Sports stats



ECHL Peoria Rivermen

Rivermen drop three in a row to open road trip

November 15, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL)
Peoria Rivermen News Release


THE RECAP:

Friday, November 12, 2004 @ Johnstown Game #6 ECHL Game #109

Rivermen 5 Johnstown 6

Defense was not the order on Friday night in Johnstown, Pa. It was a high-scoring, back-and-forth affair and the Peoria Rivermen tied the game three times but could never grab the lead, falling to the rival Johnstown Chiefs 6-5 in front of 3,351 at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena.

The Chiefs scored for the final time with 1:22 left in regulation. Jean Desrochers took a pass from Dmitri Tarabrin, breaking in on a 2-on-1 rush and snapping the puck underneath the left arm of Rivermen goaltender Alfie Michaud and inside the right goal post for his fourth tally of the season.

Peoria had tied the game 5-5 with two goals in a 1:19 span. Justin Maiser snapped in his second professional goal from the left side of the low shot at 15:08 on a feed from Scott Turner, who took a pass from Troy Riddle at the bottom of the right face-off circle. Riddle then tied the game with his second tally of the contest and third of the season at 16:27 with a snap shot from alone in front of the Johnstown goal after Trevor Johnson intercepted a Chiefs' outlet feed and gave him the puck.

Johnstown took a 5-3 lead in the first half of the final period, snapping home two goals of its own in a 1:52 span. Steve Hildenbrand tipped his third goal of the season down and past Michaud at 7:51 from the low slot on a P.L. Courchesne shot from the right point. Shawn Mather then gave the Chiefs their second two-goal advantage of the evening, taking a feed at the center red line and on a clean breakaway from there beat Michaud with a roof shot into the upper right corner from in close.

Peoria (2-2-2, 6 points) fell to 0-1-1 on the road after the first game of five straight away from home over nine days. Johnstown (3-0-5, 11 points) improved to 3-0-3 at home, scoring five goals for the first time this season; the Chiefs were averaging 2.71 goals per game through seven games coming into the contest.

Saturday, November 13, 2004 @ Johnstown Game #7 ECHL Game #122

Rivermen 2 Johnstown 5

The Peoria Rivermen were outscored in the third period for the second night in a row, allowing three goals without mustering a one in a 5-2 defeat at the hands of the rival Johnstown Chiefs before a crowd of 2,335 on Saturday night at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena.

The Rivermen, who have dropped the first two games of a five-game road trip, were outscored 6-2 by Johnstown in the third period of both games on Friday and Saturday. The Chiefs won 6-5 in regulation on Friday.

Brent Kelly netted the first of two tallies in the final session at 5:57 on a 5-on-3 power play, giving the Chiefs their second lead of the game at 3-2. Colin Hemingway's slap shot clearing attempt was knocked down in mid-air by P.L. Courchesne. Courchesne then fed Steve Hildenbrand in the slot, and Hildenbrand quickly dished off to Brent Kelly at the left side of the Peoria goal for a quick snap shot in behind Peoria rookie goaltender Chris Beckford-Tseu.

The Chiefs made it 4-2 at 9:13 of the third. The Peoria defense collapsed too far to the right wing as Dmitri Tarabrin crossed into the zone, and Tarabrin flipped a pass to a breaking Mike James, who broke in alone on Beckford-Tseu and slipped in his fourth goal of the season.

Kelly completed the scoring on his second tally of the final stanza at 10:37. Shawn Mather, stationed in the right wing corner, found a breaking Brent Kelly, who sneaked in under the Rivermen defense at the top of the goal crease and chipped his fifth goal of the season over Beckford-Tseu's right shoulder.

The line of Kelly, Hildenbrand and Mather combined for six points (3g, 3a) in the game and 13 points (6g, 7a) over both contests against the Rivermen.

Peoria (2-3-2, 6 points), who has failed to score the first goal in any of its seven games, is a game below .500 on the season. Johnstown (4-0-5, 13 points) remains undefeated in regulation through nine games and improved to 4-0-3 at home.

Sunday, November 14, 2004 @ Wheeling Game #8 ECHL Game #131

Rivermen 0 Wheeling 1

The Peoria Rivermen continued their struggles on Sunday afternoon in Wheeling, W.Va., getting shut out 1-0 by the Wheeling Nailers on the strength of 29 saves from Dany Sabourin in front of 2,211 at WesBanco Arena.

Peoria has lost three in a row in regulation, dropping the first three games of their five-game, nine-day road trip.

Sabourin (5-2-0) stopped all 10 Peoria shots in the final period with several coming from in close in the second half of the session. In all, the fifth-year goaltender turned away nine shots in the first period and 10 in the second stanza for his third shutout in eight starts.

Peoria (2-4-2, 6 points), two games below .500, remains in last place in the eight-team North Division. Wheeling (5-6-0, 10 points), just a game under .500 now, improved to 4-2-0 on home ice and snapped a three-game losing streak with the victory.

The Captain's Log

Looking To Rekindle Last Year's Road Regency

The Rivermen have lost three in a row in regulation and are winless in four games (0-3-1) to open their 2004-2005 road schedule. Peoria continues its five-game, nine-day road trip Tuesday night against the Reading Royals. Peoria then finishes the road trip in Toledo, Ohio against the archrival Storm in the front end of a home-and-home set between the clubs. Peoria posted an ECHL-best 23-7-6 record away from Carver Arena last season. With 23 road wins, the Rivermen equaled a team ECHL mark for road victories set in 1999-2000 (23-11-1). Peoria's seven road losses were one shy of an ECHL record for the fewest by a team in one season; the Richmond Renegades had just six in 1995-1996. The 23 Rivermen road wins were three shy of an ECHL record for road victories in one season; Louisiana had a record 26 in 2001-2002.

Not Day Away From The North

The Rivermen play their first 23 games of the season against teams in their own North Division with 60 of their 72 total games coming against the North. Peoria (2-4-2, 6 points) is ranked eighth in the eight-team North Division.

Looking To Find The First Goal And The Lead

With eight games played this season, the Rivermen have yet to score the first goal in any of their games and have led just three times and two of those instances came in one game. Peoria took a 3-2 lead in the third period of a 5-2 home-opening victory over the Dayton Bombers on Friday, October 22 and then grabbed two leads, one in the first period and one in the second period, in a 6-3 home win over the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies on Saturday, November 6.

Desiring More Defense

The Rivermen have surrendered five or more goals in three of their last five games. While Peoria is averaging 2.75 scored per game (T-14th in the ECHL with Atlantic City) after eight games, it is surrendering an uncharacteristic 3.25 goals per game (21st in the ECHL). Last season, the Rivermen were tied for third in the ECHL with San Diego with a 2.46 goals allowed per game average. Peoria is averaging 33.88 shots taken per game this year, ranking 10th in the ECHL, but is allowing that same number each game, which ranks 20th in the League. Last season, the Rivermen averaged 33.53 shots per contest (12th in the ECHL), while they gave up just 27.79 per game (2nd in the League).

Rare Shutdown

While being shut out just twice last season, the Rivermen were shut out for the first time just eight games into the season after a 1-0 loss to the Wheeling Nailers last Sunday. In fact, Peoria was last shut out on the road in Wheeling on November 17, 2002 by a 3-0 score. Last season, Peoria suffered both of its shutouts at home – November 8, 2003 vs. Reading (Rudkowsky, 44 saves, 5-0) & December 13 vs. Johnstown (Campbell, 40 saves, 2-0).

Collecting Wins To Get To Kelly

With 197 regular season and playoff wins to his credit, Rivermen Head Coach/Director of Hockey Operations Jason Christie is just 12 wins away from tying and 13 wins away from breaking the Rivermen All-Time ECHL/International Hockey League (IHL) Franchise Coaching Wins record held by former Rivermen IHL Head Coach and ECHL Commissioner Emeritus Pat Kelly, who has 209. In his fifth season, Christie – a 35-year-old native of Gibbons, Alberta – owns the best regular season winning percentage (.682) of any coach in Rivermen ECHL history with a record of 180-75-34. He is one of just two head coaches in ECHL history to win 40 or more games in each of his first four seasons in the League; Pensacola's Dave Farrish is the other.

Injury, Call-up & Transaction Report

· Rivermen center Tyler Rennette remains on the 7-day injured reserve, 11/11/04.

· Rivermen right wing Travis Rycroft has been activated from the 7-day injured reserve, 11/11/04.

· Rivermen left wing Kris Kasper has been activated from the 7-day injured reserve, 11/11/04.

· Rivermen right wing Joe Pereira remains on the 30-day injured reserve, 11/05/04.

· Rivermen defenseman Warren Toews remains on the 30-day injured reserve, 11/05/04.

· Left wing/defenseman Mark Jerant remains on reassignment from the Worcester IceCats (AHL), 11/04/04.

· Rivermen left wing David Kaczowka remains on reassignment to the Worcester IceCats (AHL), 11/04/04.

· Forward Colin Hemingway remains on reassignment from the Worcester IceCats (AHL) by the St. Louis Blues (NHL), 11/03/04.

Steering Our Way Through The Schedule

GAMES:

· On Tuesday, November 16, the Rivermen continue their five-game, nine-day road trip in Reading, Pa. as they battle the Royals in the first of eight meetings on the season. It will be a rematch of the Northern Division Finals, in which the Royals defeated Peoria in four games (3-1). In regular season action, the Rivermen are 6-2-3 lifetime in the ECHL against Reading. The Royals (4-5-0, 8 points) have won four in a row and shut out their last two opponents on Friday (vs. Wheeling 5-0) and Saturday (vs. Dayton 3-0) with former Rivermen Cody Rudkowsky in net for both with 40 total saves. Reading is led by forward David Steckel, who has eight points (3g, 5a) in nine games. The game broadcast can be heard LIVE on WWFS FOX Sports Radio 1290 AM and online at www.rivermen.net, beginning at 5:50 p.m. from the Sovereign Center. Game time is 6:00 p.m. CT.

· On Friday, November 19, Peoria completes its five-game road trip in Toledo, Ohio against the archrival Storm in the front end of a home-and-home set between the clubs. It will be the second of six meetings in Toledo and the second of a season-high 11 on the year between the teams. In the first matchup of the season, the Rivermen fell 2-1 in overtime to the Storm on the road on October 29, as Peoria netminder Alfie Michaud stopped 52 of 54 shots in defeat. Peoria owns a 54-22-6 lifetime ECHL regular season mark against the Storm. Toledo (5-2-3, 13 points) is tied for second place in the eight-team North Division with the Trenton Titans and the Johnstown Chiefs. The Storm are led by forward Nick Parillo, who has 11 points (2g, 9a) in 10 games. The game broadcast can be heard on TAPE DELAY on WWFS FOX Sports Radio 1290 AM and LIVE online at www.rivermen.net, beginning at 6:20 p.m. from the Toledo Sports Arena. Game time is 6:30 p.m. CT.

· On Saturday, November 20, the Rivermen host the Storm in the first of five meetings in Peoria and the back end of a home-and-home set between the clubs. It is Boy Scout Night. The Rivermen will wear special Boy Scout-themed jerseys to be auctioned off after the game to benefit the "Scouts Can" program. The Cutting Edge Salon of Morton will also present "Haircuts for Charity" with donations for free haircuts to benefit the Children's Hospital of Illinois. The game broadcast can be heard LIVE on WWFS FOX Sports Radio 1290 AM and online at www.rivermen.net, beginning at 6:50 p.m. from Carver Arena. Game time is 7:00 p.m. CT.

Check out the Peoria Rivermen Statistics

• Discuss this story on the ECHL message board...

ECHL Stories from November 15, 2004


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Peoria Rivermen Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central