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RiverBlades Make History

February 3, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Arkansas RiverBlades News Release


The Arkansas RiverBlades went 2-0 last weekend, completing the first full unbeaten month in team history. The Blades finished January with a record of 8-0-2, and are unbeaten in their last 12, by far a new team record. The previous record was 5, set in 2000 and then matched in 2001.

Arkansas now stands at 26-13-8, 60 points, second in the Southwest Division. The Blades trail the Louisiana IceGators by 4 points for both the division and the conference lead.

Last week...Arkansas kicked off its weekend with the first of two straight home match-ups with the Jackson Bandits on Friday. Jason Bermingham scored his 26th goal of the season with just 25 seconds remaining to boost the RiverBlades to a 4-3 come-from-behind victory. Bermingham finished the game with a goal and an assist, and ECHL leading-scorer Buddy Smith had a goal and a helper of his own in the game. Jason Saal made 17 saves to earn his 19th win of the season.

Then, on Sunday, Terry Marchant scored a short-handed goal and an assist, and added the winning shootout goal as Arkansas prevailed 3-2 in a shootout over Jackson, completing the 2-game sweep. Dean Stork added his 7th power-play goal of the year for the Blades, who once again got solid goaltending from Jason Saal. Saal turned away 33 Bandit offerings and stopped 4 of 5 in the shootout to get his 20th victory of the campaign.

Team Leaders... Buddy Smith continues to shine, leading the ECHL with a team-record 47 assists and 69 points. Smith has 19 points in his last 10 games, and a +10 rating during that span. Jason Bermingham is also a +10, and has 9 goals and 16 points in his last 10. Bermingham had 11 goals and 19 points in the month of January, with 4 game-winning goals, 4 power-play goals, and a +12 rating. Terry Marchant has set a new career-high with 49 points this season. Marchant has also tied his personal best with 34 assists, and is two goals away from his career high of 17. He also earned his 100th career professional assist in Sunday¹s win over Jackson. Matt Pagnutti has a career-high 11 goals and ranks 4th among ECHL defensemen with 37 points. Captain Eric Long leads the team with a +15 rating, and is second to Pagnutti among Blades¹ blue-liners with 35 points. Mike Sandbeck has also set a new career mark this year with 9 goals, and is just three points from his personal best of 21, set last year. Jason Saal has been solid between the pipes with a record of 7-0-2 in the last 10 games, sporting a 2.72 GAA and .913 save percentage. Saal is tied for second in the league with 20 wins and ranks 5th with 1,015 saves.

A look ahead...The RiverBlades return to action this week, completing their 6-game homestand at the Alltel Arena. Arkansas battles the Mississippi Sea Wolves on Thursday, and then hosts the team with the best record in the ECHL, the Peoria Rivermen, on Friday. There is a special Internet Discount Coupon available on www.riverblades.com for Friday night. Just visit the site, print out the coupon, and bring it with you to the box office, and you will get $2 off your ticket! Faceoff is set for 7:05 p.m. on both nights. All games can be heard on the CSN radio network, FM 101 The River, and on the Internet at www.riverblades.com.

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