Tour de CHL

Published on December 26, 2005 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Austin Ice Bats News Release


Setting the Stage: The Austin Ice Bats of the Central Hockey League are 10-14-2 on their 10th-Anniversary 2005-06 season. After winning six out of eight games, the Ice Bats have been bitten by the injury bug and are just 1-4-2 over their last seven. As a result, the Ice Bats remain in fourth place in the Southeast Division, but are still just one point behind third-place Corpus Christi.

After playing five out of six games on the road heading into the Christmas holiday, the Ice Bats finally get the chance to play at home, hosting Lubbock on "Lance Armstrong Foundation Night" Wednesday at the Bat Cave. The team will then be at Odessa and Laredo to finish out the calendar year, winding down a stretch of eight games out of ten played away from home.

A look back: The Ice Bats picked up a win in a swing through Memphis, Fort Worth and Laredo last week. Last Tuesday the Bats were game, but playing two skaters short, didn't have the horses in a 4-1 loss at Memphis.

The RiverKings scored the only goal of the first period off a face-off win by veteran forward Dorian Anneck. One pass found forward Ryan Watson in front for the open backhander to the shelf at 13:34. Memphis outshot Austin, 14-6 in the period. Anneck added a goal from the right wing 2:24 into the second. And Don Parson's shot from high in the left circle glanced off a stick and then teammate Travis Banga for a power play score at 11:30.

Just seconds after his shot hit the post and glanced away, Ice Bats forward Jason Kenyon tipped home a Julius Halfkenny pass, cutting the Memphis lead to 3-1 late in the second period. But Parsons finished scoring with a goal 3:53 into the third, breaking a nine-game goal-scoring drought.

On Wednesday, the Ice Bats played a conservative game plan to perfection in snapping a five-game winless streak, 2-1 at Fort Worth. The Brahmas, playing their first game under new Head Coach Guy Larose, dropped their seventh straight game.

Once again playing without three of their top forwards, the Ice Bats laid back in the neutral zone to trap, and tried to capitalize on Fort Worth errors. One of those came late in the first, when a neutral ice turnover led to an odd man rush, but Fort Worth goalie Larry Sterling stopped Dave MacIntyre's shot. It was one of just four first period saves for Sterling, while his counterpart, Austin goalie Miguel Beaudry made 15 first period stops in his first start since coming to the Ice Bats in a trade from Memphis.

Beaudry made the first big save of the second as well on a shorthanded breakaway 4-1/2 minutes into the period. Then, 1-36 on the power play during their five-game skid, the Ice Bats scored a power play goal. Winger John McNabb snapped a shot over Sterling's left shoulder from the right circle at 6:06. The Brahmas tied the game on Matt Reynolds' backhander at 12:46. But the Ice Bats got the game winner inside the final minute of the period. Winger Gerald Tallaire's centering pass was batted back and forth inside the crease, and defenseman Aaron Schneekloth crashed the net for the go-ahead score.

The Brahmas kept up the attack in the final period, outshooting the Bats 14-5. Larose, taking over for the fired Al Sims last Monday, pulled Sterling for an extra attacker in the final minute, but Beaudry and the Bats held on for the win. Beaudry stopped 40 of 41 shots faced in the game.

To finish the week, the Ice Bats tested Laredo Friday night before the Bucks claimed a 5-3 victory at the Laredo Entertainment Center. Bucks forward Chris Grenville scored the game-winning goal midway through the third period.

The Bucks scored twice in an often-uninspired first period. Winger Ladislav Kouba opened scoring from the slot 1:21 into the contest, and Steve Simoes added a shorthanded goal six minutes in.

The Ice Bats picked up the intensity in the second, and halved the Laredo lead 4:38 into the period. Off an outlet pass by defenseman Darryl McArthur, forward Julian Smith split the Laredo defense and fed the puck to Dave MacIntyre for a score from the right wing. The Bucks regained a two-goal lead on Frank Lukes' second rebound score at 13:42.

But the Bucks then got a touch undisciplined, committing five straight minor penalties to close the second period. The Ice Bats took advantage for two power play goals to tie the game. Mike Tucciarone scored off a John McNabb centering pass from behind the net, and forward Dan Carney rebounded a Jonathan Jolette blast for a score with 2:11 remaining in the period.

Grenville tipped in the winning power play goal off a Jeff Bes pass at 9:48 of the third, and Laredo's James Hiebert added an empty net goal in the final seconds. The victory puts Laredo Coach Terry Ruskowski on the bench as Southern Conference All-Star Coach for the second straight year, and prevented the Ice Bats from leapfrogging Corpus Christi into third place in the CHL Southeast Division.

Roster Flights:

Arrivals: Last week marked the Ice Bats debut of goaltender Miguel Beaudry, obtained in a trade with Memphis on December 16th. Beaudry, who played both previous pro seasons under Coach Bill McDonald with New Mexico, was the winning goalie in last year's CHL All-Star Game. Playing in 55 of the Scorpions' 60 games last season, Beaudry finished 24-24-5, with a 3.11 GAA. 4-6-1 with a 4.35 GAA with Memphis this season, Beaudry allowed just five goals total in splitting two games last week.

Wounded Wings: The Ice Bats continue to battle injuries, but may be starting to get a little healthier this week. Center Jason Kenyon returned off 45-day injured reserve last week. And centers Jeff Neufeld and Aaron Davis could both be back in the lineup on Wednesday. However, forward Shawn Roed will miss a minimum of four to six weeks after undergoing knee surgery.

Player Plaudits: Winger John McNabb leads the Ice Bats in scoring with 15 goals and 13 assists. Forwards Aaron Davis and Dave MacIntyre are next on the team with 24 and 19 points, respectively. Aaron Schneekloth ranks among the top 15 defensemen with 7 goals, 10 assists. And Mike Tucciarone's 9 goals rate him third among all rookies.

Potential Bite Victims: After dropping their last three games, Lubbock is 12-13-1, second in the three-team Southwest Division. The Cotton Kings don't score a lot, but their defense ranks second only to division rival Odessa, allowing just 2.85 goals per game. Forward Nolan Graham (14 goals, 11 assists) and center Jan Melichercik (21 points) lead the Lubbock attack. Forward Emery Olauson, rookie Kyle Nosan and veteran Bobby Brown have chipped in 17 points each. Goaltender Brett Koscielny (4-6, 2.32 GAA) has proven to be a nice counterpart to veteran Lance Leslie (8-7-1, 3.03 GAA). Lubbock is 6-10 away from home this season.

Winner of three straight, Odessa is now 15-8-3 and has opened an eight-point lead in the Southwest. Disciples of Coach Don McKee's stingy system, the Jackalopes are tops in the league on defense (2.81 goals allowed per game) and the penalty kill (88.5%). And while the Jacks' 14th rated power play (11.5%) doesn't strike fear into your heart, Odessa has good balance offensively. Top 10 scorer Sebastien Thinel has 16 goals, 18 assists. Dominic Leveille leads all rookies with 31 points. Veteran Matt Cressman has 14 goals, 9 helpers, and perennial All-Star d-man Scott Hillman 19 points. The league's top goalie is Odessa's Mike Gorman, at 13-6-1 with a 2.29 GAA and .933 save percentage. 9-2-1 at home, Odessa has won eight straight games at the "Jack Shack." They'll host Amarillo Thursday before welcoming the Bats.

At 16-8-3, Laredo has had its Southeast Division lead trimmed to six points by Rio Grande Valley. But the Bucks continue to rank third in the CHL on offense (3.7 goals per game) and second on defense (2.85 average goals allowed). James Hiebert and Serge Dube are both in the top eight in the league with 35 points each. Dube, a defenseman by trade, has played most of this season at forward, and is building on an eight-game point streak. Former MVP Jeff Bes has 32 points in 19 games. Scrappy Hans Benson has 121 penalty minutes. The Bucks sport a fine combo in net, with David Lemanowicz (5-1-1, 1.99 GAA) spelled by Dov Grumet-Morris (4-2-1, 2.39 GAA), who was assigned by Laredo's AHL affiliate in San Antonio. 11-2 at home, Laredo will visit Rio Grande Valley on Tuesday and host Corpus Christi on Wednesday, but will then have off until the Bats come in Saturday.

The Series: The Ice Bats are 12-7-2 lifetime against Lubbock, 1-1 this season. The Bats claimed their first win of the season by beating the Cotton Kings 5-4 October 30th in Austin. The ‘Kings defended home ice with a 5-3 win November 6th.

The Bats are 14-4-3 lifetime against Odessa, with the Jackalopes claiming the season's only meeting, 3-1 November 13th at the Bat Cave.

Austin is 13-20-1 lifetime against Laredo. The Bucks have won all three meetings this year, beating the Bats 4-2 November 10th in Austin, then 5-2 and 5-3 in consecutive December games in Laredo.

Comments From the Coach:

On Last Week: "We'd have liked to have done better, but we knew it would be tough with a short lineup. I can't fault our team's effort. But a lot of guys were pretty gassed by the end of the week. If we play the same way with a full lineup, score on our chances and score on the power play like we did in Laredo, we'll win our share of games. I thought Beaudry played pretty well, facing a lot of shots in what amounts to a fresh start for him. We've got a pretty good tandem there once we get it going."

On This Week: "We're kind of reaching the end of a real tough stretch. We've got the game at home Wednesday against a good defensive team in Lubbock. Then we play two division leaders on the road, with both teams playing pretty well. After that, at least the travel schedule tapers off a little bit. And then we gotta get healthy and make some hay over the next two months."

Cave, Sweet Cave: The Ice Bats' final 2005 home game on Wednesday is "Lance Armstrong Foundation Night," with a portion of ticket proceeds from the game to benefit the LAF.

The Ice Bats are inviting all fans in attendance to "yellow-out" the Bat Cave for the game and wear yellow to support the LAF, which was founded in 1997 by champion cyclist and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong. LAF representatives will be at the game to distribute information about the LAF and collect donations. In addition, fans are invited to bring a stuffed toy to toss onto the ice after the Ice Bats' first goal, with all donated toys to be distributed to children surviving cancer.

Tickets for Ice Bats home games are on sale now through the Ice Bats office at 927-PUCK, or at any Texas Box Office location, including all Austin-area HEB stores. For on-line orders, fans may visit www.TexasBoxOffice.com or www.GetTix.Net. To charge by phone, fans may call the Ice Bats ticket office at 927-PUCK, Texas Box Office at (512) 477-6060, or Get Tix at 1-866-4-Get Tix.

Individual game tickets range in price from $11 to $35, depending on section, with discounted rates for groups of 15 or more. In addition to individual game tickets and group outings, season tickets and corporate partnerships are currently available for the upcoming season, with full-season, half-season and 10-game ticket packages on sale now. Fans may call the Ice Bats ticket office at (512) 927-PUCK, or log onto the team's website at www.icebats.com for more information.

In the Air: Once again, all Ice Bats away games will be broadcast on ESPN Radio, 1530 on the AM dial. The station will broadcast all road games during the 2005-06 regular season and CHL Playoffs. The games will also be available on-line, through the station website at www.espnaustin.com. The Bud Light Warm-up Show begins 20 minutes prior to game time. Ice Bats VP of Broadcasting, Media/PR Glen Norman will handle play-by-play duties for an eighth straight season.

Bats in Cyberspace: Bats fans can learn the latest about their team by logging on to www.icebats.com. Home or away, Bats fans can also follow the action with real-time scoring on the website, courtesy of Pointstreak.com. Fans will be able to access a game box score in real-time, as well as those of all other CHL games being played.

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Central Hockey League Stories from December 26, 2005


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