CHL Mississippi RiverKings

RiverKings Weekly Update

Published on March 8, 2010 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release


SOUTHAVEN, MS --- Five games remain in the Central Hockey League regular season for the Mississippi RiverKings, beginning with a pair of games at home this Friday and Saturday nights. Mississippi is in a heated battle for a CHL Northern Conference playoff spot, currently standing in fourth place in the conference standings with a record of 29-23-7 for 65 points. The RiverKings are seven points behind third place Bossier-Shreveport but are now two points ahead of fifth-place Missouri after Mississippi's 5-1 victory on Sunday afternoon in suburban Kansas City.

GAME RECAPS

Wednesday, March 3rd - TULSA 6, RIVERKINGS 3 - Mississippi started a four-game road trip in Tulsa, Oklahoma, falling to the Oilers 6-3. Glenn Detulleo, Ryan Held, and Stephen Margeson scored goals for the RiverKings with Held earning an assist, as well. Tim Boron took the loss in net, despite making 31 saves. Mississippi was 0-for-7 on the power play and was outshot for the contest 38-32.

Friday, March 5th - ALLEN 5, RIVERKINGS 2 - Mississippi lost the opener of a two-game weekend series with the expansion Americans in a 5-2 defeat on Friday in suburban Dallas. Allen scored the first three goals of the game before the RiverKings responded with a goal from Ryan Held, who scored again in the third period to account for the RiverKings' two goals. Tim Boron took the loss in net for Mississippi, despite 32 saves between the pipes. Mississippi was 0-for-4 on the power play and took a season-low for shots on goals in a game with 22, being outshot 37-22.

Saturday, March 6th - RIVERKINGS 2, ALLEN 1 (SHOOTOUT) - The RiverKings gained a split in the weekend series on Saturday night with a 2-1 shootout victory over the Americans. Louis Dumont scored a goal in regulation to tie the game in the first period, and Ryan Held netted the game-winning goal as the final player in the shootout session. Kyle McNulty was the winning goaltender in the crease for the RiverKings, making 35 saves in his first Mississippi start. Mississippi was 0-for-6 on the power play and was outshot by the Americans 36-23.

Sunday, March 7th - RIVERKINGS 5, MISSOURI 1 - Mississippi won its second straight game in the road trip wrapup, scoring five times in the third period of a 5-1 victory. Elias Godoy scored twice in the contest, and Ryan Held scored the eventual game-winning goal. Louis Dumont and Darrell Stoddard netted the other goals in the five-goal outburst, one short of a season-high for goals scored in a period. Dumont assisted on two goals and Derek Landmesser earned three assists in the game. Kyle McNulty won his second straight game in goal for the RiverKings with a 33-save effort. Special teams came through in the contest with three power play goals in 11 tries and a shorthanded goal from Godoy. Shots were even in this one at 34-apiece.

UPCOMING GAMES

Friday, March 12th - TEXAS at RIVERKINGS (7:05 PM) - Friday will mark the final game of the regular season between the RiverKings and the defending CHL champion Brahmas, but the first meeting since November 3rd, when the RiverKings defeated the Brahmas in Southaven 2-1 in a shootout. Mississippi has also claimed a 3-2 shootout win at home on October 23rd, followed by a 5-3 victory in Texas the next night. Ryan Held has three goals and five points against the Brahmas this season.

Saturday, March 13th - BOSSIER-SHREVEPORT at RIVERKINGS (7:05 PM) - Saturday will be the final meeting of the season between the teams at Southaven, although one final regular season game remains in Louisiana on Tuesday, March 16th. Bossier-Shreveport has a 6-2-0 record against the RiverKings, who have a 2-5-1 record against the Mudbugs. Bossier-Shreveport defeated the RiverKings 6-1 in the team's last meeting in Southaven on February 9th. Mississippi's last victory over the Mudbugs came on December 26th in a 3-1 conquest in Bossier City. Derek Landmesser is the scoring leader against the Mudbugs of players on the active roster with one goal and five points. Tim Boron has no record against Bossier-Shreveport, having played 27 minutes of one game earlier this season in a relief role.

ANOTHER SCORING STREAK FOR HELD - Mississippi forward Ryan Held caught fire again on the road trip that ended Sunday, scoring five goals along with two assists in the four games away from home last week. It's the fourth point streak of over four games for the London, Ontario native, who also has point streaks of five games (11 points), nine games (11 points), and six games (12 points). Held has scored points in 10 out of the last 11 games for the RiverKings, 19 points in those 10 games, being held off the scoresheet only in the 5-3 victory over Allen at home on February 27th to mar the streak. In his third season with the RiverKings, Held leads the team in goals (31), points (67), power play goals (9), shorthanded goals (2), and is tied with two other players for the team lead in game-winning goals (4).

ALSO STREAKING...

Louis Dumont has two goals in his last two games and five points in his last three games.

Derek Landmesser has four assists in his last two games.

McNULTY IMPRESSES IN FIRST STARTS - Goaltender Kyle McNulty has been impressive between the pipes for the RiverKings in his first two starts, stopping 35 shots in Saturday's 2-1 shootout win over Allen, followed by a 33-save effort in Sunday's 5-1 matinee victory in Missouri. The Wakefield, Rhode Island native is making his second tour of duty for the RiverKings, having played four games in the Mid-South during the 2007-08 season. Kyle started the season in Arizona before being released on waivers last week. McNulty also played in New Mexico last season, where he ranked among the top goaltenders in the Central Hockey League. For this season, including his time in Arizona, McNulty is 8-15-1 with a 3.21 goals-against-average and a save percentage of.892. In his two appearances with the RiverKings, Kyle is 2-0-0 with a 0.96 goals against average and a save percentage of.971.

POWER PLAY SUPPLIES - After sputtering for three games, the RiverKings' power play erupted for three goals Sunday afternoon against the Missouri Mavericks. The three power play goals were the most since a 3-for-6 effort against Wichita on February 17th. In between, Mississippi has scored twice on the power play in 4-2 win at Colorado February 19th and a 5-2 win against Allen at home on February 27th. Before the three-goal outburst, the RiverKings had been scoreless on the PP in 12 straight periods and one overtime period.

The RiverKings are 10-1-0 in games where they score two power play goals in the game.

GIVE ME MORE FRIDAYS - Mississippi has played the most games of the season on a Friday night, which has also become its most successful night on the ice. The RiverKings are 11-6-3 when playing on Friday. The next most successful night after Friday is on Saturday, when Mississippi has won nine times (9-8-2).

ROSTER - Louis Dumont returned to the active roster Friday after being placed on leave to attend to a family matter for Wednesday's game in Tulsa. David Simoes is still on league leave of absence for the same reason.

ALSO OF NOTE...

Bobby Chaumont will play in career professional game number 200 Saturday against Bossier-Shreveport. Matt Summers played in RiverKings game number 100 for his career on Sunday in Missouri. Nathan Schwartzbauer is one minute away from 100 CHL penalty minutes.

Stephen Margeson is eight away from 300 career penalty minutes with the RiverKings.

Derek Landmesser is five away from 1300 career professional PIMS.

PARSONS JERSEY RETIRED ON SATURDAY - The second jersey number in Mississippi RiverKings franchise history will be retired on Saturday night, March 13th, when the number 13 jersey of all-time scoring leader Don Parsons is lifted to the rafters of the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven. Parsons holds several records, including all-time goals and points with the RiverKings, and is the all-time goal scoring leader for North American minor professional hockey. Along with that, Parsons has the record for goals scored by an American-born professional player at any level. In addition to his work on the ice, Parsons was known for several community service efforts, including his Parsons' Pledge to raise money for selected charities in the Mid-South area. He also helped organize and operate the Jr. RiverKings (now part of the Memphis Youth Hockey League) and Jr. StreetKings youth hockey program (a separate recreational league facilitated by the team), made numerous charitable appearances, aided other organizations' fundraising goals and built a playground specially designed for participants in the deaf education program at Lewisburg Elementary School. Parsons and his family will be in attendance this weekend when the retirement ceremony takes place. The only other jersey number retired by the RiverKings is the number 31 jersey worn by Scott Brower, tragically killed in a traffic accident. The CHL's Most Outstanding Goaltender year end award bears Brower's name.

BROADCASTS - RiverKings hockey is covered on Sports 56, WHBQ-AM 560 and CHL-TV. Start time with veteran broadcaster Bob Bakken, the Voice of the RiverKings, is 15 minutes prior to each night's first faceoff. Visit the RiverKings' web site and click the "Watch Live" button on the home page for information on the CHL-TV broadcast.

TICKETS - For information on RiverKings tickets and to purchase season tickets for next season's excitement, call 662-342-1755 or go online to www.riverkings.com today!

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Central Hockey League Stories from March 8, 2010


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