Win, Lose, & Draw

January 10, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies News Release


ATLANTIC CITY - WEEK RECORD: 1-1-1 - SEASON RECORD: 20-7-5 - 1st NORTH DIVISION

BULLIES REWIND: The Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies took three out of a possible six points during their week-long road trip that was slightly abbreviated with the postponement of Friday's game at Wheeling, and hold a three-point lead in the North Division over rival Trenton. Atlantic City has gone 17-3-3 in their last 23 games.

Tuesday, Jason Notermann tallied a pair of goals and goaltender Jake Moreland stopped 31 shots to lead the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies to a 4-2 victory over the Dayton Bombers before 1723 at the EJ Nutter Center. After a scoreless first period, Atlantic City opened the scoring with a pair of goals in the second period. Notermann got the Bullies on the board at 1:30 of the period, taking a pass from the Luke Curtin at the right-wing circle and ripping a slap shot above the left shoulder of Dayton goaltender Michael Ayers for a 1-0 lead. The Bullies increased their lead to 2-0 with a power play goal at 15:59 of the period. Dan Peters' point shot from the center blue line kicked off a Bombers defenseman in front of the cage and redirected its way behind Ayers and into the net. Derek Edwardson gave the Bullies a 3-0 lead with a power play goal at 1:20 of the third period, taking a pass in the slot from Brett Nowak and beating Ayers along the ice. Dayton would counter with two goals in a span of 1:52 seconds. Aaron Foster redirected Alex Johnstone's point shot past Moreland at 4:15 of the period to cut the deficit to 3-1. Tyler Scott recorded his first professional goal at 6:07 tipping the loose puck past Moreland to bring the Bombers back to within one goal at 3-2. However, the Bullies would kill any hopes of a Dayton comeback as Notermann potted his second goal of the night, ripping a slap shot from the right-wing circle over the glove of Ayers to make the final score 4-2. The Bullies out-shot Dayton 35-33. Moreland earned his 18th win of the season in his 24th consecutive start. Atlantic City went 2-3 on the power play to break a 1-28 slump.

Wednesday, Sylvain Dufresne tallied the game-winning goal in the sixth round of the shootout to lead the Toledo Storm to a 2-1 shootout victory over the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies before 2234 at the Toledo Sports Arena. After a scoreless first period, former Boardwalk Bully Nick Parillo opened the scoring for Toledo at 8:55 of the second as he ripped a slap shot from the left-wing boards over the glove of Bullies goaltender Jake Moreland to give the Storm a 1-0 lead. It remained 1-0 until Luke Curtin netted the equalizer at 19:36 of the third period. With Moreland off for the extra attacker, Jason Notermann's pass across the slot intended for Derek Edwardson found its way onto Curtin's stick, and Curtin tipped it past Toledo goalie Scott Fankhouser with 24 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game at 1-1. The teams played a scoreless overtime setting up Dufresne's game-winner in the shootout. Toledo out-shot the Bullies 31-29. Moreland made 30 saves in his 25th consecutive start to fall to 18-4-4 on the season. The Bullies went 0-2 on the power play.

Saturday, Rick Kowalsky scored with 1:41 left in regulation to break a scoreless tie and goaltender Andrew Allen stopped all 19 shots he faced to lead the Trenton Titans to a 2-0 victory over the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies before 6233 at Sovereign Bank Arena. The loss snaps the Bullies six-game unbeaten streak. After a scoreless first 40 minutes, Kowalsky broke the tie when he collected Phil Lewandowski's rebound at the side of the net and tipped the puck past Bullies goaltender Jake Moreland at 18:19 to give Trenton a 1-0 lead. Bryce Cockburn sealed the win with an empty-net goal at 19:09 to make the final score 2-0. Trenton out-shot the Bullies 24-19. Moreland made 22 saves in falling to 18-5-4 in his 26th consecutive start. Atlantic City went 0-4 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 Captain Luke Curtin who notched the game-tying goal in Toledo and added three assists for the week. Honorable mention goes to goaltender Jake Moreland who allowed just four goals in the three games and has allowed just eight goals in his last seven starts.

OFFENSE SILENCED: Saturday's 2-0 shutout loss to Trenton marked the first time this season the Bullies have been shutout in a game and the first time since March 10 of last year when Atlantic City lost 1-0 at home against the Wheeling Nailers. The Bullies were shutout four times in 2003-04. The Bullies have struggled offensively in their last two outings with just a single goal to show for their efforts after tallying three goals or more in nine of their previous 11 games. Atlantic City dropped from fourth to ninth in the ECHL last week in total offense averaging 3.03 goals per game.

OPPONENTS' GUNS ARE QUIET TOO: Meanwhile, the Bullies defense and goaltender Jake Moreland have each shown consistent brilliance since the holiday break. Atlantic City has allowed just eight goals in their last seven games to reduce their goals against average to 2.31 goals per game, good for third overall in the ECHL. Moreland has a 0.99 goals against average in his last five starts and a .964% save percentage. The Bullies penalty kill, a real achilles heel for much of December, has killed off the opposition's last 15 chances on the power play, and has jumped from 83.9% to 85.3% in the last week.

STUCK ON FIVE: Atlantic City posted their second five-game winning streak of the season during the trip, but saw it snapped with Wednesday's shootout loss at Toledo. The Bullies enjoyed a five-game winning streak from November 9-16 and a four-game winning streak from November 20-27.

DIVISIONAL STRETCH CONCLUDES: The Bullies wrapped up their third longest stretch of games against North Division opponents following Saturday's game at Trenton. With the new balanced schedule, Atlantic City will play the entire months of December, February, and April strictly against divisional rivals. During this most recent stretch of 16 straight games against North Division teams dating back to November 27 at Trenton, the Bullies went 9-3-3 including Friday's postponement at Wheeling. Atlantic City is 14-6-5 against the North Division.

BIRDS OF A FEATHER: Atlantic City's next opponent, the Bakersfield Condors, have made mincemeat of the ECHL's North Division this season including their current East Coast swing. Bakersfield is 5-0-1 against the North, the best record of any team outside of the division, and has won four straight games on their current trip with two wins at Trenton and single victories at Reading and at Johnstown.

FACE-OFF AGAINST KIDS CANCER CONTINUES: The Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies will continue the Second Annual "Face-Off Against Kids Cancer" from 10AM-1PM on Sunday, January 16 with a special visit to the Jersey Shore Children's Museum located at the Shore Mall in Egg Harbor Township. There will be a special pizza party from 12PM-1PM. "Face-Off Against Kids Cancer" will culminate on Friday, January 28 and Sunday, January 30 when the Bullies take the ice wearing special commemorative jerseys dedicated to each child. The jerseys will then be auctioned off with the proceeds benefiting Caps For Kids, a national non-profit organization dedicated to providing hats signed by athletes and entertainers to kids who lose their hair due to chemotherapy treatments of cancer, Alfred I. duPont Hospital For Children in Wilmington, Delaware, and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

POWER PLAY FOR UNITED WAY: For a second consecutive season, the Bullies have teamed up with United Way to support the Power Play For United Way. For every power play goal the Bullies score in 2004-05, area businesses including Baumgardner Construction, RLS CopiScan, AtlantiCare, Tropicana Casino Resort & Hotel and Glenn Insurance will donate $10 to the United Way of Atlantic County. This season the Bullies have tallied 24 power play goals, good for $1200 towards Power Play For United Way.

BACK ON THE "QUEST FOR THE CUP": "Quest For The Cup", South Jersey's only local hockey show, returns to the airwaves tonight from 7PM-8PM on ESPN Radio 1450AM following a two-week hiatus for the holiday break. The show originates from Maloney's Uptown Bar & Grill located at 142 South Tennessee Avenue in downtown Atlantic City and features Bullies Head Coach Matt Thomas. It will be an all-star Monday tonight as Bullies All-Stars Luke Curtin and Derek Edwardson will join Dan Weiss in the second half hour.

WATCH THE BULLIES LIVE IN '04-05: The Bullies have teamed up with B2 Networks to bring you live action of Boardwalk Bullies hockey in 2004-05. Bullies fans will be able to click the Watch the Game Live icon at the Bullies website to view and listen to the game. These broadcasts are available to fans for a charge of $6 per game. All 36 Bullies home broadcasts will be available in addition to over 20 road games in Trenton, Reading, Johnstown, and Wheeling. A cable or DSL Internet connection and Windows Media Player 9 are required to view the games.

UP NEXT: The Bullies welcome the Bakersfield Condors to Historic Boardwalk Hall at 7:05PM on Wednesday. Every Wednesday home game is "Wild Wednesday". All college students, casino workers, military and service industry personnel get in for just $6 with a valid ID. Enjoy great beer specials all night for just $2. Friday and Saturday Atlantic and Reading will play a home-and-home series. Reading will host the Bullies at 7:05PM on Friday before the series shifts back to Historic Boardwalk Hall at 7:05PM on Saturday. Every Saturday home game is "Family Night". Purchase four tickets, four hot dogs, and four sodas for only $44! The first 2,500 fans through the gates will receive the second set of "Bullies Collectible Trading Cards" presented by Copiers Plus. For more information or to order tickets, call (609) 348-7825. Catch Friday's game live on ESPN Radio 1450 and all three contests on the SurferNetwork at www.boardwalkbullies.com. Broadcast time begins 20 minutes prior to face-off with "Bullies Countdown."

BULLIES SCHEDULE WEEK OF JANUARY 10

Tuesday, January 11: Practice 10:30AM-12PM

Wednesday, January 12: Morning Skate 10AM; Bullies vs. Bakersfield 7:05PM

Thursday, January 13: Practice 10:30AM-12PM

Friday, January 14: Morning Skate 10AM; Depart for Reading @ 2:30PM; Bullies @ Reading 7:05PM; Depart for Atlantic City

Saturday, January 15: Morning Skate 10AM; Bullies vs. Reading 7:05PM

Sunday, January 16: Off Day; "Face-Off Against Kids Cancer-Jersey Shore Children's Museum" 10AM-1PM @ Jersey Shore Children Museum @ Shore Mall, Egg Harbor Township.



ECHL Stories from January 10, 2005


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