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Thank You For A Great Season

April 7, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Arkansas RiverBlades News Release


The Arkansas RiverBlades would like to thank all of the fans for their support in the 2002-2003 season, and we look to see you back here next season, as we build on the most successful season in team history!

It was a record-breaking year for the RiverBlades. The team set new club records for wins in a season (37), points in a season (85), and highest playoff seeding (3rd). The club's 238 goals were the most ever by a RiverBlades team, and the 23.6 percent power-play led the entire ECHL. The Blades were also one of only 4 teams in the ECHL who had a noticeable increase in attendance this year (9 percent).

Buddy Smith became the first RiverBlades player ever to win the ECHL Scoring Title and ECHL Most Valuable Player Award. Smith shattered the team records for assists in a season (74) and points in a season (104), and had his first career 30-goal campaign. He was the first RiverBlade ever to start in the ECHL All-Star Game back in January, and he was named first-team center on the 2002-2003 All-ECHL squad.

Jason Bermingham set a new team record with 38 goals, breaking Mark Cadotte's old record of 37 set back in 2000-2001. In addition, Jason set a new club record and finished tied for 2nd in the ECHL with 18 power-play goals. He was named InGlasCo ECHL Player of the Week for the week of December 30th through January 5th, scoring 6 points in 2 games. He also won the Sher-Wood ECHL Player of the Month Award in January, with 19 points, 4 game-winning goals and a +12 rating. Jason joins captain Eric Long as the only RiverBlades' players to win the Player of the Month Award. On March 26th, Bermingham tied a club record with 4 goals against the Columbus Cottonmouths.

Matt Pagnutti had a career year on the Blades blue-line. Pagnutti set new career-highs with 15 goals and 58 points. He finished third among defensemen in scoring, and was tied for the league-lead with 12 power-play goals. Pagnutti was also named second-team defenseman on the 2002-2003 All-ECHL team for the first time in his career. He scored the winning goal in the 11th round of the longest shootout in team history, as the Blades defeated the Louisiana IceGators 2-1.

Ernie Hartlieb had a breakout year, earning a call-up to Worcester of the American Hockey League. With the Blades, Hartlieb scored 21 goals and 34 assists for 55 points in just 47 games. With Worcester, Ernie played 24 games, scoring 15 points and a +9 rating. He is currently on the IceCats' playoff roster, as they prepare to face the Binghamton Senators in the first round.

Terry Marchant also had a career year this year at center. Marchant finished second on the team with 47 assists, and third with 68 points. Terry was one of only four RiverBlades' players to play in all 72 regular-season games this season, and he set a new club record with 5 short-handed goals.

Damon Whitten set career-marks this season with 12 goals and 27 assists for 39 points in his second season out of Michigan State. Whitten, who won the Kelly Cup last year with Greenville, tallied 4 short-handed goals and a +4 rating in 67 games.

Dean Stork was solid on the Blades blue line, with 15 goals and 28 points. Stork also had 10 power-play goals, 3 game-winners, and 84 penalty minutes.

Mike Sandbeck also played solid, both up front and back on defense when needed. For the year, Sandbeck tallied 12 goals and 16 assists for 28 points.

Scott Fankhouser backstopped the Blades down the stretch since coming over from Reading. In 19 games with Arkansas, Fankhouser posted an 11-5-2 record, with a 2.65 goals-against-average and a .917 save percentage.

All in all, it was a great year. We'll see you in October!

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