ROAD WARRIORS WEEKLY #13: 1/10/11-1/16/11 

GREENVILLE, SC – The Greenville Road Warriors lost three games last week to the Gwinnett Gladiators and sustained their longest losing streak of the season. With three games at home this week the Road Warriors will look to reverse their fortunes and put some distance between themselves and the rest of the South Division.

Record: 23-10-2, 48 pts., 1st place South Division

Leaders:
Goals –Marc-Olivier Vallerand: 15
Assists – Mark Voakes: 22
Points – Mark Voakes: 35
+/- – Marc-Olivier Vallerand: +13
PIMs – T.J. Reynolds: 104
PPG – Jimmy Kilpatrick/Mark Voakes: 4
SHG – Marc-Olivier Vallerand: 4
Wins – Dov Grumet-Morris: 15
GAA – Dov Grumet-Morris: 2.03
SVP – Dov Grumet-Morris: .931

This Week:

1/13 vs. Florida, 7:05 p.m. – Home (4-1-1), Away (2-0-1)
Thursday’s game will mark the final meeting, at the BI-LO Center, of the season between the Road Warriors and the Everblades. Greenville will look to repay Florida for its worst home loss of the season in the Everblades last visit. On December 15 Greenville struck first but couldn’t maintain its lead and fell 5-1 to the Everblades. Greenville’s six wins against the Everblades are more than against any other opponent, yet Florida begins the week just four points behind the Road Warriors for first in the South Division. The Everblades are coming off of a three-game homestand against the defending Kelly Cup champion Cincinnati Cyclones. Florida lost all three of those games and is looking to right the ship on its four-game road trip. Before stopping in Greenville on Thursday, Florida will be in Gwinnett on Tuesday. Despite being the last home game against Florida, the Road Warriors play Florida five more times this season at Germain Arena.

1/14 vs. Gwinnett, 7:05 p.m. – Home (3-2-0), Away (2-4-0)
After dropping three consecutive games against Gwinnett last week, the Road Warriors will be looking for a measure of revenge this Friday. The Road Warriors’ skid against Gwinnett came after winning four consecutive games against the Gladiators by a 17-3 combined score. After last week, though, the Road Warriors saw their record against the Gladiators slip below the .500 mark. Gwinnett is actually the only team in the ECHL with a winning record against the Road Warriors. Friday will be Road Warriors’ fans last chance to see the Gladiators until March 31. In that span Greenville plays one more game at Gwinnett (Jan. 23) but wont travel to Gwinnett again until April 1.

1/15 vs. Kalamazoo, 7:05 p.m. – Home (0-0-0), Away (2-0-0)

Kalamazoo will be the second North Division team to visit the BI-LO Center when the Wings and Road Warriors face off this Saturday. Greenville swung through Kalamazoo as part of its North Division road trip over Thanksgiving and won a pair of games at Wings Stadium. Greenville victimized Kalamazoo’s defense for 13 goals in the two games and had an average winning margin of 3.5. The Road Warriors have found success against the North Division as a whole and sport a 7-0-0 record against teams from that division. Kalamazoo, meanwhile, has struggled against the South Division and has a 1-7-1 record against teams from the Road Warriors’ division. Saturday’s game is the first of a three-game southern swing for the Wings.

Day by Day:
Mon. 1/10: Practice at the BI-LO Center, 10:00 a.m.
Tues. 1/11: Practice at the BI-LO Center, 10:00 a.m.
Wed. 1/12: Practice at the BI-LO Center, 10:00 a.m.
Thurs. 1/13: Road Warriors vs. Everblades, 7:05 p.m.
Fri. 1/14: Road Warriors vs. Gladiators, 7:05 p.m.
Sat. 1/15: Road Warriors vs. Wings, 7:05 p.m.

Sun. 1/16: Off

Day-by-Day schedule subject to change.

Broadcast Schedule:
Thurs. 1/13: Road Warriors vs. Everblades, 7:05 p.m.
Fri. 1/14: Road Warriors vs. Gladiators, 7:05 p.m.
Sat. 1/15: Road Warriors vs. Wings, 7:05 p.m.

All Road Warriors radio broadcasts can be heard online for free courtesy of America One. Point your browser to www.greenvilleroadwarriors.com and click “Listen Live” to join Ray Schmitt on the broadcasts. Road Warriors fans can also watch Internet TV broadcasts of the games by clicking here. All broadcasts begin 15 minutes prior to face off with the Road Warriors Pregame Show. Fans can also email Radio Ray and have their questions read during the broadcast! Send your questions to grwradioray@gmail.com.

Last Week: (0-3-0)

1/6 vs. Gwinnett: L 1-3

After a fairly even first period, Gwinnett’s Dan Kissell slipped a rebound into the net with 30 seconds left to play in the first period and the Road Warriors could not bounce back. Chris Chappell did tie the game 3:12 into the second period with his third goal of the season with assists going to Jimmy Kilpatrick and Brandon Wong. Aside from the goal, Greenville could only manage five other shots in the period while the Gladiators peppered Dov Grumet-Morris with 15 and pushed two across the goal line. Paul Flache scored the eventual game winner at the 7:33 mark and was followed by Tim Miller, who tipped his goal in out of mid-air, at 15:53. A furious comeback effort by the Road Warriors posted 13 shots on goal in the third period, but Gwinnett’s Chris Carrozzi was there to turn aside each bid and Gwinnett hung on for the win.

1/7 at Gwinnett: L 3-4

The Road Warriors hadn’t lost back-to-back games since a pair of losses in Gwinnett on Nov. 6 and 7, and the Gladiators did it again to Greenville last week. Nic Riopel started his first game for Greenville since November 13, but was victimized by an early fluky goal from Tim Miller. The sharp-angle shot bounced off of Riopel’s shoulder and in at the 2:46 mark and Gwinnett would maintain the advantage through the game. Connor Shields had a big night for the Road Warriors with his first two-goal game of the season and helped Greenville tie the game at 3-3 early in the third. Chris Chappell had a goal for the second straight game, as well, with a power play goal at 2:14 of the third but the comeback effort fell just short. Off of an odd-man rush Michael Forney took a setup from Miller and tapped a shot past Riopel for the game winner with 6:08 left in the game.

1/8 at Gwinnett: L 2-3

In the finale of the three-in-three series against Gwinnett, the Road Warriors fell behind early and were forced to play from behind for the third game in a row. Justin Milo cashed in a couple of first-period goals to lift Gwinnett to a 2-0 advantage. Tim Miller was there about halfway through the second and established a 3-0 lead with his fourth goal of the series with the Road Warriors, and it proved to be the winning score. Marc-Olivier Vallerand chipped in his team-leading 15th goal to slice the lead to two 3:09 after Miller’s goal. The score injected some life into the Road Warriors and Sam Klassen’s first pro goal 24 seconds into the third period even more energy to the team. As in the previous two nights, the Road Warriors out-shot and out-chanced the Gladiators in the third period, but the tying goal would not come. That despite a Gladiators penalty with nine seconds remaining and Dov Grumet-Morris pulled for the extra attacker.

ONE-TIMERS:
Scoring Streaks:
Goals:

·

Assists:

·    B. Wong, 3 games (4A); 1/6-1/8

·    J. Brouillette, 2 games (2A); 12/10-12/11

Points:

·    J. Brouillette, 2 games (2G, 2A); 12/10-12/11

·    B. Wong, 3 games (4A); 1/6-1/8

·    C. Shields, 2 games (2G, 1A); 1/7-1/8

Quick Hits:

· Brandon Wong’s assist on Jan. 6 broke a 12 game stretch without a helper.

· The Road Warriors killed off 36 consecutive penalties from Dec. 15 to Jan. 8. Justin Milo of Gwinnett broke the streak at 19:48 of the first period.

· Blake Parlett is the top scoring rookie defenseman in the ECHL (5G, 14A) and is first among ECHL rookies with nine power play assists.

· This week will mark the second time this season, of three, that the Road Warriors play three games in three days at home. They went 3-0-0 against Florida on Nov. 11-13 in the first home three-in-three.

· Marc-Olivier Vallerand’s assist on Jan. 8 was his first since the win on December 11 in Florida against the Everblades.

Mark your calendars! Don’t forget about these upcoming promotions:

– 1/13 vs. Florida, 7:05: Dollar Drink Thursday returns! Join the Road Warriors at the BI-LO Center on Thursday night and enjoy select fountain drinks and draught beers for just $1. The Piedmont Boys will be playing a free concert on the BI-LO Center concourse beginning at 6:00 p.m.

– 1/14 vs. Gwinnett, 7:05: Friday Family Four-Pack. The Road Warriors are offering great savings with the Friday Family Four-Pack which features four gold-level tickets, four hot dogs, four sodas, four bags of chips, and four pretzels for just $48!

– 1/15 vs. Kalamazoo, 7:05: It’s a great day for hockey with a double-header on tap at the BI-LO Center. The Clemson Tigers will play Tennessee at 3:00 and then the Road Warriors and Wings follow at 7:05. A ticket to the Greenville/Kalamazoo game will get you into the Clemson game, too.