CHL Mississippi RiverKings

RiverKings Weekly

Published on December 27, 2010 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release


RIVERKINGS RECAP: Mississippi went 1-2-0 last week, splitting a home-and-home series with the Bloomington PrairieThunder and losing a Sunday afternoon contest at Allen. Tuesday night, the RiverKings defeated Bloomington 4-1 at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven. Nathan Lutz scored a pair of goals and Louis Dumont assisted on three in the victory. Alexander Pechurskiy stopped 21 of 22 shots on goal in posting the victory. Wednesday night, the same teams traveled to Illinois and the RiverKings lost to the PrairieThunder 3-1. Dumont scored the only goal for Mississippi in the contest, as Pechurskiy made 25 saves in the loss. Sunday, the RiverKings traveled to Allen, Texas, falling 2-1 to the league-leading Americans. Jeff Christian netted Mississippi ‚¬â„¢s only goal in the game and goaltender Larry Sterling stopped 24 of 26 shots on goal.

RIVERKINGS STATISTICAL LEADERS: Goals: Matt Summers (10) Assists: Chris Richards (18) Points: Richards (27) Plus-Minus: Louis Dumont (+10) Penalty Minutes: Darrell Stoddard (99) Power Play Goals: Summers, Richards (6) Shorthanded Goals: Dumont, R.G. Flath (2) Game-Winning Goals: Nathan Lutz, Flath (2).

RIVERKINGS GOALTENDING LEADERS: Games Played: Alexander Pechurskiy (13) Wins: Pechurskiy (7) Shutouts: Pechurskiy (1) Goals-Against-Average: Pechurskiy (2.53) Save Percentage: Pechurskiy (.903). Pechurskiy ranks fifth in the CHL for goals-against-average. Larry Sterling is in a tie for third in the CHL for shootout save percentage at .833 (10 saves, 12 attempts).

NEEDING SOME ROAD WINS : Now involved in two of the longest road trips of the year (five games through January first and again between January 7th-16th), the RiverKings need wins in a location they ‚¬â„¢ve been hard to come by...somewhere other than the DeSoto Civic Center. Mississippi has lost its last two in a row on the road and has not won on the road since November 25th. That ‚¬â„¢s the longest active road non-winning streak in the Central Hockey League. The last time the RiverKings won on the road was November 24th against the Thunder in Wichita (3-2 shootout).

SUCCESS IN THE TURNER CONFERENCE : The vast majority of Mississippi ‚¬â„¢s 13 wins have come in games against teams from the Turner Conference, as the RiverKings are 10-6-0 against non-conference opponents. By contrast, Mississippi is 3-8-1 in conference games against Berry Conference teams.

MEETING THE FORMER IHL : Mississippi ‚¬â„¢s records against teams formerly aligned with the International Hockey League: vs. Bloomington (1-1-0), vs. Dayton (1-0-0), vs. Evansville (3-2-0), vs. Quad City (0-1-0). Wednesday's game at Fort Wayne will be the first time the Komets and RiverKings have met.

POINTS FROM THE POINT : Defenseman Nathan Lutz stands second in the CHL rankings for points from the blue line with 24. Lutz is tied for third in the league goals by a defenseman with eight and is tied for fourth in assists by a blue liner with 16. Five of Lutz ‚¬â„¢s goals have come on the power play and he has assisted on ten other power play goals.

POWERING UP THE POWER PLAY : Forwards Matt Summers and Chris Richards are tied for fourth in the league for power play goals scored with six. Meanwhile, Jeff Christian is tied for second in the CHL for power play assists with 12.

HOT SHOOTING SUMMERS : Matt Summers ranks fifth in the CHL for shooting percentage, scoring at a .238 clip (10 goals, 42 shots).

STODDARD AMONG PIM LEADERS : Forward Darrell Stoddard stands fifth in the CHL standings for penalty minutes with 99.

SMITH MIXING IT UP AT THE BLUE LINE : Russell Smith is fourth in the CHL for penalty minutes by a defenseman with 91. Smith has 23 minor penalties in his 91 PIM total. Russell has collected 35 penalty minutes in his last eight games, dating back to December 4th. That ‚¬â„¢s the longest active penalty minute streak in the CHL and fifth-longest of the entire season.

RIVERKINGS SPECIAL TEAMS : Mississippi was 1-for-9 on the power play in Sunday ‚¬â„¢s loss at Allen. The RiverKings are 4-for-34 in the team ‚¬â„¢s last five games (11.76%) and enter the week ranked 11th in the CHL for power play percentage at 16.4% (28 of 171). The RiverKings were tagged for two power play goals in eight tries by the Americans in Allen Sunday afternoon. In the team ‚¬â„¢s last five contests, Mississippi is 4-for-30 on the penalty kill (86.67%) and for the year ranks seventh in the CHL for penalty killing success at 83.7% (27-for-166). The RiverKings are tied for the most shorthanded goals allowed in the CHL with eight.

RIVERKINGS M*A*S*H REPORT : Three players remain on the Mississippi injured reserve list as the new week begins. Milan Maslonka and Brennan Sarazin are on the 10-day IR list, and Tyler Sheldrake is on the 30-day injured reserve shelf.

NOTABLES : Forward Patrik Levesque played his 300th career professional game on December 22nd at Bloomington. Levesque had a seven-game point streak stopped in Sunday ‚¬â„¢s loss to Allen. He had gone the previous seven games getting a total of eleven points (6 goals, 5 assists). Defenseman Russell Smith is within five penalty minutes of 600 career PIMS. Defenseman Derek Landmesser is within six of 900 career professional games played. Forward Chris Richards remains within three points of 800 career CHL points recorded. Forward Darrell Stoddard played in his 300th career professional game on December 21st vs. Bloomington. Goaltender Larry Sterling ‚¬â„¢s next victory will be his 40th win in a RiverKings ‚¬â„¢ sweater.

BROADCASTS: RiverKings hockey can be heard in the Mid-South on Sports 56, WHBQ-AM and 87.7 FM, "The Pig," WPGF-FM, both in Memphis. Wednesday ‚¬â„¢s game from Fort Wayne will be aired on Sports 56 at 6:15 PM. Thursday ‚¬â„¢s contest at Evansville will be 87.7 FM "The Pig" at 7:20 PM. Saturday ‚¬â„¢s contest from Bossier-Shreveport will be back on Sports 56 at 6:50 PM, while Sunday ‚¬â„¢s return engagement with the Mudbugs will be back on 87.7 FM "The Pig." Audio casts of the games are available at www.sports56whbq.com and www.radiopig.com. Fans can also watch the action on CHL-TV through the RiverKings web site by clicking the "Watch Live" button on the home page.

NEXT HOME ACTION: Mississippi returns to the DeSoto Civic Center on Sunday, January 2nd, in a 3:05 PM contest against the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs. Individual game tickets are available through the DeSoto Civic Center box office and Ticketmaster. For group and flex-pack ticket information, call the RiverKings at 662-342-1755 or go online to www.riverkings.com.

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Central Hockey League Stories from December 27, 2010


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