ROAD WARRIORS WEEKLY #17: 2/7/11-2/13/11 

GREENVILLE, SC – The Greenville Road Warriors won two out of three games in Estero against the Everblades last week to solidify their position atop the South Division. This week will see the Road Warriors make a brief return to the BI-LO Center for a home game before a trip north to visit Toledo and Kalamazoo.

Record: 29-16-2, 60 pts., 1st place South Division

Leaders:
Goals – Marc-Olivier Vallerand: 16

Assists – Mark Voakes: 30

Points – Mark Voakes: 45

+/- – Connor Shields/Brandon Wong: +13

PIMs – T.J. Reynolds: 148

PPG – Jimmy Kilpatrick: 6

SHG – Marc-Olivier Vallerand: 4

Wins – Dov Grumet-Morris: 15

GAA – Dov Grumet-Morris: 2.32

SVP – Dov Grumet-Morris: .922

This Week:
2/9 vs. South Carolina, 7:05 p.m. – Home (3-2-0), Away (2-3-0)

The Palmetto State Rivalry has been as close as a rivalry can get with the Road Warriors and Stingrays holding identical 3-2-0 records at home over their respective rivals. The Road Warriors will try to improve on that number this Wednesday when they play their first home game since a 5-3 loss to the Stingrays on January 21. Overall, the Road Warriors have lost three games in a row against South Carolina dating back to Dec. 31, 2011 with a combined score of 12-4. Greenville enters the game as the slightly hotter team with four wins in its last six games while South Carolina is an even .500 over that same stretch at 3-3-0. There will be ample opportunities for the Road Warriors or Stingrays to take control of the season series this month. The rivals play five games against one-another in February and will have just two games remaining in the season series come March.

2/11 at Toledo, 7:00 p.m. – Home (0-0-0), Away (0-0-0)

The two newest teams in the ECHL meet for the first time this week when the Road Warriors invade the Huntington Center to battle the Walleye. The Walleye are in their second season in the ECHL and currently occupy the fourth position on the North Division with a 21-20-3 record and 45 points. Toledo is coming off of back-to-back win in Gwinnett last week by scores of 6-3 and 5-2. The Walleye are one of the hottest teams in the ECHL with a record of 8-2-0 over their last 10 games and enter the week as the eighth place team in the Eastern Conference. Toledo is coached by ECHL Hall-of-Famer, and former Greenville Grrrowl goalie/assistant coach Nick Vitucci. Vitucci played three seasons for the Grrrowl and compiled a 44-38-8 record. The Road Warriors have fared well against the Walleye’s North Division brethren as shown by their 8-1-0 record against the division this season. Greenville will also play in Toledo on February 26.

2/12 at Kalamazoo, 7:30 p.m. – Home (1-1-0), Away (2-0-0)

Saturday night’s contest is the final one this season between the Road Warriors and the Wings. Greenville skated away with a pair of wins at Wings Stadium on November 25 and 26, but Kalamazoo earned a split in a pair of games at the BI-LO Center on January 15 and 17. The Road Warriors won the most recent matchup between the clubs on Jan. 17 by a 4-3 score thanks to 41 saves by Nic Riopel. Rookie Jacob Lagace also had a big game with three assists on the afternoon. Entering the week, Kalamazoo has played five of its last six games against South Division teams and has three wins in those games. It is a busy week for Kalamazoo with four games in five days including two in Trenton against the Devils before returning to its home rink for the game against the Road Warriors.

Day by Day:
Mon. 2/7: Off
Tues. 2/8: Practice at The Pavilion, 8:30 a.m.

Wed. 2/9: Road Warriors vs. Stingrays, 7:05 p.m.
Thurs. 2/10: Practice at Huntington Center, 12:00 noon
Fri. 2/11: Road Warriors at Walleye, 7:00 p.m.
Sat. 2/12: Road Warriors at Wings, 7:30 p.m.

Sun. 2/13: Off

Day-by-Day schedule subject to change.
Broadcast Schedule:
Wed. 2/9: Road Warriors vs. Stingrays, 7:05 p.m.
Fri. 2/11: Road Warriors at Walleye, 7:00 p.m.
Sat. 2/12: Road Warriors at Wings, 7:30 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: (2-1-0)

2/2 at Reading: L 2-5

The month of February got off to a rough start for the Road Warriors as they fell behind early against Florida and were never able to put together a comeback effort. First period goals by Bobby Raymond and Ethan Graham staked Florida to a 2-0 lead, and it was built up to three in the second thanks to a tally by Mathieu Roy. Greenville’s Chris Chappell chipped away at the lead with a power play goal 14:26 into the second, but Ross Carlson answered that score at 6:07 of the third to restore Florida’s three-goal lead. Jimmy Kilpatrick’s fifth power play goal of the year at 11:44 of the third brought Greenville back within two, but despite two more PP chances the Road Warriors couldn’t draw nearer. Mike McKenzie finished the scoring with an empty net goal with 1:04 left to play. Nic Riopel took the loss in net with 16 saves.

2/4 at Florida: W 3-2

It took a dramatic third-period comeback to ensure the Road Warriors a chance to claim the series victory, but they pulled it off and won the second game of the series. Andrew Carroll scored his first ECHL goal since October 30 to put Greenville ahead 1-0 10:37 into the game. Florida responded by scoring a pair of goals to take the lead into the third period. An unassisted shorthanded goal by Ross Carlson tied the game at 16:55 of the first and he was followed by Francis Lemieux at 3:41 of the second. Held to just five shots in the second, the Road Warriors could not tie the game before the third period, but in the final 20 minutes their offense came to life. Wes Cunningham’s second of the season was the equalizer 4:38 into the third and rookie Brandon Wong provided the game winner at 16:37. The Road Warriors had to survive a furious Florida rally in the final minutes as Jimmy Kilpatrick picked up a kneeing minor and Bobby Goepfert was pulled for the extra attacker. The defense and Nic Riopel held the fort, though, and Riopel’s 22 saves helped the Road Warriors earn the win.

2/5 at Florida: W 4-3 SO

The rubber match of the three-game series seemed like it would never end as the Road Warriors and Everblades battled through 65 minutes of play and a 12-round shootout to decide the winner. Ultimately the Road Warriors were one better in the breakaway competition and skated away with the two points. Like the night before, the Road Warriors struck first but were stuck playing comeback in the third period. Jimmy Kilpatrick’s power play score had Greenville ahead 1-0 after one but Ethan Graham’s shorthanded score in the second knotted the game at one. Alex Hutchings had a pair early in the third to give Florida a 3-1 lead, but 32 seconds after Hutchings’ second Andrew Carroll converted off of a turnover to bring the Road Warriors back within one. Carroll came through for the tying score on the power play with 5:03 to play and the game went to overtime. After a scoreless five minutes in the sudden death frame the contest switched to the shootout. Each team produced one goal in the first five rounds which meant a sudden death shootout. The teams exchanged one shooter a side until one team scored and the other didn’t. Twice the Road Warriors faced elimination in the sudden death shootout, but Jacob Lagace tied it in the bottom of the ninth and on his second shot Mark Voakes tied it in the bottom of the 11th. After Nic Riopel stopped Hutchings in the top of the 12th, Lagace scored on his second attempt to give Greenville the win.

ONE-TIMERS:
Scoring Streaks:
Goals:

·    A. Carroll, 2 games (3G); 2/4-2/5

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

·    W. Cunningham, 2 games (1G, 1A); 2/4-2/5

·    J. Kilpatrick, 3 games (2G, 2A); 2/2-2/5

·    M. Voakes, 2 games (4A); 2/4-2/5

Quick Hits:

· The Road Warriors have won the last three shootouts that they have participated in after losing the first on Dec. 8 in Florida. Nic Riopel is 2-0-0 in the breakaway competition with a .705 (12-for-17) save percentage.

· Blake Parlett is the top scoring rookie defenseman in the ECHL with 26 points (6G, 20A) and is third, overall, among ECHL blueliners. His two assists on Saturday made for his sixth multi-point game of the season.

· The Road Warriors have been shorthanded only 244 times this season which is the third-lowest total in the ECHL. T.J. Reynolds, however, has the second-most PIMs in the ECHL with 148.

· Six of Nic Riopel’s 12 wins this season have come against the Florida Everblades. He is 6-1-1 overall against the Everblades.

· At .889, Greenville has the best win percentage against North Division teams in the ECHL. Their eight wins against the North (8-1-0) are third most behind Florida (9) and Reading (11).

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!