Snakes Begin Preparations for SPHL Playoffs

March 24, 2014 - SPHL (SPHL)
Columbus Cottonmouths News Release


COLUMBUS, Ga. - The Columbus Cottonmouths split a pair of road games over the past week, defeating the Mississippi Surge in a shootout on Friday night before dropping their regular season finale in Huntsville on Saturday night. The Snakes managed one more win than the Knoxville Ice Bears did in their four games this week, however. As a result, the Snakes tied Knoxville in standing points with 57, with Columbus earning sixth place and Knoxville seventh by virtue of the Cottonmouths having more regular season wins. The sixth place finish pits Columbus against the Peoria Rivermen in the first round of the playoffs, with Game 1 set in Peoria on Wednesday night; Game 2 in Columbus on Friday night; and if needed, Game 3 back in Illinois on Sunday afternoon. All games are broadcast on America One Networks with both a video and audio feed, with a nominal fee for each game. A free audio-only webcast of the games is also available. Details can be found at www.cottonmouths.com.

CURRENT RECORDS AND STATS

Last Week: 1-1-0

Record: 27-26-3, 57 pts (T-6th, SPHL)

183 GF, 173 GA

20.2% PP (2nd, SPHL); 83.5% PK (4th, SPHL)

LAST WEEK'S TRANSACTIONS

3/18 - D Chris Bailer activated from injured reserve

3/20 - F Andre Herman signed to three-game tryout

3/20 - F Shayne Stockton signed to three-game tryout

FINAL SPHL STANDINGS

TEAM GP W L OTL PTS WPCT GF GA PIM HOME ROAD L-TEN STREAK

zPensacola 56 38 13 5 81 .723 207 139 1029 17-7-4 21-6-1 10-0-0 11-0-0

xLouisiana 56 35 18 3 73 .652 198 175 1094 18-10-0 17-8-3 6-4-0 2-0-0

xPeoria 56 30 18 8 68 .607 154 144 889 19-6-3 11-12-5 6-2-2 0-0-1

xMississippi RKings 56 31 21 4 66 .589 175 150 991 16-8-4 15-13-0 6-3-1 3-0-0

xHuntsville 56 31 21 4 66 .589 180 158 991 20-7-1 11-14-3 5-4-1 1-0-0

xColumbus 56 27 26 3 57 .509 183 173 1313 15-12-1 12-14-2 6-4-0 0-1-0

xKnoxville 56 25 24 7 57 .509 157 163 1052 13-13-2 12-11-5 3-6-1 0-4-0

xMississippi Surge 56 22 28 6 50 .446 140 186 963 10-15-3 12-13-3 1-7-2 0-3-1

Fayetteville 56 21 30 5 47 .420 144 183 1061 13-15-0 8-15-5 4-6-0 1-0-0

Bloomington 56 20 33 3 43 .384 125 192 1383 12-15-1 8-18-2 3-6-1 0-3-0

SPHL PLAYOFF OUTLOOK

(3) Peoria vs. (6) Columbus

Game 1: Wednesday, March 26, 8:15 PM EDT @ PEO

Game 2: Friday, March 28, 7:30 PM EDT @ COL

Game 3: Sunday, March 30, 6:15 PM EDT @ PEO (if needed)

(Season Series vs. PEO: 1-3-0)

In a twist of irony due to scheduling conflicts with home arenas, the Cottonmouths improved their position in the standings last week but hurt their chances at home ice advantage. While seventh seed Knoxville will host all three games against second seed Louisiana due to scheduling conflicts with the IceGators' home Cajundome in Lafayette, the Snakes will hit the road to Central Illinois to face the Peoria Rivermen on Wednesday night in Game 1 of their best of three series. The Rivermen took three out of four in the season series against the Cottonmouths, but the Snakes were competitive in each of the three losses: while each of the three Peoria wins were by a single goal, the Snakes' lone victory in the season series was a 5-1 win on December 27 in Columbus. Levi Lind leads the Snakes in scoring against the Rivermen this season with a goal and three assists in four games played against Peoria, while on the Rivermen side of the ledger, rookie sensation Garrett Vermeersch leads Peoria in scoring against Columbus with an identical goal and three assists. The Snakes have had the better of the Rivermen on special teams, scoring on three of 24 power plays while holding Peoria scoreless on 20 of 21 chances with the man advantage. In goal, Travis Bosch, now in the CHL with Denver, had the lone win against the Rivermen in net for Columbus. Andrew Loewen was the goaltender of record for the three losses against Peoria but had a respectable 2.71 goals against average and a .909 save percentage in the three games. While Rivermen goaltender Kyle Rank finished the season with a league-best 1.89 GAA, .938 save percentage, and eight shutouts, his numbers against the Snakes have been rather pedestrian with a 3.02 GAA and .914 SPCT in three games. Another key to the series will be the stark difference between the two teams in physical play; the Rivermen had the SPHL's most disciplined team in the regular season with a league low 889 penalty minutes, while Columbus had the second-highest PIM total in the league during the season with 1313. The Snakes will have to break the home-ice advantage the Rivermen had held this season as they finished tied with Huntsville for the best home record and finished with the fewest home regulation losses in the league with a 19-6-3 record at Carver Arena.

COTTONMOUTHS WEEK IN REVIEW

Friday, March 21 - Columbus 3 at Mississippi Surge 2 (SO) (Attendance: 1,685)

The Snakes struck back from a 2-0 deficit with two third period goals on Friday night in Biloxi, then tallied the game-winner in a shootout to defeat the Mississippi Surge 3-2. Andy Willigar was credited with a goal for the shootout game winner, while Matt Gingera and Jason Gray tallied the regulation goals for Columbus. Andrew Loewen made 32 saves on 34 shots and stymied all four Surge players in the shootout for the win, while Mathieu Dugas turned away 22 of 24 in regulation and overtime and allowed two of four Snakes to score in the shootout. Neither team scored on the power play as Columbus was 0 for 5 with the man advantage and Mississippi finished 0 for 3.

Saturday, March 22 - Columbus 2 at Huntsville 3 (Attendance: 4,944)

The Snakes scored first on Saturday night in Huntsville behind a Jordan Draper goal, but Nick Lazorko's hat trick powered the Havoc offense to a 3-2 victory over Columbus in the regular season finale for both teams. Sam Bowles was credited with the other goal in the game for the Snakes. Shannon Szabados made 32 saves on 35 shots in her second game in net for the Cottonmouths and was named the game's third star, while Jesse Kallechy picked up the win between the pipes for Huntsville with 34 saves on 36 shots. As in the previous night's game, neither team scored on the power play as Columbus was 0 for 3 and Huntsville finished 0 for 5.

THREE STARS OF THE WEEK

1. F Matt Gingera - Gingera logged a goal and assist Friday and had an assist on Saturday.

2. F Jordan Draper - Draper had a hand in both Columbus goals on Saturday night, scoring one and assisting on the other.

3. G Andrew Loewen - Loewen made 32 saves on 34 shots and denied all four Surge players in the shootout to pick up the win in net on Friday night in Biloxi.



SPHL Stories from March 24, 2014


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