CHL Mississippi RiverKings

RiverKings news and notes

January 7, 2008 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release


They haven't played poorly, but the RiverKings have a five-game losing streak on their hands. They will try to end that tomorrow night in Wichita against the Thunder, who they have defeated three times already this season. The game begins at 7:05 p.m. with the pre-game show beginning at 6:55 p.m. on Sports 56 WHBQ.

Following the game in Wichita, the RiverKings will return home for a pair of games against the Youngstown SteelHounds. The games on Friday and Saturday will begin at 7:05 p.m. WHBQ will carry the Friday game beginning at 6:55 p.m. However, fans will have to log on to the Internet for Saturday's game at http://www.nifty-tv.com/chl/.

WEEK REVIEW (0-3)

Thursday: Laredo 5, Mississippi 2

Jeff Bes had a goal and two assists to lead the Bucks over the RiverKings at the Laredo Entertainment Center.

The teams traded power play goals in the first period. Ryan Held's 10th at 10:49 gave the RiverKings a 1-0 lead, but Bes scored his 20th goal of the season at 17:43 to tie the game. The Bucks took a 2-1 lead at 8:36 of the second period when Adam Rivet scored his ninth goal of the season. However, the RiverKings made it a 2-2 game when Steve Makway scored his fourth goal of the year on the power play at 12:49.

Laredo went ahead for good with 4:32 remaining in the second on the power play. Andrew Desjardins scored his 12th goal of the year to give the Bucks a 3-2 lead. Before the end of the period, though, the Bucks got a goal from Rane Carnegie. His 11th on the year with 3:05 remaining doubled the home team's lead.

The RiverKings had chances to get back into the game in the third period, but James Hiebert's shorthanded goal sealed their fate. Hiebert's 17th of the season closed out the scoring with 4:26 remaining.

Dustin Traylen made 29 saves for the Bucks, who went three for eight on the power play. Sebastien Centomo made 29 saves for the RiverKings, who went two for 11 with the extra man. Ironically, these two teams had the best penalty-killing units in the league entering tonight's contest.

Friday: Austin 2, Mississippi 1

Doug Groenestege made 41 saves to vault the Ice Bats over the RiverKings at Chaparral Ice Arena.

Ryan Kindret's fifth goal of the season at 12:21 made it 1-0 Mississippi. However, Taylor Raszka scored his fifth of the year with 56 seconds remaining in the first period to the tie the game. Zech Klann scored on the power play at 9:20 of the second period to give the Ice Bats the lead. Following Klann's sixth goal of the year, Groenestege took control of the game. He made 21 saves in the third period.

Kyle McNulty made 32 saves for the RiverKings.

Saturday: Bossier-Shreveport 3, Mississippi 1

The Mudbugs scored three power play goals to defeat the RiverKings 3-1 at CenturyTel Center.

The Mudbugs got on the board first with 1:42 remaining in the first period. Daniel Pegoraro's seventh goal of the year on the power play gave them a 1-0 lead. Late in the second period, the Mudbugs' power play connected twice. Elias Godoy netted his eighth of the season while on a two-man advantage with 2:52 remaining in the second. Then with 2:06 left in the period, Chris Brassard knocked home his 12th goal of the year on a five-on-four advantage.

In the third period, Chad Woollard scored for the first time since returning from injury. His 15th of the season made it a 3-1 game with 10:18 remaining in regulation.

John DeCaro made 41 saves for the Mudbugs, who went three for 10 on the power play. Sebastien Centomo stopped 27 shots for the RiverKings, who did not score on any of their 11 power play opportunities.

STRANGE BUT TRUE FACTS

Despite the season-long five-game losing streak, the RiverKings still open the week five points ahead of the Oklahoma City Blazers for the final Northern Conference playoff spot.....Rick Kozak upped his single-game career-high for penalty minutes on Thursday with 21 and has the third-highest season total in the league with 145.....Sheldon Wenzel on Thursday got into a fight in his fifth consecutive game and has the 13th-highest penalty minute total in the league with 120.....Steve Makway ranks 21st in the league with 98 penalty minutes and his 13 power play assists place him in the top 10.....Aaron Davis left Friday's game at the end of the second period with an injury and has not returned to the lineup since.....Chad Woollard played his 500th pro game and Derek Landmesser played his 400th RiverKings game on Friday.....Ryan Held and Ryan Campbell matched their single-game career-highs for penalty minutes on Saturday with six each.....Kozak's six game-winning goals continue to lead the league and his nine power play goals have him in the top five.....The RiverKings' penalty kill has slipped to fourth-best in the league at 86.77 percent.....The RiverKings have an 0-3 record against the Southern Conference this season.....The RiverKings gave up a 5-on-3 goal for the first time all season on Saturday.....Woollard has taken the seventh-most shots in the league at 133.....Peter Kennedy played his first RiverKings game on Thursday.....Zach Pearson recorded his first RiverKings assist on Friday.....Kyle McNulty suffered his first pro loss on Friday

TICKETS

Season Tickets

It's never too late to purchase a RiverKings season ticket package! Full season tickets are currently on sale at prorated prices. Season ticket holders receive benefits that include invitations to exclusive parties, year-long ticket discounts, and RiverKings merchandise specials. For more information, call the RiverKings at (662) 342-1755, or log on to the Internet at http://www.riverkings.com.

Birthday Parties

Come celebrate your birthday party at a RiverKings game! Birthday packages include tickets and RiverKings goodies for the birthday child and guests. Before the game, enjoy having cake with your birthday party in one of our special birthday party rooms located in the DeSoto Civic Center's banquet hall area.

Group Outings

Schedule your next family, work, church, school, or team outing at a RiverKings game. Group tickets start as low as $7 per person for groups of 10 or more. Group leaders receive great benefits, including tickets to future games and entry into a contest for FREE airline tickets.

Mini Plans

RiverKings ticket packages are available now and throughout the rest of the season. Get your package of either four, eight, or 16 vouchers that you can redeem for tickets to ANY home game, regular season or playoff. You can also use these vouchers in ANY quantity.

Fundraising

The RiverKings Ticket Fundraising Program allows your non-profit organization to raise money by selling tickets to a RiverKings game. Your non-profit organization can raise up to $9 per ticket sold. It can sell tickets for any RiverKings home game this season.



Central Hockey League Stories from January 7, 2008


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