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February 9, 2005 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release


THE WEEKÂ’S GAMES

Friday, February 4, 2005 Memphis 6 Austin 4 @ Austin

Phil Aucoin, Don Parsons and Derek Landmesser each had a goal and two assists as Memphis made it three wins in a row Friday night. For the second game in a row, the Riverkings got all their goals from different scorers. Friday night it was six different RiverKings that put the puck in the net after five did the trick on Tuesday. The game started quickly for Memphis as they took a 2-0 lead after one on first period goals from Don Parsons and Ted Crowley. ParsonsÂ’ score was his 40th goal of the season, one more than he had all of last season. Austin made it 2-1 at 10:09 of the second. Allan Carr gave the RiverKings back their two goal lead on a power-play three-on-two rush conversion. But the Ice Bats scored two goals to close out the second to make it 3-3. Derek Landmesser, back with the team after being home for the birth of his second child, scored a power-play goal at 9:53 to put Memphis back up with Phil Aucoin sneaking one past Austin net-minder Peter Brady three minutes later to make it 5-3. The RiverKings had to endure an Austin goal and a power play at the end of the game to secure the win. Peter RobertsonÂ’s empty-netter ended the late suspense at 19:34 to make the final 6-4. David Lemanowicz made 40 saves in picking up his third straight win.

Saturday, February 5, 2005 Memphis 6 Odessa 4 @ Odessa

Travis Banga collected his first professional hat trick and Don Parsons added two goals including the game winner as the Memphis RiverKings completed a three-game Texas road trip sweep. The RiverKings made it four in a row overall and five wins in their last six with the victory. They fell behind early 2-1 after one. Memphis played one of their best second periods of the season as they outscored the Jackalopes 3-0 with tallies from Banga, Parsons, and Aaron Lewis. They also out-shot them 14-8 in the period. The ‘Jacks tied it at four with two third period power-play goals. It was 4-4 until Derek Landmesser and Don Parsons teamed up on a "tennis volley" power-play goal for the game winner at 15:52. Parsons sent a pass to Landmesser only to have it sent back to him with a weak-side empty net for his second of the game and 42nd of the season. Banga completed the hat trick with an empty net break-away to finish off the 6-4 win. David Lemanowicz picked up the win with 25 saves as he worked his record back to .500 at 11-11-0.

COMING UP

Friday, February 11Â…at Oklahoma City 7:35 (560AM, Sports 56-WHBQ)

Saturday, February 12Â…at Bossier-Shrevport 7:05 (560AM, Sports 56-WHBQ)

PLAYOFF WATCH

After the games of February 8 and with 16 games to play, the RiverKings are nine points behind Tulsa for the fourth and final Northern Conference playoff spot. Tulsa defeated Fort Worth Tuesday night 7-4.

The RiverKings staff and organization would like to send its condolences to Don Parsons and his family following the death of his grandmother, Hilda Geffen. The family is requesting that in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to ParsonsÂ’ Pledge.

Please send your donation to:

Memphis RiverKings

4560 Venture Dr.

Southaven, MS, 38671

Attention Carol

RIVERKINGS HERE AND THERE

The RiverKings current four game winning streak is their longest of the season and their longest since last season when they won four straight from February 19 to March 2, 2004. The last time Memphis won five-in-a-row was actually part of a six-game winning streak last season between October 26 and November 6, 2003.

The teamÂ’s current three-game road-winning streak, at San Angelo (2/1), Austin (2/4) and Odessa (2/5), marks the second time they have won three straight road games this season. The RiverKings won games at Bossier-Shreveport (11/27), Topeka (12/1) and Wichita (12/10). The last four-game road-winning streak was from December 16, 2003 to January 10, 2004. The current three-game road-winning streak consists of successive road games. The streak from earlier this season and the aforementioned four-game streak from last season did not. The last three game streak that included successive road games was last season with wins at Oklahoma City (11/14), Fort Worth (11/15) and Corpus Christi (11/16).

The RiverKings franchise is closing in on 400 all-time wins. Their win on Saturday at Odessa was their 397th since their inception in 1992. Only Oklahoma City (505), Tulsa (408) and Wichita (402) have more franchise wins. MemphisÂ’ all time record is 397-374-65.

Rookie Travis Banga is the reigning Oakley-C.H.L. Player of the Week after his four-goal, five assist performance in the three games last week. Banga collected his first professional hat trick Saturday night at Odessa and had a career-high five points. Banga has collected at least one point (a goal or an assist) in 22 of the 25 games he has played this season for the RiverKings. He also has at least a point in nine straight with 11 goals and 10 assists over that span. He has ten multi-point games, including four in his last six. Banga is the third leading rookie scorer with 38 points in just 25 games. That computes to 1.52 points per game which leads all rookies. Teammate and over-all rookie leading scorer Phil Aucoin has 54 points in 42 games, a 1.29 average.

On Friday night, Don Parsons will play in his 300th regular season RiverKings game. In the current four-game winning streak, Parsons has 7 goals and 4 assists. He leads the league with three hat tricks. He also has 19 multi-point and 10 multi-goal games. Parsons scored 17 goals and had 8 assists in the month of January. The 25 points was his highest monthly total since December 2002 when he totaled 27 points.

The RiverKings power-play has surged to a 19.6% conversion rate. That is third in the league behind only Wichita (21.8%) and New Mexico (21.5%). The penalty-kill is at the other end of the spectrumÂ…16th in the league (79.3%).

Here are the RiverKings that are averaging over a point per game: Parsons (1.57); Banga (1.52); Crowley (1.32); Aucoin (1.29); Landmesser (1.12); Lewis (1.0). In his seven games in a RiverKingsÂ’ uniform, Peter Robertson has 8 points in 7 games.

Here are the current RiverKings C.H.L. leaders:

Parsons leads all player with 42 goals. He leads the league in power-play goals with 17 and in total shots with 240.

Aucoin leads all rookies with 54 points. He is also the leader in assists with 35 and short-handed goals with 2.

Banga is the rookie leader in shot percentage at .219.

Landmesser leads all defensemen with 48 points. He also is tops in assists with 41.

Scott English leads all defensemen in penalty minutes with 253, majors with 13 and minors with 49.

COACHÂ’S SHOW QUOTE

“Even though we need the teams ahead of us to lose, we need to worry about us and take it one game at a time” Head Coach Mark Richards talking about the teams approach to its playoff chances. The RiverKings Coach’s Show airs every Tuesday evening at 5 o’clock on Sports 56-WHBQ

A RiverKings game can be even more fun when you take it in with your group or organization. Get your group together and have a great time at the DeSoto Civic Center. For more information or to purchase season tickets, group tickets, mini-plans, or 9 game vouchers call the RiverKings at 662-342-1755 and ask for the sales department or stop by the DCC during business hours.

Catch all the exciting action of 2004-2005 RiverKings Hockey on Sports 56 WHBQ.

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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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