Wenatchee Wild Series Preview Notes V. Dawson Creek Rage
November 3, 2010 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Wenatchee Wild News Release
Dawson Creek Rage at Wenatchee Wild (Town Toyota Center)
Thursday, Nov. 4 - 6:35 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 5 - 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 6 - 7:05 p.m.
Series Specials
Dollar Days - Thursday is Dollar Days at the Town Toyota Center. Sponsored by Cherry Creek Radio and Alcoa, pizza, hot dogs, soda, domestic brews, popcorn and cotton candy will be sold for $1 apiece.
Cowbell Night - Presented by Ag Supply Co., Saturday is the Wild's Third Annual Cowbell Night. The first 2,500 fans in attendance will receive a free cowbell. This year's bells are bigger and louder than ever!
Skate with the Wild - All season ticket holders and Kids Klub members are invited to take part in a post-game skate with the Wild after Saturday's game.
Wild Last Series
The Wild suffered a pair of losses last weekend to the Texas Tornado. It was the first time the Wild was swept this season. Texas won the first game of the series, 2-1, and the second game, 3-2.
Game 1 - Eliot Grauer's (Mukioteo, Wash.) second-period power-play goal from Chris Rumble (Chesapeake, Va.) and Carl-Johan Sjogren (Sodertalje, Sweden), tied up the game, 1-1. However, Marc Biggs' goal on a bang-bang play near the midpoint of the third frame, proved to be the game-winner for the Tornado. Brandon Jaeger (Champlin, Minn.) made 30 saves on 32 shots in a losing effort.
Game 2 - The Wild claimed a 2-0 lead on second-period goals by Tyler Hope (McKinney, Texas) and Evan Schmidbauer (Surrey, BC). Texas came back, scoring three unanswered power-play goals for a 3-2 win. Jaeger stopped 31 of the 34 shots he faced but was slapped with the loss to fall to 8-3 on the season. Tornado goalie Jimmy Kruger made 31 saves on 33 shots and maintained his undefeated record (8-0).
Rage Last Series
The Rage lost both games of a 2-game series against the Fresno Monsters last weekend. Dawson Creek lost the first game, 2-1, and the second game, 5-4.
Game 1 - Nolan Rossiter put the Rage up 1-0 at the midpoint of the first period, but the Monsters scored two unanswered goals for a 2-1 victory.
Game 2 - Sam Waterfield scored a goal and an assist, and Josh Hartley recorded two assists, but the Rage fell to the Monsters, 5-4.
Wild Moves on
The Wild is coming off of a difficult weekend in which it endured a pair of 1-goal losses to the Texas Tornado.
Friday's 2-1 loss was hard enough to accept. Then, on Saturday, the Wild came out even stronger and managed to take a 2-0 lead on second-period goals by Hope and Schmidbauer. But it wasn't enough as the Tornado stormed back for three unanswered power-play markers for its 10th straight victory.
Two of Texas' power-play goals on Saturday came during a 2-man advantage in the third period, the third 2-man disadvantage the Wild faced in the game.
"We were much better on Saturday night," said Wenatchee Wild third-year head coach Paul Baxter. "We were kind of hamstrung by three 3-against-5 penalty kills. That has a cumulative affect on the team's energy level.
"Their goaltending was outstanding. We limited them to three even strength chances the last two periods."
Indeed, Torando netminder Kruger was fantastic. He made 15 saves on 16 shots in Game 1 last weekend, then turned aside 31 of the Wild's 33 shots on Saturday night to maintain his undefeated record (8-0).
The Wild will face another excellent goaltender, Andrew Walsh, in this week's series against the Dawson Creek Rage.
Walsh's record is just 3-7, but he has the best save percentage in the NAHL (.939) and his goals-against average is the 10th best in the league (2.38).
The Rage is one of the league's new expansion teams, and the only NAHL team from Canada.
Like the Wild, the Rage will also be looking to turn things around in this week's series after suffering its own pair of 1-goal losses last weekend.
Coming up Next
After playing Dawson Creek this weekend, Wenatchee will take an extended road trip in Alaska for three 2-game series against Fairbanks (Nov. 12-13), Alaska (Nov. 16-17) and Kenai River (Nov. 19-20).
Wenatchee will close out its November schedule with a 2-game home series against the Chicago Hitmen on Nov. 26-27. Both games will face off at 7:05 p.m.
Fans can purchase tickets at the Town Toyota Center box office, by calling 1-888-7825 or by logging on to www.wenatcheewild.com.
Records
Rage: 6-11-1 - 13 points, .361 WPCT, 6th place in West
Wild: 10-5 - 20 points, .667 WPCT, T-1st place in West
One Streak Over, Two Remain
The Wild's 3-2 loss to the Tornado on Saturday ended its streak of 10 consecutive wins when taking a lead into the third period. Wenatchee is now 10-1 when leading after two periods and 9-0 when leading after the first period. Also, the Wild is still 7-0 when outshooting the opposition.
Frye, Rumble on D List
Despite being held off of the score sheet last series, Zach Frye's (Spokane, Wash.) 12 points (3G, 9A) put him in a fifth place tie among all NAHL defensemen. Rumble is also among the top scorers in the league. His 10 points (3G, 7A) tie him for seventh in the league. Rumble has six points in the last five games.
The Short of it
Wenatchee and Motor City are tied for the league lead in shorthanded goals (6). Individually, Grauer and Schmidbauer each have two shorthanded goals apiece, which ties them for the most in the NAHL.
On the flip side, the Wild is one of just four teams in the league to have not allowed a shorthanded goal this season.
Top Scoring Threats
Rage: Rossiter leads the Rage with 13 points (6G, 7A). Another forward, Dakota Mason, has the second most points (9) on the team with six goals and three assists.
Wild: Grauer (8G, 5A) leads the Wild with 13 points. Grauer is also a team-best plus-8 on the season. Frye has the second most points on the team with 12 (3G, 9A). Michael Di Puma (Chicago, Ill.) (7G, 3A), Shawn Pauly (Bellingham, Wash.) (4G, 6A) and Rumble (3G, 7A) have 10 points apiece.
Goals For/Against
Rage: For - 2.06 GPG, worst in the NAHL. Against - 2.72 GPG, sixth best in the NAHL.
Wild: For - 3.67 GPG, eighth best in the NAHL. Against - 2.73 GPG, seventh best inn the NAHL.
Special Teams
Rage: PP - 12/98 (12.2%), 19th in the NAHL; PK - 14/105 (86.7%), ninth best in the NAHL.
Wild: PP - 23/92 (25%); No. 1 in the NAHL; PK - 18/99 (81.8%), 19th in the NAHL.
All statistics and standings are through Oct. 31, 2010
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