ECHL Idaho Steelheads

Steelheads Split Weekend Set Against Defending ECHL Champs

December 8, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Idaho Steelheads News Release


BOISE, Idaho - After a stellar weekend by Idaho's netminder Dan Ellis, the Idaho Steelheads begin this week in second-place in their Pacific Division, two points behind the Alaska Aces. Though Idaho lost Friday night's first-ever battle against the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies, 3-1, Ellis stopped a season high 42 shots, then broke that record the following night with a 2-1 win, with Ellis making 48 saves; 90 stops in two games.

RECORD: In 22 games played, the Steelheads are: 14-8-0, 28 points. With a winning percentage of .636, they clutch second place in the Pacific Division, though Las Vegas is tied with Idaho for points. The Steelheads are 10-4-0 at home, 4-4-0 on the road, and have won 7 of their last 10 games.

GAME RECAPS:

12/05/03 vs ATLANTIC CITY: IDAHO 1- ATLANTIC CITY 3

BOISE, Idaho (Ticker) -- Luke Curtin assisted on all three goals to help the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies beat the Idaho Steelheads, 3-1. Curtin who recorded his third three-point game of the year and second in his last three games, had a hand in the eventual game-winning goal by Josh Prudden midway through the middle period. Brian Fahey struck on the power play midway through the first period and Preston Mizzi potted his sixth marker of the year just 5:07 into the final stanza for Atlantic City, which improved to 6-5 on the road. Scott Stirling, who entered the contest with a 1.81 goals-against average, finished with 18 saves for the win. Lance Galbraith scored the lone goal for Idaho, which saw its four-game winning streak come to an end. Dan Ellis made 42 saves in defeat.

12/06/03 vs ATLANTIC CITY: IDAHO 2- ATLANTIC CITY 1

BOISE, Idaho (Ticker) -- Dan Ellis recorded a season-high 48 saves to help the Idaho Steelheads edge the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies, 2-1. Ellis turned away 18 shots in the first period and all 14 he saw in the third to post his fifth win in his last six starts. Ben Keup opened the scoring for Idaho 16 seconds after the initial faceoff and Zenon Konopka notched his second game-winning goal of the year with 2:51 left in the second period. Jon Cullen tied the score at 1-1 with a power-play marker 6:53 into the contest for Atlantic City, which ended its six-game road trip at 3-3-0. Scott Stirling turned aside 15 of the 17 shots he faced in the loss.

IN THE NET: Goaltender Dan Ellis has improved his record to 8-6, allowing 36 goals and making 383 stops. He is 2-0 in shootout wins, allowing only one 1 goal in 9 attempts. Ellis has posted a 2.56 average and a save percentage of .914. Goaltender Blair Allison remains at 6-2, allowing 15 goals in 173 attempts. Allison has posted an average of 1.88 and save percentage of .920, and is currently fifth in the league. Going into this season, Allison holds the Steelheads all-time games played for goaltenders with 85 (2001-03); wins with 57 (2001-03); GAA with 2.55 (2001-03); and shutouts with 4 (2001-03).

Both Idaho goaltenders have had perfect games this season, each earning a shutout in a weekend duo against Cincinnati: Friday, November 7th Idaho shutout Cincinnati 3-0 with goaltender Dan Ellis in net, and Saturday, November 8th Blair Allison excelled as the winning goalie in a 1-0 match. The pair of wins marked the first back-to-back shutouts in Idaho Steelheads history.

SCORING LEADERS: Czech native Jan Kopecky (F) continues to the team in scoring with 20 points (9G, 11A). David Cornacchia (D) and Scott Burt (F) are in second spot with 14 points each; each have 4 goals and 10 assists. Zenon Konopka (F) is third in scoring with 13 points; 6 goals and 7 assists.

PP and PK: Idaho's power play is ranked 23rd in the league at 13.07%, with the team scoring 17 in 130 chances on the season. The team's overall penalty kill improved to 20th at 82.64%, allowing 21 in 121 attempts.

PAST WEEK TRANSACTIONS:

12/01/2003 Delete DAN ELLIS (G) recalled to Utah (AHL)
12/01/2003 Delete TRENT CLARK (F) suspended by team
12/02/2003 Delete DARREL HAY (D) loaned to Utah (AHL)
12/02/2003 Delete ZENON KONOPKA (F) recalled to Utah (AHL)
12/02/2003 Delete CHRIS MARINUCCI (F) suspended by team
12/03/2003 Add TRENT CLARK (F) suspension lifted
12/04/2003 Add ZENON KONOPKA (F) assigned from Utah (AHL)
12/04/2003 Add JEFF BATEMAN (F) assigned from Utah (AHL)
12/05/2003 Add DAN ELLIS (G) assigned from Utah (AHL)
12/06/2003 Add ROB HARTNELL, (F) signed contract

OF NOTE:

Former Steelhead Gavin Morgan made his first appearance in an NHL game on December 4th with the Steelheads NHL affiliate, Dallas Stars. Morgan is first Steelhead to see action in an NHL game after playing for the Steelheads. As of today, he has played in 3 games with the Stars, scoring no points and tallying 11 penalty minutes. The 5'11, 190-pound forward played 54 games for Idaho in 1999-00, tallying 17 goals, 33 assists and 150 penalty minutes. After Idaho, Morgan went on to play for the IHL Long Beach Ice Dogs (1999-00), IHL Utah Grizzlies (2000-01), AHL Utah Grizzlies (2001-02), and AHL Hershey Bears (2003-04), before getting the call up from the NHL Dallas Stars.

UP NEXT:

December 12th - Idaho Steelheads @ San Diego Gulls

December 13th - Idaho Steelheads @ San Diego Gulls

PRACTICE SCHEDULE:

Idaho will skate Monday through Wednesday this week at the Bank of America Centre from 10:00 a.m. - Noon. All skates are open to the public.

TICKETS: Game tickets for home games are available at the Bank of America Centre, by visiting any Select-A-Seat outlet, by calling 331-TIXS (8497), or by logging on to www.idahotickets.com or www.idahosteelheads.com. With every ticket purchased, fans will receive $1.00 off any 12-pack Pepsi product purchased at Jacksons throughout the season by redeeming any game ticket stub at a participating Jacksons store.

RADIO:

Join "Voice of the Steelheads," Britt Talbert on ESPN 1350 KTIK every night from 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. for the Bud Light Sports Talk Show. Every Monday features Steelheads Head Coach John Olver. Stay tuned on game nights as Britt will bring fans live action for all 72 games; Color Commentator Mark Broz joins Britt for home games. Games can also be heard via the Internet through the Steelheads website, www.idahosteelheads.com or by logging on to www.ktik.com.

TELEVISION: Never miss a home game, as CableOne Channel 17 will air every game the following day at 6:00 p.m. and again at 9:00 p.m.

Check out the Idaho Steelheads Statistics



ECHL Stories from December 8, 2003


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.

OurSports Central