ROAD WARRIORS WEEKLY #16: 1/31/11-2/6/11 

GREENVILLE, SC – The Greenville Road Warriors split a pair of games up north against the Reading Royals in a mini-series between division leaders last weekend. This week features a three-game series at Germain Arena against the Florida Everblades. First place in the South Division is up for grabs with Florida just two points behind the Road Warriors.

Record: 27-15-2, 56 pts., 1st place South Division

Leaders:
Goals – Marc-Olivier Vallerand: 16

Assists – Mark Voakes: 26

Points – Mark Voakes: 41

+/- – Connor Shields: +15

PIMs – T.J. Reynolds: 130

PPG – Mark Voakes: 5

SHG –Marc-Olivier Vallerand: 4

Wins – Dov Grumet-Morris: 15

GAA – Dov Grumet-Morris: 2.32

SVP – Dov Grumet-Morris: .922

This Week:
2/2, 2/4 & 2/5 at Florida, 7:30, 7:30, & 7:05 p.m. – Home (5-1-1), Away (2-0-1)

The three-game series in Estero against the Everblades will conclude the Road Warriors’ season-long seven game road trip. It is Greenville’s second trip, out of three, to Florida this season. The first, from December 8 to 11 was a productive one for the Road Warriors as they earned five of a possible six points with two wins and one shootout loss. The Road Warriors have a firm grip on the season series against Florida with a 7-1-2 mark heading into this series. With only five games remaining in the season series, the Road Warriors have assured themselves of a winning record against the Everblades. In their most recent meeting, Greenville picked up a 4-1 win at the BI-LO Center on January 13. The win snapped a three-game losing streak that had dogged the Road Warriors, while Florida bounced back to win four straight. Four different Road Warriors scored in that win and Nic Riopel batted away 26 shots in earning the win.

Day by Day:
Mon. 1/31: Practice at The Pavilion, 10:00 a.m.
Tues. 2/1: Practice at Germain Arena, 12:00 noon
Wed. 2/2: Road Warriors at Everblades, 7:30 p.m.
Thurs. 2/3: Practice at Germain Arena, 12:00 noon
Fri. 2/4: Road Warriors at Everblades, 7:30 p.m.
Sat. 2/5: Road Warriors at Everblades, 7:00 p.m.

Sun. 2/6: Off

Day-by-Day schedule subject to change.

Broadcast Schedule:
Wed. 2/2: Road Warriors at Everblades, 7:30 p.m.
Fri. 2/4: Road Warriors at Everblades, 7:30 p.m.
Sat. 2/5: Road Warriors at Everblades, 7:00 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: (1-1-0)

1/28 at Reading: W 4-3 SO

The steady play of Connor Shields and Shane Harper continued last Friday and the two linemates helped propel the Road Warriors to a win in their first ever meeting with Reading. Shields (3:50, 1st) and Harper (12:26, 1st) propelled the Road Warriors to a 2-0 lead as part of a strong first period effort by Greenville. Reading cut the lead to one on a 5-on-3 goal by Jared Ross with just under five minutes left to play in the first. A scoreless second set the stage for a dramatic third period. An early Casey Haines tally tied the game, but Greenville responded with a go-ahead goal from Chris Chappell at 16:34. The lead was short-lived due to Chris Blight’s marker 18 seconds later. With neither team able to score again in regulation, or overtime, a shootout was needed to decide the winner. Greenville came out with a 3-2 win in the breakaway competition thanks to the efforts of Jimmy Kilpatrick, Shields, and Harper’s winner in the fifth round. Nic Riopel earned the win in net with a 22-save effort, including 3-for-5 in the shootout.

1/29 at Reading: L 2-4

The Road Warriors were unable to carry the momentum of the previous night’s win into Saturday night and Reading skated away with the win in the final game of the mini-series. The Royals jumped out with a quick goal by Andrew Sarauer 40 seconds into the game and never looked back from there. Subsequent scores by Chris Blight and Eric Castonguay stretched the lead to 3-0 before the Road Warriors’ offense got on track. Back-to-back strikes by Shane Harper and Marc-Olivier Vallerand nine seconds apart pulled Greenville back within one before the first period expired. Despite 23 shots over the last two periods, Greenville could not beat Reading goalie Michael Hutchinson and an insurance score by Casey Haines early in the third put the game out of reach for the Road Warriors. Dov Grumet-Morris sustained the loss as he made 29 saves in the game.

ONE-TIMERS:
Scoring Streaks:
Goals:

·    S. Harper, 3 games (3G); 1/23-1/29

Assists:

·    T.J. Reynolds, 2 games (2A); 1/28-1/29

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

Points:

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

·    S. Harper, 10 games (6G, 7A); 11/18-1/29

·    T.J. Reynolds, 2 games (2A); 1/28-1/29

·    M. Vallerand, 2 games (1G, 1A); 1/28-1/29

Quick Hits:

· Despite being held to 11 goals total in their last five games, the Road Warriors have the fourth-best offense in the ECHL at 3.41 goals per game. They will be trying to take advantage of a Florida defense that allows 3.12 goals per game (9th most in the league).

· Shane Harper’s 10-game point streak is the second-longest by a Road Warrior this season. Brendan Connolly had 12 straight games with a point from November 11 to December 2.

· Mark Voakes, Connor Shields, and T.J. Reynolds are the only Road Warriors to have played in all 44 games this season. Shields has only missed two games (114 of 116) through just over one and a half seasons as a pro.

· Five of Nic Riopel’s 10 wins this season have come against the Florida Everblades. He is 5-0-1 overall against the Everblades.

· Greenville’s 57 second period goals are the most in the ECHL. It could play into the Road Warriors’ hands that Florida’s 53 goals against in the second are the second-most in the league.

Mark your calendars! Don’t forget about these upcoming promotions:
– 2/9 vs. South Carolina, 7:05: Valentine’s Day Celebration with the Road Warriors. Come out for a chance to win an ultimate Valentine’s Day date package.

– 2/18 vs. South Carolina, 7:05: Join us as the Road Warriors and Rotary Club of Greenville team up to “Stop Polio Cold.” Specialty jerseys will be worn, and auctioned off, proceeds from the night’s ticket sales and chuck-a-puck sales will be donated to Rotary’s “End Polio Now” campaign, and much more is on tap.

– 2/19 vs. South Carolina, 7:05: The Road Warriors will hold their first ever Boy Scout Night at the BI-LO Center which features a post-game movie on the video board and overnight camping at the arena! The scouts who come out can even get a Road Warriors patch.

2/22 vs. Gwinnett, 7:05: This is the make-up date for the postponed game from December 14. The Road Warriors will be offering their “Twofer Tuesday” deal which gets you two blue-level tickets, two hot dogs, two boxes of popcorn, and two sodas for just $30!