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CHL Mississippi RiverKings

RiverKings Weekly

November 22, 2010 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release


RIVERKINGS RECAP: The Mississippi RiverKings went 1-2-0 last week, losing one-goal games in Rapid City and at home against Quad City, but then traveled to Evansville to win on the road. Mississippi lost a 5-4 meeting in the Black Hills Tuesday night, and then were edged by the Quad City Mallards 1-0 on Friday night, before winning its first game after two previous losses against the new Evansville IceMen 3-1 Saturday evening in Indiana.

Matt Boyd led the offense Tuesday at Rapid City with a pair of goals, Matt Summers (PPG) and Derek Landmesser also scored goals for Mississippi. Alexander Pechurskiy made 23 saves in the loss.

Mississippi was shut out for the second time this season Friday night against Quad City in Southaven, Pechurskiy made 31 saves in the loss. Only six penalty minutes were meted out, with the RiverKings getting a season-low two penalties charged against them.

Saturday, Mississippi stopped the two-game losing streak with a win in Evansville. Goals were scored by Nathan Lutz (PPG), the eventual game-winner from Dane Marshall, and an empty-net goal from Louis Dumont. Pechurskiy (2-2-0) won his second game of the season with a 23-save performance.

OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS: Wednesday will be the first meeting of the season between the RiverKings and the Wichita Thunder, long-time Northern Conference opponents now located in separate conferences. Wichita stands 6-6-1 (13 points) for the season and is in a tie for 7th place in the Turner Conference standings. The Thunder are coached by former RiverKings coach Kevin McClelland, in his first year in Wichita after two seasons at the helm in Colorado with the Eagles. Wichita's offense is led by Jesse Bennefield, who has scored six times and has a team-leading 17 points. Wichita's goaltending has been split between Marc-Antonie Gelinas and Marty Magers, who each have won three games in a Wichita uniform. Former RiverKings Aaron Davis and Travis Wight are on the Thunder's roster. Wichita also plays at Colorado Friday and hosts the Eagles on Saturday. The next meeting between the teams will be in Southaven on Saturday, December 4th.

Tulsa, coached by Bruce Ramsay, has struggled to a 3-11-1 record for 7 points and ninth place in the Berry Conference standings as the week begins. The Oilers have dropped four straight contests. Chad Costello leads the Oilers in goals (8) and points (16). Former RiverKing net minders Ian Keserich and Tyler Sims patrol the goal crease for Tulsa, but have only one win between them. Keserich posted that win on November 12th at Colorado. The Oilers play host to Quad City Tuesday, then will host Bossier-Shreveport Friday and travel to Evansville on Saturday to complete a four-game Thanksgiving week of hockey. The next meeting between the teams will come Friday, December 3rd at Tulsa. In the only previous matchup of the season between the RiverKings and Tulsa, the RiverKings posted a 4-1 victory on November 6th in Southaven.

Laredo, under Terry Ruskowski, comes to the DeSoto Civic Center on Saturday for its only visit of the season, although Mississippi travels for two games in Laredo in early January. The Bucks enter the week with a record of 4-8-1 for 9 points and eighth place in the Berry Conference standings. Laredo has lost six in a row. Daniel Kroger leads Laredo in goals with 10 goals, while Neil Trimm is the point leader with 20 (6 goals, 14 assists). Torrie Jung and Pierre Pelletier have split time in goal for the Bucks. Jung has had the better won-loss success with a 3-4-1 record. Laredo hosts Rio Grande Valley tonight, and then starts a road trip through Rio Grande Valley Wednesday night and Texas Friday, before coming to Southaven for Saturday night's encounter.

Bossier-Shreveport, led by Scott Muscutt, hosts Mississippi in the teams' fourth meeting of the season Sunday afternoon, November 28th. The Mudbugs are currently second in the CHL Berry Conference standings with a record 12-4-0 for 24 points as the week begins. In three previous meetings, Bossier-Shreveport has a 2-1-0 record against Mississippi, sweeping a weekend series to open the regular season. However, Mississippi prevailed in the last game 4-3 at Southaven on Friday, November 5th. The Mudbugs start the week with a five-game win streak, playing host to Missouri Tuesday, then traveling to Texas Wednesday, Tulsa Friday, and a return to Texas Saturday before coming home to host the RiverKings Sunday afternoon. David Rutherford leads the Mudbugs in goals with 11, while Justin Aikins has netted a team-leading 22 points. A strong goaltending group is led by Brian Foster's 6-1-0 record, John DeCaro's 3-1-0 record and Brian Harv ey at 3-0-0.

RIVERKINGS POWER PLAY: Mississippi was 1-for-8 on the power play in Saturday's win at Evansville and has now scored at least one power play goal in all but two games this season. A 3-for-9 effort at home October 23rd against Missouri has been the team's best power play performance of the year. The RiverKings start the week 10th in the CHL with the man advantage at 17.2% (16-of-93).

RIVERKINGS PENALTY KILL: Mississippi killed off all six Evansville power play chances Saturday night in the team's win in Indiana and has now shut out the opposition's power play in three of the RiverKings' last four games (3-of-20). Mississippi begins this week ranked 11th in the CHL for penalty killing at 82.22% (16-of-90).

SHOTS IN THE DARK: Mississippi has outshot its opponents in all but two of its games this season, including Saturday's 31-23 advantage over the IceMen in Evansville. The RiverKings start this week ranked eighth in the CHL for average shots per game at 31.79 and are third in the CHL for shots allowed per game at 28.86.

LUTZ LEADS THE SCORING PARADE: Defenseman Nathan Lutz leads the RiverKings in scoring and is tied at the top of the CHL list for points by a defenseman at 14. The Mistatim, Saskatchewan native has scored four goals and has added ten assists for Mississippi this season. He is for assists by a defenseman and is tied for third among blue liners for power play assists at seven. Three of his four goals have come on the power play and one has been a game-winner.

BOYD LEADING THE ROOKIES: Forward Matt Boyd ranks among the top rookie scorers in the Central Hockey League, currently standing third for first year players at 11 points (3 goals, 8 assists). His 8 assists has him in a tie for first place among rookie players.

A MAJOR EFFORT: Two RiverKings are among the league leaders for major penalties. Tyler Sheldrake (currently on the injured reserve) is tied for the CHL lead for majors with seven, while Darrell Stoddard has been pinned six times for major penalties, putting him in a tie for third place in the CHL.

PECHURSKIY HITS THE LEADERBOARD: Goaltender Alexander Pechurskiy has played himself on to the leader board for goalies in the CHL with his 2-2-0 record as the week begins. With a 2.19 goals-against-average, Pechurskiy ranks number five in the Central Hockey League. His .925 save percentage also ranks just below the top five goalies in the circuit at number seven.

ROSTER MOVES: Mississippi added forward Brennan Sarazin to the roster late last week after releasing forward Ryan Kretzer from the roster. Sarazin played in both games last weekend for the RiverKings. He comes to Mississippi after starting the year with the 1000 Islands Privateers of the Federal Hockey League and the Elmira Jackals of the ECHL. Last season, Sarazin scored seven goals for 18 points in 26 games with Strasbourg of the French professional league. He appeared in three playoff games for Rio Grande Valley in 2009 as an amateur addition after a four-year career at NCAA-Division One Rochester Institute of Technology.

THAT'S A FOUL ON YOU: Mississippi remains one of the most penalized teams in the Central Hockey League, averaging 35.21 penalty minutes per game. The RiverKings lead the CHL in penalty minutes (493), ten-minute misconducts (4), game misconducts (10), and match penalties (1).

APPLYING FOR MEMBERSHIP: Wednesday's game at Wichita will be the final game in a recent stretch of six against members of the Turner Conference, of which the RiverKings currently have a record of 2-4-0. For the season, Mississippi has a record of 4-5-0 against the Turner Conference. The RiverKings are 2-3-0 in games involving its own Berry Conference opposition.

NOTABLES: Defenseman Derek Landmesser is one point short of 700 career professional points, currently standing at 133 goals and 566 assists for his career. Jeff Christian is eight minutes short of 3100 career professional penalty minutes. Chris Richards is one goal short of 300 career professional goals.

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. Larry Sterling was placed on goaltender injured reserve on Friday, November 12th. Tyler Sheldrake was hurt in a win at Colorado on November 13th and was placed on the 30-day injured reserve list.

BROADCASTS: RiverKings hockey is heard in the Mid-South on stations of the Flinn Broadcasting Company, led by Sports 56 WHBQ-AM, but also on 87.7 FM WPGF "The Pig." This week's broadcast schedule will have the RiverKings on Sports 56 Wednesday and Thursday from Wichita and Tulsa, on 87.7 FM Saturday at home vs. Laredo, and back on Sports 56, WHBQ on Sunday afternoon from Bossier-Shreveport. Games are audio streamed on www.sports56whbq.com and www.radiopig.com, All CHL games are available for view on Neulion's CHL-TV at http://chltv.neulion.com/chltv/. Follow the prompts to subscribe and log into the broadcasts, with veteran broadcaster and RiverKings Media Coordinator Bob Bakken providing the play-by-play.

TICKETS: RiverKings tickets make a great holiday gift idea, with flex packs saving money while giving the gift of great hockey. For more information, call 662-342-1755 today!

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