 |
| Power
Play |
18.9%
- 5th |
| Penalty
Killing |
82.7%
- 2nd |
| FORWARDS |
| LORNE
MISITA |
27-28-55
(-12) |
| TIM
GREEN |
15-30-45
(-19) |
| RYAN
RUTZ |
24-19-43
(-9) |
| DEFENSEMEN |
| DARREN
NOSKEY |
2-20-22
(-6) |
| ANDREW
DWYER |
5-12-17
(-7) |
| WILL
BARLOW |
3-7-10
(-13) |
| GOALTENDERS |
| IAN
VIGIER |
13-12-4
(1 SO)
3.19 GA
0917 PCT |
|
| NATHAN
HEINEN |
9-12-2
(2 SO)
3.61 GA
.887 PCT |
|
 |
|
 |
| |
Columbus
vs Knoxville |
|
|
SCHEDULE |
| 1 |
MAR.
28 |
COLUMBUS
2- KNOXVILLE 4 |
SEED
6 |
2 |
MAR.
29 |
COLUMBUS
2 - KNOXVILLE 5 |
SEED
1 |
22-24-6
(50) |
3 |
APR.
4 |
KNOXVILLE
2 - COLUMBUS 4 |
23-16-4
(68) |
|
4 |
APR.
6 |
KNOXVILLE
2 - COLUMBUS 4 |
|
| |
5 |
APR.
8 |
COLUMBUS
3 - KNOXVILLE 6 |
|
| Knoxville
Wins Series 3-2 |
|
SERIES
PREVIEW |
| |
Knoxville,
TN - They have been rivals for as long
as they have coexisted in the Southern Professional Hockey
League. They are last year’s and this year’s regular season
champions.
And when the Knoxville Ice Bears and Columbus Cottonmouths
square off in Game 1 of their best-of-five first round
playoff series on Friday night in Knoxville, they will
be anything but cordial to each other. Game 2 is set for
Saturday night in Knoxville before the series heads for
Columbus and Game 3 on Friday, April 4.
“We’re going to be ready. We’re going to play physical.
We’re going to make them earn everything they get,” Columbus
coach Jerome Bechard said. “We know what we need to do.
We just have to execute, play smart, keep the puck going
forward and eliminate turnovers.”
For Bechard and the Cottonmouths, this season was unlike
any most of them had ever experienced. On paper, the lineup
was loaded with talent. Thing is, some of that talent
was young and inexperienced, especially the defense and
goaltenders. Add in an unusually high rate of illness
and injury and Columbus was left crossing its collective
fingers on the last day of the season. The miracle they
had been hoping for arrived in the form of a Huntsville
loss in Knoxville that gave the Cottonmouths a second
chance in the postseason.
The goaltending tandem of Ian Vigier and Nathan Heinen
had much to learn and the need to do it on the fly. Vigier,
who was named to the SPHL all-rookie team, was the statistically
better of the two, posting a 13-12-4 record with a 3.19
goals against average and a .917 save percentage. He also
made the most saves of any goalie in the league (1059)
and played more than 1800 minutes. Heinen finished the
regular season with a 9-12-2 mark but tied Richmond’s
Ryan Senft for most shutouts with two.
The defense was where Bechard was most concerned. Andrew
Dwyer (5-12-17, minus 7) was the lone returning player.
Will Barlow (3-7-10, minus 13) and Tyler Johnson (2-6-8,
minus 5) have been learning the ropes of the pro game
throughout the season. Late in the campaign, Bechard brought
in Jason Schulz (1-3-4, minus 4) and Roman Marakhovski
(3-1-4, plus 4) to steady the ship.
Offensively, Columbus’ roster is as good as any in the
league. Players like Lorne Misita (27-28-55, minus 12),
Tim Green (15-30-45, minus 19), Ryan Rutz (24-19-43, minus
9) and Orrin Hergott (22-18-40, minus 1) have the capability
to go on goal scoring tears at anytime. If they can remain
healthy, the Cottonmouths are as dangerous as their namesakes.
The key to the series, according to Bechard, is Columbus
playing its own style successfully.
“If we play our style of game and beat them at their own
systems, we’ll surprise them I think,” he said. “We have
got to go in there (Knoxville) and go for a split on the
weekend. We’ll be ready. We’ll be prepared.”
Across the ice, first year Knoxville coach Scott Hillman
had big shoes to fill, replacing Ice Bears’ icon Jim Bermingham.
Hillman made plenty of changes to the roster but held
on to a small core group and it worked as the team once
again ascended the hill to the top of the standings.
“It’s an incredibly tight group of guys. They enjoy each
other’s company and on the ice as a unit are definitely
gelling. For sure, there’s no place we’d rather be than
on top,” Hillman said.
Up front, the Ice Bears are led by perennial league scoring
leader Kevin Swider. The SPHL’s most valuable player once
again proved his worth as his 98 points won the scoring
title for the fourth time. His leadership during the early
part of the season was invaluable as Hillman leaned on
him during the initial transition phase. Line mate Tim
Vitek (20-32-52, plus 8) makes the first line formidable.
Mike Carter (17-27-44, plus 18), Bobby Joe Pelkey (22-19-41,
plus 13), Matt Pierce (22-14-36, plus 5) and Mike Craigen
(15-27-42, plus 9) give Knoxville as balanced a lineup
as the league has ever seen.
Knoxville’s defense has gotten steadily better as the
season has gone along. Every member of the corps finished
with a positive plus-minus stat. Kevin Harris (10-25-35,
plus 32), Art Mnatsakanov (5-16-21, plus 7) and Paul Lynch
(1-18-19, plus 15) have been the anchors of a group that
seemingly goes unnoticed because of the offensive firepower.
Rookie Jason Lepine (3-11-14, plus 8) has been a solid
addition as have Brett Smith (3-6-9, plus 6) and Matt
Withers (1-1-2, even).
Goaltending, long a staple of Ice Bears’ teams, has gotten
stronger since training camp. Expected to be the number
one net minder, Ervins Mustukovs has spent most of the
season away on call-ups. That left the door open for Kirk
Irving to take over. Irving went on lead the league in
wins with 19 and was second in goals against average at
3.01. Jordan Ramstead, who was with Knoxville in the preseason,
is a solid backup who Hillman has a great deal of confidence
in.
Last season, Columbus as the top seed fell victim to the
sixth seeded Jacksonville team. When asked about whether
his team was leery about a repeat, Hillman said that the
tightness of the regular season standings has helped prepare
his team for the postseason.
“We haven’t had a single easy game all year so we’ll be
primed and hungry for any team we play against.”
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
|
|
|
Game
1 |
Columbus
2 - Knoxville 4 |
| by
Tom Schettino - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
Knoxville
Leads Series 1-0 |
Knoxville,
TN - The Columbus Cottonmouths knew they
had to limit the power play time for the potent Knoxville
Ice Bears and apparently in the end they ignored themselves.
Thanks to the strength of three power play goals and one
which came a mere five seconds away from the end of another
the Cottonmouths are right where they started coming into
the game—with no wins.
Columbus penalties flowed like a river early on and the
Ice Bears were not about to be charitable hosts. With
Brennen Francon still in the penalty box for cross-checking
Darren Noskey decided to join his teammate in the box
for kneeing. Apparently at this point of the game the
Columbus game plan called for the team to keep two players
in the box at all times. In keeping with plan Ryan McCarthy
high-sticked an Ice Bears player with Noskey still in
incarceration and defender Jason Lepine made the ‘Snakes
pay the price with a slapper. Knoxville continued on the
power play and league-leading scorer Kevin Swider gave
the Ice Bears a cushion goal unassisted.
At this point the Ice Bears decided to play fair and gave
up three power play chances of their own to Columbus,
but the Cottonmouths did not take Knoxville’s offer to
return into competition. Just when it appeared the period
would end with Knoxville up by two goals the Ice Bears
continued to give and Columbus captain Craig Stahl made
them pay. The Ice Bears coughed up the puck inside their
own zone and Stahl, a proven playoff star, ripped one
past Kirk Irving with just a second remaining in the period
to stun the Ice Bears and their hometown crowd.
Going into the second Columbus had regained momentum,
but the beginning of the end was not far off as Knoxville's
Mike Carter capitalized on a Mark Prentice penalty and
teammate Matt Pierce came through with another just five
ticks after Tim Green returned after an infraction of
his own. Lepine continued his contributions as he assisted
on both of the scores to finish with a three point evening.
Columbus scored their second late goal of the night when
Daryl Moor scored with just over two minutes left in the
middle stanza, but Irving and Columbus netminder Ian Vigier
traded saves through a tight third period in which only
11 shots were registered.
One of the story lines coming into this series was the
fact both teams were going with rookie netminders. In
the end both goaltenders played well in their first professional
playoff experience and both could be in goal tonight for
game two of the series. |
|
| Game
2 |
Columbus
2 - Knoxville 5 |
| by
Tom Schettino - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
Knoxville
Leads Series 2-0 |
Knoxville,
TN - When something happens once it is
fair to believe in chance. When it happens again you can
call it a trend. Thanks to SPHL MVP Kevin Swider we have
a trend in the Knoxville v. Columbus series. The trend
is this, when Columbus keeps their skates on the ice things
go well but when their asses are sitting in the penalty
box it ain’t going to be pretty.
For the second night this weekend the Knoxville Ice Bears
produced against the Columbus Cottonmouths penalty-kill
and was the difference in the game. Because of this trend
the Ice Bears are a single game from proving to the Cottonmouths
playing in the one against six series in the SPHL isn’t
a curse—or the start of another trend. (Last year the
top-ranked Cottonmouths were bounced from the SPHL playoffs
by the sixth place Jacksonville Barracudas).
There are a lot of good things to be said about Kevin
Swider’s play in the SPHL and he is adding another wonderful
chapter in this series. In this game the SPHL’s all-time
leading scorer set up the two tying goals after Columbus
got the lead and then knocked in the next two to cement
the contest.
Columbus appeared to have the machinations in place to
even this series and Tim Green gave them an early lead
with an unassisted goal just over a minute into the match.
But after killing their first three (count’em THREE; at
about this point Columbus coach Jerome Bechard must have
been a wee bit unhappy with this tempting of fate) shorthanded
situations in the first period alone the ‘Snakes went
for a fourth swig at the poisoned well. This time they
would taste the poison when JJ Wrobel tied the game and
the period with help from Swider and Tim Vitek.
The resilient Columbus club kept after Knoxville and moved
back into the lead when Mark Prentice jammed one through
a mess in front of the net—however it would be their last
part of the game to enjoy.
For once Knoxville showed some undisciplined play and
gave the Cottonmouths a 5-on-3 opportunity. After several
chances for Columbus the game turned when Swider tossed
a home-run pass to Brett Smith who was exiting from the
penalty box. Just seven ticks after his own infraction
ended Smith beat Columbus’ Ian Vigier with a weird angle
shot to knot the contest.
It would be all Knoxville after Smith’s goal as Swider
netted the next two scores (one on the power play and
one unassisted) and Ben Manny fired a puck into the open
goal to finish the scoring.
The good news for Columbus is the schedule in this series
allows the other SPHL semifinal between Fayetteville and
the winner of the Jacksonville-Twin City series to catch
up. The Cottonmouths will have until Friday night to regroup.
The season series in Georgia has been hard-fought with
each team claiming two regulation wins so fans can expect
the Cottonmouths to have an excellent chance on playing
a Game Four—if they break the penalty box trend. If they
don't Ice Bears can prepare for their second trip to the
SPHL Finals series in three years. |
|
| Game
3 |
Knoxville
2 - Columbus 4 |
| by
Tom Schettino - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
Knoxville
Leads Series 2-1 |
Columbus,
GA - Most of the time "winning the final game of the series is the toughest one" is a quote from standard hockey player cliche' 101 class.
The often-quoted group of words came into play last night when the Columbus Cottonmouths showed the phrase has some validity by erupting for three third period goals to stave off elimination.
In reality the Cottonmouths had played a pair of competitive games in Knoxville despite the losses, so a win was not out of the question. However, after 40 minutes of play and down a goal it would appear that gassing up the car and heading back to Canada to catch the last bit of winter was definitely a possibility for many of Columbus' players.
Knoxville fell behind early on a Brennen Francon score but rallied back with goals from Kevin Harris and Mike Carter. The difference probably came when the Ice Bears opportunistic power play failed to widen the lead when Francon and Tyler Johnson were penalized after Knoxville had taken the one goal lead.
Columbus dodged that bullet and faced with elimination came back with a snarl outshooting the Ice Bears 16-8 over the final twenty minutes of play. Veteran Tim Green tied the score just a bit after four minutes into the period and seldom-scorer Dan Leslie put Columbus up for good when he canned the rebound of a Lorne Misita bid over Knoxville goaltender Kirk Irving. Defender Roman Markhovski added insurance late in the period while netminder Ian Vigier sealed up the Cottonmouths cage in limited action.
At the end of the contest the score was relatively close and the 'Snakes outshot the Ice Bears by a mere six shots, however, Columbus won the game going away. Based on the final 20 minutes of game three Columbus has to feel much better about their chances on Sunday when they try to force the series back to Tennessee--and avoid the long drive(s) home at least for another time. |
|
| Game
4 |
Knoxville
2 - Columbus 4 |
| by
Tom Schettino - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
Series
Tied 2-2 |
Columbus,
GA - Curse of the "Coffey Cup"?
The ECHL's Brabham Trophy is awarded to the ECHL regular season champions. For years the "Brabham Curse" haunted the champions as one-by-one they failed to duplicate their regular season success in the postseason.
Last year the Jacksonville Barracudas shocked the first place Columbus Cottonmounths in the first round and moved into the championship series. This year the Knoxville Ice Bears won the regular season championship and took a two game lead in their first round series against Columbus. But with two wins in their last two games the Cottonmouths are potentially setting up the William B. Coffey Trophy for a curse of its own.
After losing the first two games in Tennessee, to a man the Cottonmouths claimed they were playing the Ice Bears well and were losing on bounces. Down by a goal heading into the last period of Game Three it appeared the 'Snakes had just been whistling by the graveyard on their way to being swept. But a three goal rally in the third period of that game and a 4-2 win last night has the club poised to upset the Ice Bears.
Thanks to a coaching decision the game may have been over before it started. Stating he wanted to give Kirk Irving a rest in case there was a game five in Knoxville, Ice Bears coach Scott Hillman decided to give backup netminder Jordan Ramstead the start.
While the decision to do so may have been fair and balanced, it is doubtful the Hillman family is going to save the newspaper clipping from this game as a momento of coaching brilliance. Ramstead, who had not played in more than two weeks, was thrust into a bad spot and reacted poorly giving up four goals on just 12 shots. To make matters worse, the rest for Irving went by the wayside when he was inserted in goal and played over 22 minutes after the 'Snakes fourth goal. As if to highlight the folly of the move Irving pitched a shutout the rest of the game.
By no means should Hillman, who has had a fine season with the club, or the rest of the club jump off the Ruggles Ferry Bridge as they hold a dominant record over the Cottonmouths in Tennessee, but desperation should hit the club right about...now.
The facts of game four are thus, Knoxville outshot the Cottonmouths 42-17 and played a more disciplined game than the 'Snakes did which is favorable for game five. Conversely they are facing netminder Ian Vigier who appears to be getting hot at the correct time and one should never forget the intangibles Craig Stahl brings to a team.
On the other hand Columbus has nothing at all to lose. They have won the last two games and internally they believe they should have taken one of the first two games in Knoxville earlier in the series. If they can stay out of the box and keep Kevin Swider from running rampant they have a chance to steal the series.
The game itself started evenly with Ryan McCarthy scoring
for Columbus and Matt Pierce answering for the Ice Bears.
But for once the Cottonmouths capitalized on a Knoxville
lapse in discipline when Lorne Misita scored with Kevin
Harris in the penalty box with less than a minute to go
in the first period.
At this point the game broke open when Ryan Rutz and Daryl Moor tallied to give Columbus a three goal lead. The game's final goal was scored by Mike Craigen. The Knoxville fireplug may have made a bigger mark on the series when his check put Columbus' Orrin Hergott into the doubtful category for the deciding match which will take place on April 8th.
|
|
| Game
5 |
Columbus
3 - Knoxville 6 |
| by
Tom Schettino - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM |
Knoxville
Wins Series 3-2 |
Knoxville,
TN - The Knoxville Ice Bears scored the game's first three goals and fought off a late challenge from the Cottonmouths to advance to their second SPHL Finals series in three years.
It was a tough start for Knoxville coach Scott Hillman who was coming off an interesting goaltending decision in game four as he called all-star defender Kevin Harris by his nickname "Harry" on the official lineup card. Columbus coach Jerome Bechard caught the error and attempted to have Harris banned from the contest. Initially the gambit worked as Harris was forced into the role of an observer during the early stages of the game.
The swirling background of intrigue seemed to energize the Ice Bears while sapping the 'Snakes as Tim Vitek scored the game's first goal and Harris converted on a power play after being cleared to play by SPHL commissioner Jim Combs.
The second period opened with an early goal by Ben Manny to give the Ice Bears a three-goal cushion. At this point it seemed as if the club would cruise to victory but Columbus wasn't out of the fight yet as they scored three of the game's next four tallies. Brennen Francon scored an unassisted goal to get Columbus on the board and after JJ Wrobel scored the eventual game-winner for Knoxville, Columbus' Jason Schulz and Lorne Misita narrowed the game to one.
The upset bid ended when Bobby Joe Pelkey scored to halt Columbus' run and an empty-netter by Brett Smith sealed the deal for the Ice Bears who also enjoyed three assist nights from Kevin Swider and Mike Craigen.
With the win the Ice Bears will attempt to win their second SPHL championship in three years as they take on the second-seeded Jacksonville Barracudas in the finals. The series is slated to begin on Thursday night. |
|
|
 |
|
 |
| Power
Play |
18.2%
- 6th |
| Penalty
Killing |
78.6%
- 5th |
| FORWARDS |
| KEVIN
SWIDER |
38-60-98
(+26) |
| TIM
VITEK |
20-32-52
(+8) |
| MIKE
CARTER |
17-27-44
(+18) |
| DEFENSEMEN |
| KEVIN
HARRIS |
10-25-35
(+32) |
| ART
MNATSAKANOV |
5-16-21
(+7) |
| PAUL
LYNCH |
1-18-19
(+15) |
| GOALTENDERS |
| KIRK
IRVING |
19-9-3
(0 SO)
3.01 GA
.904 PCT |
|
| JORDAN
RAMSTEAD |
2-1-0
(0 SO)
3.51 GA
.896 PCT |
|
|
|
