Seals open season on a downer
Published on October 25, 2005 under SPHL (SPHL)
Florida Seals News Release
RECORD TO DATE: 0-2-0 (0 points)
Tied for 5th place in SPHL
THIS WEEK:
FRI Oct. 28 SEALS @ Pee Dee 7:05 p.m. Florence Civic Center
The two new members of the Southern Professional Hockey League will square off for the first time in history Friday night. Both teams struggled in the league's opening weekend. This will be the Cyclones home opener as the Seals are finishing off their season opening three game road trip.
Season Series: First meeting of the season
All Time Series: First ever meeting
SAT Oct. 29 Jacksonville @ SEALS 7:35 p.m. Silver Spurs Arena
**Home Opener, First Ever Professional Hockey Game In Osceola County**
History will be made on Saturday night. For the first time ever the Seals will play in the Silver Spurs Arena. Fans will be treated to free Coggin CheerStix, Bell South Magnet schedules, performances by the Zooperstars and a Meet and Greet with 1980 Team USA Hockey Captain Mike Eruzione.
The hockey game would be a barnburner as well. The Seals will look for revenge as Jacksonville prevailed in their home opener this past Saturday night. The Barracudas sank the Seals in their version of the "Fish Tank" 5-1. The intrastate battle continued to be exciting as players from both sides dropped the gloves to set a tone for the season. Fans will not want to miss all the history that will be made this Saturday night in Kissimmee.
Season Series: Jacksonville leads 1-0-0 (Last meeting: 5-1 Seals loss @ JAX on Oct. 22)
All Time Series: Seals lead 18-11-0
LAST WEEK:
FRI Oct. 21 SEALS @ Knoxville (5-1 loss) 7:30 p.m. Knoxville Coliseum
The Florida Seals became the first team in hockey history to come back to the ice after taking a voluntary year suspension. Unfortunately the game did not turn out the way Seals fans had hoped for. The Knoxville Ice Bears opened their home schedule with a commanding 5-1 victory.
Special teams were the name of the game. The first four goals of the game, three by Knoxville, were scored via the power play. Kevin Swider also picked up where he left off last season. The Knoxville leader scored two goals and assisted on another after posting 106 points last season.
Things looked good for the Seals after a slow start. With less than two minutes to go in the opening period, John Gurskis had a beautiful give and go with Trevor Hammer to cut the lead to one goal after the first 20 minutes.
The middle period started quiet. Teams traded skating up and down the ice for the first half without any scoring. Things changed as within a four minute span the Ice Bears started their march to seal the victory. Goals by Swider, Nathan Daly and Marcus Forsberg gave the Ice Bears all the cushion they needed.
SAT Oct. 22 SEALS @ Jacksonville (5-1 loss) 7:05 p.m Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena
The Seals were hoping to grab their first win of the season against intrastate rival Jacksonville, but the Barracudas had other plans. In their first game of the season the âCudas sank the Seals
5-1.
Jacksonville had eight players making their pro debut and two of them came up huge. The story of the night was goaltender Pat Berrigan. The rookie net minder came within 2:24 of posting a shutout. All in all he made 29 saves to earn the victory. Mike Fougere, another Barracuda rookie, scored two goals to help pace the team offensively.
The Seals lone goal came off the stick of former Orlando Seal Nick Cammarata. After carrying the puck into the zone Cammarata put the puck into the net on a wraparound, ahead of Berrigan's stick.
SEALS TIDBITS:
- Wed., Oct. 26, 7pm-Head Coach Tommy Stewart will be on the "Finish Line" on 740 The Team. Tune into the show hosted by Jerry O'Neil to hear what Coach Stewart thought about this past week and what lies ahead for the Florida Seals.
- Sat., Oct. 29-"COGGIN CHEERSTIX NIGHT"-Make sure to arrive at the home opener early to get your Coggin Cheerstix. The first 3,000 fans through the door will get their very own Seals Cheerstix, courtesy of Coggin Pontiac-GMC-Buick.
- Sat., Oct. 29-"BELLSOUTH MAGNET SCHEDULE NIGHT"-Make sure to arrive at the home opener early to get your magnet schedule. The first 3,000 fans through the door will get their very own BELLSOUTH, The Real Yellow Pages, magnet schedule.
- Sat., Nov. 4-"SCOUT NIGHT"-All scouts (boys and girls) will be invited out to the first scout night of the year. Special group rates are available for all scouts and special activities are planned for all scouts in attendance.
- Sun., Nov. 6-"TEAM POSTER NIGHT"-The first 1,000 fans through the doors will get their very own Florida Seals team poster.
- Sun., Nov. 6-"POST GAME SKATE"-Stay after the game for the first post game skate in Florida Seals history. Fans that have their own skates will be invited to join the Seals players on the ice following the game. Skate rental will not be available.
- Thu. Nov. 10-"MILITARY APPRECIATION NIGHT"-The Florida Seals will honor the military in this annual event. Seals dog tags will be given out to the first 1,000 fans who attend the game. Special discounts for military personal. Stay after the game as the Seals will auction off their special game worn jerseys they wear for this event.
TEAM APPEARANCES:
- Monday, October 24; Season Ticket Holder Pickup at Caddy Shack located in the Festival Bay Mall at 5250
International Drive in Orlando. The event will be held from 7-9:30 pm. Seals players will be there to sign season ticket holder books.
- Wednesday, October 26; Seals Girls on Real Radio 104.1. Listen to Real Radio all day long as the Seals
Girls will join the hosts throughout the day.
- Friday, October 28; ESPN Zone, 7pm-1980 Miracle on Ice Captain Mike Eruzione will be on hand with
members of the Seals staff in preparation for the Florida Seals home opener.
*players attending subject to change*
TEAM NOTES:
- Saturday will mark the first ever hockey game in Osceola County (Fla.).
STANDOUTS:
- TERRY DENIKE leads the SPHL with 72 saves.
- NICK CAMMARATA is one of only three defenseman to score a goal this season in the SPHL.
SEALS PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
- NICK CAMMARATA-Nick made his return to the Seals with a good weekend on the ice. The defenseman played a solid blue line and has accounted for half the Seals' goals this season.
SPHL Stories from October 25, 2005
- Pee Dee Cyclones "Spin" #1 - Twin City Cyclones
- Seals open season on a downer - Florida Seals
- FireAntz defenseman Mike Utzig retires - Fayetteville Marksmen
- Havoc host a meet the team party tonight - Huntsville Havoc
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.
