CHL Mississippi RiverKings

RiverKings weekly news and notes

February 21, 2007 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release


The first place RiverKings are back home for the first time since February 1 with two games this weekend at the DeSoto Civic Center. With wins last weekend at Rio Grande Valley and Austin, the RiverKings closed out their 9 game, 17 day road trip with three straight wins and a 5-4 record in the games. Divisional foe Youngstown comes to the DCC Friday night for the first time since December 3 and sits in third place in the Northeast Division, 16 points behind the RiverKings. Saturday's opponent, Rocky Mountain, is in last place in the Northwest Division.

COMING UP

Friday, February 23

Youngstown Steelhounds (23-16-9, 55pts, 3rd NE Division) @ Memphis RiverKings (34-12-3, 71 pts, 1st NE Div) 7:05 CST

Radio: Sports 56 WHBQ (AM 560)

Webcast: riverkings.com

TV: chltv.com

Promotion: First 1500 fans 21 and older receive a Miller Lite RiverKings 6 pack bag cooler. POST GAME SKATE

Saturday, February 24

Rocky Mountain Rage (11-31-5, 27pts, 4th NW Division) @ Memphis RiverKings (34-12-3, 71 pts, 1st NE Div) 7:05 CST

Radio: Sports 56 WHBQ (AM 560)

Webcast: riverkings.com

TV: chltv.com

Promotion: First 1500 fans receive a Sheldon Wenzel Mini Bobblehead sponsored by Cellular South; RiverKings players will be wearing dark jerseys from mid 90's era of RiverKings hockey that will auctioned after the game, benefiting charity. There will also be extra fun for kids on the concourse before and during the game: Face Painting, Magic Mr. Nick, giveaways and more. POST GAME SKATE.

WEEK IN REVIEW (2-0-0)

Friday, February 16

Memphis 4 Rio Grande Valley 2 @ RGV

Louis Dumont scored two goals and Larry Sterling won his 27th game with a 36 save performance. The RiverKings never trailed in the game as they took a 1-0 lead on Dumont's first goal at 6:28 of the first period. Rio tied the game on David Masse's first of two goals 36 seconds into the second period. Ryan Held made it 2-1 1:17 later only to have Masse tie it again at 5:30. Steve Makway scored what would be the game winner on a power play at 17:27. Dumont closed out the scoring with the only goal of the third period as he redirected Andrew Davis' wrist shot from the right point. Davis, who was acquired in a trade from Odessa on Monday, finished with two assists.

Saturday, February 17

Memphis 2 Austin 1 @ AUS

The RiverKings closed out the longest road trip in franchise history with a win as Jason Sessa and Ryan Held each scored to improved the team's record to 34-12-3 on the season. Sessa's goal was his team leading 27th while Held's goal was his 11th. Kevin Schieve picked up his fourth win on the road trip and his fifth win of the season with a 28 save performance. The RiverKings closed out the long nine game, 17 day road trip by winning three straight.

Northeast Division Standings (Through 2/21/07) TEAM GP W L OTL PTS WPCT GF GA PIM HOME ROAD L-TEN STREAK Memphis 49 34 12 3 71 .724 184 148 1268 19-3-3 15-9-0 6-4-0 3-0-0 Bossier-Shreveport 49 32 12 5 69 .704 154 123 1391 18-4-0 14-8-5 9-1-0 5-0-0 Youngstown 48 23 16 9 55 .573 175 153 1326 12-7-5 11-9-4 6-3-1 0-0-1 Tulsa 47 20 20 7 47 .500 170 178 1365 9-10-4 11-10-3 6-2-2 0-0-1

SCHIEVE EARNS GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK AWARD

The Central Hockey League announced on Monday that the RiverKings' Kevin Schieve is the Oakley CHL Goalie of the Week. Schieve allowed just three goals combined in road wins at Tulsa on Tuesday and Austin on Saturday. He also picked up four wins on the recently completed 9 game road trip. A second year pro and native of Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, Schieve signed with the RiverKings on January 11 and is 5-3-0 with a 2.66 GAA and a .900 save percentage with the team.

This is the second goalie of the week honor awarded to the RiverKings this season with Larry Sterling having won the award in October. Sterling was also a two-time winner of the Sher-Wood Goalie of the Month (October and November).

RIVERKINGS SHARE NUMBER TWO SPOT WITH COLORADO IN LATEST POLL

The CHL's Weekly Coach's Poll has a new number one while the teams that make up the top five remained the same. The Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs edged out both the RiverKings and the Colorado Eagles for the poll's top spot. The Mudbugs picked up six first place votes and 146 total polling points. The RiverKings and Eagles are tied for number two with 143 points and five and six first place votes, respectively. Laredo finished fourth and Corpus Christ fifth in this week's poll.

RIVERKINGS HERE AND THERE

By picking up his CHL leading 27th win of the season on Friday night, goalie Larry Sterling has tied Mark Richards and Scott Brower for the franchise record for wins in a season. Richards, who played for the RiverKings from 2000 to 2003, had a record of 27-11-4 in the 2000-01 season. Brower, who played for the RiverKings from 1994-1996, went 27-15-4 in the 1995-96 season. Sterling enters this weekend with a 27-8-3 record.

RiverKings leading goal scorer Jason Sessa has scored 6 goals in the last 7 games and has registered at least one point in the last 5 games (5-2-7). His 8 game winning goals lead the CHL.

Forward Ryan Held has scored a goal, 4 total, in each of the last 3 games after his game winner in the second period on Saturday. It was his second game winning goal of the week and of the season. He also had the clinching goal in the team's 4-2 win last Tuesday at Tulsa.

The RiverKings had scored a power play goal for six straight games before being held scoreless on Saturday night in the 2-1 win at Austin.

The RiverKings have a franchise record 11 game home winning streak entering Friday's game. The team is also 13-0-1 in its last 14 games at the DCC.

Defenseman Bobby Gates had a career high 3 game assist streak from 2/10-2/16 with 5 assists in those games. In each of the games on 2/13 (@TUL) and 2/16 (@RGV), Gates had two assists. Those were the 3rd and 4th times that he has had 2 assists in a game in his career. The second year Gates has set career highs in assists with 12 and points with 15 this season with the RiverKings.

Thirty two of defenseman Derek Landmesser's team leading 56 points have come on the road.

The RiverKings, at 71 currently, have reached 70 standings points for 7th time in team history. The last time was the 2003-2004 season when the team finished with 74.

The RiverKings have outscored teams 91-69 when both teams are at full strength (5 on 5).

Sessa leads the RiverKings with 4 multi-goal games, Landmesser leads with 10 multi-assist games and Travis Banga leads with 13 multi-point games.

The wins over Austin and Rio Grande Valley this past weekend improved the RiverKings' record to 8-1-0 versus the Southern Conference this season.

The RiverKings have 7 home and 8 road games remaining in the regular season.

RIVERKINGS IN THE COMMUNITY THIS WEEK

Wednesday, Feb 21...Appearance at Hernando Public Library 3pm

Thursday, Feb 22...Appearance at Sardis Library 3pm

Monday, Feb 26...Newspaper in Education Appearance at Cypress Middle School in Memphis 1:30

DUE TO TRAVEL CHANGE, KEVIN McCLELLAND SHOW OFF NEXT WEEK

The RiverKings radio show, the Kevin McClelland Show on Sports 56 WHBQ will not air as planned next week because of a change in the team's travel schedule to Youngstown. The next show will be on Tues, March 6. As usual the show will originate live at Beef O' Brady's from 6 to 7 pm. Remember to e-mail your questions to jim@riverkings.com by 4pm on the day of the show and you could win a $10 Beef O' Brady's gift certificate if your question is selected as the Email Question of the Week. Stop by Beef O' Brady's for a great meal and listen to the show. Host Jim Erickson will talk with the coach and RiverKings player guests. Beef O'Brady's is located at the corner of Goodman and Malone in the Shops of Southaven in Southaven.

HELP RIVERKINGS KEEP HWY 51 CLEAN ON MARCH 3

For two seasons, the RiverKings have been a part of the "Adopt A Highway" program, adopting a two-mile stretch of US-51 from Church Road continuing south to Star Landing road in Southaven. Saturday, March 3, RiverKings staff will be out collecting trash along this stretch of Hwy 51. Individuals interested in participating should meet at the DeSoto Civic Center parking lot at 8:30am on Saturday, March 3. For further information, please contact the RiverKings office at 662.342.1755.

ALL FANS INVITED TO LISTENING PARTY ON MARCH 3

All RiverKings fans are invited to head to Buffalo Wild Wings in Olive Branch on March 3 for a road game listening party. That night, the RiverKings will be in Youngstown facing the Steelhounds. The broadcast starts at 5:45. Stop by, have some great food and cheer your RiverKings on to victory.

RKWAC SELLING CD-ROM HOCKEY MANAGER GAME WITH CHL TEAMS

Experience what it would be like to be the general manager of a team in the CHL with Sega's NHL Eastside Hockey Manager 2007. You can also be general manager of teams in the NHL, AHL, European leagues...in total, over 20 leagues and over 45,000 players and staff are at your disposal. The game is a CD-ROM that you can use on your desktop or laptop PC. The sale of the games will serve as a fundraiser for RiverKings With A Cause and can be purchased for $25 dollars at the KWAC table behind section 118 during games.

RIVERKINGS PROGRAMS COLLECTORS ITEMS THIS SEASON

Don't forget to pick up your RiverKings Game Program at every game for $2. This weekend's game program will feature a player profile on Louis Dumont and a story about former RiverKing Brad Mueller. Throughout the season, programs will feature different covers, updated player roster photos, team history features and more. Each program will also include a game day insert with game notes and player stats.

HEAD TO BUFFALO WILD WINGS AFTER EVERY HOME GAME

The new Buffalo Wild Wings on Airways Blvd. in Southaven is the "Official Post-Game Hangout of the RiverKings." Fans are invited to the post game party after every RiverKings home game. Grab some great wings, a post game beverage and talk with the players.

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A RiverKings game is even more fun when you come as a group. Groups of 15 or more save up to 30% on the box office rate, plus every person in the group receives a player mini bobblehead. Call 662-342-1755 for more information.

RiverKings Single-Game Tickets for all 2006-2007 home games are on sale now at the DeSoto Civic Center box office and at all TicketMaster locations and at ticketmaster.com.

UPCOMING PROMOTIONS: Friday, February 23 - Miller Lite 6-Pack Cooler to first 1,500 fans; Saturday, February 24 - Cellular South Sheldon Wenzel Mini Bobblehead to first 1,500 fans; RiverKings Retro Jersey Night-The RiverKings will be wearing dark jerseys from the mid 90's that will be sold in a live auction after the game.

After every RiverKings home game, the party heads to the new Buffalo Wild Wings on Airways in Southaven, the official Post Game Hang-Out of the RiverKings.



Central Hockey League Stories from February 21, 2007


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