BILOXI, Miss. � The Mississippi Sea Wolves went 2-1-0 last week and sit in a tie for first place in the ECHL�s Central Division along with the Louisiana IceGators with 62 points.
Through 46 games, the Sea Wolves have an overall record of 28-12-6. Mississippi is 13-2-5 at home, and 15-10-1 on the road.
On Tuesday, Mississippi started its three-game road trip by outlasting Columbus 4-3 in the shootout, which went eight rounds. Louisiana downed the Sea Wolves 5-1 on Friday at the Cajundome. Mississippi bounced back on Saturday, doubling Texas 4-2 at Beaumont.
Mississippi has three home games this week, hosting Florence on Tuesday, Greensboro on Friday and Louisiana on Saturday.
GAMES, BROADCASTS AND PROMOTIONS AT A GLANCE �
Tuesday, Feb. 3 vs. Florence Pride � 6:35 p.m. CT � Mississippi Coast Coliseum
* Broadcast starts at 6:20 p.m. on ESPN Radio WXBD-AM 1490 and online at msseawolves.com
* Postgame party for all ages at Club Caribe
Friday, Feb. 6 vs. Greensboro Generals � 7:35 p.m. CT � Mississippi Coast Coliseum
* Broadcast gets underway at 7:20 p.m. on ESPN Radio WXBD-AM 1490 and online at msseawolves.com
* 2-for-1 military, sponsored by Keesler Federal Credit Union
Saturday, Feb. 7 vs. Louisiana IceGators � 7:35 p.m. CT � Mississippi Coast Coliseum
* Broadcast begins at 7:20 p.m. on WTNI-AM 1640 and online at msseawolves.com
* $2 drafts and $2 hotdogs from 6:30-8:30 p.m
* Steffon Walby poster giveaway
* Postgame party for all ages at Club Caribe
GAME PREVIEWS �
Tuesday, Feb. 3 vs. Florence Pride � 6:35 p.m. CT � Mississippi Coast Coliseum
The Sea Wolves are 1-0-0 against the Pride this season, defeating Florence 5-4 on November 14. This is the final meeting of the regular season and only visit by Florence to the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
Sea Wolves� Steffon Walby had a season high five points, netting one goal and tying the team record of four assists. Brent Gauvreau grabbed four points, on a goal and three helpers and Jim Baxter finished with a three-point game, scoring once and adding two assists. Jeff Hutchins and Sergei Kuznetsov also scored for Mississippi. Sea Wolves� Greg Gardner made 19 saves to pick up the win. Florence�s Mike Souza scored twice, while Allan Sirois and Victor Gervais each collected three assists. Pride goaltender Dan Lombard suffered the setback, making 26 saves.
Florence�s Ryan Gaucher, a former ECHL All-Star with the Sea Wolves, returns to Mississippi for the first time as a member of the Pride. In 1999-00, Gaucher appeared in 49 games with Mississippi tallied five goals and registered 31 points, a +16 rating and 20 penalty minutes. Gaucher was the Sea Wolves lone representative at the All-Star Game held in Greenville, South Carolina and scored in the game.
Mississippi coach Bob Woods and Florence coach Perry Florio were ECHL teammates with the Johnstown Chiefs from 1990-94.
During the 1999 postseason, the Sea Wolves defeated the Pride, formerly known as Pee Dee, in the Southern Conference Finals, four games to one. Mississippi split two games at Florence, and won all three contests at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
Mississippi is 5-7-1 all-time in the regular season against the Pride and 4-2-0 all-time at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
Friday, Feb. 6 vs. Greensboro Generals � 7:35 p.m. CT � Mississippi Coast Coliseum
It�s the first-ever visit by Greensboro to play at Mississippi and second-ever head-to-head meeting between the teams.
The Sea Wolves are 0-1-0 against the Generals, losing 4-3 at Greensboro on November 20. In that contest, the Generals netted two power-play goals in the third period to upend Mississippi. Greensboro�s Sam Ftorek scored the game-winner with 5:16 left in regulation. Kurt Drummond notched a pair of goals in the victory, while Geno Parrish collected three assists, Eric Fortier and ECHL All-Star Tom Reimann each had two helpers. Daniel Berthiaume turned away 30 of 33 shots to register the win. Sea Wolves� Greg Gardner took the loss in net, stopping 31 of 35 shots. Mississippi�s Jim Baxter tallied two goals, Louis Dumont had a goal and an assist and Sergei Kuznetsov picked up two assists in the setback.
Greensboro�s Alex Andreyev, formerly of the Sea Wolves, returns to the Mississippi Coast Coliseum for the first time as a member of the Generals. Andreyev played with Mississippi during the 1999-00 season. He appeared in 22 games, posting one goal, three points, a +4 rating and 43 penalty penalty minutes.
Saturday, Feb. 7 vs. Louisiana IceGators � 7:35 p.m. CT � Mississippi Coast Coliseum
Mississippi is 3-3-3 against Louisiana this season and 0-1-3 at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. It�s the 10th game of 14 in the season series.
Louisiana won the last game on Sunday, January 30, by a 5-1 score at the Cajundome. The IceGators scored two power play goals and a shorthand tally in the win. Alex Materukhin led Louisiana offensively tallying one goal and two assists, while Rod Sarich had two helpers. IceGators� Derek Gustafson made 29 stops to pick up the win in net. Mississippi�s Greg Gardner made 33 saves to suffer the setback. The Sea Wolves lone goal came from Sergei Kuznetsov with the man advantage.
Jim Baxter leads Mississippi with 10 assists and 12 points against the IceGators. Steffon Walby is the Sea Wolves leader with five goals in the head-to-head games.
Louisiana�s Ben Storey has seven assists and 10 points in the season series versus the Sea Wolves. Bobby Brown has scored seven goals through nine games against Mississippi, topping the IceGators in that department.
Mississippi is 29-27-7 all-time in the regular season against Louisiana and 16-11-4 all-time at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK � Center Sergei Kuznetsov notched two goals and two assists in the three games last week. The 6-foot and 200-pound Kuznetsov had an assist in Mississippi�s win at Columbus on Tuesday. A native of Yaroslavl, Russia scored the Sea Wolves only marker on the power-play, in the loss on Friday at Louisiana. He finished up the week on Saturday by tallying one goal and one assist, as Mississippi knocked off Texas. The 24-year-old Kuznetsov has 12 goals, 47 points, and a +16 in 43 games this season.
GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK � Sean Matile registered his season high 44 saves on Tuesday, as the Sea Wolves edged the Cottonmouths, 4-3 in the shootout at Columbus. The 29-year-old Matile also stopped five of eight shots in the shootout. The 6-foot-4 and 215-pound Matile has compiled an overall record of 12-2-3, 2.75 goals against average and .914 save percentage.
TRANSACTIONS FROM LAST WEEK �
None
STREAKING SEA WOLVES �
* Travis Lisabeth is tied for the team record with a 13-game point streak (9g-10a), along with former Mississippi captain Kelly Hurd, who had points in 13 straight games during the 1998-99 season.
* Sergei Kuznetsov has a six-game point streak (2g-8a).
* Brent Gauvreau has points in six straight games (5g-4a).
* Sean Matile has posted three straight victories.
SEA WOLVES APPROACHING MILESTONES �
* Jim Baxter is one point from 250 in his pro career (306 gp, 67g, 184a, 249 pts) and three goals from tying career high (notched 16 last season)
* Sergei Kuznetsov needs one goal for career high (scored 12 in 2001-02 and 2002-03)
* Steve O�Rourke is one point from career high (43 gp, 3g, 16a, 19 pts)
STEFFON WALBY WATCH �
(Regular season totals with Mississippi � 157 gp, 106g, 134a, 240 pts, 39 PPG, 19 GWG)
* Needs one goal to set all-time team record (currently tied with Dave Paradise, who had 106 goals in 262 games)
* Has a 12-game point streak at home (9g, 14a, 23 pts).
* Two power-play goals from tying all-time Mississippi leader Dave Paradise at 41.
TEAM LEADERS �
Goals � Louis Dumont, Jeff Hutchins and Steffon Walby, 22
Assists � Steffon Walby, 36
Points � Steffon Walby, 58
Plus/Minus � Brent Gauvreau, +30
Penalty Minutes � Roger Maxwell, 228
Power Play Goals � Jeff Hutchins, 10
Power Play Assists � Jim Baxter, 20
Power Play Points � Jim Baxter, 26
Shorthand Goals � Anthony Battaglia, 3
Game-Winning Goals � Brent Gauvreau, 7
Goaltender Wins � Greg Gardner, 16
Goals Against Average � Greg Gardner, 2.59
Save Percentage � Greg Gardner, .921
SPECIAL TEAMS (ECHL Rank) �
Power Play � 54-262, 20.6% (5)
Penalty Killing � 228-281, 81.1% (23)
Shorthand Goal For � 6 (T16)
Shorthand Goals Against � 3 (T4)
INJURED RESERVE � Defenseman Andrei Lupandin has been on the 7-day injured reserve since January 3.
CALL UP � Center Brent Gauvreau remains on loan to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL) since January 25.
PRACTICES THIS WEEK �
Monday � 10-11:30 a.m.
Tuesday � 10-10:30 a.m., morning skate.
Wednesday � 10-11:30 a.m.
Thursday � 10-11:30 a.m.
Friday � 10-10:30 a.m., morning skate
Saturday � 10-10:30 a.m., morning skate
Sunday � Day off for players
* All practices and morning skates are open to the public at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum, unless otherwise noted.
* Dates and times are subject to change.
IN THE COMMUNITY �
Wednesday, Feb. 4 � 7-8 p.m.
�Your Home Team,� the Sea Wolves weekly radio show for all ages at Club Caribe in Biloxi. Catch the show live on ESPN Radio WXBD-AM 1490.
Groups, organizations and companies that are interested in having members of the Sea Wolves appear at an event, are invited to call 228-388-6151.
Individual game tickets start at $9 for children and $11 for adults. Tickets are on sale at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum box office, all TicketMaster locations and by telephone at (228) 594-3707.
Flex packs, discounted group tickets and fundraiser opportunities are available by calling (228) 275-WOLF.
