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Snakes' Season Ends In Series Loss To Ice Bears

April 1, 2013 - SPHL (SPHL)
Columbus Cottonmouths News Release


COLUMBUS, Ga. - The Columbus Cottonmouths' season came to an end on Saturday night as the Knoxville Ice Bears eliminated the Snakes in a first round series victory. The Ice Bears won the best-of-three series against Columbus two games to none, with both wins coming via 3-0 shutout victories in Knoxville on Friday night and at the Snake Pit on Saturday night. It marks the sixth time in nine SPHL seasons where the Snakes were eliminated in the first round of the postseason and guarantees a new league champion at the end of the playoffs in the middle of April.

SPHL SEMIFINALS PREVIEW

(3) Pensacola vs. (4) Knoxville - Season Series Tied 1-1-0

Game 1: Thursday, April 4 - 7:30 PM EDT @ KNX

Game 2: Saturday, April 6 - 8:05 PM EDT @ PEN

Game 3 (if needed): Sunday, April 7 - 7:05 PM EDT @ PEN

The Knoxville Ice Bears and Pensacola Ice Flyers tangle in a rematch of a semifinal matchup from this season. Unlike last season, however, Pensacola will have home ice advantage for the series. Due to building availability, however, Game 1 will actually be played at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum on Thursday before the scene shifts to the Pensacola Bay Center for Games 2 and 3 (if needed) on Saturday and Sunday. The two teams met just twice in the regular season with the visiting team winning each game of the series. Last season, the Ice Bears ran into a red-hot goaltender in the form of Pensacola's Steve Christie. This season, Knoxville appears to have the hottest netminder in the league for the postseason as Bryan Hince was in net for the entirety of the first round series against Columbus and did not allow a single goal in 120 minutes of play and 54 shots against. Veteran Emery Olauson has found his groove at the right time as he scored a pair of goals in the series-clinching victory for the Ice Bears in Columbus on Saturday night, and forward Ben Souders doubled his goal output from the regular season in Friday night's win in Tennessee with a pair of goals against the Snakes. The Ice Bears will have to find some offense from other sources than who provided it against Pensacola in the two games between the two teams; of Knoxville's six goals in the two games against Pensacola this season, three were off the sticks of Berkley Scott (2) and Tyler Fernandez (1).First-year head coach Gary Graham has guided Pensacola to a familiar position as they face the Ice Bears for the second straight season in the semifinals. The team was decimated midway through the season with numerous players loaned to teams in the CHL and ECHL after the NHL lockout was lifted; however, the Ice Flyers have regained a few of those players on their roster for the playoff push, including forward Patrick Knowlton, who was Pensacola's leading scorer prior to being loaned to Fort Wayne in the ECHL; and goaltender Ross MacKinnon, who was near the top of the SPHL goaltending charts along with Snakes netminder Andrew Loewen before extended stays with Bloomington (CHL) and Evansville (ECHL). MacKinnon was named to the SPHL All-Rookie Team last week, voted on by coaches and media members around the league. The team has also received a boost from the signing of veteran forward Dan Buccella last month, who served as captain of the Ice Flyers last season under former head coach Todd Gordon. Buccella rewarded the team for their decision to bring him back, scoring a hat trick in his 4th game with Pensacola in a March 15 game against Augusta.

SPHL SEMIFINALS PREVIEW

(2) Louisiana vs. (8) Huntsville - LOU won season series 5-1-0

Game 1: Tuesday, April 2 - 8:05 PM EDT @ LOU

Game 2: Friday, April 5 - 8:30 PM EDT @ HSV

Game 3 (if needed): Saturday, April 6 - 8:05 PM EDT @ LOU

The Huntsville Havoc will face the Louisiana IceGators in the semifinals, with Game 1 of the best-of-three series slated for Tuesday night in the Cajundome in Lafayette, La. Game 2 is scheduled for Huntsville's Propst Arena at the Von Braun Center on Friday night, and if necessary, both teams will return to Lafayette for a deciding Game 3 Saturday night in the Cajundome. The IceGators dominated the season series between the two teams, winning five of the six games and shutting the Havoc out in the last two games; however, two of the five wins were decided in overtime or a shootout.The Huntsville Havoc made it two for two in SPHL history for #8 seeds knocking off #1 seeds in the first round of the playoffs. Since the league expanded to an eight-team playoff last season, the Havoc have been the eighth-seeded team both times, and both times, they successfully knocked off the regular season champion in a first round shocker. Last season, it took three games to dispatch the newly-minted regular season champion Augusta RiverHawks; this season, the Coffey Trophy-winning Fayetteville FireAntz fell victim to the Havoc in a two-game sweep last Wednesday in Huntsville and Thursday in Fayetteville, albeit both games were decided in overtime. The Havoc were bolstered by the addition of forward Justin Fox and defenseman Leland Fidler for the postseason, who both were a major part of the Havoc's upset of the FireAntz in the first round. Goaltender Dan McWhinney, who was placed on the season-ending injured reserve after undergoing an emergency apprendectomy late last month, was the goaltender of record for all six games Huntsville played against Louisiana this season; current Havoc goaltender Jesse Kallechy actually faced Huntsville as a member of the IceGators earlier this season, going 1-1-0 against the Havoc in two games.The Havoc are pitted against the Louisiana IceGators, where head coach Kevin Kaminski has overseen incremental improvement in Lafayette since being hired midway through the 2010-11 season. After the team failed to make the playoffs in the first two seasons of its four-year existence, including setting a league record 20-game winless streak in 2010-11, Kaminski guided the 'Gators to the seventh seed in the postseason last year before being swept by eventual league champion Columbus. This year, Kaminski had Louisiana within one standing point of capturing the regular season championship, but the IceGators lost the last game of the season in Pensacola, giving Fayetteville the regular season championship by virtue of more wins. Goaltender Riley Gill had a league-high 25 wins in net for Louisiana this season and set an SPHL single-season record with five shutouts; however, he is currently providing his services to the Reading Royals in the ECHL, where he was named the ECHL Goaltender of the Week for two consecutive weeks late last month. Relative newcomers Breton Lindoff and Dustin Carlson are the two goaltenders on the Louisiana playoff roster, and both had varying degrees of success in their first round series against the Mississippi RiverKings. Carlson, however, was the goaltender of record for one of the IceGators victories against the Havoc, shutting Huntsville out on February 9 in one of just two regular season appearances he had for Louisiana. The series against the 'Kings was won where the home team won each of the three games, including a come-from-behind overtime thriller in Game 3 at the Cajundome to propel the 'Gators into the second round of the SPHL playoffs for the first time in team history. COTTONMOUTHS WEEK IN REVIEW

Friday, March 30 - Columbus 0 at Knoxville 3 (Attendance: 3,047)

Goaltender Bryan Hince continued his dominance against the Cottonmouths in Game 1 of the quarterfinal series against the Ice Bears in Knoxville Friday night. Hince turned away all 19 shots on goal he faced from the Snakes, while Cottonmouths netminder Andrew Loewen stopped 22 of 24 shots on goal in his first professional postseason game in goal (Knoxville's third goal was an empty-net tally). The Ice Bears were 1 for 2 on the power play and held Columbus scoreless in their four chances with the man advantage.

Saturday, March 31 - Knoxville 3 at Columbus 0 (Attendance: 2,131)

The Snakes were again shut out against Knoxville goaltender Bryan Hince and the Ice Bears Saturday night despite outshooting them 35-20 in the game. Andrew Loewen made 17 saves on 20 shots on goal in net for Columbus. The Ice Bears were 1 for 5 on the power play while the Snakes were 0 for 6.

THREE STARS OF THE YEAR

1. G Andrew Loewen - Loewen set SPHL single-season records in goals-against average (1.74) and save percentage (.945), finishing tied for third in the league in wins as well (19).

2. F Matt Gingera - Gingera led the team in goals and points and was named the SPHL Rookie of the Year.

3. D Bret Tyler - Tyler led the Snakes in assists this season and was named to the All-SPHL Second Team last week.



SPHL Stories from April 1, 2013


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