CHL Mississippi RiverKings

RiverKings Update

November 16, 2009 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release


The Mississippi RiverKings have a three-game week of games before Saturday is done, including a home-and-home series against the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs and the first-ever meeting between the RiverKings and the Missouri Mavericks. The games against Bossier-Shreveport start on Thursday, November 19th in Bossier City, Louisiana, followed by a return meeting in Southaven on Friday, November 20th. Mississippi's game against Missouri will be in Southaven on Saturday, November 21st. All three games will begin at 7:05 PM. Overall, the RiverKings enter the week with a record of 7-7-0 for 14 points and are in a tie for second place in the CHL Northern Conference standings.

RIVERKINGS LAST GAME:

Saturday, November 14th, 2009

TULSA 4, RIVERKINGS 1

T.J. Caig scored a pair of goals and was joined by Rob Hisey with three points, as the Tulsa Oilers defeated the RiverKings 4-1 on Saturday, November 14th in Tulsa. Hisey scored a goal and Troy Riddle added another to back up the 29-save performance of Kevin Armstrong in net. Meanwhile, Bobby Chaumont scored the RiverKings' only goal and Ray Jean stopped 27 shots, but allowed all four Tulsa goals. The RiverKings fell to 3-3-0 in road games this year and have beaten the Oilers only once this season (1-3-0). It also marked the fifth straight time Mississippi had followed a victory with a loss. The Oilers outshot the RiverKings 31-30.

RIVERKINGS NEXT FIVE GAMES

Thursday, November 19th at Bossier-Shreveport (7:05 PM) and Friday, November 20th vs. Bossier-Shreveport (7:05 PM)

Thursday will be the third game of the season series against the Mudbugs and it will be the RiverKings' first visit to Louisiana. They'll complete the home-and-home set in Southaven the following night, November 20th at 7:05 PM in game four of the ten-game season series. The last Mississippi victory in Bossier City came last March 7th in a 6-2 win.

Saturday, November 21st vs. Missouri (7:05 PM)

This will be the first-ever meeting between the RiverKings and the Independence-based Mavericks. Eleven games will be played between the RiverKings and Mavericks during the regular season. Mississippi will play host to Missouri six times at home and Missouri will make five visits to the Mid-South. The first trip of the RiverKings to Missouri will be a two-game series at the Independence Events Center on January 15th and 16th.

Wednesday, November 25th at Allen (7:35 PM)

This will be the first-ever meeting between the Americans and RiverKings and the first ever game between the teams in Allen, Texas. The two teams will meet seven times during the course of the season, four in Allen and three in Southaven. Allen's first trip to Mississippi will come on January 9th.

Friday, November 27th and Saturday, November 28th at Rapid City (8:05 PM Central Friday and 3:05 PM Central Saturday)

The weekend series will mark the final regular season meetings of Mississippi and Rapid City to the Black Hills during the regular season. The series currently stands at 1-1-0 after a split of two games in Rapid City on November 6th and 7th. Rapid City plays three games in Mississippi later in the year, the first of which will come on December 18th, followed by a pair of games on January 26th and 28th.

SPECIAL TEAMS REPORT

In Saturday's loss to Tulsa, the RiverKings were 0-for-6 on the power play and allowed one Tulsa power play goal in four chances. It marked the first time in three games Mississippi had been kept off the board with the man advantage and the second time in three games a power play goal had been scored by the opposition. In the RiverKings' last three games, the team is 3-of-15 on the power play and 4-of-17 on the penalty kill.

BOSSIER-SHREVEPORT PREVIEW

Simon Mangos leads the Mudbugs in point production with nine through 11 games of the regular season. Mangos also leads the team in assists with seven. Brett Smith and Joe Zappala are tied for the team lead in goals scored at four. Two of Zappala's goals have come on the power play and Mangos has two game-winning goals. Neil Clark has been tagged with 32 penalty minutes this year to lead the team in that category. In goal, the Mudbugs are led by John DeCaro, who has a 4-3-0 record in seven games, a 3.11 goals-against-average, and a save percentage of.902. Bossier-Shreveport is 11.5% on the power play (7-of-61) and is 74.6% on the penalty kill (16-of-63). The Mudbugs have not netted nor have they allowed a shorthanded goal this year.

MISSOURI PREVIEW

The Mavericks have a definite Oklahoma City and Tulsa flavor at the top of the stat sheet, as former Blazer Chad Hinz and former Oiler Jeff Christian both lead Missouri in points with 12 each through eleven games of the season. Hinz leads the team in goals scored with five and Christian is the team leader in assists with ten. Hinz also has scored two game-winning goals for Missouri. Brett Hammond is the Missouri leader in plus-minus statistics at plus-4. He also has scored one shorthanded goal. Carlyle Lewis and Karl Sellan each have 55 penalty minutes to lead the Mavericks in that category. Jeff MacDermid is the Missouri leader in power play goals with two. Doug Groenestege and Mike Gorman have split time in net for the Mavericks, with Groenestege bringing a 3-3-0 record, one shutout, a 3.15 goals-against-average, and a save percentage of.892 for the season.

RIVERKINGS VS. BOSSIER-SHREVEPORT

Mississippi and Bossier-Shreveport each have one win in the two previous meetings of this regular season series. A total of ten games between the teams are scheduled this year, but this Thursday's game will be the first regular season contest played in Louisiana. Mississippi's last win in Louisiana came last season on March 7th, a 6-2 victory. Steve Makway leads the RiverKings in points with three assists, while Cam Severson has scored two goals against the Mudbugs this year. Adam Smyth has 19 penalty minutes in the two previous meetings to lead that statistic. In goal, Ray Jean has a 1-1-0 record, a 1.64 goals-against-average and a save percentage of.948 in games against Bossier-Shreveport. Mississippi has scored three power play goals in ten extra man opportunities. Three of the RiverKings' five goals against the Mudbugs have come in the third period.

DUMONT NEARS A THOUSAND GAMES

Riverkings forward Louis Dumont is about to hit 1,000...professional career games, that is. The Calgary, Alberta native should reach 1,000 career pro appearances Friday night at home against Bossier-Shreveport, barring unforeseen circumstances. Dumont has played in 998 career games as a professional, since joining the Tallahassee Tiger Sharks of the ECHL in the 1994-95 season. Dumont, who still holds a number career ECHL scoring records, has played last four seasons with the RiverKings. In his pro career, Dumont has 390 goals, 1081 points and has been charged with 1192 penalty minutes. Dumont's career includes five games played in the American Hockey League.

ANOTHER LANDMESSER MILESTONE NEARS

RiverKings' defenseman Derek Landmesser earned another assist in Friday's win against Bossier-Shreveport. The helper gave the Thunder Bay, Ontario native 398 career assists in the Central Hockey League. The ninth-year CHL veteran is now within two assists of becoming just the tenth CHL player to reach 400 career assists.

KAMINSKI SET TO RETURN TO COACHING

The RiverKings played both the previous weekend and this past week without coach Kevin Kaminski, who was called away before the team's weekend slate of games in Rapid City November 6th and 7th. Kaminski's departure from the team came after his mother suffered a heart attack at the family home in Canada.

RiverKings defenseman Andrew Lackner, at the time on the injured reserve list, served as bench "coach" for a total of four games. Lackner's "record" as bench coach was 2-2-0. Goaltender Kevin Beech, who is still on the injured reserve list, was the "coach" for last Friday's game against Bossier-Shreveport and equipment manager Adam Dexter wore the suit and tie for Saturday's game in Tulsa. Kaminski is scheduled to return to coaching the RiverKings this week.

IRON-MAN JEAN

RiverKings goaltender Ray Jean has been the goalie of record for the team's last eight games, fashioning a record of 4-4-0 in those eight meetings. Jean has played all but 35:34 of those eight games. In his last five games, the Randolph, Maine native has a 2-3-0 record, a 3.67 goals-against-average, and a save percentage of.881. The remaining time of the eight contests have belonged to Ian Keserich, who has allowed one goal for a 1.69 GAA, and save percentage of.944.

RIVERKINGS POINT LEADERS

Points: Ryan Held (16)

Goals: Held (11)

Assists: Louis Dumont, Derek Landmesser (9)

Plus/Minus: Bobby Chaumont: (+4)

Penalty Minutes: Darrell Stoddard (46)

Power Play Goals: Held, Ryan Campbell (3)

Shorthanded Goals: Held, Chaumont, Cam Severson (1)

Game-Winning Goals: Chaumont (3)

Shots: Held (54)

Shooting Percentage: Held (.204)

Goaltender Games: Jean (12)

Goaltender Minutes: Jean (690)

Goaltender Wins: Jean (7)

Goals-Against-Average: Jean (3.13)

Save Percentage: Keserich (.944)

CURRENT STREAKS

Goals

(none)

Assists

Louis Dumont: 4 last four games

Points

Louis Dumont: 5 last four games

Bobby Chaumont: 4 last four games

Penalty Minutes

Adam Smyth: 22 last three games

David Simoes: 12 last three games

Steve Makway 9 last three games

BROADCASTS

This week, both games of the Bossier-Shreveport series will be available on Sports 56, WHBQ-AM with the RiverKings Radio Pre-Game Report, sponsored by Yellowbook, beginning at 6:50 PM. Saturday's home game against Missouri will be aired on WIVG-FM, 96.1 "The Pig," also starting at 6:50 PM. Bob Bakken, the "Voice of the RiverKings," brings the play-by-play call.

RiverKings hockey is also available on CHL-TV through the INSINC webcasting service. For information on CHL-TV, click the link on the RiverKings web site.

TICKETS

Tickets remain available for all RiverKings games during the 2009-2010 Central Hockey League season. Flex plans, group rates, and fundraiser programs are available to continue making RiverKings hockey the most affordable pro sports entertainment value in the Mid-South.

For more information, call the RiverKings at 662-342-1755 or go online to www.riverkings.com.



Central Hockey League Stories from November 16, 2009


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.

OurSports Central