Sting looking to win fourth straight Friday

Published on January 31, 2007 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
New Mexico Scorpions News Release


Two teams headed in decidedly different directions will do battle at Jobing.com Arena on Friday night, as the expansion New York Titans, who have lost four of their first five games in the National Lacrosse League, travel to Glendale to take on the Arizona Sting, winners of three straight.

The Sting enjoyed a weekend off last week (Week #5) after their Week #4 sweep of a home-and-home series with the Portland Lumberjax. Sting goalie Rob Blasdell, who currently leads the league in both G.A.A. (8.50) and save percentage (82.0%), was named NLL Defensive and Overall Player of the Week following the back-to-back wins over Portland, and will be looking to carry his strong play into this week's showdown with New York.

The Titans played twice last weekend, losing both of their matches by a combined score of 37-29 against Philadelphia and Rochester. In the latter match, Knighthawks forward John Grant set an NLL record by registering 15 points (9G-6A) in his team's 22-18 win at the War Memorial in Rochester. The man who co-held the record prior to last weekend, Sting forward Derek Malawsky, has a date with history himself, as he could potentially join the NLL's 500-point club on Friday. The 33-year old veteran has 496 points thus far in his career, and is averaging 3.5 points-per-game thus far with the Sting this season (4GP-4G-10A-14P). The Titans have allowed a league-word 15.6 goals-per-game thus far in 2007, a big reason why they currently reside near the bottom of the standings in the East Division with a record of 1-4.

Titans Head Coach Adam Mueller is anticipating another difficult match for his first-year squad on Friday night.

"Last weekend was very tough," says Mueller. "We started out poorly in both games and that really cost us. We improved as the games went on, but weren't able to translate that momentum into victories unfortunately. Arizona has one of the best teams in the West, and we know we'll be in for a hard-fought game on Friday."

While they may have only won once so far in 2007, the Titans have scored 66 goals in their five games - the second-highest total in the East. In addition, their 21 power play tallies ranks New York third in the NLL behind only Colorado and Rochester.

"New York may have gone 0-2 last weekend both but they also scored 29 goals in two games," said Sting Head Coach/GM Bob Hamley in a pre-game press conference. "Their offense is very dynamic and we'll definitely have to focus on our defense this week in order to be successful."

Hamley pointed to former Syracuse All-American Casey Powell as being a major factor in the productivity of the Titans' offense. The 30-year old forward is currently ranked seventh in the NLL in scoring with 30 points (6G-24A).

"Casey Powell has been lights out so far this season," says Hamley. "He's playing as well as I've ever seen him play right now and we know we'll have to keep an eye on him whenever he's on the floor."

Three former members of the Sting will suit up for New York on Friday - forwards Mike McLellan, Gewas Schindler, and Pat Maddalena. Maddalena remains in second place on the Sting's all-time scoring list, having registered 200 points (97G-103A) over teh course of three seasons in the Valley of the Sun (2004-2006).

THE MATCH-UP:

2007:

New York: 1-4 record, 0-3 on the road this season

Arizona: 3-1 record,

Head-to-head:

This is the first game in which these two teams have played each other.

Sting All-Time vs. Expansion Teams:

Friday, January 13, 2006: ARZ 12 vs. POR 7

Saturday, March 4, 2006: ARZ 15 @ EDM 11

Friday, March 10, 2006: ARZ 13 vs. EDM 9

Saturday, March 11, 2006: ARZ 12 @ POR 10

Top Scorers:

NYT: Casey Powell (5GP-6G-24A-30P); Pat Maddalena (5GP-15G-12A-27P); Ryan Boyle (5GP-9G-14A-23P); Mike McLellan (5GP-10G-3A-13P); Brendan Mundorf (3GP-8G-4A-12P)

ARZ: Dan Dawson (4GP-11G-13A-24P); Craig Conn (4GP-7G-13A-20P); Lindsay Plunkett (4GP-8G-6A-14P); Derek Malawsky (4GP-4G-10A-14P); Matt Brown (4GP-2G-9A-11P)

Goalies:

NYT: Curtis Palidwor (1-1 record, 15.82 G.A.A., .730 save %)

ARZ: Rob Blasdell (3-1 record, 8.50 G.A.A., .820 save %)

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Central Hockey League Stories from January 31, 2007


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