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CHL Mississippi RiverKings

RiverKings Update

March 9, 2009 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release


RiverKings Player Stat Leaders

Bobby Chaumont remains the team's goal scoring leader with 27 markers on the year, including a team-leading nine power play goals. Martin Gascon tops the assists list with 49 for the year, eleven with the RiverKings. Gascon also leads in points with 61, including 15 with the RiverKings. Matt Summers has the best plus-minus statistic at plus-22 and is plus-20 with Mississippi. Adam Smyth leads in penalty minutes with 244. Louis Dumont has scored the most shorthanded goals at six, while Jeff Nelson leads in game-winning goals with seven. In net, Kevin Beech tops all categories, including games (46), minutes (2781), wins (33), shutouts (3), goals-against-average (2.39), and save percentage (.908).

The Last Time Out...Sunday, March 8th, 2009 - Odessa 3, RiverKings 2

Odessa stopped the Mississippi RiverKings' eleven-game winning streak on Sunday afternoon in Texas with a 3-2 come-from-behind victory. The Jackalopes' win also stopped a 17-game string of non-regulation time results for the front runners in the Northeast Division race; however it also kept the RiverKings from taking over first place in the overall Central Hockey League standings. Mississippi earned goals from Stephen Margeson and Louis Dumont, both on the power play, but third period power play goals from Sebastien Thinel and Mike Ramsay resulted in the Jackalopes' victory. Shots were even for the contest at 26-each. Mississippi goaltender Tyler Sims (7-5-0) was tagged with the loss, stopping 23 shots on goal.

This Weekend's Match-Up: Friday and Saturday, Mississippi vs. Bossier-Shreveport (DeSoto Civic Center, Southaven, MS - 7:05 PM)

Mississippi hosts Bossier-Shreveport in three straight meetings at the DeSoto Civic Center, this weekend and again on St. Patrick's Night, March 17th. Mississippi enters the series with a 3-5-0 record against the Mudbugs and has won the last two straight, both in Louisiana.

Mississippi won the last contest in 6-2 in Bossier City 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. Bobby Chaumont has scored four times against the Mudbugs and Larson has seven assists. Matt Summers is plus-five against Bossier-Shreveport this season. David Simoes has 43 penalty minutes in games against the Mudbugs. Jeff Nelson and Andrew Lackner each have scored two power play goals and Louis Dumont has three shorthanded red-lighters. Nelson has scored the first goal of the game three times against Bossier-Shreveport and Chaumont has done that twice.

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.

Mississippi is 15.9% on the power play (10-of-64) and the RiverKings have scored nine goals in each period against the Mudbugs this season.

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 Smith, Kevin Cooper and Neil Clark each have scored four goals against Mississippi and Blaznek has seven assists. Brett Angel is plus-three against the RiverKings and has 77 penalty minutes in the season series. Cooper and Travis Clayton each have two power play goals and Smith has the only shorthanded goal.

In goal for the Mudbugs, Ken Carroll is 3-1-0 against the RiverKings. Jon Horrell has the better goals-against-average at 2.85 and the better save percentage against Mississippi at .924.

Bossier-Shreveport is 19.2% on the power play (10-of-52) against the RiverKings and 13 of the Mudbugs' 26 goals have come in the third period of play.

Special Teams Update

Against the Jackalopes Sunday afternoon in Odessa, the RiverKings were 2-for-12 on the power play. It marked the eighth straight game for the RiverKings to have scored at least one power play goal and the 12 chances were the most given Mississippi since going 3-for-10 against Odessa at the DeSoto Civic Center on February 6th. At home this year, Mississippi is 21.3% with the man advantage (43-of-202) and for the entire season is 19.3% with the power play (78-of-405).

On the penalty kill Sunday afternoon, the RiverKings allowed two man advantage goals in seven chances. It marked the first time Mississippi had allowed more than one power play goal since Wichita scored twice with an extra in the RiverKings' 5-3 victory over the Thunder on February 21st. In home games this season, Mississippi is 86.4% in penalty killing (23-of-169) and overall, the RiverKings are 84.6% on the penalty kill (55-of-357).

Mississippi has scored nine shorthanded goals and has allowed nine shorthanded goals this season. Four shorthanded goals have bee scored at home and the RiverKings have allowed seven shorthanded tallies on home ice.

Win Streak Stops at Eleven Straight

Mississippi's longest winning streak of the season was stopped at eleven straight games on Sunday afternoon. The RiverKings enter this weekend's schedule with a three-game home winning streak still intact and eight straight games without losing in regulation time on DCC ice, dating back to January 31st. The eleven-game winning string matches Odessa's eleven-game streak between November 22nd and December 14th. Mississippi also has the longest road winning streak of the entire season at eight straight victories, a string that began on February 13th in Colorado with a two-game sweep of the Northern Conference-leading Eagles. The 17-game non-loss streak (not losing in regulation time) is the longest of the entire year in the CHL and the eleven-game non-loss streak on the road (from January 11th to Sunday) is also the longest of the regular season in the entire league. Last year's RiverKings team won five straight on two occasions, but paled in comparison to a 10-game winning streak fashioned by the 2006-07 RiverKings between December 29th, 2006 and January 23rd, 2007. Two victories in that streak came in shutout form and the victories included a pair of wins against Youngstown, two against Odessa, a pair against Tulsa, and one each against Colorado, Corpus Christi, Bossier-Shreveport, and Oklahoma City (1/5/07). The RiverKings' team record winning streak is 12 straight games, set between January 23rd and February 22nd, 2002.

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)

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. Of his 797 games played, Landmesser has played 492 games in the Central Hockey League and has missed only one contest this season. He played three games with the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League in the 2005-06 season and has also played in the United Hockey League and International Hockey League.

Beech Win Streak at Nine Straight

Mississippi's recent success has come largely with first-year RiverKings goaltender Kevin Beech at the crease, as the league leader and team single-season record-holder in wins (33) has won nine straight games. He has surpassed Jean-Francois Racine's eight-game winning streak in the 2002-03 season and Larry Sterling's seven-game winning streak during the RiverKings' 2006-07 season. Beech also leads the league in minutes played (2781) and enters the week tied for the league lead in shutouts with three.

Please To Note

Garrett Larson played in his 200th career professional contest on Saturday at Bossier-Shreveport. All but 26 games played in France last season have come in the Central Hockey League between Colorado, Youngstown and the RiverKings. He is two goals away from 100 career professional goals scored.

Up Next

The RiverKings complete the regular season next week with another home game against the Mudbugs on March 17th, then head to Tulsa to meet the Oilers on Wednesday, March 18th. The regular season ends with games at Bossier-Shreveport on March 20th and at home against Tulsa on March 21st.

Broadcasts

RiverKings hockey games are heard in the Mid-South and around the world on "The Voice of the Fan," Sports 56, WHBQ-AM and www.sports56whbq.com. Veteran hockey broadcaster and RiverKings media coordinator Bob Bakken provides the play-by-play coverage on Sports 56 and also on CHL-TV. "Never Miss another Away Game" with the CHL-TV link found on the team web site at www.riverkings.com. Games not broadcast on Sports 56 due to other programming commitments are heard on fellow Flinn Broadcasting station 96.1 "The Pig," WIVG-FM.

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.

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