BILOXI, Miss. � The Mississippi Sea Wolves won all three of their games last week to secure a berth into the Kelly Cup Playoffs with eight games remaining in the regular season.
Mississippi is tied for third place with the Gwinnett Gladiators in the ECHL South Division and is even with Gwinnett for sixth in the 12-team American Conference. Sitting just three points from the third-most points in the American Conference, the Sea Wolves have two games in hand on the Gladiators and are grouped among six teams all separated by a total of six points.
The Sea Wolves opened last week by crowning the Victoria Salmon Kings 2-1 on Wednesday at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. Mississippi downed the Louisiana IceGators on Friday 5-1 at the Wolves Den and then on Saturday trounced Louisiana 7-2 at the Cajundome.
After 64-of-72 games, the Sea Wolves have compiled a 36-22-6 overall record for 78 points.
The Sea Wolves are 20-11-2 at home, 16-11-4 on the road, 3-4 in overtime games and 8-2 in shootouts.
LAST WEEK�S RESULTS � 3 gp, 3-0-0 = 6 pts
Wednesday, March 23 vs. Victoria Salmon Kings � Mississippi Coast Coliseum
Sea Wolves 2, Salmon Kings 1 � Win
* Mississippi collected goals from Bates Battaglia and Travis Lisabeth.
* Victoria�s lone tally came off the stick of Mark Smith.
* Sea Wolves goaltender Phil Sauve turned away 23-of-24 to register his third consecutive win.
* Salmon Kings� Robert Muntain stopped 25 shots in the setback.
Friday, March 25 vs. Louisiana IceGators � Mississippi Coast Coliseum
Sea Wolves 5, IceGators 1 � Win
* Mississippi goal scorers were Austin Miller, Travis Lisabeth, Nick Greenough, Anthony Battaglia and Milt Mastad.
* Wes Mason scored Louisiana�s only goal of the game.
* Sea Wolves� Randy Petruk made 28 saves in the win.
* IceGators goaltender Nathan Marsters turned aside 39-of-44 in the loss.
Saturday, March 26 at Louisiana IceGators � Cajundome, Lafayette, Louisiana
Sea Wolves 7, IceGators 2 � Win
* Jay Legault scored twice, while Mike Martone, Lucas Drake, Travis Lisabeth, John Evangelista and Anthony Battaglia also netted goals for Mississippi.
* Louisiana picked up markers from Wes Mason and Patrik Nilson.
* Sea Wolves netminder Phil Sauve stopped 28 shots to register his fourth straight victory.
* IceGators goalie Lance Mayes, who was making his Louisiana debut, surrendered five goals on 20 shots before being replaced by netminder Nathan Marsters, who allowed two goals on 11 shots.
GAMES AND BROADCASTS THIS WEEK �
Mississippi hosts Texas on Tuesday, before visiting Louisiana on Friday, Pensacola on Saturday and Augusta on Sunday.
Tuesday, March 29 vs. Texas Wildcatters � 7:05 p.m. CT � Mississippi Coast Coliseum
* Watch the live web telecast for $6 online at msseawolves.com, courtesy of B2 Networks.
* Listen live on WGCM-AM 1240 or online at msseawolves.com.
Friday, April 1 at Louisiana IceGators � 7:05 p.m. CT �
Cajundome, Lafayette, Louisiana
* Watch the live web telecast for $6 online at msseawolves.com, courtesy of B2 Networks.
* Listen live on WGCM-AM 1240 or online at msseawolves.com.
Saturday, April 2 at Pensacola Ice Pilots � 7:05 p.m. CT �
Pensacola Civic Center, Pensacola, Florida
* Watch the live web telecast for $6 online at msseawolves.com, courtesy of B2 Networks.
* Listen live on WGCM-AM 1240 or online at msseawolves.com.
Sunday, April 3 at Augusta Lynx � 3:05 p.m. CT �
Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center, Augusta, Georgia
* Listen live on WGCM-AM 1240 or online at msseawolves.com.
GAME PREVIEWS �
Tuesday, March 29 vs. Texas Wildcatters � 7:05 p.m. CT � Mississippi Coast Coliseum
* 10th of 11 games in the season series and fifth of six contests at Mississippi.
* The teams have split four games at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum after Texas took the last game at the Wolves Den 5-3 on February 1.
* The Sea Wolves lead the season series 7-2-0 after winning all five meetings at Texas including the last head-to-head contest 2-1 on February 27 at Ford Arena.
* Texas goaltender Jason Wolfe may go up against his former team for the first time. Wolfe started the season with Mississippi appearing in 15 games, compiling a 7-8-0 record with a 3.17 goals-against average and .908 save percentage before being traded to Bakersfield on February 19 for goaltender Randy Petruk.
* Sea Wolves� Travis Lisabeth leads Mississippi with eight assists and 12 points against Texas in 2004-05.
* Mississippi�s Jeff Hutchins, who is on loan to Bridgeport of the American Hockey League, is tops with six goals versus the Wildcatters this season.
* Texas forward Andrew Ianiero leads the Wildcatters with six assists and nine points against the Sea Wolves.
* Wildcatters� John Snowden has five goals, which is the most for Texas versus Mississippi in the season series.
* Driving distance between Biloxi, Mississippi and Beaumont, Texas � 330 miles. Approximate driving time � Five hours and 30 minutes.
* Mississippi is 20-4-0 all-time in the regular season against Texas, 11-1-0 at Ford Arena in Beaumont and 9-3-0 at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
Friday, April 1 at Louisiana IceGators � 7:05 p.m. CT �
Cajundome, Lafayette, Louisiana
* 10th of 11 head-to-head meetings and fifth of six at the Cajundome.
* Sea Wolves are 5-3-1 against the IceGators in the season series and 2-2-0 at Louisiana in 2004-05.
* Mississippi won the last head-to-head meeting 7-2 on March 26 at Louisiana.
* Sea Wolves� Anthony Battaglia leads Mississippi with seven goals and 11 points versus the IceGators.
* Mississippi�s Louis Dumont has eight assists to lead the Sea Wolves against Louisiana.
* Louisiana�s Wes Mason has registered a team-leading seven goals, nine assists and 16 points to lead the IceGators versus Mississippi this season.
* Driving distance between Biloxi, Mississippi and Lafayette, Louisiana � 198 miles. Approximate driving time � Three hours.
* Mississippi is 37-32-8 all-time in the regular season against Louisiana, 16-19-3 at the Cajundome and 21-13-5 at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
Saturday, April 2 at Pensacola Ice Pilots � 7:05 p.m. CT �
Pensacola Civic Center, Pensacola, Florida
* 10th game of 12 in the season series and fifth of six contests at the Pensacola Civic Center.
* Mississippi is 3-6-0 against Pensacola in 2004-05 and 2-2-0 at the Hangar in Pensacola.
* Sea Wolves won the last head-to-head game 5-1 on March 9 at Mississippi and also took the last game between the teams at Pensacola 3-2 in 17 rounds of the shootout, an ECHL-high in 2004-05, on March 5.
* Three Mississippi players, Anthony Battaglia, Louis Dumont and Jeff Hutchins, who is on loan to Bridgeport of the American Hockey League, each have five points against Pensacola this season.
* Anthony Battaglia has three goals versus the Ice Pilots to top the Sea Wolves in that department.
* Ice Pilots� Aaron Phillips has 10 assists and 11 points to lead Pensacola against Mississippi this season.
* Pensacola�s Tyler Beechey, who is loaned to St. John�s of the AHL, Dwayne Hay and Chris St. Jacques have each registered four goals to lead Pensacola against Mississippi in that category.
* Driving distance between Biloxi, Mississippi and Pensacola, Florida � 124 miles. Approximate driving time � Two hours.
* Mississippi is 49-25-5 all-time in the regular season against Pensacola, 22-14-2 at the Pensacola Civic Center and 27-11-3 at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
Sunday, April 3 at Augusta Lynx � 3:05 p.m. CT �
Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center, Augusta, Georgia
* Fourth and final game in 2004-05, and only game that will be played between the teams at Augusta.
* Mississippi leads the season series 2-1-0 after defeating Augusta 3-1 on January 21 at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
* Sea Wolves� Anthony Battaglia leads all active Mississippi players with two assists and three points against Augusta.
* Augusta�s Ken Magowan has two assists to lead the Lynx with two points in the season series.
* Augusta defenseman Brian Escobedo goes up against his former team for the first time as a member of the Lynx. Escobedo appeared in eight games with Mississippi earlier this season registering three assists. Escobedo played two games against the Sea Wolves as a member of the Charlotte Checkers in February and tallied a goal and an assist versus Mississippi.
* Mississippi�s Louis Dumont goes up against his former team. Dumont, who has a goal and an assist versus the Lynx this season, played with Augusta for two seasons from 1999-01 finishing with a total of 51 goals, 84 assists and 135 points in 104 games.
* Driving distance between Biloxi, Mississippi and Augusta, Georgia � 533 miles. Approximate driving time � Eight hours, 30 minutes.
* The Sea Wolves are 7-5-1 all-time in the regular season against the Lynx, 3-2-0 at Augusta and 4-3-1 at Mississippi.
STREAKING SEA WOLVES �
* Mississippi has won three consecutive games overall and three straight home games.
* Right wing Travis Lisabeth has scored a goal (3g) in three consecutive games and has six points (3g-3a) in his last three contests.
* Left wing Anthony Battaglia has four points (2g-2a) in his last three games.
* Goaltender Phil Sauve has won four straight appearances.
* Right wing Jay Legault has five points (2g-3a) in his last two games.
* Defenseman Milt Mastad has three points (1g-2a) in his last two games.
* Right wing Nick Greenough has two points (1g-1a) in his last two games.
* Defenseman Mike Martone has two points (1g-1a) in his last two games.
* Defenseman Chris Cava has two assists in his last two games.
MISSISSIPPI MILESTONE WATCH �
* Defenseman Mike Jarmuth is one goal from tying the team record for goals by a rookie defenseman, set by Quinn Fair at 12 in 1996-97.
(64 gp, 11g, 19a, 30 pts, 18 PIM)
* Center Louis Dumont is two games from 700 in his ECHL career.
(698 gp, 307g, 505a, 812 pts, 898 PIM)
* Defenseman Austin Miller is seven games from 200 in his professional career.
(193 gp, 15g, 29a, 44a, 192 PIM)
* Left wing Darryl Campbell is three points from 50 in his Mississippi career.
(122 gp, 20g, 27a, 47 pts, 78 PIM)
SEA WOLVES INJURED RESERVE �
* None.
MISSISSIPPI CALL UPS �
* Left wing Jeff Hutchins was loaned to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL) on March 8.
* Defenseman Mike Garrow was loaned to the Utah Grizzlies (AHL) on March 18.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK � Right wing Travis Lisabeth registered six points and had a plus/minus of +4 in three games last week highlighted by scoring one goal in each contest. The 24-year-old Lisabeth scored the game-winning goal on Wednesday in the 2-1 win over Victoria. The 6-foot and 200-pound Lisabeth followed it up by tallying a goal and two assists and collecting a plus/minus of +3 against Louisiana in the 5-1 victory on Friday. A native of Langton, Ontario, Lisabeth concluded the week by notching a goal and a helper in Mississippi�s 7-2 win at Louisiana on Saturday. In 62 games this season, Lisabeth has career-highs with 21 goals, 31 assists and 52 points.
GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK � Phil Sauve won two more games last week to extend his win streak to four. A native of Montreal, Quebec, Sauve had a two-game goals-against average of 1.50 and save percentage of .944. The 25-year-old backstopped Mississippi with 23 saves in the 2-1 win versus Victoria on Wednesday. The 6-foot and 195-pound Sauve turned away 28-of-30 shots on Saturday at Louisiana in the Sea Wolves 7-2 victory. Selected by the Colorado Avalanche in the second round, 38th overall, in 1998, Sauve has an overall record of 11-3-2 this season with Mississippi. In his fifth professional season, Sauve has compiled a 2.73 goals-against average and .920 save percentage.
TRANSACTIONS FROM LAST WEEK �
3/22 Add, Matt Underhill, G, Assigned by Providence (AHL)
3/22 Delete, Matt Underhill, G, Traded to Alaska
3/22 Add, Lance Mayes, G, Acquired in trade with Alaska
3/22 Delete, Lance Mayes, G, Placed on waivers
ACTIVE MISSISSIPPI TEAM LEADERS �
Goals � Anthony Battaglia, 25
Assists � Louis Dumont, 40
Points � Louis Dumont, 58
Plus/Minus � Kerry Ellis-Toddington, +15
Penalty Minutes � Chris Cava, 172
Power-Play Goals � Anthony Battaglia, 8
Shorthand Goals � Anthony Battaglia, 3
Game-Winning Goals � Louis Dumont, 5
Goaltender Wins � Phil Sauve, 11
Goals-Against Average � Randy Petruk, 2.40
Save Percentage � Randy Petruk, .930
SPECIAL TEAMS (ECHL Rank) �
Power Play � 49-for-306, 16.0% (18)
Penalty Killing � 253-of-304, 83.2% (16)
Shorthand Goals For � 7 (T14)
Shorthand Goals Allowed � 4 (T2)
PRACTICES THIS WEEK �
Monday � 10-11:30 a.m., Mississippi Coast Coliseum
Tuesday � 10-10:30 a.m., morning skate, Mississippi Coast Coliseum
Wednesday � 10-11:30 a.m., Mississippi Coast Coliseum
Thursday � 10-11:30 a.m., Mississippi Coast Coliseum
Friday � 11-11:30 a.m., Cajundome, Lafayette, Louisiana
Saturday � To be determined
Sunday � To be determined
* All practices are open to the public. Dates and times are subject to change.
LISTEN AND WATCH BROADCASTS � Join Mike Kelly, �Voice of the Sea Wolves� for live play-by-play action of all home and away games on flagship radio station WGCM-AM 1240. Listen on the internet, courtesy of Teamline, at msseawolves.com.
Watch games live on the web telecast for $6 each at msseawolves.com, courtesy of B2 Networks.
Bring your radio and headphones to the home games and tune into the play-by-play broadcast on 88.5 FM inside the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
The pregame show gets underway 15 minutes before the start of each game.
TICKET INFORMATION � 2005 Kelly Cup Playoff tickets are on sale by calling (228) 385-2600.
Celebrate �A Decade in the Den� with season tickets for the Sea Wolves 10th Anniversary Season in 2005-06 by calling (228) 275-WOLF.
Flex packs, discounted group tickets, birthday packages and fundraiser opportunities are also available by calling (228) 275-WOLF.
Individual regular season 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, by telephone at (228) 385-2600 and online at ticketmaster.com.
