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The Best of the Best

February 10, 2003 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Corpus Christi IceRays News Release


After Ken Richardson's (Peace Rivar, ALB) overtime dramatics propelled the Rayz to a 5-4 victory over Odessa on Friday, the team dropped decisions to rivals Austin and Laredo to fall 1 point behind the Lubbock Cotton Kings for the last playoff spot in the Southern Conference.

The Rayz started the weekend on a strong note taking their third game in four meetings against the Odessa Jackalopes. The Jackalopes, minus head coach Don McKee who was recovering from quadruple by-pass surgery, opened the scoring at 6:27 of the 1st period when Matt Cressman's slap shot from the left circle beat Brent Belecki (Calgary, ALB) top shelf to give Odessa a 1-0 lead. But just :34 seconds later, Cosmo Dupaul (Pointe-Claire, PQ) tallied the equalizer when his shot from the right circle through traffic beat Mike Gorman at 7:01. After John Bossio gave Odessa the lead again, the Rayz would counter with three unanswered goals. First, John Sicinski (Mississauga, ONT) on the power play to a drop pass from Richardson in the slot and beat Gorman with a wrist shot at 18:45 to tie the game at 2-2. Then just 1:47 into the 2nd period, Sicinski found a streaking Dupaul who slipped it by Gorman for his second goal of the game and the Rayz first lead at 3-2. The Rayz would extend their lead later on the power play when again Richardson found Sicinski, this time at the top of the crease, and Sicinski drove it home at 10:08 to give the Rayz a 4-2 advantage. However, the Jackalopes would tighten up defensively and get their offense in gear. At 16:23 of the 2nd period, Don Margettie on the power play took a shot from the right corner that trickled through Belecki's pads cutting the deficit in half at 4-3. Odessa would net the tying goal in the 3rd period when Greg Gatto put home Margettie's rebound at 6:36 to send the game into overtime. That's when Richardson took a pass from David Bourque (Gloucester, ONT) at center ice, found a seam in the defense, cut in alone on Gorman and beat him with a backhander at 2:51 of the extra frame to give the Rayz a 5-4 win. Richardson's goal was his 5th point of the game to go along with 4 assists. Belecki made 40 saves in picking up his 20th win of the season.

Saturday the Rayz and Austin met for the first time since Ice Bats forward Shaun Legault temporarily interrupted Brett Colborne's season with a blindside check back on December 27. After a scoreless 1st period, the Ice Bats struck first on the power play when Dan Price slid the puck along the top of the crease for Jeff Greenlaw who tipped it by Brent Belecki at 8:28 for a 1-0 lead. Austin would double their lead later in the period again on the power play when Mike Rees' shot from the left-wing circle found its way through traffic and by Belecki at 16:14 for a 2-0 advantage. Cosmo Dupaul got the Rayz on the board early in the 3rd period when his drive from just inside the blue line beat Peter Brady at 6:18 to cut the deficit to 2-1. But defensive breakdowns later in the period would lead to goals from Austin's Gerald Tallaire and Dan Price as the Ice Bats rode a 34-save effort from Brady to a 4-1 win.

In the rubber game of the weekend, the Rayz looked to snap an 8-game losing streak to the Laredo Bucks who visited Memorial Coliseum. Laredo unfortunately would score early and often. Michel Periard gave the Bucks a 2-0 lead just a little over seven minutes into the game with 2 goals 3:01 seconds apart. The Bucks would extend their lead to 3-0 on the power play when David Myson deflected Dion Hyman's shot from the point by Rayz backup goalie Aren Miller (Oxbow, SASK) at 11:24 of the 1st period. The Rayz struck back just :28 seconds later when Martin Beck (Prostejov, Czech Republic) fired a slap shot from the slot that skimmed off the left post and banked into the net behind goalie Lance Leslie to trim the Bucks lead to 2 goals at 3-1. Former IceRay Dave Gilmore extended the Bucks lead to three again at 15:53 of the 1st when he one-timed Jeff Petruic's pass by Miller. Cosmo Dupaul would cap off a 6-goal 1st period at 17:09 on the power play when his one-timer from the center blue line sailed over Leslie's left shoulder making the score 4-2 at the end of 20 minutes. The 2nd period brought out the boxing gloves as both teams were whistled for 44 minutes worth of penalties. The Rayz clawed back to within 1 when John Cilladi (Phoenix, AZ) found John Sicinski at the top of the crease and Sicinski slammed it home at 9:54 to put the Rayz right back into the game trailing now just 4-3. But two late Bucks' goals by Joey Sewell gave Laredo a commanding 6-3 advantage heading into the final period. Chris Grenville would cap off the scoring in the 3rd period with his 32nd goal of the season and Laredo would cruise to a 7-3 win, their 9th in a row over the Rayz.

PLAYOFF UPDATE: The Rayz two losses this weekend coupled with Lubbock's victory Saturday over Amarillo puts the Cotton Kings 1 point ahead of the Rayz for the 4th and final playoff spot in the Southern Conference. New Mexico also remains very much in the race picking up 3 points this weekend to close within 1 of the Rayz and 2 of Lubbock. This week Lubbock hosts New Mexico Thursday before traveling to Fort Worth and Bossier-Shreveport Friday and Saturday. The Scorpions meanwhile are in the middle of 7-game swing where they don't play any games at home. New Mexico is at Lubbock Thursday then travels to Laredo and Austin Friday and Saturday.

23 AND DONE...: Aren Miller got the nod on Sunday vs. Laredo ending Brent Belecki's streak of 23 consecutive starts, a Rayz franchise record. Belecki was 12-10-1 during that time span with a 2.56 goals against average and a.926% save percentage. He allowed just 59 goals and turned aside 742 of 801 shots. Miller meanwhile stopped 34 of 41 shots in his debut, a 7-3 loss to Laredo.

...BUT 8 AND COUNTING: While Belecki's streak of consecutive starts is over, forward Cosmo Dupaul kept both his goals streak and scoring streak alive on Sunday. Dupaul's goal in the 1st period gave him a season and team-high 6-game goal streak and extended his scoring streak to 8 games, which matches the team high set by Layne Roland earlier this season. Roland had an 8-game scoring streak from 11/9/02-11/29/02.

SUPERLINE: Meanwhile Dupaul along with his line mates Ken Richardson and John Sicinski have combined for 27 points in the last 5 games. Dupaul leads the way with 7 goals and 3 assists while Sicinski continues to be a consistent threat chipping in 4 goals and 5 assists. Richardson has turned into more of a passing weapon as he's contributed 1 goal and 7 assists over the last 5 games, including 4 assists Friday vs. Odessa. Dupaul, Sicinski, and Richardson are 1, 2, and 3 on the Rayz in scoring.

BUT WHERE'S THE D?: The Rayz defense surrendered 15 goals in three games over the weekend, their worst defensive weekend since November 14-16 when they allowed 16 goals in 2 games against Laredo and 1 against Austin. While Austin has only outscored the Rayz 20-16, the Bucks have dominated play outscoring the Rayz 58-33. The 58 goals scored by the Bucks against the Rayz represents 30% of their overall goal total this season.

COLBORNE AND HOGUE UPDATE: Forward Russell Hogue and defenseman Brett Colborne both practiced this morning and continue to improve from post-concussion syndrome. Hogue is questionable for this week's 3-game road trip while Colborne will be out. Colborne is targeting February 19 vs. Austin, the team that knocked him out of action, as his return date.

AND FINALLY CONGRATULATIONS: Goes out to Rayz defenseman Mike Tilson who married his longtime girlfriend Jenny this afternoon at City Hall in downtown.

MARTINIS ON MONDAY: "Rayz Monday" continues tonight from 5PM-6PM at the Martini Bar located at the corners of Everhart and Saratoga in Corpus Christi. The Voice of the Rayz Dan Weiss hosts the show every Monday along with Scott Howe on ESPN Radio 1230 KSIX and is joined by Head Coach Al Sims and several Rayz players. Today Cosmo Dupaul is scheduled to join Dan and Scott following Coach Sims.

UP NEXT: The Rayz will hit the road this week for a 3-game swing through northwest Texas. The Rayz open the week on Wednesday at El Paso against the Buzzards at 8PM (Note that this game has been changed from its originally scheduled date of February 14). The Rayz will head east to meet the Odessa Jackalopes Thursday at the Ector County Coliseum at 7PM. Friday will be a travel day as the Rayz head to the panhandle for Saturday's face-off against the Amarillo Gorillas at 7:11PM. All games can be heard on 1045 The Octopus with Dan Weiss and Rick Dames, or on the Internet at www.sportsjuice.com. Broadcast time begins 30 minutes before face-off with the "American Tire and Wheel Pre-Game Show.

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