Weekly Arrowhead

February 23, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Johnstown Chiefs News Release


Johnstown, Pa. - The Johnstown Chiefs wrapped up a six-game home stand last weekend with three games in as many days, and remained in first place after picking up points in two of the three. Now their focus shifts south to Germain Arena, and the Florida Everblades, where the Chiefs will be visiting for the first time in team history.

Record: 31-19-3, 65 pts., 1st place North Division

Leaders:

Goals - Jarrett Konkle (total): 26

Petr Pohl (team): 25

Assists - Petr Pohl: 30

Points - Petr Pohl: 55

+/- - Ryan Del Monte: +16

PIMs - Alex Penner: 96

PPG - Jarrett Konkle (total): 11

Petr Pohl (team): 7

SHG - Jarrett Konkle: 3

Wins - Kris Mayotte: 18

GAA - Kris Mayotte: 2.70

SVP - Kris Mayotte: .912

This Week:

2/25, 2/27 & 2/28 at Florida, 7:30 p.m. - Home (0-0-1), Away (0-0-0)

The Chiefs will be making their first visit in club history to Germain Arena this week. Florida won the first ever meeting between the clubs 4-3 in overtime on Nov. 30 here at the UPMC Health Plan Ice Rink at the Cambria County War Memorial. Petr Pohl tied that game with 33 seconds left in regulation, but Doug O'Brien won the game with 33 seconds left in overtime. It will be a three-game showdown between the top two teams in the American Conference. Florida leads the South Division, and the ECHL, with a 35-15-3 record, 73 points, and 203 goals. The Chiefs, though, feature the conference's best road defense with a 2.65 goals-against average away from the War Memorial. The Blades are led by league-leading scorer Kevin Baker with 78 points (43G, 35A), and the goaltending tandem of Anton Khudobin (18-9-1, 2.72, .906) and David Leggio (17-6-1, 2.37, .913).

Day by Day:

Mon. 2/23: Off

Tues. 2/24: Practice at Germain Arena

Wed. 2/25: Chiefs at Florida Everblades, 7:30 p.m.

Thurs. 2/26: Off

Fri. 2/27: Chiefs at Florida Everblades, 7:30 p.m.

Sat. 2/28: Chiefs at Florida Everblades, 7:30 p.m.

Sun. 2/29: Off

Broadcast Schedule:

Wed. 2/25: Chiefs at Florida Everblades, 7:30 p.m. - radio and internet

Fri. 2/27: Chiefs at Florida Everblades, 7:30 p.m. - radio and internet

Sat. 2/28: Chiefs at Florida Everblades, 7:30 p.m. - radio and internet

All Chiefs radio broadcasts can be heard on 1490 AM WNTJ and AM 990 WNTW, and live streaming audio of every Chiefs game is available courtesy of B2 Networks at www.johnstownchiefs.com or www.echl.com. The Chiefs radio network is presented by Dodge.

Last Week: (1-1-1)

2/20 vs. South Carolina: L 6-3

The Stingrays were the last South Division team to visit the War Memorial this season, and they made a poor first impression by scoring 1:14 into the game. Keith Johnson's marker put the Rays out front early, but the Chiefs battled back with power play goals from Trevor Hendrikx and Andrew Sarauer to take a 3-2 lead into the locker room. They couldn't do much with the lead, though, and the Rays responded with two goals each in the second and third period. Six different players scored for South Carolina, while Ryan Card scored his first professional goal in the losing effort. Ian Keserich made 29 saves in taking the loss which snapped his season-high four game win streak.

2/21 vs. Elmira: L 5-4 OT

The Chiefs looked to have shaken off the previous night's loss without any trouble as they jumped all over the Jackals and took a 3-0 lead after the first period. Trevor Hendrikx scored his second power play goal in as many games ahead of Andrew Sarauer and Petr Pohl cashing in to extend the lead. Elmira's attack in the second period was keyed by former Chief Mike Sgroi who had a goal and an assist. Moises Gutierrez also scored, but Pohl's second of the game kept Johnstown ahead by one heading to the final period. The defense, and Ian Keserich, did its best to make the lead stand up, but Wes Cunningham fired a slap shot home from the left wing to tie the game and force overtime. Johnstown was shorthanded for the first 40 seconds of overtime. They didn't surrender the power play goal, but three seconds after Greg Gallagher exited the box, Nathan Lutz hammered home a point shot for the game winner.

2/22 vs. Elmira: W 7-4

Johnstown was able salvage the weekend with a win on Sunday, powered by a six-goal first period. The Chiefs jumped out to a 2-0 advantage as Toby LaFrance set up Blair Yaworski's 10th of the season, then scored his seventh to key the attack. Moises Gutierrez and Mike Sgroi scored power play goals in the first for Elmira, but it wouldn't be enough because Petr Pohl scored a shorty, Jarrett Konkle had two on the power play, and Todd Griffith added one on the man advantage. The Chiefs reigned in the offense a bit after the six-goal outburst, and held Elmira to one goal each in the second and third period Paul McIlveen scored shorthanded with 1:22 left in regulation to draw the Jackals within one goal, but Griffith added an empty net goal on the power play to give the Chiefs some insurance. Kyle Gajewski earned the victory by making 37 saves in his Chiefs debut.

CHIEFS CHOPS:

Scoring Streaks:

Goals:

- Petr Pohl; 2/21-2/22: 2 gms (3G)

Assists:

- Greg Gallagher; 2/20-2/22: 3 gms (5A)

- Petr Pohl; 2/20-2/22: 3 gms (6A)

- Ray Macias; 10/30-11/2: 3 gms (4A)

Points:

- Andrew Sarauer; 2/8-2/22: 7 gms (4G, 4A)

- Petr Pohl; 2/15-2/22: 4 gms (5G, 6A)

- Greg Gallagher; 2/20-2/22: 3 gms (6A)

- Trevor Hendrikx; 2/20-2/22: 3 gms (2G, 2A)

- Blair Yaworski; 2/21-2/22: 2 gms (1G, 1A)

- Ray Macias; 10/30-11/2: 4 gms (1G, 4A)

Quick Hits:

- Kyle Gajewski became the fourth Chiefs goalie to win his debut this season. Ian Keserich beat Trenton 2-1 to open the season, Sebastian Dahm won his only game with Johnstown (6-4 over Reading on Oct. 25), and Kris Mayotte won a 3-2 shootout over Wheeling on Nov. 1.

- Petr Pohl's four assists tied a season high for Johnstown this season. Pohl also had four assists at Reading on Oct. 25 while Andrew Sarauer had four on Nov. 12 vs. Cincinnati.

- After losing 6-3 to South Carolina on Feb. 22 the Chiefs ended the season 2-1-1 against the South Division at the War Memorial.

- Petr Pohl has 11 points (5G, 6A) in his last four games to move to eighth in the league in scoring.

- Johnstown went 11-for-40 on the power play during its six-game homestand.

And the Nominee Is...: One Johnstown Chief picked up a nomination for a weekly ECHL award. Leading scorer Petr Pohl is in the running for ECHL Player of the Week after amassing nine points (3G, 6A), a plus-three rating, and a shorthanded goal last week. Pohl tied a season-high with four assists in Sunday's 7-4 win after getting two goals and an assist on Saturday, and also an assist in Friday's loss to South Carolina. A third-year pro, Pohl ranks eighth in the league in scoring, and leads the Chiefs, with 55 points (25G, 30A). With his goal on Sunday, the Czech Republic native set a high mark for his pro career with 25. He needs only five more points to tie the 65 points he posted with Youngstown in the CHL last season. Pohl was a fifth-round draft pick (#133 overall) of the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2004. He has skated in nine career AHL games with the Syracuse Crunch posting one goal and two assists.

Hitting the Road: After finishing up a season-high six-game home stand, the Chiefs only have six home games remaining on the 2008-09 schedule. Johnstown has the fewest home games remaining in the North Division, and will play 13 of its last 19 games away from the UPMC Health Plan Ice Rink at the Cambria County War Memorial. The Chiefs will look to turn around their road fortunes over the final quarter of 2008-09. They have a 13-10-0 record away from Johnstown, but have won only one of their last six on the road. The Chiefs do have the league's second best road defense with a 2.65 goals-against average. The offense hasn't been terribly productive on the road, though, as the Chiefs only average 2.69 goals per game there.

Save the Date:

This is a reminder regarding some of the Chiefs' big promotions/events coming up in the near future.

- March 4 - Pups and Pucks Night: For the second year in a row the War Memorial will be going to the dogs. Dog owners throughout the area are invited to bring their "best friend" to enjoy an exciting night.

- March 8 - AmeriServ Sellout Challenge #3: It's your last chance to sell out the arena and get free tickets to a future Chiefs game!

- March 13 - "Lucky 13" Ticket Night: On the superstitiously bad luck Friday the 13th the Chiefs play on, Chiefs fans can get lucky with cheap tickets! Any seat in section 13 or any seat numbered 13 in the arena can be purchased for just $13 on that night. This offer is available through advance ticket purchase by calling the Chiefs' office at 814-539-1799.



ECHL Stories from February 23, 2009


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central