Checkers at ice Pilots: 10/31/06

[SD12]

CHECKERS PRESS RELEASE

CHECKERS GET TWO FROM BRUCE GRAHAM & 44 SAVES FROM CHRIS HOLT IN 5-2 WIN AT PENSACOLA

PENSACOLA, FL. - The Charlotte Checkers capped off a successful, three-game Florida road trip with a 5-2 victory Tuesday night against the Pensacola Ice Pilots. Bruce Graham scored twice for Charlotte while goalie Chris Holt repelled 44 of the Ice Pilots’ 46 shots to secure his second win of the season. Daymen Rycroft, Dusty Jamieson and Kenton Smith tallied single goals for the Checkers.

The victory in Pensacola helped Charlotte go 2-1-0 on the three-game road trek, and improved the Checkers record to 4-1-0 in the first five games of the young 2006-07 season. Charlotte now sits tied with Gwinnett for the top spot in the Southern Division of the ECHL’s American Conference. The loss kept the Ice Pilots winless at 0-7-0.

“We wanted to get off to a fast start tonight and we were able to do that with the three-goal lead in the first period,” remarked Charlotte coach Derek Wilkinson. “We didn’t want to worry about what they were going to do, but wanted to concentrate on what we wanted to do. Chris Holt was solid in goal tonight and made some big saves in the first period. We’re real happy to go 4-1-0 in the month of October.”

The Checkers got off to a fast start in the first period with three unanswered goals. Rycroft tipped in Kenton Smith’s wrist shot by Ice Pilot’s starting goalie Michael Mole at 10:26 for a 1-0 Charlotte advantage. On a delayed Pensacola penalty, Graham ripped a shot from deep in the right wing circle that found its way to be the back of the net for a 2-0 Charlotte lead at 11:15. Jamieson made it 3-0 with a short-handed goal at 15:28, with Holt and Corey Potter assisting. Following Jamieson’s goal, Pensacola coach George Dupont pulled Mole in favor of Jeff Pietrasiak. Jason Goulet tallied for Pensacola late in the stanza for a 3-1 advantage for the Checkers through one period.

In the second period the Checkers scored twice while keeping the Ice Pilots off the board. Graham’s second of the night came at 14:01 on a power-play as he rammed home Mark Lee’s rebound by Pietrasiak. A little over a minute later, Jamieson sprung Smith away on a breakaway and the Checkers defenseman scored for a 5-1 Charlotte lead after 40 minutes.

In the third period the Ice Pilots racked up 22 shots but could only score once. Jordan Krestanovich’s power-play goal at 12:16 was the game’s last score as the Checkers prevailed 5-2.

The Checkers return home for two games this weekend. Friday night Charlotte will host the Gwinnett Gladiators at 7:30 p.m. at Charlotte Bobcats Arena. Sunday afternoon the Texas Wildcatters come to Charlotte to meet the Checkers at 4:00 p.m.

Tickets for all Checkers home games can be purchased on the official team web site at www.gocheckers.com (http://www.gocheckers.com), on the telephone at 1-800-495-2295, or by visiting the Charlotte Bobcats Arena box office.

BOX SCORE (http://echl.leaguestat.com/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=958)

[SD12]

CHARLOTTE OBSERVER

CHECKERS SCORE EARLY, WIN EASILY (http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/sports/hockey/echl/charlotte_checkers/15898121.htm)
Observer News Services

PENSACOLA, FL. - Bruce Graham scored twice and Kenny Smith and Dusty Jamieson each had a goal and an assist to lead the Charlotte Checkers to a 5-2 victory Tuesday against the Pensacola Ice Pilots.

Charlotte (4-1), which lost three of four at Pensacola last season, led 3-0 in the first period before Pensacola (0-7) scored, and held a 5-1 lead in the second period.

"It was our game plan to go out and put some pressure on them," Checkers coach Derek Wilkinson said. "We played smart hockey, but we didn't have to take chances in the third period."

Charlotte hosts Gwinnett (4-1) Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Bobcats Arena in a matchup of South Division leaders.

<TABLE class=story-table border=0><TBODY><TR class=story-table-even-row><TD>Charlotte</TD><TD>3</TD><TD>2</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>--</TD><TD>5</TD></TR><TR class=story-table-odd-row><TD>Pensacola</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>--</TD><TD>2</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>



First Period--1, Charlotte, D. Rycroft (3) (K. Smith, B. Bellefeuille) 10:26. 2, Charlotte, B. Graham (4) 11:15. 3, Charlotte, D. Jamieson (7) (C. Holt, C. Potter) 15:28. 4, Pensacola, J. Goulet (1) (D. Krestanovich, D. Sulivan) 17:28. Penalties--M. Ouellette Chr (interference - minor 56.2) 2:57, R. Crane Pen (tripping - minor 57.2) 6:53, J. Goulet Pen (interference - minor 56.2) 9:53, B. Bellefeuille Chr (hooking - minor 55.2) 11:46, M. Lee Chr (hooking - minor 55.2) 15:20, K. DeWaele Chr (holding - minor 54.2) 17:42.

Second Period--5, Char, B. Graham (5) (M. Lee, C. Potter) 14:01. 6, Char, K. Smith (1) (D. Jamieson) 15:18 Penalties--R. Crane Pen (holding - minor 54.2) 0:19, T. Barnes Pen (hooking - minor 55.2) 0:24, M. Joly Pen (tripping - minor 57.2) 4:21, B. Graham Chr (tripping - minor 57.2) 4:26, D. Sulivan Pen (interference - minor 56.2) 9:40, R. Rankin Pen (interference - minor 56.2) 11:43, C. Trick Pen (tripping - minor 57.2) 12:10, D. Rycroft Chr (fighting - major 47.14) 15:20, T. Liebel Pen (fighting - major 47.14) 15:20, R. Crane Pen (cross-checking minor 59.2) 17:14, D. Krestanovich Pen (slashing - minor 61.2) 17:44, N. Gillies Chr (interf - minor 56.2) 19:22.

Third Period--7, Pen, J. Krestanovich (1) (C. Hemingway, D. Krestanovich) 12:16. Penalties--J. Vodrazka Chr (holding - minor 54.2) 3:20, M. Lee Chr (hooking - minor 55.2) 5:14, D. Sulivan Pen (holding - minor 54.2) 6:01, T. Barnes Pen (tripping - minor 57.2) 6:15, K. DeWaele Chr (fighting - major 47.14) 7:11, B. Cook Pen (cross-checking minor 59.2, fighting - major 47.14) 7:11, D. Rycroft Chr (holding - minor 54.2) 8:50, M. Joly Pen (holding - minor 54.2) 10:06, A. Nightingale Chr (holding the stick - minor 54.2) 10:47, D. Rycroft Chr (holding - minor 54.2) 11:50, K. DeWaele Chr (interference - minor 56.2) 16:15, B. Cook Pen (interference - minor 56.2) 17:41, B. Graham Chr (elbowing - minor 46.2) 19:00. Shots on goal--Charlotte 12-12-5--29; Pensacola 18-6-22--46. Goaltenders--Charlotte, Holt 2-1-0-0 (46 shots-44 saves). Pensacola, Mole 0-4-0-0 (11-8), Pietrasiak 0-2-0-0 (18-16).

[SD12]

ICE PILOTS PRESS RELEASE

ICE PILOTS FIRE 46 SHOTS BUT NOT ENOUGH

PENSACOLA, FL. - The Charlotte Checkers fired three first-period goals midway through the second period enroute to a 5-2 win over the Pensacola Ice Pilots on Tuesday night at The Hangar at the Pensacola Civic Center.

The Checkers improved their record to 4-1-0, while the Ice Pilots fall to 0-7-0. The Ice Pilots had 46 shots on goal including 22 in the third period alone but could not beat goaltender Chris Holt who was outstanding and named the game’s first star.

The three Checkers’ goals came in a span of 5:02 span of the opening period and chased starting goaltender Michael Mole. The Ice Pilots would score late in the period when Jason Goulet notched his first of the season from Derek Krestanovich and Dan Sullivan.

In the second period, the Ice Pilots appeared to have scored a goal to make it a 3-2 game but referee Dean Sanborn waived it off saying the puck did not cross the line. Charlotte came back and added two more goals in a span of 1:17 to make it 5-1.

The Ice Pilots rounded out the scoring in the third period when Jordan Krestanovich picked up his first of the year from Colin Hemingway and Derek Krestanovich.

Dwayne Hay led the Ice Pilots with seven shots on goal, while Brendan Cook had six and Nate Metcalf had five.

The Pensacola Ice Pilots were 1 for 14 on the power play while Charlotte had two goals in 18 opportunties.

Next action for the Ice Pilots is this weekend when they host the Augusta Lynx in back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday at 7:05 p.m. The game can be heard on the Ice Pilots Hockey Network beginning with the pre-game show at 6:45 pm followed by the puck drop shortly after 7 pm with the voice of the Ice Pilots Denis J. Puska bringing you all of the action.
Tickets for this weekend’s games are available at the Pensacola Civic Center Box Office, Ticketmaster outlets or on line at www.ticketmaster.com (http://www.ticketmaster.com). For further information on your Pensacola Ice Pilots including group rates call 432-PUCK (7825) or go on line at www.icepilots.com (http://www.icepilots.com).

For further information on your Pensacola Ice Pilots contact Director of Broadcasting and Media Relations Denis J. Puska at (850) 432-7825.

[SD12]

PENSACOLA NEWS JOURNAL

PENALTIES KILL PILOTS
Penascola extends slide with 5-2 defeat

Joe Zwierzchowski

PENSACOLA, FL. - Seventy-six combined minutes of penalty time during a 60-minute hockey game is a scary thing, even on Halloween.

The Ice Pilots remain winless after a 5-2 loss to the Charlotte Checkers on Tuesday at the Pensacola Civic Center and are the only team in the ECHL without a single point.

Even scarier.

Things got off to a rough start as Mike Mole allowed three goals in the first period before being pulled in favor of Jeff Pietrasiak, who inherited a 3-0 deficit.

It didn't get much better as the Pilots (0-7-0-0, 0 points) where whistled for nine penalties during the second. Pietrasiak allowed only two goals despite the near-constant man advantage for the Checkers (5-4-1-0, 8 points).

"It's been this way every game," Pilots coach George Dupont said about the penalties. "What can you do? Phone the league, ask the league.

"Go over there and ask him," Dupont said, pointing at the referees' locker room across the hall.

When not crowded into the penalty box in pairs, the Pilots dominated the Checkers -- first in the ECHL's South Division. Dominated except in the scoring as 32 total penalties slowed the pace and stole some of the Pilots' thunder.

"We end up with 46 shots (to Charlotte's 29), we control the game five-on-five, and every time we get some momentum ....(a penalty)" Dupont said. "There's 10 minutes of a 60-minute game that you have absolutely no opportunity to do anything."

Jordan Krestanovich's third-period goal (first of the season) roused the crowd, who until then had little to do except boo the refs. The goal gave the Ice Pilots life as they peppered Checkers goalie Chris Holt only to be denied time and again on the doorstep.

Jason Goulet scored his first goal of the season during the first period. Pietrasiak stopped 16 of 18 shots and Mole took the loss, allowing 3 goals on 11 shots.

The Pilots play host to the Augusta Lynx at 7:05 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Photos (http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=DP&Date=20061101&Category=SPORTS&ArtNo=611010802&Ref=PH&Profile=1028)