Trashers snap five-game losing streak with record-setting win

Published on February 21, 2005 under International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Danbury Trashers News Release


Danbury emerged from a five-game losing streak in a big way with a 9-3 drubbing of the Motor City Mechanics last Saturday night before a sold-out crowd at the Danbury Ice Arena. The game witnessed a number of records, including the most goals by Danbury in a single game (9) and the most points scored by an individual (Jeff Daw – six points on one goal).

Doug Christiansen and Alex Goupil also notched the first two Trashers' hat tricks at the DIA. Goupil also was the first Trashers rookie to score a hat trick. They join John Morlang as the three players to notch a hat trick in a Danbury uniform this season.

Currently 12 points ahead of 3rd place Richmond, Danbury will twice have an opportunity to pick up ground on the first place Adirondack Frostbite as the Trashers host them on Wednesday night at 7:30 and are in Glens Falls this Sunday afternoon. Sandwiched between those match-ups are two home games against Elmira on Friday and Saturday night. The Trashers begin the week eight points out of first place.

Wednesday's game will feature an appearance by WWE Superstar John Cena, who will be on hand to sign autographs and greet the fans while also being a part of the show by dropping a ceremonial first puck. He will also be involved in the first intermission festivities as the Trashers will also be holding a contest to award several pairs of tickets to the WWE Smackdown Live show at the O'Neill Center in Danbury on February 28th. The WWE is returning to Danbury for the first time in nine years.

TRASHERS WEEK IN REVIEW

TRASHERS SET FRANCHISE RECORD WITH NINE GOALS--GOUPIL AND CHRISTIANSEN EACH NET HAT TRICKS WHILE DAW SCORES SIX POINTS ON A GOAL IN A 9-3 WHIPPING OF MOTOR CITY

FEbruary 19, 2005

Chants of "We want ten!" from a sellout crowd resounded through the Danbury Ice Arena as the Trashers not only snapped a five-game skid, but set a franchise record for goals in a game with their 9-3 win. Doug Christiansen and Alex Goupil each tallied their first hat tricks of the season, and Jeff Daw totaled a goal and five assists in the win.

Danbury bounced back from a 3-2 loss to Motor City Friday night with the win. The team came out physical, John Mirasty and Rumun Ndur taking penalties and a misconduct at the 3:17 mark, Mirasty for instigating and fighting, Ndur for roughing. Goupil scored his first of three goals, his eighth of the season in the closing seconds of the first period, assisted by Daw and John Morlang, who was recently sent down from Bridgeport of the American Hockey League.

Motor City tied the game for the only time with a score from Jeff Doyle, sixteen seconds into the second period, assisted by Blair Manning. The Trashers took control of the game after that, Morlang scored his 13th of the season from Christiansen and Daw at 7:42. Christiansen scored two goals, first at 12:16 from Daw and J.F. David, and at 14:16 from Morlang and Daw. The game stayed at 4-1 Trashers until Bruce Richardson scored his 20th of the season on the power play with seventeen seconds to go in the period.

Motor City's Ryan Baker scored unassisted less than a minute into the third period, but the Trashers were rolling. Christiansen completed his hat trick with his 18th of the season from Daw and Mario Larocque at the 3:23. Goupil's second of the game came less than four minutes later, with an assist from Michael Rupp. A bench minor to Motor City put Danbury back on the man-advantage. Goupil completed his hat trick with a power play goal at 10:27, from Richardson and Mirasty. Motor City scored once in the remaining minutes, to make the final score 9-3.

The Trashers follow up a 45 shot performance from Friday night with a 44 shot one on Saturday. They doubled up Motor City's total of 22, and scored five goals on Rod Branch (21-of-26) and four off of his replacement Cory Campbell (14-of-18) who came in to start the third period. Danbury scored the only power play goal of the night, making them 1-for-5, while Motor City was 0-for-4.

MOTOR CITY--SANS NHL PLAYERS--DEFEAT TRASHERS 3-2 FOR 5TH STRAIGHT LOSS

January 18, 2005

The Trashers returned to the Danbury Ice Arena after dropping a record four consecutive games on a lengthy roadtrip. Despite peppering Motor City goalie Rod Branch with 45 shots, Danbury lost their fifth in a row, 3-2, in front of a crowd of nearly 2,500.

The Mechanics, visiting without NHLers Derian Hatcher, Chris Chelios, Bryan Smolinski and Sean Avery, took advantage of a 5-on-3 power play with Bruce Richardson in the box with slashing minor at 6:08 and Jeff State serving two minutes for tripping in the first period. Kevin Hanson scored his fifth of the season for the first goal of the game assisted by Matt Hunter at 6:34.

Three minors and eight minutes later, Richardson scored his own power play goal, his 19th tally of the season, from Mike Rupp and Alex Goupil at 14:36. Motor City's Dan Price was in the box for hooking at 13:25. The tie game was short-lived. Tim Laurila was called for holding to give the Trashers a power play, but the Mechanics Blair Manning scored his 12th of the season, short-handed at 16:21 to put Motor City up 2-1.

Danbury put 21 shots on net, while Motor City managed 9. The second period saw just two minors, a high-stick against J.F. David at 3:54 and two minutes to Rumun Ndur for roughing at 13:58. Despite the lack of scoring, the Trashers sent 17 more shots Branch's way while Motor City had four.

Alex Goupil scored his seventh of the season, from Jeff Daw and Richardson at 3:28 to tie things up for the second time in the night. However, the Trashers were unable to take the lead on the team's fourth power play of the game, with Manning in the box on an obstruction call. At eight minutes even, Brandon Fleenor scored his second of the year, and the game-winning goal, from Manning and Price. The Trashers power play was unable to tie the game on a Laurila double high-sticking minor. With seconds to go in the game, Danbury's Mike Rupp was assessed a misconduct.

BAKRLIK NETS HAT TRICK, BENNETT ADDS TWO AS TRASHERS FALL 6-1

January 16, 2005

Despite a 1-0 first period lead on Rumun Ndur's 2nd goal of the season, the Trashers were unable to pick up any ground on the first place Adirondack Frostbite as Danbury dropped their 4th in a row following a 6-1 defeat in Glens Falls on Wednesday night.

Frank Bakrlik scored three straight goals for Adirondack to catapault them to a 3-1 lead by the mid-point of the 2nd period. Ryan Bennett added two goals including a short-handed tally, while Greg Koehler scored on the power-play for Adirondack.

DANBURY PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Scott Stirling
Goaltender
Norwood, MA
Statistics from 2/16 to 2/19: 1-1-0 Record 3.05 GAA .846 Save Percentage (33 of 39)

Alex Goupil
Forward
Ottawa, Ontario
Statistics from 2/9 to 2/12: 4 Goals, 1 Assists, 5 points, +2 Plus/Minus

TRASHERS TIDBITS

· Danbury set a number of individual and team records in their 9-3 win over Motor City on January 19th. The Trashers set marks for most goals (9), assists (16), individual points (Daw – 6), goals (Christiansen & Goupil – 3), assists (Daw – 5) and plus-minus (Daw & Morlang - +5).

· Doug Christiansen and Alex Goupil became the 2nd and 3rd Trashers to notch a hat trick, as John Morlang was the first to achieve that feat on January 26th in a 6-4 win over Elmira.

· With the reported return of the NHL hanging over the sports world last weekend, Trashers forward Michael Rupp was beginning preparations to return to the Phoenix Coyotes. However, once it was learned that the NHL didn't strike a deal with the players, Rupp returned to Danbury and played in the game and added an assist.

· Alex Goupil was the first rookie in franchise history to notch a hat trick.

WWE SUPERSTAR JOHN CENA TO APPEAR AT FEB. 23RD TRASHERS GAME

DANBURY, CT—The Danbury Trashers, proud members of the United Hockey League (UHL) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE Corp.) have announced that WWE Superstar John Cena will appear at the Danbury Trashers game on Wednesday February 23rd at 7:30pm against the Adirondack Frostbite.

Cena will be on hand to meet and greet fans and sign autographs as well as drop a ceremonial first puck and will be involved in some of the intermission on-ice activities. Cena will also wear a personalized Danbury Trashers jersey during the appearance that fans will have the opportunity to bid on via a silent auction.

The Trashers will have several pairs of tickets to give away to the WWE Smackdown Live house show scheduled for February 28th at the O'Neil Center in Danbury. The WWE event is the first one in Danbury in nine years.

"John Cena is one of the biggest stars of the WWE and as the ‘Bad Boys' of professional hockey, we are excited to have him as our special guest on February 23rd," said Trashers President A.J. Galante.

Radio station I-95 FM, the WWE, John Cena and the Danbury Trashers will be part of a special promotional appearance at Molly Darcy's in Danbury on February 28th from 3-5pm. Cena will be presented with a personalized jersey by a member of the Trashers organization that will be worn in the ring during the Smackdown Live event that evening.

MEET TRASHERS COACH TODD STIRLING, FORWARD BRAD WINGFIELD AND SCRAPPY ON SATURDAY MORNING AT THE MOOSE LODGE DIP IN DANBURY

The Danbury Trashers will be part of the 2nd annual Moose Lodge Dip at Lake Kenosia in Danbury this Saturday. Head coach Todd Stirling, forward Brad Wingfield and Scrappy will be on hand to sign autographs from 11:00am-1:00pm at the Danbury Moose Lodge on 75 Boulevard Drive prior to the dip in Lake Kenosia. The event is free to watch and fans will be able to meet and greet Coach Stirling, Wingfield and Scrappy for pictures and autographs.

COMING UP...

Wednesday February 23rd vs. Adirondack 7:30pm (Danbury Ice Arena) Friday February 25th vs. Elmira 7:30pm (Danbury Ice Arena) Saturday February 26th vs. Elmira 7:00pm (Danbury Ice Arena) Sunday February 27th vs. Adirondack 5:05pm (Glens Falls Civic Center)

Join the Trashers on Wednesday night as WWE Superstar John Cena will make a special appearance at the DIA prior to the 7:30pm Trashers/Frostbite game. Cena will sign autographs prior to the game and will drop the ceremonial first puck. He will also be there to promote the WWE show at the O'Neill Center for Monday February 28th. The Trashers will be holding a contest to give out several pairs of tickets to the show.

On Friday the Patriot Garage in conjunction with the Trashers will give out seat cushions to the first 1,000 fans prior to Danbury's game against Elmira. Danbury will host Elmira again on Saturday night before heading to Adirondack on Sunday afternoon.

Tickets for all Trashers games can be purchased online at DanburyTrashers.com, or by calling 866-565-PUCK during business hours. The Trashers team shop at the Danbury Ice Arena is open from Noon-6pm on Monday, Noon-9pm on Tuesday through Friday and from 9am-5pm on Saturday.

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International Hockey League 2 Stories from February 21, 2005


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