CHL Mississippi RiverKings

RiverKings Weekly

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


RIVERKINGS RECAP: The Mississippi RiverKings enter this week's action with a two-game winning streak, after claiming victories Friday against Bossier-Shreveport and Saturday against Tulsa. In Friday's game, defenseman Derek Landmesser scored with just over four minutes remaining in the game to stifle a Mudbugs' comeback from 3-1 down. Matt Boyd, Louis Dumont, and Chris Richards (PPG) also scored goals in the game. Larry Sterling stopped 22 shots in posting the goaltending victory. Mississippi outshot Bossier-Shreveport 27-25 and scored once in three power play chances. Saturday, Mississippi posted a win in its first meeting with Tulsa, getting a 4-1 victory at the DeSoto Civic Center. Balanced scoring again showcased the offense, as Russell Smith (PPG), Matt Miller, Richards (PPG), and Darrell Stoddard netted goals. Sterling (3-2-0) again was a stone wall in goal, getting 34 saves in the victory and the RiverKings were 2-for-5 on the power play.

OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS: Evansville enters the DCC Tuesday with a record of 3-4-1 for seven points and eighth place in the Turner Conference standings. The Icemen are 1-4-0 in road games this season, with the only victory away from home coming in an October 22nd conquest of the RiverKings in Southaven (5-2). In that game, Brian Bicek and Mario Larocque each scored a goal and added an assist. In Evansville's last outing, the Icemen fell at Fort Wayne 4-3 on Saturday night. Rapid City hosts the RiverKings Friday night and again on Tuesday, November 16th in the Black Hills. The Rush enter the week with a record of 4-4-0 for eight points and fifth place in the Turner Conference standings. Friday will be the first meeting of the season between the Rush and RiverKings. Rapid City enters the week 1-2-0 at home and its 31 goals allowed is the most allowed by a Turner Conference team. Last Saturday night, R yan Menei scored twice to lead the Rush to a 4-1 victory at Laredo, despite Rapid City taking only 19 shots on goal. The RiverKings have 6-3-1 series edge against Rapid City, now in its third season of existence. This coming Saturday night, Colorado hosts the RiverKings for the first time this season, entering the week with a 7-1-0 record. The Eagles have reeled off seven straight wins after losing its season opener. Colorado has scored the most goals of any Turner Conference team at 32 and has a 3-1-0 home record. Saturday evening, the Eagles defeated the Gems in Dayton 5-4 in a shootout. Four Eagles finished with two points for the night, including Scott May, whose shootout goal was the difference in the game. Mississippi is 14-8-1 all-time against the Eagles.

RIVERKINGS POWER PLAY: Mississippi's two goals on the power play Saturday night marked the second time this season the RiverKings have netted more than one PPG in a game. The RiverKings are 3-for-8 in their last two games on the power play and for the season moved into sixth place in the CHL on the power play at 19.23%. All of Chris Richards' four goals have been on the power play this year.

RIVERKINGS PENALTY KILL: The RiverKings advanced above the 80 percentile level for the first time this season with Saturday's 0-for-7 effort on the PK. Mississippi is now 80.36% on the penalty kill for the year, ranking them 14th in the CHL. Saturday's effort marked the second time in the last three games the RiverKings have held an opponent scoreless with the man advantage, which they've done on three occasions this season.

SHOTS IN THE DARK: Saturday's 36 shots on goal against Tulsa marked the second-highest number of shots taken by the RiverKings this season, topped only by the 38 shot effort of October 22nd against Evansville. The 35 shots allowed were the second-most allowed by Mississippi in a game this year, eclipsed only by the 37 taken by Rio Grande Valley on October 30th. The RiverKings average 32.13 shots per game (8th in the CHL) and allow an average of 28.5 shots a contest (2nd in the CHL).

POWERED BY RICHARDS: Mississippi's power play has been fueled by the sniping of veteran forward Chris Richards, who enters the week tied for the CHL lead in power play goals with four, which is the total number of goals he has scored this season.

LET ME HELP YOU: Rookie forward Matt Boyd leads first-year CHL players in assists with six and is second among league rookies for points with seven. He's also second among rookies in penalty minutes with 22 PIMS charged against him.

IT WASN'T ME THIS TIME: For the first time Saturday against Tulsa, forward Darrell Stoddard was not penalized, stopping a seven-game streak of 37 penalty minutes which dated back to the start of the season. It's the second-longest penalty streak of the year, topped only by former RiverKing Adam Smyth's eight-game run of 95 PIMS which continued Saturday night.

THAT'S A FOUL ON YOU: Mississippi remains the most penalized team in the CHL with a total of 392 penalty minutes for an average of 49.00 PIMS per game. The RiverKings have been tagged for a league-leading 22 majors, four 10-minute misconducts, ten game misconducts, and one match penalty.

APPLYING FOR MEMBERSHIP: Although a member of the Berry Conference, Mississippi will be playing its next six games against members of the new Turner Conference, against which it has a record of 2-1-0 this season. The next meeting in the RiverKings' own conference will come at Tulsa on Thanksgiving night. Mississippi's record against its own conference alignment is 2-3-0.

INJURED RESERVE: Defenseman Milan Maslonka was placed on 10-day injured reserve at the start of the season October 15th and has not seen action this year.

BROADCASTS: Games Tuesday at home against Evansville and Saturday at Colorado will be aired on Sports 56, WHBQ-AM (560), the flagship station for RiverKings hockey. Friday's game from Rapid City will be aired on Flinn Broadcasting station WMFS-AM (1210). Airtime Tuesday night will be at 6:50 PM for the pre-game report with Media Coordinator and Voice of the RiverKings Bob Bakken, in his third season with the team. Friday and Saturday's coverage will start at 7:50 PM, with both games being played in the Mountain time zone.

Tonight, the RiverKings Roundup radio show will air on Sports 56 from the Southaven O'Charley's restaurant on Goodman Road at I-55. Coach Kevin Kaminski will discuss last week's play and the upcoming week ahead. In addition, Chris Richards and Russell Smith will appear on the program.

TICKETS: Mississippi RiverKings' hockey remains the most affordable pro sports value in the Mid-South, with flex packs and group tickets saving you even more. For ticket information, call the RiverKings at 662-342-1755 or go online to www.riverkings.com today!

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Central Hockey League Stories from November 8, 2010


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