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This Week in the WHA2

January 2, 2004 - SPHL (SPHL) News Release


CELEBRATION, Fla. – The World Hockey Association 2 (WHA2) today announced the WHA2 Player of the Week is Miami Manatees forward Oak Hewer. In games the weekend of December 26, Hewer had three goals and four assists. He scored a hat trick against Jacksonville on December 27. This is the second time Hewer has received Player of the Week honors. The WHA2 Goaltender of the Week is Miami Manatees Mark Gowan. Gowan won both games he started this past weekend and made 69 saves on 73 shots. Gowan has a 3.08 goals against average and a .906 save percentage.

WHA2 Co-Chairman of the Board Mike Eruzione will be the special celebrity weather host on ESPN2's Cold Pizza morning show. Tune in to ESPN2 from 7:00am to 9:00am on January 7 to see the WHA2 on national TV!

Orlando Seals Head Coach Jim Paek has earned the honor of being the coach of the WHA2 All-Star team. Miami Manatees Head Coach Zac Boyer will be the assistant coach. Paek and Boyer were teammates on the 1999 Houston Aeros Turner Cup Championship team. The All-Star starting line-up will be announced next week. Paek and Boyer will determine the rest of the All-Star line-up and the WHA2 will announce the line-up the week of January 5. The All-Star Game will take place on January 27 in Jacksonville at the brand-new, state-of-the-art Veterans Memorial Arena. Contact the Barracudas office at 904.367.1423 for ticket information.

The WHA2 and the ESPN Club have partnered up for Tuesday night "SportsTalk Live!" Every Tuesday at 7pm (with the exception of January 27), a member of the WHA2 will be the featured guest at the ESPN Club on Disney's BoardWalk. Newly named All-Star Coach Jim Paek will be the guest for the January 6th installment.

The Alabama Slammers notched a win, a loss, and a shoot out win in their three game series versus the Macon Trax. On December 20, Macon defeated the Slammers 4-6. The Slammers gave the home crowd a lot to cheer about in their 9-3 victory over the Trax on December 26. Ryan Prentice scored two goals and Wade Patterson, Tim Donnelly, Doug Lawrence, Jason Renard, Joe Savioli, Mike Craigen, and Andrew Oke all had one goal in the victory. The excitement didn't end there as the Slammers pulled off a thrilling win in the shoot out on December 27. The Slammers continue to get balanced scoring as four different players lit the lamp. Jerry Kresac was the hero of the night as he scored the only goal in the shoot out.

The Jacksonville Barracudas wrapped up a six-game road trip with a 2-3-1 record dropping the ‘Cudas to second place and two points behind league leading Orlando. The Barracudas went into the road swing with a six game winning streak. With wins over Lakeland and Macon the streak increased to eight games. The streak came to an end in Miami on Friday, December 19th as the Manatees beat the Cudas 4-2. The Barracudas lost their second in a row on Saturday, December 20th dropping a 3-2 decision to the Seals. The Barracudas winless streak hit three games with a heartbreaking 1-0 OT loss to the Seals last Friday night. Rookie goaltender Randy Hevey, signed to replace Nate Ziemski who's been placed on the 14-day IR with a foot injury, played spectacular in earning a regulation shut-out in his first professional game. The story book ending was ruined when Orlando scored a little over a minute into the extra time. The Barracudas wrapped up the six-game stretch in Miami and a 6-3 loss to the Manatees. Oak Hewer has been the ‘Cuda Killer as he picked up five points against Jacksonville. During the winless streak, the Barracudas have clearly outplayed their opponents out shooting the opposition 159-87. The Barracudas host Orlando on Friday night, and have a home-and-home against Miami on Saturday and Sunday.

The Lakeland Loggerheads suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of the Miami Manatees on December 26. The Manatees got on the scoreboard first when Eric Perricone slammed home the rebound of his initial shot. The Loggerheads evened up the score in the second period at 17:07 on a power-play goal from Jungi Sakata, a former Japanese national team player playing in his third professional North American hockey game. Sakata's goal was the only power-play of the game. Manatees Ryan Kiley netted the game-winner. The next night the Loggerheads took on the Orlando Seals and fell behind 4-0 in the first period but came roaring back on the strength of a pair of goals from Jim Quilty and goals from Jeremy Vokes, Joe Seroski and newcomer Owen Milliea. The Loggerheads scored five unanswered goals giving Lakeland the lead early in the third period. Seamus Galligan tied the game at 5-5 for the Seals at 8:34 of the third period. Orlando's Brad Federenko completed the hat trick with the overtime power play winner one minute and 17 seconds into the extra session. The Lakeland Loggerheads earned their third victory on home ice when they beat the Manatees by a score of 5-3 at the Lakeland Center on December 28. Joe Seroski scored two goals. Lenny Bonnano, Jim Callahan, and Jeremy Vokes each had a goal in the win.

The Macon Trax faced the Alabama Slammers for three straight games this past weekend. The first bout went to Macon, the second to the Slammers, and the third was drawn out to the shoot out with the Slammers immerging victorious. The Macon Trax will be "feeling good in the neighborhood." Starting Monday, Dec. 29, every week "Chuggin' With the Trax" will take place at Applebee's Grill and Bar. Throughout January, "Chuggin' With the Trax" will be live from 6-7 pm at the Applebee's at 2657 Riverside Drive in Macon. In February, the show will move to the Warner Robins Applebee's located at 314 Russell Parkway. The locations for the March and April shows will be released at a later date. Every week Trax broadcaster Adam Minnick will be joined by Head Coach Tommy Stewart to review the games from the prior week and look ahead to the upcoming schedule. Also joining Minnick and Stewart will be different guests including, players, staff, fans, and some surprises along the way. The Trax play three games in three nights this weekend. On Friday, the Lakeland Loggerheads come to town. Saturday sees the Seals at the Centreplex while the Trax travel to Lakeland on Sunday.

The Miami Manatees four-game winning streak came to end as they fell to the Lakeland Loggerheads by a score of 5-3 in Lakeland. But Coach Boyer's team had enough in the standings for him to be named the Assistant Coach for the All-Star team. Boyer will join Orlando Coach Jim Paek behind the bench. Boyer announced the signing of forwards Ron Baker and Mike Murray. Murray, 25, spent four years playing at Dartmouth from 1999-2000 to 2002-2003. Murray scored 23 goals and 71 points, while accumulating 128 penalty minutes in 125 games. Hailing from Dover Massachusetts, Murray made his professional debut this season, playing seven games in the ECHL and in 10 games with the Richmond Riverdogs of the UHL. Baker, 27, comes to the Manatees after playing last season with the UHL Fort Wayne Komets. In 33 games, Baker had one goal, five points and 17 penalty minutes. From 1998-1999 to 2000-2001, Baker played for the University of Alabama-Huntsville of the Division 1 CHA conference. Baker played in 91 games, scoring 33 goals and 79 points with 142 penalty minutes. Boyer also announced that center Ryan Kiley and JF Picard have been suspended from the team.

The Orlando Seals, who have run their winning streak to six games, continue their longest road trip of the season to date, with two road games this week. The Seals visit the Jacksonville Barracudas Friday at 7:05 p.m. and the Macon Trax Saturday at 7:35 p.m. The Seals took two one-goal decisions last week, at both ends of the hockey spectrum. They defeated the Jacksonville Barracudas 1-0 in overtime on Friday, raced to a 4-0 lead in Lakeland on Saturday, fell behind 5-4 and eventually won the game 6-5 in overtime. The Seals "Electric Company" line of Brad Federenko, Jason Elders and B.J. Stephens had another high voltage night on Saturday. Federenko (named WHA2 Player of the Week for the Week ending Dec. 21) registered the Seals first hat trick of the season (including the overtime goal) and had one assist; Elders had a shorthanded goal and two assists; and Stephens added to his team leading goal and point totals with a goal and three assists. Defenseman Mark White had the overtime goal against Jacksonville, and followed that with a three assist performance at Lakeland. Joe Pecoraro set up the Seals shorthanded goal on Saturday, and also had another assist in the game. Goaltender David Goverde (who was named WHA2 goalie of the week for the week ending Dec. 21) stopped 44 shots in getting the shutout over Jacksonville.

The WHA2 has six member teams for the 2003 – 2004 season: the Alabama Slammers, Jacksonville Barracudas, Lakeland Loggerheads, Macon Trax, Miami Manatees, and Orlando Seals. Every game will be broadcast on www.irn.fm with video broadcast of select games available throughout the season.

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