Tallahassee Tiger Sharks Player Updates January 2002

Sea Wolves Press Release

BILOXI, Miss. - The Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League have recalled goaltender Evan Lindsay and then reassigned him to the Florida Everblades of the East Coast Hockey League.

Lindsay, 22, appeared in 28 games with Mississippi compiling a 13-11-2 record to go along with a 3.38 goals against average and .906 save percentage. The native of Red Deer, Alberta was the Montreal Canadiens' fourth choice, 107th overall in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft.

Former Tiger SharkBrent Cullaton picked up the first assist on Jason Cardwell's 13th goal of the season, a power play tally. It was not enough though, as Fort Worth fell to the Thunder, 5-3 in Wichita. Cully was -1 on the night with 3 SOG. Former Tiger Shark Jason Clarke was -3 on the evening with on shot on goal. Kory Cooper suffered the loss in the Brahma's nets.

Don Parsons scored an empty net goal to seal Memphis 5-3 victory over the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs. Netminder Mark Richards turned aside 36 shots on goal to earn the victory. He was also assessed two delay of game penatlies, one in each of the first two periods. Parsons was even for the night with three shots on goal.

Erasmo Saltarelli picked up Third Star of the Game as the B.C. Icemen defeated the slumping Adirondack IceHawks 5-2 in Binghamton. Saltarelli turned away 31 shots while two special-teams goals by Justin Plamondon, including BC’s first shorthanded goal of the season, and a three-point night by Keith Aucoin led BC to the victory over Adirondack at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.

Ole Kjenstad had two assists and Darren McAusland record another but it was not enough to boost the Snakes offense. Columbus fell to the Mississippi Sea Wolves, 4-3 at home. Former Tiger Shark netminder Alex Fomitchev surrendered four goals on 29 shots in defeat, dropping his record to 3-7-3.

by D. K. Williams
ESP Magazine - January 30, 2002

In a move that threatens the existence of the franchise, the Greensboro Generals have been sued for breach of contract and fraud by their former head coach, Jeff Brubaker.

The lawsuit, filed in Guilford County Superior Court, alleges that Greensboro Professional Sports, LLC, the parent company of the Generals, fired Brubaker without cause and made fraudulent claims to induce Brubaker to enter into an employment agreement.

The complaint seeks, among other things, the $98,000 Brubaker would have been paid during the final year of the contract, and punitive damages.

In addition to Greensboro Professional Sports, the complaint names Art Donaldson as a defendant. Donaldson, an attorney and former FBI agent, is the man behind the existence of the Generals and the arenafootball2 Greensboro Prowlers. Brubaker alleges that GPS is undercapitalized, and that he should be able to recover directly from Donaldson's personal assets.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 29, 2002
Contact: Paul Chestnutt
(850) 432-7825

Pensacola, FL - Pensacola Ice Pilots Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations Todd Gordon announced that the Ice Pilots have acquired defenseman Paul Buczkowski (pronounced Butch-cow-ski) from Columbus for cash.

Buczkowski, who stands 5'11" and weighs 190 pounds, played in 22 games for Columbus this season scoring one goal, one assist for two points and picked up seven penalty minutes. He played in 70 games for San Antonio in the CHL last year scoring 21 goals, 33 assists for 54 points and picked up 57 penalty minutes. During the 1999-2000 season, Buczkowski played in 69 games for Tallahassee scoring 25 goals, 44 assists for 69 points and picked up 28 penalty minutes.

Buczkowski played in Germany from 1996-1999 scoring 60 goals during the 1997-98 season fro Peissenberg TSV and also picking up 48 assists for 108 points in 46 games played and picked up 82 penalty minutes. He is 26 years old from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and shoots left.

Everblades forward was sidelined 3 weeks

By CRAIG HANDEL

Profile

Florida Everblades forward Andrew Long still isn’t fully recovered from a broken thumb, but he’s playing and making progress.

Long, who scored both of the Everblades goals Friday night, said he’s trying to make up for the injury that kept him out for 19 days.

“I’m trying to adapt,” Long said. “I’m trying to use my shoulders and body positioning when I'm out on the ice. I’m trying to be more physical.”

Long said he felt rusty, but he still looked better than the rest of his teammates, who lost to Pee Dee 7-2 Thursday night.

“They did take advantage of our opportunities,” he said. “We had some chances, too, but we have to look at the score and realize the difference resulted in mistakes we made.”

IN OTHER NEWS: Simon Tremblay had an assist on Reading's first goal as the Royals downed Atlantic City 4-3. Ole Kjenstad scored twice and Jared Smith added a second-period tally to supply Columbus with a 3-1 lead after two. Alex Fomitchev had 30 saves in the loss for the Cottonmouths, who dropped to 7-0-3 when leading after two periods. Darren McAusland record an assist on Ole's first goal.

Cory Morgan, attended Sharks camp and played a preseason game, scored the only goal for the Dayton Bombers who fell 2-1 to the Cincinnati Cyclones.

Jim Baxter scored the overtime goal as the Mississippi Sea Wolves took the victory, 3-2 over the Arkansas Riverblades.

Brent Cullaton had two assists for the Fort Worth Brahmas of the Central Hockey League who defeated the Corpus Christi Ice Rays, 5-4 in a shoot-out. Former Shark Jason Clarke was -1 for the night with three shots on goal.

Donny Parsons scored twice and Mark Richards kicked out 25 saves as the Memphis RiverKings took home a 4-2 win over Tulsa.

Kirk DeWaele had an assist and two penalties for the Fresno Falcons, who defeated the Bakersfield Condors 5-3.

SAN DIEGO - The dog days, that late-season period of fatigue popularized by baseball, has hit the hockey world. The players, many of whom are Canadian, have endured another holiday season away from home and three months of grueling play.

It's a grind right now.

Mark Woolf of the Gulls knows the feeling. The West Coast Hockey League's leading goal scorer recently went through a five-game scoreless streak. He rebounded on Jan. 16 with two goals and two assists against Anchorage and currently leads the league with 33 goals, a pace that would leave him just shy of the league record of 61. But the wear and tear are evident.

The Gulls haven't lost consecutive games all season but have struggled in the last month.

"The dog days of January are amongst us right now," said Woolf. "Guys are tired. In November and December we played with 14 guys every night. It's always January. "It's not like you get sick of playing, but you get tired of playing same teams night in and night out. But that's what you have when you only have eight teams in the league. When you play teams in your own division, it's like a playoff game...It takes a toll on your body, especially for a 31-year-old guy like me."

Ron Caldwell/Times Sports Editor

SOUTHAVEN - To hear RiverKing goalie Mark "The Wall" Richards talk, you would not think his team has the best record in all of the Central Hockey League heading into tonight's home game at the DeSoto Civic Center at 7:05 p.m. against the Tulsa Oilers.

The RiverKings are a league-leading 29-8-2 and in first place in the Northeast Division of the CHL as they prepare to play their first home hockey game in 21 days.

But, Richards knows that things could be better - both for the team and himself personally.

"There are peaks and valleys in any long hockey season and, we've been in a valley here lately," said Richards, who has been the mainstay in the RiverKings' net for the past two seasons. "I'm really disappointed in my play for the past couple of weeks."

Richards has appeared in 24 of the RiverKings' 39 games so far this season and has been on the ice for 1,329 minutes.

He has allowed an average of 3.30 goals per game and has a 12-8 record with 586 saves for a save percentage of .889.

Richards began the year by sharing playing time with rookie Sebastien Centomo, who was impressive, playing in 19 games with a 2.09 average and a 16-1-2 record while leading the league in save percentage at .934.

Centomo, who was selected to play in the CHL All-Star game on Feb. 1 at Corpus Christi, will not be available as he is staying in St. John's after being called up last month to the Triple AAA affiliate of the NHL Toronto Maple Leafs.

RiverKing head coach Doug Shedden said that he doesn't expect Centomo to be back in DeSoto County anytime soon - at least until the Winter Olympics are over since the other St. John's goalie is playing for Team Sweden.

"Mark hasn't been in many slumps since he has been here, but he's been in a little valley lately," said Shedden. "He has been caught sitting in the net a little too much. He just needs to get back to his style of being more aggressive."

Richards said that he felt himself and his teammates starting to come out of their "valley" in Wednesday night's 3-1 win over Indianapolis on the road.

"It started coming back a little in that game," said Richards, who had 31 saves in the win over the Ice. "We've been a little banged up and everybody is shooting for you when you have the best record in the league. It's like have a wounded duck in their barn."

The RiverKings are facing numerous personnel decisions in the next few days, including a decision on a backup for Richards.

The team signed Mike Buckley as a backup goalie, but his five-day contract expires today.

Miller, Wickenheiser Added to All-Star Rosters

The Central Hockey League has today announced the Captains for the respective Southern and Northern Conference All-Star teams, as well as the on-ice officials selected to work the All-Star Game and two All-Star roster additions.

San Antonio veteran defenseman Mark DeSantis has been named Southern Conference team Captain, while New Mexico left winger Peter Ambroziak and Austin defenseman Daniel Tetrault have been selected as Alternate Captains.

For the Northern Conference squad, Memphis left winger Don Parsons has been named team Captain, with Indianapolis defenseman Bernie John and Oklahoma City right winger Joe Burton serving as Alternates.

Central Hockey League on-ice officials designated to work the February 1st All-Star Game are Referee Guy Pellerin and Linesmen Dave Pfohl and Stacy Jackson. Pellerin, in his second year in the CHL, will work his 1st All-Star Game and has also handled numerous American Hockey League assignments this season. Pfohl is in his third season with the CHL, and will be making his second All-Star appearance, while Jackson has been tabbed for All-Star game duties in his rookie CHL season.

In other CHL All-Star news, Oklahoma City Blazer goaltender Aren Miller has been chosen to replace Memphis' Sebastien Centomo on the Northern Conference All-Star squad. Centomo was voted to the starting lineup, but has been on an extended, and highly successful, call-up with St. John's of the AHL and is not expected to be available. Fort Worth netminder Kory Cooper will appear start in goal for the Northern Conference, with Miller sharing the duties. Miller has 14 wins and a goals against average of 2.92 for the Northwest Division leading Blazers.

The Southern Conference All-Star team also has a new addition, as CHL President Brad Treliving has placed Corpus Christi center Kurt Wickenheiser onto the roster. "Wickenheiser has been not only an outstanding player, but also a tremendous ambassador for the Central Hockey League," said Treliving. "We felt it very appropriate to honor Kurt's significant efforts and achievements with an All-Star appearance in front of his home Corpus Christi fans."

Wickenheiser currently leads the IceRays offensively with 18 goals, 25 assists and 43 points.

All-Star festivities begin Wednesday, January 30th, with the CHL's All-Star Banquet, featuring special guest Ken Hitchcock, former Head Coach of the National Hockey League's Dallas Stars.

Columbus, Ga. -- The Columbus Cottonmouths of the East Coast Hockey League announced today the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL have recalled Cottonmouths left Wing Mitch Fritz. The 6-foot-7, 250-pound winger will be suiting up tonight for Cottonmouths AHL Affiliate as they host the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

Fritz played 38 games for the Cottonmouths this season with 3 goals and 5 assists. The 21-year old led the Snakes in penalty minutes at the time of his call up with 203. He was ranked third in the ECHL for penalty minutes trailing only Tyler Willis and Trevor Gillies of Augusta. Fritz had 14 major penalties in his 38 games.

Last season Fritz was called up by the Lowell Lock Monsters from the Tallahassee Tiger Sharks. In five games with the Monsters, Fritz posted zero points with 20 penalty minutes.

Photo courtesy of Bladesgal17

Auto body shop manager Scott Reynolds sits behind one goal at the Bank of America Centre, where he couldn´t help but notice Blair Allison´s out-of-place, polar-bear mask.

So he approached the Idaho Steelheads about painting a new one.

Allison provided a goalie mask and Reynolds talked to his friend Martin Evans -- a paint-supplies salesman from Meridian -- about doing the work.

Last month, Allison debuted the mask that features a large Steelheads logo on top and shiny red, blue and gray stripes down the sides. The chin is gun-metal gray.

"My old one was getting beat up and rusted and I wanted something different and to go with the Steelheads (theme)," Allison said. "I wanted to make sure the Steelheads logo was on it and (Evans) came up with the rest of it. I like what he did."

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Ottawa Senators' Mike Fisher, right, and Atlanta Thrashers' Todd Reirden (28) collide during the second period in Atlanta, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2002. (AP/Bazemore) Reirden, who played for two seasons with Tallahassee from 1994-1996 recorded six goals and 28 assists in 50 Tiger Sharks contests. Reirden currently has two goals and three assists in 35 games with the NHL Atlanta Thrashers.

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Thanks to Bladesgal17@yahoo.com for this great picture of former Tiger Sharks defenseman Wes Swinson, dated January 5, 2002. Now with the Augusta Lynx, Swinson had two assists on the game, which the Lynx lost 2-4. A member of the Tiger Sharks in the 1996-97 season, plus the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons, Swinson totaled six goals and 29 assists in 47 Tiger Sharks apperances. Swinson also served the Sharks as an assistant coach under Jeff Brubaker. Currently, Swinson has three goals and 12 assists in 26 contests with the Lynx this season. Aside from being an assistant captain for the Lynx, Swinson is also Augusta's Player-Representative to the PHPA.

Blair Allison

Idaho's Cal Ingraham was honorable mention as the WCHL's Player of the Week with three goals and five assists last week.

Going into Tuesday's game, goalie Blair Allison was tied for first in the WCHL with 21 wins.

Former Tiger Shark Derek Paget (knee) is out of the Steelhead's line up for about a month.

The Steelheads lost last night to the San Diego Gulls, a 5-3 game in which Adam Copeland scored two goals on the evening.

Ingraham sat out the game because of a suspension assessed for an infraction in the teams' last meeting, a 4-3 Idaho win on Nov. 24. Alison also did not play in the loss as the Idaho's rookie netminder Jason Cugnet handled the goaltending chores for the evening.

Mark Woolf, who holds franchise records for Most Points in a season and Most Goals in a season did not play for the Gulls.

Ingraham played for the Tiger Sharks from 1995 through 1998, amassing 256 points in 209 Tallahassee contests. Allison recorded a 3.80 GAA in twenty-one contests with the Tiger Sharks in the 1997-98 season. Copeland recorded a total of 47 goals and 44 assists (91 points) in 111 performance with Tallahassee during the 1999-00 and 2000-01 season.

Paget made 63 appearances for the Tiger Sharks in the 1999-2000 season, recording 11 goals and 28 assists. Woolf played for the Roanoke Valley Rebels, a predecessor for the Sharks during the 1992-92 ECHL season, where record his record setting 50 goals and 101 points in 63 games.

Also in Idaho: Dan Shermerhorn, who dressed in only ten games with the Tiger Sharks in the 1998-99 season, and Matt Oates, who played in 53 contests for the Sharks in the 1999-00 season. Shermerhorn has netted 16 goal and 20 assists in the current season for Idaho, while Oates has 11 goals and 16 assists in 25 Steelheads' matches.

Profile

Andrew Long was injured in Friday night's game between the Florida Everblades and the Augusta Lynx, suffering a broken bone in his thumb. He did not play Saturday night in the second game of the back-to-back match up.

Long was fitted with a stronger cast Monday to protect the broken bone in his left thumb, but still experienced discomfort. He will not make the road trip with the team.

The second leading scorer on the 2000-01 Tallahassee Tiger Sharks, Long has record nine goals and 12 assists for 21 points in 31 appearances with Florida of the East Coast Hockey League.

A fifth round draft pick of the Florida Panthers in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft, Long was signed as a free agent to a two-way agreement between Lowell of the American Hockey League and the ECHL Florida Everblades.

Donny Parsons

How do the RiverKings spell relief? R-E-S-T.

After playing 13 games in 18 days, including four in five days last week, the RiverKings are taking a well-deserved break this week before playing again on Friday night in Lubbock.

After the frantic pace, the RiverKings came away with a 27-6-2 record for 52 points and a first place stranglehold in the Central Hockey League's Northeast Division.

After last week's five-game stretch, the 'Kings were 3-1-1, losing to Bossier-Shreveport, 6-4 on New Year's Eve. They then broke an 18 game regular season losing streak in Oklahoma City with a 4-3 on New Year's Day. That was the RiverKings first win there since Nov. 14, 1995. The RiverKings beat Fort Worth 3-2 in overtime, then split a pair of games with Wichita, losing 4-3 at home in a shootout, and winning 5-2 on the road in their last outing on Saturday night.

In that game, former Tiger Shark Don Parsons got the RiverKings on the scoreboard first in the first period on a power play with assists from Brad Mueller and Jay Neal.

It was an explosive third period that put the game away, however, as the RiverKings got goals from Brad Mueller, Jonathan Gagnon, and Parsons while former Sharks' netminder Mark Richards put the clamps on the Thunder.

RiverKings head coach Doug Shedden was thrilled to have Parsons return for the busy week after the veteran suffered a knee injury that kept him out of the lineup for four games.

"After the injury, we didn't know how serious it would be or how long he would be out," said Shedden. "There's just no way to describe how much it means having him out there for us."

Since returning, Parsons has made a big impact since returning, getting three assists in his first game back, the win over Fort Worth. He had a goal in the loss to Wichita and two goals in the win at Wichita.

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.

(01/07/02) Goaltender Evan Lindsay was nominated for the ECHL Goalie of the Week Award for the Period of Dec. 31, 2001 - Jan. 6, 2002

Evan Lindsay was nominated for the ECHL Goalie of the Month award for December.

Wes Swinson was nominated for the ECHL's Vic Hockey Plus Performer of the Month for December with a +4 rating with the Augusta Lynx. David Whitworth, who never actually suited up for the Sharks but was on their roster for most of the 1998-99 season, was nominated for Greensville with a +5

(01/30/02) Montreal Canadiens-- Re-assigned goaltender Evan Lindsay to Florida of the East Coast Hockey League.

(01/29/02) Columbus Cottonmouths (ECHL)-- Traded defenseman Paul Buczkowski to Pensacola for cash.

(01/25/02) B.C. Icemen (UHL)-- Activated goaltender Erasmo Saltarelli from team suspension.

(01/24/02) Florida Everblades (ECHL)-- Activated forward Andrew Long from injured reserve.

(01/23/02) East Coast Hockey League-- Suspended Greensboro center David Whitworth for three games his actions in the game on Jan. 18.

B.C. Icemen (UHL)-- Placed goaltender Erasmo Saltarelli on team suspension.

(01/21/02) -- Macon Whoopee (ECHL)-- Waived goaltender Rick Nichol.

Reading Royals (ECHL)-- Added defenseman Simon Tremblay from Manchester of the American Hockey League.

(01/10/02) -- Florida Everblades (ECHL)-- Placed forwards Andrew Long on injured reserve.

(01/03/02) Mississippi Sea Wolves (ECHL)-- Named M. Michael Cadrin director of hockey.

(01/02/02) East Coast Hockey League-- Suspended Columbus Cottonmouths left wing Mitch Fritz one game.

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