CHL Mississippi RiverKings

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March 12, 2009 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release


Anyone for Mudbugs Tonight?

The Mississippi RiverKings play the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs in the first of three consecutive home games against their Northeast Division rivals Friday night at the DeSoto Civic Center, starting at 7:05 PM. Mississippi has six games remaining in the 2008-09 Central Hockey League regular season, four against Bossier-Shreveport and two against Tulsa, before the playoffs start.

The RiverKings also host the Mudbugs Saturday night and again on Tuesday night of next week. The regular season ends with a road game at Tulsa on the 18th, a road game at Bossier-Shreveport on March 20th and then at home against Tulsa on March 21st.

In the last week, Mississippi has beaten Bossier-Shreveport twice and Tulsa once, before seeing an 11-game winning streak come to an end on Sunday in a 3-2 loss at Odessa.

The loss to Odessa marked the first time since January 27th that Mississippi had lost a game in regulation time. That particular defeat was on home ice, when the RiverKings fell to the Mudbugs in the Face Off Field Trip morning game by a score of 2-1. That's a span of 17 games (15-0-2) for Mississippi to go without losing after three periods of play.

Not Many L's In A Row

If trends are an indication, the RiverKings have a great chance at winning against the Mudbugs Friday night. That's because Mississippi has not lost two games in regulation time since losing at Bossier-Shreveport (4-3) and at home against Oklahoma City (3-1) on November 12th and 14th, respectively. Since then, the RiverKings have coupled a loss with a shootout/overtime loss on two occasions, but have not dropped two games in a row in 60 minutes.

I'll Take Five Please

Through the recent 11-game winning streak, the RiverKings scored more than three goals in a game in each instance, averaging exactly five goals a game. In the streak, Mississippi scored four goals in a game twice, six goals in two games, and five goals each in the other seven contests. The last time the RiverKings scored fewer than four goals and won the game came January 11th in a 2-1 victory at Oklahoma City.

Powered By RiverKings

Despite Sunday's loss at Odessa, Mississippi continued a current streak of scoring at least one goal on the power play, now at eight straight games. In those eight contests, the RiverKings have scored two power play goals three times, including the 2-for-12 effort against Odessa on Sunday. In the eight games, Mississippi is 12-for-59 with a man advantage, for a success rate of 20.34%.

Sizing Up The Mudbugs

Mississippi enters Friday's game against Bossier-Shreveport with a 3-5-0 season record and has won the last two straight, both in Louisiana. The RiverKings claimed the most recent game in Bossier City, 6-2 last Saturday night. The RiverKings also have 4-1 (March 3rd) and 6-0 (December 31st) victories against their Northeast Division rivals this season.

Garrett Larson leads the RiverKings in scoring against Bossier-Shreveport with eight points in eight games. David Simoes has 43 penalty minutes in games against the Mudbugs. In the crease, Kevin Beech is 3-3-0 against Bossier-Shreveport with one shutout, a 2.51 goals-against-average and a save percentage of .885.

Joe Blaznek leads Bossier-Shreveport in scoring against Mississippi with ten points in eight games and Tyrel Lucas has eight points in eight games. Brett Angel has 77 penalty minutes in the season series. In goal for the Mudbugs, Ken Carroll is 3-1-0 against the RiverKings. However, Jon Horrell has the better goals-against-average at 2.85 and the better save percentage against Mississippi at .924.

RiverKings Among "Best of the Best"

The Central Hockey League "Best of the Best" poll was released earlier this week and several RiverKings were noted in the top three results.

First place results included the RiverKings (Hardest Working Team), Kevin Kaminski (Best Coach), Kevin Beech (Best Goaltender" (tie)), David Simoes (Best Fighter Pound for Pound),

Second place results included Darrell Stoddard (Most Annoying Player), Stephen Margeson (Best Bodychecker), Louis Dumont (Most Gentlemanly Player, Smartest Player)

Third place results included Louis Dumont (Best Penalty Killer, Best Defensive Forward), DeSoto Civic Center (Toughest Building to Play In)

Balloting was done in 46 different categories.

Beech Finalist in Post-Season Awards

RiverKings' goaltender Kevin Beech has been named a finalist in two important post-season awards for the Central Hockey League. Beech is a finalist as the league's Most Valuable Player and Most Outstanding Goaltender. Nominees were announced in the four categories earlier in the week.

Landmesser Nearing 800 Pro Games

RiverKings' captain Derek Landmesser is nearing the 800 career professional hockey games mark in a career that began in his home town of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada in 1996 with the Thunder Cats of the old Colonial Hockey League. Landmesser has logged 797 career games and can reach number 800 on Tuesday night, March 17th against Bossier-Shreveport, if he plays through until then.

Please To Note

Garrett Larson is two goals away from 100 career professional goals scored.

2008-09 RiverKings Hat-Tricks: Darrell Stoddard (4 goals, February 3rd, 2009 vs. Wichita)

2008-09 RiverKings Penalty Shots: Jeff Nelson (miss, January 17th, 2009 at Tulsa), (goal, February 24th, 2009 at Odessa)

2008-09 RiverKings Goaltender Shutouts: Tyler Sims (November 29th, 2008 at Corpus Christi), Kevin Beech - December 31st, 2008 vs. Bossier-Shreveport; January 9th vs. Tulsa; January 31st vs. Rapid City)

Streaking RiverKings

Goals: Stephen Margeson (2 games - 2 goals), Louis Dumont (2 games - 2 goals)

Assists: Jeff Nelson (6 games - 10 assists), Louis Dumont (2 games - 2 assists)

Points: Jeff Nelson (6 games - 13 points), Bobby Chaumont (4 games - 8 points), Stephen Margeson (3 games - 5 points), Jeff Alcombrack (3 games - 3 points), Louis Dumont (2 games - 4 points)

Penalty Minutes: David Simoes (4 games - 18 PIMS), Stephen Margeson (3 games - 10 PIMS), Garrett Larson (3 games - 6 PIMS), Matt Pierce (2 games - 6 PIMS), Dallas Steward (2 games - 4 PIMS), Derek Landmesser (2 games - 4 PIMS)

Goaltender Wins: Kevin Beech (9)

Promotions

Friday, March 13th - Craziest Fan Contest

Saturday, March 14th - Racing Night, Custom Car and Bike Show, Mercury Printing Racing Jersey Auction, Kooky Canuck "Kookmonga Challenge" seven-pound burger eating contest.

Tuesday, March 17th - Horn Lake Community Night

Broadcasts

Friday's game will available on 96.1 FM "The Pig," WIVG-FM, while Saturday's contest is on Sports 56, WHBQ-AM. Coverage is also available through your high-speed Internet connection with the CHL-TV link at www.riverkings.com. An audio stream of the radio broadcast is available www.radiopig.com (WIVG-FM) or www.sports56whbq.com (WHBQ-AM), depending on which station the radio broadcast is one. Veteran hockey broadcaster and RiverKings media coordinator Bob Bakken provides the play-by-play coverage.

Tickets

RiverKings season and group tickets, fundraiser programs, and more are available by contacting the RiverKings' front office at 662-342-1755 or by e-mail at tickets@riverkings.com. New season ticket packages for the 2009-2010 season are now available for sale through the RiverKings offices or by calling the front office. Single game tickets for RiverKings hockey are available through the DeSoto Civic Center box office, or by contacting Ticketmaster.



Central Hockey League Stories from March 12, 2009


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