CHL Mississippi RiverKings

Updated RiverKings Information

Published on October 28, 2009 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release


THIS WEEK: The Mississippi RiverKings return to action in a pair of home games this weekend in Southaven. Friday, the RiverKings will play their second game of the season against the Tulsa Oilers in a 7:05 PM contest. The next afternoon, the RiverKings will celebrate Halloween with a 3:05 PM contest against the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs. The meeting with the Mudbugs will be the first regular season game between the rivals for this year.

LAST GAME: SUNDAY, October 25th

WICHITA 4, RIVERKINGS 3

The Wichita Thunder put together a 4-0 lead before the RiverKings made things interesting in the final two minutes of the contest Sunday afternoon in Southaven. After a scoreless first period, goals from Mike Kneeland, Brent Ottman, Glenn Detulleo and Marc Belanger gave Wichita the four-goal cushion before the RiverKings pulled goaltender Tyler Sims late in the final session. With the extra attacker, Derek Landmesser, Dane Marshall, and Steve Makway each netted goals past Wichita netminder Tim Boron, the last coming with 36 seconds remaining. However, the tying goal never came at the Thunder came away with their first road victory in Mississippi since 2006. Sims stopped 22 of 26 shots he faced in the loss, while Boron was 34-of-37 in the victory. The loss snapped the RiverKings' two-game winning streak, which developed over the weekend in a home-and-home series with the defending CHL champion Texas Brahmas.

LAST GAME vs. TULSA

The Tulsa Oilers defeated the RiverKings 6-3 in the season opener for both teams on Friday, October 15th in Southaven. Rob Hisey scored a natural hat trick for the Oilers in the victory, and goaltender Kevin Armstrong stopped 32 of 35 shots on goal. The RiverKings received goal-scoring efforts from Kevin Jarman, Cam Severson and Stephen Margeson. Tyler Sims took the loss in the crease, stopping 27 of 33 shots on net. Tulsa did not win in Mississippi all of last season and the last Oilers' victory in the Mid-South came in a 10-3 conquest of the RiverKings on February 15th, 2008.

TULSA'S LAST GAME-Oilers 5, Rapid City 4

Tulsa survived a four-goal second period with three of its own in the middle frame for a 5-4 home win against the Rapid City Rush Tuesday night in Tulsa. Rob Hisey scored a goal and added four assists for the Oilers, while Michel Beausoleil added two more for Tulsa. Goaltender Kevin Armstrong stopped 13 of 17 Rapid City shots on goal.

TULSA PREVIEW

Last week, the Oilers opened with a 5-1 loss at Wichita last Friday, but then had their home opener last Saturday and scored a goal in each period to defeat Wichita 3-1. It was the first home game under new head coach Bruce Ramsay. The home opening attendance of 9,040 for the Oilers is the largest crowd of the season in the CHL so far. It was also the third largest hockey crowd in the history of the BOK Center. Rob Hisey has been very productive offensively for the Oilers early on with five goals and ten points and he and Derek Eastman each are plus-six for the season. Goaltender Kevin Armstrong has played in all four games for the Oilers, sporting a 3-1-0 record, a 3.55 goals-against-average, and a save percentage of .854.

BOSSIER-SHREVEPORT PREVIEW

The Mudbugs enter the week with a 2-2-0 record and are tied for fourth place in the CHL Northern Conference. Both wins have come on the road and both losses have been at home for the Mudbugs this year. Friday, Bossier-Shreveport lost at home against Allen 2-1, then claimed a 5-4 shootout victory at Odessa on Saturday evening. They'll play host to Texas before coming to Mississippi for a Halloween afternoon affair. Defenseman Mike Salekin is tied for fourth among league penalty minute leaders at 26 and Joe Zappala has seven minor penalties in the team's four contests. Simon Mangos has scored two shootout goals and is among the league leaders for scoring from the blue line with five points (1 goal, 4 assists). John DeCaro is fourth in goaltending minutes played at 184:52 and tops the league in shootout percentage at .909 (10-of-11). Bossier-Shreveport is third in the league for average penalty minutes at 25.5. Saturday's game with the RiverKings will be the Mudbugs' first against the Northern Conference, as all four previous games (and Friday's game with Texas) will have been against Southern Conference competition. Both wins for Bossier-Shreveport have come on the road.

MUDBUGS' LAST GAME-Mudbugs 5, Odessa 4 (SHO)

Bossier-Shreveport came back from a 3-0 first period deficit to tie the game with a pair of goals in the third period in the shootout victory at Odessa on Saturday night. The Mudbugs victory came after an 11-round shootout that Bossier-Shreveport won 2-1. Simon Mangos led the offense with a goal and two assists. John DeCaro was the winning goaltender with 30 saves, including 10 of 11 in the shootout.

SPECIAL TEAMS REPORT

The RiverKings enter the week tied for sixth in the CHL on the power play at 17.1% (7-of-41) and are fourth in the CHL on the penalty kill at 88.2% (4-of-34). Mississippi has scored a shorthanded goal and has allowed a shorthanded goal.

JEAN NAMED GOALIE OF THE WEEK

RiverKings' goaltender Ray Jean was named the CHL Goaltender of the Week, for games played through Sunday, October 25. Jean, 27, in his first CHL season, was the winning goaltender for the RiverKings in a pair of victories over the defending CHL champion Texas Brahmas last weekend. He stopped a total of 59 shots on goal in the two victories, a 3-2 shootout victory over the Brahmas in Southaven on Friday, and a 5-3 victory in the Brahmas' home opener Saturday. The victories moved Jean's record to 3-1-0 for the season. Jean came to the RiverKings in the off-season after playing briefly in the AHL and ECHL. He became a pro after a four-year collegiate hockey career split between Maine and Bentley.

JEAN STONEWALLS THE OPPOSITION

Goaltender Ray Jean leads the RiverKings from the crease with a 3-1-0 record through four appearances this season. The Randolph, Maine native has a 3.18 goals-against-average through his first four starts in the CHL. Jean leads the CHL in minutes played with 245 and is second in saves (109), and shootout save percentage (.750). He won his last start in Texas Saturday night with a 29-save effort in a 5-3 victory on the Brahmas' home-opening night.

DEFENSE IS OFFENSIVE

Mississippi's blueliners are providing some of the offensive punch for the RiverKings early in the season, as three of the top five team point-getters come from the blue line. They are led by team captain Derek Landmesser with two goals and seven points with Dane Marshall and Steve Makway also among the scoring mix. Landmesser starts the week leading CHL defensemen in points.

HELD'S PROVIDING POINTS

Forward Ryan Held remains among the RiverKings' top scorers with five goals and eight points through four games. The eight points have all come in two multi-point efforts, a hat-trick and assist against Wichita and a two-goal, two-assist performance against Texas last Saturday night. The London, Ontario native starts the week tied for fourth in points and one point behind the leaders. He is two goals shy of first place in that department and tied for third in the league in shots taken with 24.

THE RACE AT THE TOP

The RiverKings find themselves in a battle with long-time rival Tulsa and the second year Rapid City Rush for the top spot in the CHL Northern Conference standings. All three teams are in first place in the conference standings and have three victories for six points, although the RiverKings have played one more game than the Rush and two more than the Oilers. The top three teams in the Southern Conference, Amarillo (10 points), Odessa (9), and Allen (8) are all in front of the Northern Conference leaders in the overall league race.

RIVERKINGS PROMOTIONS

Friday, October 30th: Safehaven Ministries of North Mississippi is the non-profit MVP for the game. Post-game skate takes place after the game's conclusion.

Saturday, October 31st: Halloween game with the RiverKings wearing special jerseys that will be auctioned off after the game with the proceeds going to the Jr. StreetKings roller hockey program. Fans encouraged to come in costume and be a part of the costume contes with prizes to the best costume by a child and by an adult. CASA is the non-profit MVP of the contest and a post-game skate takes place after the game's conclusion.

ASSISTS FOR AUTISM

The RiverKings continue to support an effort that promotes autism awareness in DeSoto County, which has the model program in Mississippi for autism education. Fans can support the "Assists for Autism" program provides fundraising. Fans can pledge a certain amount for every assist earned by a RiverKings during the regular season, or donate a set amount. The latest figures indicate that one in about 91 youngsters born today will have some part of the autism spectrum at birth, so the RiverKings hope you can back the push to provide an "Assist for Autism."

BROADCASTS

All RiverKings games this season will again be available on the stations of the Flinn Broadcasting Company in Memphis, primarily Sports 56, WHBQ-AM and 96.1 FM "The Pig," WIVG-FM. RiverKings Media Coordinator Bob Bakken is back for his second year providing the play-by-play call for all 64 regular season games and playoff coverage, as well. Broadcast time is 15 minutes prior to the scheduled first faceoff.

This weekend's broadcast schedule will have the RiverKings on Sports 56, WHBQ-AM Friday night and Saturday's game will be on 96.1 "The Pig," WIVG-FM. Friday's air time is 6:50 PM and Saturday's air time will be 2:50 PM.

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets are available for all RiverKings home games. Individual game tickets can be purchased through the arena box office during their office hours, through Ticketmaster at local outlets, by phone at 901-525-1515, or online at www.ticketmaster.com. Season, group and fundraiser tickets are available through a ticket representative at the RiverKings front office. Phone 662-342-1755 or visit the office location in the arena at 4560 Venture Drive in Southaven, just off I-55 at the Church Road exit. Office hours are from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday-through-Friday.

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Central Hockey League Stories from October 28, 2009


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