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March 24, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Johnstown Chiefs News Release


Johnstown, PA - The Johnstown Chiefs ended one of their busiest weeks of the season, last week, two points away from clinching a berth in the 2008 Kelly Cup Playoffs. This week, the Chiefs will wrap up a pair of season-long series against divisional opponents, and make one last trip to visit their closes rivals.

Record - 31-30-2-3, 67 pts., 4th place North Division

Leaders: Goals - Ryan Garlock: 26 Assists - Randy Rowe: 37 Points - Ryan Garlock: 61 +/- - Randy Rowe: +14 PIMs - Mike Sgroi: 210 PPG - Jean Desrochers: 12 Wins - Ryan Nie: 25 GAA - Ryan Nie: 2.97 SVP - Ryan Nie: .890

This Week:

3/28 at Wheeling, 7:35 p.m. (7-4-0) Friday's game will be the Chiefs' final trip to WesBanco Arena for the 2007-08 season. A win on Friday would make WesBanco the most successful arena for the Chiefs away from the War Memorial. As of the beginning of the week, the Chiefs have won four games each at WesBanco Arena and Trenton's Sovereign Bank Arena. Those four wins haven't come easy, though, with two coming in overtime, and the average margin of victory is a mere 1.75 goals per game for the Chiefs at WesBanco. Ryan Nie is 4-0-0 at Wheeling this year with a GAA of 2.69.

3/29 vs. Cincinnati 7:05 p.m. (1-8-0) Johnstown wraps up its season series against Cincinnati on home ice Saturday. The Chiefs lone win this season against the Cyclones came on home ice in a dramatic 4-3 overtime shootout thriller. Saturday's game will be the final chance for Johnstown to buck a frustrating streak the Cyclones have put together. With Chuck Weber at the Cyclones' helm, the Chiefs have not beaten Cincinnati in regulation at the War Memorial. Cincinnati is 6-0-3 over the nine-game stretch. Friday's game will also be the final Dodge Shootout of 2007-08. One lucky fan will get the chance to come down to ice level during intermission, and shoot for a new Dodge vehicle!

3/30 vs. Trenton 5:05 p.m. (7-2-0) The Chiefs have been dominant against the Devils at home this season, having only dropped one contest, against three wins, to their eastern-most rivals at the War Memorial. The Chiefs defense has stifled the Devils in those four games, allowing more than two goals once and holding the Devils to at 2.25 goals-per-game average. Andrew Penner has earned three of the Chiefs' seven wins against the Devils this year, including 59:55 of shutout hockey in the 4-1 win on March 9. For Sunday's game, Uni-First Corp. will present a Chiefs T-shirt Giveaway to the first 1,000 fans through the door, so be sure to get to the War Memorial early!

"Pow-Wow" Planner: The brand-new Johnstown Chiefs talk-show, "The Pow-Wow", continues on March 27, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. in the Lower Works Restaurant and Pub at the Johnstown Brewing Company. The guests for that show will be forward Kenny Roche and defenseman Greg Gallaghers. Also, be sure to listen to the last episode with Andrew Penner and Justin Coutu by clicking on the audio link under the "Fan Zone" section at the Chiefs' home page.

It's Going to be Huge: The next win for the Chiefs will be one of epic proportions. The Chiefs magic number to clinch a Kelly Cup Playoff berth sits at two as the week begins. That means any combination of the Chiefs winning two points, or the Trenton Devils missing out on gaining two points will put the Chiefs in the playoffs. The Devils have one game in Elmira (3/26) prior to the Chiefs' first game of the week on Friday, so a Jackals win means the Chiefs are in. But if the Devils win, the Chiefs can clinch by beating Wheeling on Friday. By earning a spot in the playoffs this year, the Chiefs will become a post-season participant for three straight years, something that hasn't been done since 2000-2002. The Chiefs' team record for consecutive seasons with a playoff appearance was a five-year stretch from 1991 to 1995.

Day by Day:

Mon. 3/24: Off Tues. 3/25: Practice at UPMC Health Plan Ice Rink at CCWM, 12:00 p.m. Wed. 3/26: Practice at UPMC Health Plan Ice Rink at CCWM, 10:00 a.m. Thurs. 3/27: Practice at UPMC Health Plan Ice Rink at CCWM, 10:00 a.m. Fri. 3/28: Chiefs at Wheeling Nailers; 7:35 p.m. Sat. 3/29: Chiefs vs. Cincinnati Cyclones; 7:05 p.m. Sun. 3/30: Chiefs vs. Trenton Devils; 5:05 p.m.

Last Week: (1-3-0)

3/17 at Cincinnati: L 3-2 After a scoreless first period, Olivier Latendresse and Matt Syroczynski scored power play goals 3:59 apart in the second period to put the Chief in a hole they couldn't climb out of. Johnstown outplayed the Cyclones to the tune of a 2-1 third period, but Jason Deitsch's breakaway goal at 9:53 proved to be the game winner. Joey Olson posted his sixth multi-point game of the season by assisting on goals by Randy Rowe 2:13 into the third and Alex Imbeault at the 10:45 mark.

3/19 at Cincinnati: L 4-3 An early 10:00 AM start didn't deter the Johnstown offense in the early goings against the Cyclones. Alex Imbeault (2:51) and Jason Spence (4:07) scored within the first five minutes of the first period and the Chiefs opened up the 2-0 lead. It was the first time all season the Chiefs had led the Cyclones by more than one goal. Cincinnati's power play did the Chiefs in again, though, as Mathieu Aubin and Olivier Latendresse scored two man-advantage goals each. Aubin's came 35 seconds apart (8:22 and 8:57) to wipe out the Chiefs' early momentum. Mike Knight got his eighth of the year with 2:18 left in the third, but the Chiefs couldn't find the tying goal with Ryan Nie pulled for the extra attacker.

3/21 vs. Cincinnati: W 4-3 SO The Chiefs finally broke through for a win against Cincinnati in their ninth try by winning a 1-0 shootout to cap a wild back-and-forth affair. Kenny Roche opened the scoring 1:47 into the first by scoring on a rebound off of his own shot that hit the post. The Chiefs held the lead until David Desharnais tied it with his 23rd goal at 11:46. Johnstown's power play kicked to life for two goals in the second period, one each by Mark Tobin and Andrew Martens. Those counteracted the Cyclones' own power play tally by Jason Deitsch, and the Chiefs led 3-2 after two. Barret Ehgoetz would score 4:28 into the third to even the score, and it remained tied at 3 until the end of regulation. Neither team scored in sudden death, so to a shootout they went. Ryan Nie stymied each of Cincinnati's five shooters, and Randy Rowe wired a wrister past Cody Rudkowski for the shootout winner. It was Rowe's first shootout goal in four attempts this season.

3/23 vs. Wheeling: L 6-5 The Chiefs scratched and clawed to come back from two different two-goal deficits on Easter Sunday against Wheeling, but in the end the mountain was too tall to climb. Wheeling sent home power play goals by Aaron Clarke at 1:31 and Kelly Miller at 3:23 of the first to race to a 2-0 lead. Cody Burki got the Chiefs on the board with his second goal of the season by working hard for a rebound in front, and Vincent Zaore squeaked a power play goal across the line at 17:50 of the first to tie it at 2. Kevin Croxton struck twice, once shorthanded, in the second period, though, to re-up the Nailers' lead. Codey Burki got his second of the game, with a power play goal after Croxton's shortie, but Sean Collins made it 5-3 with an even-strength goal at 14:08 of the second. Joey Olson got the Chiefs off to a great start just 1:11 into the third with a power play goal, his eleventh of the year with assists from Alex Imbeault and Randy Rowe. That same combination gave the Chiefs another PP goal to tie the game with 8:53 left to go. But B.J. Radovich would steal the puck at the Johnstown line, and beat Andrew Penner with 4:26 left to seal the Nailers' first win at the War Memorial since opening night on October 18.

Rewriting the Record Books: With the 4-3 shootout win over Cincinnati on Friday, March 21, Ryan Nie tied himself with Frederic Deschenes and Stan "Smokey" Reddick for the most wins in a season by a Johnstown goalie with his 25th win. Reddick set the original mark in 1991-92, and no one came close until Deschenes won 23 in 1999-00. Deschenes joined Reddick atop the list in 2001-02, and no netminder challenged that mark until Nie this season. Nie is second in the ECHL with 25 wins, two behind Gwinnett's Craig Kowalski for first. Last season, the goalie from Nanticoke, Ontario set a single-season record in the United Hockey League with a goals-against average of 2.02 for the Kalamazoo Wings.

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