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Rough Week For RiverBlades

February 17, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Arkansas RiverBlades News Release


The Arkansas RiverBlades went 0-3 last week, and stand in fourth place in the Southwest Division. Arkansas now stands at 26-18-8, 60 points, one point ahead of fifth-place Jackson.

Last week...On the heels of two losses last week, Arkansas looked to rebound on the road with two games against the Pensacola Ice Pilots at The Hangar. Thursday, Arkansas outshot Pensacola 48-18, including a 22-1 second period advantage, but the Ice Pilots jumped out to an early 3-0 advantage, and the Blades fell short 4-3. Goaltender Maxime Gingras led the way for Pensacola with 45 saves. Terry Marchant tallied a goal and an assist for the Blades, who also got goals from Garry Toor and Jason Bermingham.

Then, on Friday, the RiverBlades fell behind early 3-0 once again, and wound up on the losing end for the second straight night by a score of 5-4. Greg Pankewicz scored a goal and two assists, and Kerry Ellis-Toddington added a goal and an assist for Pensacola. Jason Bermingham scored two third-period goals for the RiverBlades, and Buddy Smith, Matt Pagnutti, and Dean Stork each added two assists in defeat.

Saturday, the Blades returned to the Alltel to host the Mississippi Sea Wolves on "Faith and Family Night." However, the RiverBlades' fortunes would get no better, as the Blades gave up three goals each in the first and second period, and the Sea Wolves upended Arkansas 7-1 before 5,000 at the Alltel Arena. Matt Pagnutti scored the Blades' only goal, his 12th of the season, in a game that saw the debut of new RiverBlades' goaltender Scott Fankhouser, who relieved Jimi St. John in the second period.

Team Leaders... Buddy Smith continues to lead the ECHL with a team-record 54 assists and 76 points. Smith has 18 points in his last 15 games, and 7 in his last 5. Jason Bermingham leads the team with 29 goals and 14 power-play goals. Bermingham has set a new professional-best with 60 points, surpassing the 59 he racked up last season.. Terry Marchant has set a new career-high with 37 assists and 53 points this season. Marchant is also one goal away from his career high of 17. Matt Pagnutti has a career-high 12 goals and ranks fourth among ECHL defensemen with 42 points. Captain Eric Long leads the team with a +11 rating, and is tied for sixth among blue-liners with 36 points. Mike Sandbeck has also set a new career mark this year with 10 goals, and is just one point from his personal best of 21, set last year.

Ernie in the AHL...Ernie Hartlieb has scored two goals and three points in two games with the AHL's Worcester IceCats, helping the Cats go 1-0-1 this past weekend. Hartlieb scored a goal in a 2-2 tie Saturday with the Milwaukee Admirals, then had a goal and an assist in a 4-1 win over the first-place Providence Bruins on Sunday.

A look ahead...The RiverBlades travel to Baton Rouge Tuesday before returning home for two key divisional games this weekend. The Blades host the Jackson Bandits on Friday, and the Baton Rouge Kingfish on Sunday. All games can be heard on the CSN radio network, FM 101 The River, and on the Internet at www.riverblades.com.



ECHL Stories from February 17, 2003


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