UHL hits ice for 15th season

October 24, 2005 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2) News Release


LAKE ST. LOUIS, MO --- The United Hockey League (UHL) opened its 15th season on Friday, October 21st. UHL teams welcomed a total of 48,084 fans during the weekend's 15 games for an average of 3,205 per contest. Richmond hosted a league high 6,956 fans for their opening night on Friday vs. the Adirondack Frostbite.

There was plenty of scoring to begin the season as a total of 113 goals were scored for an average of 7.53 per game. The average during the 2004-05 season was 6.15 goals per game. Three separate players recorded hat tricks during the first week of play, two of which were in the same game on Saturday:

Blake Stewart - Adirondack Frostbite - 10/21/05 vs. Richmond

Kevin Watters - Adirondack Frostbite - 10/22/05 vs. Richmond

Warren Cooper - Richmond RiverDogs - 10/22/05 vs. Adirondack

NEW UHL RECORD SET - The Motor City Mechanics set a new UHL mark when they won their season opener on Friday vs. the Missouri River Otters. Dating back to last season, it was the 13th consecutive regular season win for the Mechanics. They had won their final twelve games of the 2004-05 regular season to tie the mark previously shared by three other teams. The Kalamazoo Wings won 12 consecutive games earlier in the 2004-05 season, the Elmira Jackals won 12 straight in the 2001-02 season, and the Quad City Mallards originally set the mark in the 1997-98 season. The Mechanics streak ended on Saturday as the Quad City Mallards defeated the Mechanics 4-3 in a shootout.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Adirondack Frostbite - (3-0-0) - The Frostbite got off to a fast start to begin the season as they recorded three wins in three nights vs. the Richmond RiverDogs...Adirondack enjoyed much success on offense as they netted 18 goals during the weekend for a 6 goal average per game, which is tied for the UHL lead after the first week...Center Blake Stewart and right wing Kevin Watters both tallied at least one goal in each of the Frostbite's first three games. Stewart notched a hat trick (3g) on Friday in Richmond and Watters added a hat trick in Saturday's home opener... All five goals scored by Blake Stewart this season have been on the power play...Three Frostbite players scored their first professional goals on opening weekend (Kevin Watters, Mike Berry, Lyon Porter)...Adirondack currently has the three top scorers in the league with Hugo Belanger (2g, 6a), Stewart (5g, 2a), and Watters (5g, 2a).

Danbury Trashers - (1-0-1) - The Trashers completed a two-game road trip to Michigan by earning three points in the standings. Both games went to a shootout...The Omicioli brothers paced the Danbury offense over the weekend as they scored four of the eight team goals. Mike recorded five points (2g, 3a) and Drew tallied three points (2g, 1a) plus scored a shootout goal vs. Flint on Saturday...Mike Omicioli notched the 200th assist of his career on Friday vs. Port Huron...Forward Jonathan Gagnon played his 300th professional game on Friday and right wing Carlyle Lewis is two games away from 400 for his career...After allowing three power play goals to Port Huron, the Trashers held Flint to 1 of 12 on the power play the following night.

Elmira Jackals - (0-2-0) - The Jackals dropped two decisions to begin the 2005-06 season. They came up short in a wild game vs. the Rockford IceHogs on Friday losing 6-5...After the first week of play, the Jackals are second in the league with 96 penalty minutes...Despite two losses, goaltender Nick Boucher leads the UHL in saves (85) and shots faced (95)...Forward Jarrett Konkle scored on his first shot of the season 61 seconds into the game on Friday vs. Rockford. He has two goals on four shots to start the season...The Jackals only converted once in 19 power play opportunities in their first two games...Defenseman Mike Dombkiewicz is tied for 2nd in the UHL with five minor penalties.

Flint Generals - (0-1-1) - Bobby Reynolds made his coaching debut after spending parts of six seasons in a General uniform...The Generals struggled on special teams as they converted on just 1 of 23 power play opportunities in two games during the first weekend of the season...Forward Leo Thomas scored two goals and added a goal in the shootout in Saturday's 4-3 shootout loss to Danbury...The Generals are currently third in the UHL with 95 penalty minutes...Right wing Jake Laime is second in the UHL with 30 penalty minutes.

Fort Wayne Komets - (1-0-1) - The Komets were the first opponent to visit Roanoke as they faced off with the Vipers two consecutive nights to start the season. It will be their only visit to Roanoke this season...They were defeated 3-2 in a shootout on Friday, but rebounded to earn a 5-4 win on Saturday...The Komets are winless in their last four season openers and are 2-3-2 overall in UHL season openers...Center Colin Chaulk (1g, 2a) and left wing Lance Galbraith (2g, 1a) each had three-point nights on Saturday. It was the 32nd time as a Komet that Chaulk has recorded a three-point game...Chaulk's goal on Saturday was his 100th career UHL goal...Goaltender Kevin St. Pierre logged his 6,000th minute as a Komet on Saturday.

Kalamazoo Wings - (1-0-0) - Center Tyler Rennette's four points (1g, 3a) were the most by a K-Wings player on opening night in their UHL history...Defenseman Mark Vilneff scored two goals on Saturday vs. Port Huron. It was the first time in his 12 professional seasons that he has had a multi-goal game...Coach Mark Reeds is 3-0-0 on opening night as the K-Wings coach...Overall, Kalamazoo is 5-2-0 on opening nights in the UHL...After Saturday, the K-Wings have now won six straight games in Port Huron...Dating back to last season, goaltender Joel Martin is 11-1-1 in his last 13 regular season starts...In their UHL history, Kalamazoo is 164-7-12 when leading after two periods.

Missouri River Otters - (0-2-0) - Center Damian Surma (2g, 1a) and left wing Brad Church (1g, 1a) each scored in both games during the first week...Church fired 11 shots in the first two games...Center Lars Pettersen, the leading scorer for the Otters last season, scored his first goal of the season on Saturday vs. Rockford...The Otters allowed a team record four power play goals on Friday vs. Motor City...Missouri hosted 3,532 fans on opening night which was up significantly from the 1,791 fans that attended opening night last season.

Motor City Mechanics - (1-1-1) - The Mechanics set a new UHL regular season mark after winning their opening game on Friday vs. Missouri. Dating back to the 2004-05 regular season, Motor City won 13 straight, breaking the mark shared by Kalamazoo, Elmira, and Quad City...Right wing Mike Ramsay recorded his first professional points (2a) on Friday vs. Missouri and his first professional goal on Sunday in Rockford...Forward Peter Szabo collected his first professional points (2a) on Friday...Sunday's loss to Rockford was only the second loss for goaltender Rod Branch in his last 20 UHL starts.

Muskegon Fury - (1-0-0) - Center Jeff Nelson scored the first goal in the Fury's opening game on Saturday. It is the second time in the last three seasons that he has scored Muskegon's first goal of the year...After Saturday's win vs. Elmira, Coach Todd Nelson is one victory shy of 100 behind the Fury bench...Center Todd Robinson is two games shy of 300 in a Fury sweater...Center Jeff Nelson has played in 957 professional games...Right wing Robin Bouchard is 21 points short of 1,000 for his career and twelve goals away from 500...The Fury received their 2004-05 championship rings in a special pre-game ceremony on Saturday in Muskegon. Robin Bouchard collected his fourth ring as a member of the Fury and is the only player in UHL history to have his name on the Colonial Cup five times.

Port Huron Flags - (1-1-0) - The Flags recorded their first UHL win on Friday defeating Danbury 5-4 in a shootout. The Flags trailed 4-1 after two periods, but scored three goals in the third to send the game to a shootout...Left wing Derrick Atkinson scored the first goal in Flags UHL history at the 2:12 mark of the first period on Friday...The Flags tallied three power play goals in the six opportunities vs. Danbury...In Friday's season opener, the Flags hosted a sellout crowd of 3,200...The Flags recorded their first UHL loss on Saturday at the hands of the Kalamazoo Wings 6-1.

Quad City Mallards - (2-0-0) - Forward Anthony Blumer's game-tying goal in the third period on Saturday night vs. Motor City was the first of his professional career. The goal sent the game to the shootout which the Mallards won... The Mallards overcame a 3-1 deficit on Saturday to win their home opener. Last season, the Mallards won just one game at home when trailing after two periods...Forward Matt Radoslovich scored two goals in his professional debut during Friday's 6-2 victory vs. Flint...The line of Chad Woollard, Patrick Nadeau, and Anthony Blumer combined for 11 points (5g, 6a) during the first two games of the season for Quad City...The Mallards need 17 wins to reach 500 all-time regular season wins.

Richmond RiverDogs - (0-3-0) - The RiverDogs welcomed 6,956 fans during Friday's season opener. It is the largest single game attendance in the UHL during the young season...Forward Warren Cooper tallied a hat trick (3g) in Saturday's 8-3 loss to the Adirondack Frostbite...Defenseman Dan Vandermeer scored at least one point in all three Richmond games during the weekend. He has four assists this season...Center Mike Oliveira is currently tied with Dan Vandermeer (4a) for the team lead with four points (3g, 1a).

Roanoke Valley Vipers - (1-1-0) - The Vipers opened their inaugural season in Roanoke with a 3-2 win vs. Fort Wayne on Friday...Wingers Mark Scott (1g, 3a) and David Beauregard (1g, 3a) lead the team with four points each...Goaltender Jamie Hodson made 33 saves in regulation and stopped 4 of 5 in the shootout to earn the victory on Friday...Four of the six Vipers goals scored during the weekend came on the power play...Defensemen Alex Jerofegevs and newcomer Louis-Philippe Martin each scored their first professional goal on Saturday.

Rockford IceHogs - (3-0-0) - The IceHogs are 3-0-0 for the first time in team history...Rockford successfully killed 18 of 19 (94.7%) opponent power plays during the weekend...Center Olivier Proulx (2g, 3a) and winger Robin Big Snake (2g, 3a) scored in each of Rockford's first three games...Rookies Chaz Johnson, Yannick Tifu, and Robin Big Snake all tallied their first professional goal during the weekend...The IceHogs beat a team from each division in the first week of the season (Elmira - Eastern, Missouri - Western, Motor City - Central)...Winger Bruce Watson played the 400th game of his professional career on Sunday vs. Motor City...The IceHogs had a club record 12 power play opportunities on Friday vs. Elmira.



International Hockey League 2 Stories from October 24, 2005


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