West Coast Split

December 8, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies News Release


ATLANTIC CITY – WEEK RECORD: 2-2-0 SEASON RECORD: 14-9-0 3rd NORTHERN

BULLIES REWIND: The Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies split four games on a season-long 8-day road trip on the west coast to keep within 2 points of the Johnstown Chiefs for the top spot in the Northern Division, despite falling out of 2nd place.

The Bullies began the trip with a bang routing Fresno 8-3 on Tuesday at the Save Mart Center. Atlantic City opened the scoring on the power play at 12:53 of the first when Aaron Foster picked up Luke Curtin's rebound in the slot and tucked it by Fresno goaltender Terry Friesen for a 1-0 lead. Preston Mizzi and Curtin would tack on even-strength goals 1:15 seconds apart at 14:34 and 15:49 of the period respectively to give the Bullies a 3-0 lead at the end of one. Fresno would cut the deficit to 3-1 when Brad Mehalko's slap shot beat Bullies goaltender Jake Moreland along the ice at 4:10 of the second, but the Bullies would roar back with a power play goal by Mizzi at 6:28 and an even-strength tally by Danny Eberly at 7:13 for a 5-1 advantage. After a Kevin Truelson power play goal for Fresno at 10:19, Curtin would pot his second goal of the game with shorthanded tally at 19:15 to give the Bullies a 6-2 lead after two periods. Matt Hubbauer and Sam Paolini capped the scoring for the Bullies in the final frame at 7:38 and 10:45 of the third period respectively. The Bullies out-shot the Falcons 38-32 for the game and went 2-7 on the power play. Moreland made 29 saves to pick up his first win since October 28.

Wednesday, the Las Vegas Wranglers used two power play goals and a shorthanded tally to top the Atlantic City 4-2 at the Orleans Arena. Las Vegas opened the scoring at 2:51 of the first period on the power play when Justin Kelly beat Bullies goaltender Scott Stirling along the ice for a 1-0 lead. The Bullies would quickly counter on their power play when Josh Prudden took a feed from Pierre-Luc Sleigher to the left of the net and stuffed it behind Wranglers goalie Brent Krahn at 5:15 to tie the game 1-1. The Wranglers would take the lead for good at 15:56 with the Bullies on the power play, when Eric Schneider came up the right side and found a streaking Kevin O'Flaherty cutting to the net. O'Flaherty slipped it by Stirling shorthanded for a 2-1 Wranglers advantage. Las Vegas would increase their lead to two in the second period when Jeff Attard struck on the power play putting Mike McBain's rebound by Stirling at 14:58 for a 3-1 edge. The Bullies would close to within one early in the third period as Matt Hubbauer scored an even-strength goal at 1:53 to cut the deficit to 3-2. Yet the Bullies were unable to solve Krahn in the final frame, and Schneider would seal the game with an empty-net goal at 19:53 to give the Wranglers a 4-2 win. The Bullies out-shot the Wranglers 39-22, but went just 1-9 on the power play. Stirling stopped 18 shots in taking the loss. Despite the defeat, Atlantic City won the inaugural Sin City Showdown against Las Vegas 2-1.

Friday, assistant captain Luke Curtin assisted on all three Bullies goals as Atlantic City knocked off the Idaho Steelheads 3-1 at the Bank of America Centre in the first of a two game series. Idaho opened the scoring at 7:04 when Lance Galbraith picked up his own rebound in front of Bullies goaltender Scott Stirling and tucked it by Stirling for a 1-0 lead. The Bullies would quickly counter on a two-man advantage power play when Brian Fahey's slap shot from the left point found its way through traffic and behind Idaho goalie Dan Ellis at 10:14 of the first period to tie the game 1-1. The Bullies would take lead for good in the second period when Josh Prudden took a feed from Curtin and blasted a slap shot by Ellis at 9:41 for a 2-1 advantage. Preston Mizzi gave the Bullies some insurance in the third period when he collected his own rebound in front of Ellis and tucked it by the Idaho net-minder at 5:07 for a 3-1 lead the Bullies would not relinquish. The Bullies out-shot the Steelheads 45-19 for the game. Stirling made 18 saves for his 11th win of the season. The Bullies went 1-7 on the power play.

Saturday, Idaho would earn a split in the series as Zenon Konopka scored the go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal in the second period and Dan Ellis made a career-high 48 saves as the Steelheads defeated the Bullies 2-1 at the Bank of America Centre. Idaho opened the scoring just 18 seconds into the contest when Ben Keup picked up Derek Paget 's rebound in the slot and slipped it by Bullies goaltender Scott Stirling for a 1-0 lead. The Bullies would get the equalizer at 6:53 of the first period on the power play when Jon Cullen found the loose puck to the left of Ellis and tucked it behind the Idaho goalie to tie the game 1-1. Idaho scored the go-ahead goal at 17:09 of the second period when Michael Vyhlidial's slap shot slipped through Stirling's pads into the crease and Konopka tipped it home for a 2-1 advantage. Despite 14 shots in the final period and a late power play, the Bullies couldn't put the puck by Ellis. For the game, the Bullies out-shot the Steelheads 49-17 and 94-36 for the two-game set. Stirling made 15 saves in the defeat. The Bullies went 1-7 on the power play.

BULLIES "TOP DAWG" AWARD: Each Monday from now until the end of the season, Public Relations and Broadcasting Manager Dan Weiss will select the Bullies "Top Dawg" for the week. This week's winner is forward Luke Curtin who tallied a point in all four games and finished the trip with 2 goals and 6 assists. Honorable mention goes out to Preston Mizzi who finished second on the trip in scoring with 3 goals and 2 assists. Previous winners below include:

10/20/03: Jim Henkel (4 goals, 2 assists)
10/27/03: Luke Curtin (1 goal, 2 assists)
11/3/03: Brian Fahey (0 goals, 5 assists)
11/10/03: Scott Stirling (55 shots, 53 saves)
11/17/03: Matt Hubbauer (1 goal, first professional)
11/24/03: Jon Cullen (2 goals, 3 assists)
12/1/03: Josh Prudden (1 goal, 2 assists)

BOMBS AWAY: The Bullies out-shot their opponent in all four games this week by a combined count of 170-93 and recorded consecutive 40+ shot games for just the second time this season. On the flip side, the Bullies defense recorded a new low for shots allowed holding Idaho to 19 shots on goal in both contests Friday and Saturday. The 38 combined shots allowed is the fewest the Bullies have given up in a weekend series this season.

NORTHERN LIGHTS: The next 9 games for the Bullies will feature Northern Division opponents, the longest stretch of divisional opponents so far this year. Of their 23 games played, only 10 have been against teams from the Northern Division. The Bullies will look to improve on their 4-6 divisional record. Meanwhile, Atlantic City has had much success so far outside their boundaries with a 10-3 mark against non-divisional opponents, including a 5-2 record against teams from the Pacific Division. The Bullies will see one more opponent from the Pacific when the Bakersfield Condors come to Atlantic City for a pair of games in February.

GETTING TIGHT: The Northern Division is currently the tightest in the ECHL more than one-third of the way through the season. Just 6 points separate Johnstown in the top spot and Peoria who is currently holding onto fifth place. The Bullies trail the Chiefs by 2 points and Wheeling by 1, while maintaining a one-point lead over Reading. 10 points separate first through eighth in the division. Only five teams from the Northern Division will qualify for the playoffs. Out of the top five teams in the division, the Bullies have played the most games with 23.

POWER PLAY FOR UNITED WAY: The Bullies have teamed up with United Way of Atlantic County to sponsor the Power Play for United Way. For every power play goal the Bullies score this season, Trump Plaza, Sands Casino Hotel, Advance Door & Supply, Kline Construction and HR Solutions will donate $10 dollars to United Way of Atlantic County. The Bullies tallied a power play goal in every game this week and five overall to up their total for the year to 23, good for $1,150 dollars towards the Power Play for United Way.

PACK THE HOUSE NIGHT IS BACK: Back by popular demand, "Pack the House Night II" will be held at 7:05PM this Friday, December 12 when the Bullies host the Cincinnati Cyclones at Boardwalk Hall. All tickets are just $6 dollars. Be apart of history as the Bullies will pack the house and send the Cyclones spinning. For more information or to order tickets, call the Bullies ticket office at (609) 348-PUCK. The Bullies will try to break last year's mark of 9,232. The largest home attendance in the ECHL this season belongs to Fresno who opened their new Save Mart Center with a crowd of 12,342.

STAY ONLINE WITH THE BULLIES: Follow the Bullies throughout the season by pointing your computer mouse to www.boardwalkbullies.com. You can read game updates, get to know your favorite Bullies, and find out where "Wooly" and the team will be appearing next. Click and score with www.boardwalkbullies.com!

UP NEXT: The defending ECHL Kelly Cup Champions return from their road trip and will host the Cincinnati Cyclones at 7:05PM on Friday at Boardwalk Hall. The Bullies will then travel to Wheeling to battle the Nailers on Sunday. Game time is 6PM. Catch Sunday's game on ESPN Radio 1450AM and both contests on the Surfer Network at www.boardwalkbullies.com beginning with the pre-game show 20 minutes prior to face-off with Dan Weiss.



ECHL Stories from December 8, 2003


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