Road Weary

November 8, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies News Release


BULLIES REWIND: The Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies opened a season-high 5-game, 8-day road trip by dropping two of three games to division opponents Peoria and Dayton. The Bullies began the trip on the right foot by defeating the Rivermen 5-2 on Friday at Carver Arena. In the second game of the series, Peoria bounced back with a 6-3 win on Saturday. Dayton dropped the Bullies below the .500 mark for the first time this season with a 4-1 victory on Sunday at the Nutter Center. Atlantic City concludes the trip this week as they battle the South Carolina Stingrays on Tuesday and the Charlotte Checkers on Wednesday before returning to Historic Boardwalk Hall on Saturday to host the Trenton Titans and on Sunday to battle the Dayton Bombers.

Friday, Luke Curtin had a goal and two assists and surpassed the 400-point barrier in his professional career to lead the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies to a 5-2 win over the Peoria Rivermen before 4808 at Carver Arena in ECHL action. Jason Notermann opened the scoring for Atlantic City (3-2-1) at 12:28 of the first period on the power play when he picked up Curtin's rebound in the slot and fired a backhand shot past Peoria goaltender Alfie Michaud for a 1-0 lead. Notermann tallied his second goal of the game, and his second of the game on the power play, when he collected Curtin's point shot in the slot, spun around and slapped one through Michaud at 58 seconds of the second period for a 2-0 Bullies advantage. Defenseman Vince Macri gave Atlantic City a 3-0 lead with a shorthanded goal, his first as a professional, at 4:16 of the second, putting a shot past Michaud from the left-wing circle. Peoria (1-1-2) would finally crack the scoreboard 1:41 seconds later when Trevor Johnson tapped the loose puck by Adam Munro at 5:57 on the power play to cut the deficit to 3-1. Curtin would extend the Bullies lead to three goals once again in the third period when his shot from the left-wing boards beat Michaud to the far post at 4:00 to give Atlantic City a 4-1 lead. After Johnson tallied his second goal of the game for Peoria at 15:21 to cut the lead to 4-2, Derek Edwardson sealed the win for the Bullies, firing a slap shot over the left shoulder of Michaud from the right circle at 16:28 to make the final count 5-2. Peoria out-shot the Bullies 31-27. Munro made 29 saves in improving his record to 2-2-1. The Bullies went 2-5 on the power play while holding Peoria to just 1-7.

Saturday, Peoria's Colin Hemingway recorded a hat-trick and added an assist to lead the Peoria Rivermen to a 6-3 win over the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies before 4583 at Carver Arena in ECHL action. In a 5-goal first period, Brian Fahey opened the scoring for the Bullies (3-3-1) at 6:22 on the power play when he made a nice individual move around the defense at the left-wing circle and slapped the puck through the pads of Peoria goalie Chris Beckford-Tseu to give Atlantic City a 1-0 lead. Peoria (2-1-2) would counter with three unanswered goals. Troy Riddle got the Rivermen on the board when he picked up Randy Rowe's rebound in the slot and tipped it by Bullies goaltender Jake Moreland at 12:53 to tie the game at 1-1. Colin Hemingway gave the Rivermen a 2-1 advantage just 28 seconds later at 13:21 when his centering feed into the slot was deflected by Bullies defenseman Vince Macri and over the left shoulder of Moreland. Hemingway would add his second of the game, this time on the power play, redirecting Trevor Johnson's shot from the right point behind Moreland at 16:08 to give Peoria a 3-1 lead. Bullies defenseman Dan Peters would cut the deficit to 3-2 at 18:04 of the period when his slap shot from the left point got through traffic and behind Beckford-Tseu. Paul Caponigri netted the equalizer for the Bullies to open the second at 1:20, taking a feed from Derek Edwardson and placing the shot past Beckford-Tseu to tie the game at 3-3. Brian McCullough would give Peoria a 4-3 advantage at 7:14 of the period when he collected his own rebound at the right-wing circle and rifled a slap shot over the left shoulder of Moreland. Then Hemingway tallied his third of the game, taking McCullough's feed inside the right wing circle and putting a wrist shot past Moreland at 9:12 to give Peoria a 5-3 lead after two periods. Randy Rowe sealed the final score with an empty-net goal at 19:23 of the third period. Peoria out-shot the Bullies 42-36. Moreland stopped 36 shots in taking the loss. The Bullies went 1-7 on the power play while Peoria went 1-4.

Sunday, Dayton's Preston Mizzi and Aaron Foster each tallied a goal and goaltender Andrew Penner stopped 40 shots to lead the Bombers to a 4-1 victory over the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies before 2039 at the Nutter Center in ECHL action. Tyler Kolarik opened the scoring for Dayton (4-3-0) at 13:52 of the first period when he picked up the loose puck at the left-wing circle and fired a slap shot top shelf over the left shoulder of Bullies goaltender Jake Moreland to give the Bombers a 1-0 lead. Dan Peters netted the equalizer for the Bullies (3-4-1) when he received a cross-ice feed from Fraser Clair at the top of the crease and tucked the puck underneath Dayton goalie Andrew Penner at 9:06 of the second period to tie the game 1-1. Dayton would move ahead again at 12:37 of the period on the power play when Grady Moore's shot from the right point was redirected by Mizzi in the slot and by Moreland on the weak side to give the Bombers a 2-1 advantage. Foster increased the lead to 3-1 when he took a drop pass at the right-wing circle from Janne Jokila and slapped the puck over the right shoulder of Moreland at 3:41 of the third period. Jokila finished the scoring with an empty-net goal at 19:07. Atlantic City out-shot Dayton 41-26. Moreland made 23 saves in taking the loss. The Bullies went 0-8 on the power play.

BULLIES "TOP DAWG" AWARD: Each Monday from now until the end of the season, Public Relations and Broadcasting Manager Dan Weiss will select the Bullies "Top Dawg" for the week. This week's winner is forward Luke Curtin who tallied a goal and three assists, but more importantly surpassed the 400-point plateau in his professional career. Honorable mention goes out to forward Jason Notermann who notched a pair of power play goals and two assists. Notermann leads the Bullies with 4 goals.

ROLE REVERSAL: After tallying just 8 goals in their first five games, the Bullies offense came to life over the weekend notching 8 goals in two games at Peoria and 9 overall for the weekend. Jason Notermann and defenseman Dan Peters each recorded a pair of goals while Notermann and Curtin led the Bullies offense with 4 points apiece. However, after surrendering only 9 goals in their first five games, the Bullies defense gave up a total of 12 goals in three games. Goaltender Jake Moreland, who entering play Saturday had stopped 47 of the first 48 shots he faced in net, surrendered 8 goals on 66 shots faced over two games. Moreland's goals against average jumped from 0.66 to 2.57.

ROOKIES RELISHING SUCCESS: The eight Bullies rookies on the roster enjoyed their most productive week of the season as a group. Several tallied their first points of the season, including Rob McFeeters who notched three assists, Paul Caponigri who tallied a goal and an assist, Vince Macri who recorded a goal and an assist, and Brett Peterson who picked up an assisat in his first professional game. Derek Edwardson also continued his steady play with a goal and two assists in Peoria. Edwardson leads all Bullies rookies in scoring with 2 goals and 5 points.

THE 400 GENTLEMEN: Luke Curtin didn't waste much time notching his 400th career point. The Roseville, MN native assisted on Jason Notermann's power play goal at 12:28 of the first period in Friday's 5-2 win at Peoria to accomplish the feat. Curtin becomes the second Bullies player to record his 400th career point in an Atlantic City uniform joining the recently retired Stefan Rivard. Rivard recorded his 400th career point in his 499th career game during a 7-1 victory on December 14, 2003 at Wheeling. Curtin, who has been a model of consistency during his tenure in Atlantic City, reached the 400-point plateau in his 378th career game.

MUNRO THRUSTED INTO ACTION: Bullies goaltender Adam Munro made his AHL debut yesterday at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the Norfolk Admirals and allowed 6 goals on 30 shots in a 6-2 loss to the Penguins. To his credit, Norfolk committed 13 penalties that put Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on the power play a season-high 11 times. The Penguins went 3-11 on the power play. Munro could return to Atlantic City in time for Saturday's home game against Trenton.

ROAD WARRIORS: The Bullies are in the midst of six consecutive road games away from Historic Boardwalk Hall, their longest stretch away from home this season. Upon returning home from Charlotte early Thursday, Atlantic City will have logged a season-high 2,720 miles in 8 days. Once the Bullies do return home, not only will they have completed 22% of their road schedule for the season, but they will enjoy a season-high 7-game home stand which takes them through Thanksgiving.

POWER PLAY FOR UNITED WAY: For a second consecutive season, the Bullies have teamed up with United Way to support the Power Play For United Way. For every power play goal the Bullies score in 2004-05, area businesses including Baumgardner Construction, RLS CopiScan, AtlantiCare, and Glenn Insurance will donate $10 to the United Way of Atlantic County. So far, the Bullies have tallied 6 power play goals, good for $240 towards Power Play For United Way.

WATCH THE BULLIES LIVE IN '04-05: The Bullies have teamed up with B2 Networks to bring you live action of Boardwalk Bullies hockey in 2004-05. Bullies fans will be able to click the Watch the Game Live icon at the Bullies website to view and listen to the game. These broadcasts are available to fans for a charge of $6 per game. All 36 Bullies home broadcasts will be available in addition to over 20 road games in Trenton, Reading, Johnstown, and Wheeling. A cable or DSL Internet connection and Windows Media Player 9 are required to view the games.

UP NEXT: The Bullies continue their 5-game road trip before returning home this weekend. Atlantic City travels to South Carolina on Tuesday to battle the Stingrays at 7:05PM. Wednesday, the Bullies conclude their trip at Charlotte with a 7PM game against the Checkers. Saturday, the Bullies return home to host the Trenton Titans at 7:05PM. All Saturday home games are "Family Nights." Purchase 4 tickets, 4 hot dogs, and 4 sodas for just $44! Sunday, the Bullies will host their first "Kids Day" of the season at 2:05PM against the Dayton Bombers. All kids 12 and under get in for just $1 with the purchase of a $15 adult premier ticket. For more information, call your Bullies Customer Service Representative at (609) 348-PUCK. Catch Tuesday and Wednesday's game on ESPN Radio 1450 and all four games live on the SurferNetwork. Broadcast time begins 20 minutes prior to face-off with "Bullies Countdown."

BULLIES SCHEDULE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 8

Monday, November 8: Off Day

Tuesday, November 9: Morning Skate 11:15AM; Bullies @ South Carolina 7:05PM; Depart for Charlotte, NC

Wednesday, November 10: Morning Skate 11:15AM; Bullies @ Charlotte 7PM; Depart for Atlantic City

Thursday, November 11: Off Day

Friday, November 12: Practice 10:30AM-12PM

Saturday, November 13: Morning Skate 10AM; Bullies vs. Trenton 7:05PM

Sunday, November 14: Bullies vs. Dayton 2:05PM



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