 points (33g, 69a); he is the only player in Missouri's three-year history to achieve that.

-Finally... Wins Against The Wings-

The River Otters finished the 2001-2002 regular season with two wins against the Kalamazoo Wings. The River Otters posted their first victory over the Wings in nine opportunities on Wednesday, March 20 at the Family Arena, winning 6-5. It was the first win against them since December 23, 2000 and the first home victory since October 22, 2000. The River Otters beat the Wings 6-1 on the road last Friday, finishing 2-2-1 against them this year.

-Quad City Quandary-

Missouri finished the season with a sub .500 record against just two teams – the Elmira Jackals and the Quad City Mallards. Missouri lost their only meeting with the Jackals on November 16 on the road by the score of 4-0. The River Otters finished six games under .500 against the defending Colonial Cup Champion Mallards with a 3-9-2 record. Missouri was 1-4-1 at home and 2-5-1 at The MARK of the Quad Cities. -Kimble Closing Out A Career-

Winger Darin Kimble will be making his last appearance in the postseason this year. The 14-year professional and veteran of 311 NHL games will retire at the end of the 2002 Colonial Cup Playoffs. He posted more than 1,000 penalty minutes (1,082) in parts of seven NHL seasons and registered more than 2,300 PIMs in his career. Last season with the River Otters, he established offensive career highs in goals (29), power play goals (18) assists (22) and points (51). He was tied for the UHL lead in power play goals in 2000-2001 with 18.

-Backline Bolstering-

Defensemen Doug Searle and Jason Hughes made a major impact on the team's defensive corps after being acquired from the Knoxville Speed on February 26 for defensemen Simon Poirier and Ales Havlik. The two combined for 17 points (5g, 12a) in 17 games and were a collective +27. Searle had 11 points (4g, 7a) and a +16 over the stretch. Hughes had six points (1g, 5a) and a +11.

-One Man In All Of Them; One Man In Even More-

Defenseman Anthony Cappelletti is the only player on the roster who has played in all 74 of the team's regular season games. Cappelletti led all team defensemen in scoring with 36 points (12g, 24a), which ranked him 13th in the UHL. Defenseman Jason Hughes, who spent time with three different UHL teams this season – Kalamazoo, Knoxville & Missouri, competed in 79 games.

-Playoff Players Added, Others Deleted-

Center Troy Mann has been re-signed and added to the team's playoff roster for the 2002 Colonial Cup Playoffs. Mann, who was waived on January 16, notched 20 points (3g, 17a) in 36 games with the team. He later signed with the Kalamazoo Wings, playing in 11 games and registering two points (1g, 1a) before his release. Rockford goaltender Steve Debus has been added as the team's emergency goaltender should Brian Regan or Aaron Vickar get hurt. Although Debus, who is in his fourth professional season, was 13-23-2, he posted a save percentage of .900. Defenseman Vaclav Pazourek was placed on the Unable To Perform list, while rookie winger Joe Pecoraro, on the injured reserve since December 26, was released.

-Injury, Call-up & Transaction Report-

-Center Troy Mann has been re-signed and added to the roster for the 2002 Colonial Cup Playoffs, 04/01/02.

-Rockford goaltender Steve Debus has been added as the team's emergency goaltender for 2002 Colonial Cup Playoffs, 04/01/02.

-River Otters defenseman Vaclav Pazourek has been placed on the Unable To Perform list for the 2002 Colonial Cup Playoffs, 04/01/02.

-River Otters rookie winger Joe Pecoraro has been released, 04/01/02.

-Pawing Our Way Through The Schedule-

OPPONENT: Muskegon Fury (48-22-4, 100 points), Second Place, Western Conference – No. 2 Seed

SCHEDULE: Game One Wednesday, April 3 6:00 p.m. L.C. Walker Arena (Muskegon, MI) Game Two Saturday, April 5 6:30 p.m. L.C. Walker Arena (Muskegon, MI) Game Three Sunday, April 7 6:15 p.m. Family Arena (St. Charles, MO) Game Four Monday, April 8 7:15 p.m. Family Arena (St. Charles, MO) If Necessary Game Five Tuesday, April 9 6:00 p.m. L.C. Walker Arena (Muskegon, MI) If Necessary

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United Hockey League Stories from April 1, 2002


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