Sports stats



RiverBlades Weekly

October 28, 2002 - ECHL (ECHL)
Arkansas RiverBlades News Release


Last week... The RiverBlades won three out of four games played to move into third place in the Southwest Division with a record of 4-2-1. It is the first time Arkansas has been two games above .500 since the final game of the 2000-01 season... Arkansas began the winning week with a 3-1 win over the Jackson Bandits Tuesday Night at the Alltel Arena. Special teams play was key as the Blades scored two power play goals and the #1 star of the game, Terry Marchant added a spectacular shorthanded goal to seal the win with 1:40 remaining to play...Friday night Arkansas fell to the Louisiana IceGators 5-2 in the CajunDome. Matt Pagnutti and Kyle Kos scored for the RiverBlades...Saturday night in Jackson was a dominating performance by Chris Cichocki's club. The Blades outshot Jackson 43-19 and got goals from Mike Sandbeck, Ernie Hartlieb, Mike Cirillo, and Matt Pagnutti to cruise to a 4-2 win. Rookie netminder Jimi St John stopped 17 of 19 shots to earn his first pro win...Back home in the Alltel on Sunday against Pensacola, The RiverBlades put together another strong effort to wrap up the week. Terry Marchant set a new team record by scoring only 18 seconds into the game to give the Blades a 1-0 lead. Ernie Hartlieb would add his third goal of the season later in the first and Buddy Smith would light the lamp in the second period to provide Jason Saal all the help he would need. Saal earned his first shutout of the season and third as a member of the RiverBlades, stopping all 33 Ice Pilot offerings in a 3-0 whitewashing.

Who's hot...There is no place like home for Jason Saal. In three games in the Alltel Arena this season, Saal is 2-0-1 stopping 103 out of 109 shots for a save percentage of .944 on the home ice. Jason Bermingham (2-6-8), Buddy Smith (3-5-8) and Terry Marchant (3-5-8) are all tied for the team lead in points. Newcomer Mike Cirillo has scored a point in all four games he has played for Arkansas (2-2-4). Kyle Kos is tied for 4th on the team in scoring (2-4-6) but has tallied all his points on the road.

Week Ahead...The RiverBlades face another 3 games in three nights adventure this weekend. Friday night the team will play in Biloxi for the first time this season taking on division rival Mississippi Sea Wolves. The team returns home on Saturday for a pair of contests with the Columbia Inferno on Saturday and Sunday nights. Saturday's game time is 7:05; Sunday is a special 6:05 start. It is the first meeting between these two franchises. In honor of the Arkansas Razorbacks returning to Little Rock this Saturday, the RiverBlades are offering a "RiverBlades and Razorbacks weekend." Any fan bringing a ticket stub from Saturday's Razorback game or arrives at the Alltel Arena Box Office wearing Razorback memorabilia will receive two dollars off any ticket for either contest this weekend... All games can be heard live on the CSN Radio Network and through the Internet at WWW.RiverBlades.com.

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

ECHL Stories from October 28, 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