Sports stats



RiverBlades Split Pair With Louisiana

December 9, 2002 - ECHL (ECHL)
Arkansas RiverBlades News Release


The Arkansas RiverBlades split a pair of games with the Louisiana IceGators this past weekend, and now stand in third place in the Southwest Division with a record of 13-8-4. The RiverBlades' 30 points rank fourth in the Southern Conference.

Roster Moves...Prior to last week's games, the Riverblades made some roster changes, acquiring defensemen Philippe Lakos and Garry Toor from Dayton in exchange for defenseman Kyle Kos. Kos had 3 goals and 9 assists, while accumulating 83 penalty minutes in 23 games for the Blades. Both Lakos and Toor saw time on the August Lynx blue line this year, but neither suited up for Dayton before being traded. To make room for Lakos and Toor, the Blades waived rookie defenseman Tom Kaiman.

Last week...Last weekend featured two showdowns in Lafayette with the Louisiana IceGators Friday and Saturday. Friday night, Shawn McNeil scored two goals, the game-tying goal and game-winning goal, as the IceGators came back to defeat the RiverBlades 5-4 in overtime. Arkansas got goals from Dean Stock, Dean Stork, Jason Bermingham and Buddy Smith, but it was not enough. It was the fourth straight game that Arkansas could not hold a multiple-goal lead in the third period.

The following night, the RiverBlades looked to rebound as they played the Gators once again. Arkansas overcame a two-goal deficit in the third period to triumph over Louisiana 4-3 in a shootout. Eric Long scored on the RiverBlades' 5th shot of the shootout and goaltender Jason Saal made it stick, as the RiverBlades were finally able to get back in the win column. Buddy Smith and Ernie Hartlieb each had a goal and an assist for Arkansas.

Team Leaders...With his 4 points this past weekend, Buddy Smith became the first RiverBlades' player ever to lead the ECHL in scoring. He has 16 goals and 22 assists for 38 points, and is tied with Reading's Brian McCullough, who has 17 and 21 for 38. Jason Bermingham has 5 points in his last 5 games, and 12 in his last 10. Bermingham ranks second on the team with 29 points, which is also good enough for 10th in the ECHL. Terry Marchant has 8 points in his last 10 games, all assists. He ranks third on the team with 28 points and is tied for 5th in the ECHL with 21 assists. The RiverBlades' power-play continues its production, and now ranks 2nd in the ECHL at 24.0 percent. Arkansas trails only Greensboro, whose power-play is running at a 24.2 percent clip. Matt Pagnutti has led the charge on the power-play, scoring 7 power-play goals after setting a career-high with 9 goals all of last year. Both Buddy Smith and Jason Bermingham have 6 power-play goals, and Dean Stork has 5.

A look ahead...The RiverBlades host Jackson in a special "$2 Tuesday" at Alltel Arena. Selected seats are $2, beer is $2, and fans can get pizza and a Coke for $2. Following that, the RiverBlades travel to Baton Rouge to play the Kingfish Friday, play in Pensacola Saturday, then return home to host Baton Rouge on Sunday. Game time is 7:05 p.m. for the first three games, and 6:05 p.m. Sunday. All games can be heard on the CSN radio network, FM 101 The River, and on the Internet at www.RiverBlades.com.

• Discuss this story on the ECHL message board...

ECHL Stories from December 9, 2002


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.

Other Recent Arkansas RiverBlades Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central