Snakes Claim Sole Possession Of Second

Published on February 6, 2012 under SPHL (SPHL)
Columbus Cottonmouths News Release


COLUMBUS, Ga. - Despite winning just once in three games last week, the Columbus Cottonmouths are now all alone in second place in the Southern Professional Hockey League standings. After dropping games on the road Thursday night at the Mississippi Surge and at home on Friday night against Augusta, the Snakes bounced back with a win on the road Saturday night in Knoxville, separating themselves from the Ice Bears to claim second place in the standings. This week, the Snakes host a pair of weekend games with matchups against Knoxville on Friday night and the Mississippi Surge on Saturday night. All games will be 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. In addition, road games are now broadcast locally in the Columbus area on 107.7 FM.

CURRENT RECORDS AND STATS

Last Week: 1-2-0

Record: 22-12-5, 49 pts (2nd, SPHL)

124 GF, 107 GA

20.1% PP (1st, SPHL); 90.7% PK (1st, SPHL)

LAST WEEK'S TRANSACTIONS

none

SPHL STANDINGS

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

Augusta 38 26 8 4 56 .737 151 110 912 15-2-2 11-6-2 6-2-2 2-0-0

Columbus 39 22 12 5 49 .628 124 107 811 13-6-2 9-6-3 6-3-1 1-0-0

Knoxville 36 22 11 3 47 .653 141 114 703 13-4-1 9-7-2 2-5-3 0-4-2

Pensacola 36 20 13 3 43 .597 123 118 623 11-5-0 9-8-3 5-4-1 1-0-0

Louisiana 38 18 17 3 39 .513 133 136 646 10-7-1 8-10-2 4-5-1 2-0-0

Huntsville 38 17 17 4 38 .500 118 134 837 10-7-2 7-10-2 6-3-1 0-0-1

Mississippi Surge 36 17 16 3 37 .514 110 116 680 9-6-2 8-10-1 7-2-1 0-1-0

Mississippi R'Kings 34 13 18 3 29 .426 97 115 526 9-9-1 4-9-2 6-3-1 0-1-0

Fayetteville 39 12 24 3 27 .346 124 171 744 5-13-2 7-11-1 3-6-1 0-3-0

UPCOMING GAMES AND PROMOTIONS

Friday, February 10 - Knoxville at Columbus, 7:30 PM EST (Season Series vs. KNX: 4-0-2)

The Knoxville Ice Bears make their final visit of the season to the Snake Pit on Friday night. The Ice Bears are currently mired in a 1-5-3 slump in their last nine games that has seen them fall from first to third in the SPHL standings. The team is still in search of a goaltender after losing Bryan Hince to the ECHL and having rookie netminder Jesse Kallechy as the #1 in Knoxville. Despite being in third place behind the Snakes, however, the Ice Bears still have a better winning percentage than Columbus and have three games in hand on the Cottonmouths as well.

Saturday, February 11 - Mississippi Surge at Columbus, 7:30 PM EST (Season Series vs. MSS: 2-2-1)

The Snakes will have a chance to avenge one of their two losses last week as the Mississippi Surge make their final regular-season visit to Columbus on Saturday night. Surge rookie goaltender Kiefer Smiley picked up his third win against the Cottonmouths in five games on Thursday night in Biloxi and is now 3-1-1 against the Snakes, the only Surge goaltender to face Columbus so far this season. The Surge are currently the hottest team in the SPHL over the past ten games, going 7-2-1 in that span. Although still in seventh place, Mississippi is two points out of fifth with two games in hand on the two teams directly above them in the standings in Huntsville and Louisiana.

COTTONMOUTHS WEEK IN REVIEW

Thursday, February 2 - Columbus 1 at Mississippi Surge 4 (Attendance: 1,304)

Jordan Braid was the only Cottonmouth to solve Mississippi Surge goaltender Kiefer Smiley Thursday night in Biloxi as the Snakes fell 4-1 to the Surge. Mississippi scored the first four goals of the game before Braid's power play marker, with Greg Beller and Derek Pallardy assisting. Smiley turned away 21 of 22 Columbus shots on goal while Columbus's Andrew Loewen had 34 saves on 38 shots in the loss for the Cottonmouths. The Snakes finished 1 for 4 on the power play while Mississippi was 1 for 5 with the man advantage.

Friday, February 3 - Augusta 2 at Columbus 1 (Attendance: 4,848)

The Snakes' offense was held to one goal for the second straight night on Friday as the Augusta RiverHawks defeated Columbus 2-1 in their first visit to the Snake Pit this season. Daniel Amesbury scored the only goal for the Cottonmouths and the first one of the game before Augusta scored twice unanswered. Ian Vigier took the loss in net for Columbus despite turning away 34 of the 36 shots on goal he faced, while the RiverHawks' Jon Olthuis had 19 saves on 20 shots between the pipes for Augusta. Columbus was 0 for 2 on the power play while the `Hawks were 1 for 6 with the man advantage.

Saturday, February 4 - Columbus 4 at Knoxville 2 (Attendance: 5,117)

The Cottonmouths doubled up the hometown Knoxville Ice Bears 4-2 before an overflow crowd of 5,000-plus at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum. Greg Beller scored a pair of goals, both on the power play. Brett Hammond added a power play goal as well with Tom Maldonado scoring an even-strength marker. The Columbus power play was a perfect 3 for 3 on the night, vaulting them into first place in the SPHL in terms of power play success; the Snakes now sport the league's best power play and penalty kill, the latter of which held Knoxville scoreless in their six chances on Saturday night. Ian Vigier picked up the win in net with 33 saves on 35 shots, with Jesse Kallechy stopping 23 of 27 in the loss in net for the Ice Bears.

THREE STARS OF THE WEEK

1. F Greg Beller - Beller scored a pair of goals in Saturday's win in Knoxville and notched an assist on the Snakes' lone goal Thursday night in Biloxi.

2. F Jordan Braid - Braid scored the only goal of the game for Columbus on Thursday night and had a pair of assists on Saturday night.

3. G Ian Vigier - Vigier turned away 67 of 71 shots he faced on Friday and Saturday nights, allowing two goals in each game.

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