Tallahassee Tiger Sharks Player Updates February 2002

Friday night the Memphis RiverKings put their win streak on the line in Fort Worth, Texas, as two of the original Sharks face off against two of the fifth anniversary Sharks.

Donnie Parsons and Mark Richards have been instrumental in the RiverKings success. Last night, Richards stopped all 11 shots he saw before he was replaced by Bobby Da Costa, who stopped 10 of 11 shots. The Kings defeated the Wichita Thunder 8-1 to tie the CHL record for the longest connesective win streak.

The win was the 13th in a row for Memphis, equaling the Central Hockey League record set by Huntsville in 1996-97 and equaled by Bossier-Shreveport in 1998-99.

Friday, the pair will face Brent Cullaton and Jason Clarke across the ice, who currently play for the Fort Worth Brahmas.

Memphis is 39-9-2 on the season while Fort Worth is 22-21-7. Memphis is 3-1-0 against the Brahmas this season.

Cullaton has 13 points (2g, 11a) in thirteen games for the Brahmas while Clarke is 17-10 in 50 with 265 PIM credited to his name.

Parsons leads the River Kings with 40 goals and 34 assists in 46 games. Richards has backstopped the RiverKings to victory with a 2.91 GAA in 34 games and a 22-8-2 record on the season.

"Happy birthday, Wendi."

"Thank you, fans."

"Look at me, docs."

Derek Paget´s second two-goal game of the season said all those things Wednesday night at the Bank of America Centre.

It also fueled the Idaho Steelheads´ 18th straight home win and sixth overall, a 3-0 decision over their nemesis, Colorado.

United Hockey League Press Release

Lake St. Louis, MO - The United Hockey League (UHL) announced Monday that B.C. Icemen goaltender Erasmo Saltarelli has been named UHL Goaltender of the Week for the period ending February 17, 2002.

Saltarelli finished the 19th week of the season with a 2-0-1 record, a 2.33 GAA and a .945 save percentage (SPCT). He registered 45 saves in a 3-2 shootout loss to the New Haven Knights on Friday. The 27-year-old Montreal, Quebec native registered two, 38-save performances to complete the week including Saturday's 3-2 victory over Elmira and Sunday's 4-3 win over the Knights. Saltarelli currently leads the league with a .934 SPCT and ranks fourth in the UHL with a 2.36 GAA.

Other players nominated for the UHL Goaltender of the Week include: Adirondack's Patrick Couture, Asheville's Blaine Russell, Flint's Stu Dunn, Kalamazoo's Scott Langkow, Knoxville's Brad Guzda, Missouri's Aaron Vickar, Muskegon's Sylvain Daigle, New Haven's Ray Fraser, Port Huron's Kevin St. Pierre, Quad City's Joe Dimaline, Rockford's J.F. Rivard.

Memphis Can Tie All-Time CHL Record With Win Wednesday

The beat goes on for the Memphis RiverKings, now winners of 11 straight games following Saturday's 10-2 dismantling of the Corpus Christi IceRays. With just eight points in the RiverKings' remaining 15 games, they would clinch the Northeast Division regular season title and home ice advantage in at least the first round of the President's Cup playoffs.

In the meantime, the RiverKings have their focus on rewriting the Central Hockey League record book, needing a single win to tie the all-time consecutive winning streak of 12 games currently shared by Huntsville (96/97) and Bossier-Shreveport (98-99).

Saturday, Memphis had little trouble in getting win number 11 out of the way, roaring to a 5-0 lead over Corpus Christi before allowing a pair of IceRay goals. The RiverKings then scored the last five goals of the game to tie their own CHL season high mark for goals in a single game.

Nine RiverKings enjoyed multiple point outings, including former Tiger Shark Don Parsons, with two goals and an assit. Mark Richards turned in a 15 save performance, boosting his season record to 21-8-2 for Memphis.

With a win this Wednesday at Wichita, Memphis will tie the mark and have an opportunity to claim sole possession of the record with a possible 13th straight win Friday at Fort Worth.

The San Angelo Outlaws rebounded from a dissapointing 5-0 loss to San Antonio Friday with a narrow 3-2 home win over Fort Worth Saturday. Former Tiger Shark Brent Cullaton finished the night at -1 for the Brahmas, and teammate Jason Clarke at -2. Neither scored in the game.

In the Northwest Division, former Tiger Shark Aren Miller made 28 saves to lead Oklahoma City past Indianapolis 4-1, while Wichita came back from a 4-1 deficit to edge the Oilers 7-6 in a shootout in Tulsa. Burton nothced his 32nd goal of the season in the Blazers' win, while Szmata had the game winner and two assists for the Thunder.

Colin Chaulk's slap shot with just over 7 minutes left gave the Gold Kings hope. But Long Beach put a pair of shots by Ragusett in the net in the shootout to take a 6-5 victory in a hard-hitting West Coast Hockey League game in front of 4,812 at World Arena on Saturday.

After Kryway tied the score on a tipped shot at 12:48, Colorado's sharp-shooting center R.J. Enga scored his league-leading 36th and 37th goals of the season to make it 3-1 after the first period. The Gold Kings led 4-2 heading into the final period, but Long Beach came out strong with three consecutive goals to take a 5-4 lead with 12:27 to play.

The teams traded penalties and rough play before Chaulk scored the team's third power-play goal of the game and sent the game into the shootout.

Olef Kjenstad netted a goal for the East Coast Hockey League's Columbus Cottonmouths, but the Snakes dropped yet another game, this one 5-3 to the Mobile Mystics. Larry Kish's new team is not yet the last team in the league standings; that distinction currently falls to the Greensboro Generals, who have 40 points to Columbus' 41. The Generals, however, have four games in hand on the Cottonmouths, who are looking to be excused from the ECHL playoffs early this season.

For Immediate Release
Contact: Steve McCall
(662) 342-1755

RiverKings Double Is First In CHL This Season

Mark Richards and Don Parsons have shared a lot in their hockey careers.

They were college teammates at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. They won the United Hockey League championship together with the Flint Generals in 2000. And together they have been instrumental in the resurgence of the Memphis RiverKings over the last two seasons in the Central Hockey League, the most remarkable story in all of AA hockey history.

Now they are honored together by the CHL; Parsons as the Player of the Week, and Richards as the Goaltender of the Week for the period ending Sunday February 10th. It is the first time this season, the CHL has honored players from the same team with both weekly awards during the same time frame.

Parsons collected eight points in three games. He had one assist in a 4-1 win over Tulsa, a goal and two assists in an 8-0 win over Wichita, and two goals and two assists in a 5-4 win over Bossier-Shreveport.

His week of three goals and five assists, gives him 38 goals on the season, tops in the CHL. He also has 29 assists for 67 points, which ties him for third in the CHL points race.

Richards ran his personal winning streak in goal to eight, with wins over Tulsa and Wichita (he did not play against Bossier-Shreveport). In his two wins he stopped 48 of 49 shots giving him goals against average of 0.50 and a save percentage of .980 for the week.

Memphis has won nine straight games. The RiverKings will be shooting to set a franchise record of 10 straight wins on Friday, February 15th, at home against the Indianapolis Ice.

Jason Clarke had a goal and an assist for host Fort Worth as the Brahmas defeated the Indianapolis Ice 4-3 in Central Hockey League action Sunday.

Clarke's 16th goal of the season put Fort Worth up 1-0. Clarke also assisted Cava's first period goal. Brent Cullaton recorded an assist as well, helping out on Campbell's seventh of the season in the second period.

Former Shark Don Parsons scored twice for the Memphis RiverKings who exented their winning streak to nine game. Parsons also picked up two assists in the 5-4 shootout win over the Bossier Shreveport Mudbugs. Goaltending teammate Mark Richards, who had made the eight previous starts got a well deserved night off.

Despite a questionable goal by the Austin Ice Bats, Rob Laurie pulled out a 5-3 victory for the El Paso Buzzards Saturday night. The controversy came early when Dominic Periard's goal was waved off by the referee and play continued. Periard and the Bats thought it was a goal 5 minutes, 20 seconds into the game, but they didn't get credit until over an additional minute passed.

Periard had taken a shot on a centering pass and hammered it over Laurie. The puck hit underneath the crossbar and deflected down into the goal before it was cleared away.

When referee Gordon Dwyer emphatically waived off the goal, play continued for over a minute until a stop in play for a holding penalty against the Bats. After conferring with the goal judge, the referee backtracked the game for the elapsed time, added a goal, and also nullified the subsequent Austin penalty.

The Buzzards were not deterred, and after a nearly 10-minute delay to straighten out the correction, El Paso jumped on the sluggish Bats defense for two power-play goals in the first period.

Laurie turned in a 26 save performance, including turning back all 12 shots he faced in the third period to pick up the win.

Winning Streak Reaches Eight In 8-0 Win

It's eight wins in a row for the Memphis RiverKings after an 8-0 win over the Wichita Thunder Saturday night at the DeSoto Civic Center.

Seven different players scored goals for the RiverKings including former Tiger Shark Don Parsons.

Mark Richards stopped all 29 shots he faced in the Memphis net, picking up his second second shutout, and the team's third shutout of the season. Richards has played every second of the RiverKings current eight game winning streak.

Erasmo Saltarelli stopped 44 shots, helping the Icemen to a 6-3 victory over Eastern Conference-rival New Haven on Saturday night. The Icemen, who rebounded from a 6-0 loss Friday at Adirondack, took a two-point lead over the Knights (24-21-6) for third place in the conference. The top four teams in each conference make the playoffs.

Saltarelli improved to 5-1-2 in his last eight starts.

Some bits from the steelhead's game: Though the period ended before Idaho could take advantage, the Steelheads converted the carried-over power play 54 seconds into the second period when foremr Tiger SharkCal Ingraham slipped the puck past goaltender Trevor Koenig. The mutual dislike between the teams also was shown halfway through the second period when Gulls right winger Ashley Langdone sucker-punched former Shark Dan Shermerhorn and got a double-minor for roughing. Apparently, Langdone was upset about being injured by Shermerhorn's cross check.

Around the ECHL: Former Shark netminder Christian Bronsard turned aside 29 shots as the Baton Rouge Kingfish blank the Pensacola Ice Pilots, 3-0. Bronsard earned his fourth career shutout and first this season for Baton Rouge, which completed a six-game homestand 3-3-0.

Alex Fomitchev allowed three goals on 18 shots to suffer the Cottonmouths 8-5 loss to the Macon Whooppee. He entered the game in relief of David Brumby who had allowed four goals. Ole Kjenstad scored one of Columbus goals, but the Snakes who were down 6-2 at the end of the second, could not come backin the third to salvage the contest.

Emma Houle is much too young to talk, but for a while it looked as if she was going to have a lot to say about the New Orleans Brass' playoff chances.

Mia Houle was late in delivering her first child, meaning her husband, J.F., an aggressive right wing who was leading the Brass in scoring, missed the last three games, all on the road, to be with her. The Brass, which is scrambling for a playoff spot, lost two of those games.

Emma finally arrived nine days late Tuesday, weighing six pounds, nine ounces, at Touro Infirmary. Her dad is now resuming his playing career when the Brass plays the Pensacola Ice Pilots at 7:05 p.m. today at Pensacola Civic Center.

RiverKings News Release

For Immediate Release
Contact: Steve McCall
(662) 342-1755

Thomas Delivers Knockout Punch In 10th Round

Kahlil Thomas scored in the 10th round of a shootout after Memphis RiverKings goalie Mark Richards had made nine straight shootout saves and the Memphis RiverKings defeated the Fort Worth Brahmas 6-5 Sunday at the DeSoto Civic Center.

The game see-sawed with the Brahmas taking the early lead on a Chad Woolard goal, but the RiverKings responded with first period goals by Thomas and Michal Stastny to take a 2-1 lead after the first period.

Fort Worth had the only goals of the second period as Brent Cullaton and Peter Campbell scored to give the visitors a 3-2 lead. The third period was a mini game within itself.

The RiverKings struck quickly as Don Parsons tied it at 4:06 and Brad Mueller scored just 13 seconds later. With the RiverKings enjoying a five-on-three advantage, Jonathan Gagnon scored at 7:03 to boost the RiverKings to a 5-3 lead. But David Bourque got the Brahmas back to within one, and Jason Clarke scored a power play goal with just 3:18 left to play, setting the stage for overtime, and eventually the shootout.

Mike Tilson connected on the first Fort Worth attempt and no one else scored until Don Parsons kept the RiverKings alive beating Cam Macdonald on the third Memphis shot. Then Richards and Macdonald stopped all comers until Thomas scored the decisive goal in the 10th round of shooting.

Parsons made 66 appearances for the Tiger Sharks in their Inaugural Season, recording 41 goals and 35 assists for 76 points, and recording an additional 15 points (5g, 10a) in 13 playoff games that season.

Richards was the main backstop for Tallahassee's first three years of existence, and continues to hold numerous franchise records.

Cullaton spent parts of three season with the Sharks, recording 154 points (60g, 99a) in 144 Tallahassee appearances.

Clarke played for Tallahassee in their fifth season recording 12 goals and five assists in 48 contests.

RiverKing left winger Don Parsons won the accuracy shooting contest at the CHL all-star competiton taking only five shots to hit four targets.

Parsons along with RiverKings Luch Nasato and Don Martin will play tonight for the Northern Conference all-stars coached by Doug Shedden. RiverKings trainer Patrick Boscaccy, A.T.C. and equipment manager Dave Mattice will also be on hand for the game.

Former Tigershark netminder Rob Laurie welcomes the lastest edition to clan Laurie in the form of twins!

Rob's sister Heather delivered the pair on Saturday, February 2.

(02/01/02) Former Tiger Sharks Jim Baxter and Simon Tremblay were named runners up for the ECHL's Vic Hockey Plus Performer of the Month for January award.

Baxter, currrently with the Mississippi Sea Wolves finished the month with a +10, as did Tremblay, who is currently with the Reading Royals.

Peoria Rivermen defenseman Chad Starling received the honor. Starling was +11 in January after being even or better in 11 of the Rivermen's 13 games.

Baxter, who was a late season trade in the 1999-2000 season appeared in 12 games for the Sharks recording two goals and five assist. He returned the following season, appearing in 72 games while putting up 47 points (15g, 32a) for Tallahassee.

Tremblay split time in the 1999-2000 season between the Tiger Sharks and the Quebec Citadelles of the American Hockey League. In 16 games with Tallahasee, he netted four goals and seven assists on the season. Tremblay returned the following seson, picking up seven goals and 20 assists in 56 appearances for the Sharks.

(01/24/02) Columbus Cottonmouths (ECHL)-- Added left wing Mitch Fritz.

(02/22/02) Manchester Monarchs (AHL)-- Recalled defenseman Simon Tremblay from Reading of the East Coast Hockey League.

(02/21/02) West Coast Hockey League-- Suspended Anchorage forward Kimbi Daniels one game.

(02/01/02) Louisiana Ice Gators (ECHL)-- Signed goaltender Rick Nichol.

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