ROAD WARRIORS WEEKLY #19: 2/21/11-2/27/11 

GREENVILLE, SC – The Greenville Road Warriors split last week’s four-game series against the South Carolina Stingrays and remained atop the South Division standings. This week’s schedule features a divisional matchup against Gwinnett on Tuesday and the final northern road trip of the season over the weekend.

Record: 32-20-2, 66 pts., 1st place South Division

Leaders:
Goals – Marc-Olivier Vallerand: 18

Assists – Mark Voakes: 35

Points – Mark Voakes: 50

+/- – Connor Shields: +18

PIMs – T.J. Reynolds: 170

PPG – Jimmy Kilpatrick: 7

SHG –Marc-Olivier Vallerand: 4

Wins – Dov Grumet-Morris/Nic Riopel: 15

GAA – Dov Grumet-Morris: 2.32

SVP – Dov Grumet-Morris: .922

This Week:
2/22 vs. Gwinnett, 7:05 p.m. – Home (3-3-0), Away (3-4-0)

The last time Greenville and Gwinnett met was on January 23 in Gwinnett and the Road Warriors‘ 2-1 win broke a four-game losing streak at the hands of the Gladiators. In the month since that game the Road Warriors have won six and lost six while the Gladiators have won three of nine. The last time Greenville hosted Gwinnett, the Gladiators bounced back from a two-goal third period deficit and went on to win 8-6 on January 14. The game is a makeup date for the postponed game from December 14 and is the third-to-last home game of the season against Gwinnett. From this point on the Gladiators are the only South Division team that will visit the BI-LO Center.

2/25 at Cincinnati, 7:30 p.m. – Home (0-0-0), Away (0-0-0) Friday night will mark the Road Warriors’ first, and only, visit to Cincinnati this season to take on the defending Kelly Cup champions. It will also be a reunion, of sorts, with Road Warriors head coach Dean Stork making his first appearance at US Bank Arena since helping the Cyclones win Kelly Cups in 2008 and 2010 as an assistant coach. The Cyclones enter the week as the third place team in the North Division, seventh in the Eastern Conference, and are 3-0-1 in their last four games. Cincinnati and Greenville have been masterful against the opposing divisions this season with the Cyclones holding an 8-3-1 record against the South and Greenville at 9-2-0 against the North.

2/26 at Toledo, 7:00 p.m. – Home (0-0-0), Away (1-0-0)

Saturday wraps up the brief two-game season series between the Road Warriors and Walleye. Greenville took the first round 4-3, in overtime, on February 11. The Road Warriors capitalized on the Eastern Conference’s second-worst defense for three straight goals after Toledo had taken a 2-0 lead early in the first and then won 27 seconds into OT on a breakaway goal from Shane Harper. Toledo, like Greenville, has a busy week with four games on the slate and enters the week holding down the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference. The Walleye are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games.

2/27 at Wheeling, 6:05 p.m. – Home (3-0-0), Away (2-0-0)

The North Division-leading Nailers have endured a tough stretch over the last handful of games and enter the week riding a six-game losing streak and having won three times in their last 10 games. The Road Warriors could add to the Nailers’ woes with a win in the season-finale between the clubs on Sunday. Greenville is five-for-five against Wheeling so far following a 5-1 win at the BI-LO Center on January 2. In Greenville’s last visit to WesBanco Arena on November 28 the Road Warriors posted a 2-0 win that wrapped up a four-game northern road trip.

Day by Day:
Mon. 2/21: Off
Tues. 2/22: Road Warriors vs. Gladiators, 7:05 p.m.

Wed. 2/23: Practice at BI-LO Center, 10:00 a.m.

Thurs. 2/24: Practice at US Bank Arena, Time TBD
Fri. 2/25: Road Warriors at Cyclones, 7:30 p.m.
Sat. 2/26: Road Warriors at Walleye, 7:00 p.m.

Sun. 2/27: Road Warriors at Nailers, 6:05 p.m.

Day-by-Day schedule subject to change.
Broadcast Schedule:
Tues. 2/22: Road Warriors vs. Gladiators, 7:05 p.m.

Fri. 2/25: Road Warriors at Cyclones, 7:30 p.m.
Sat. 2/26: Road Warriors at Walleye, 7:00 p.m.

Sun. 2/27: Road Warriors at Nailers, 6:05 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: (2-2-0)

2/15 at South Carolina: L 2-3

A first-period Brandon Wong power play goal put the Road Warriors up 1-0, but the lead didn’t last due to three straight goals from the Stingrays. Second period scores from Matt Scherer and Jake Hauswirth built up a 2-1 South Carolina advantage despite a 13-6 Road Warriors shot advantage in the frame. South Carolina’s Derek Keller potted the eventual game winner on the power play with 6:48 remaining in regulation. The Road Warriors mounted a valiant comeback attempt and scored with Nic Riopel pulled for an extra attacker. Wes Cunningham’s marker with 1:13 to play left Greenville with time to try to complete the comeback. Their chances grew higher when Trent Campbell took a charging minor with 20 seconds to play, but the Road Warriors could not put another shot behind Shane Owen.

2/18 vs. South Carolina: W 3-1

Greenville’s win on Friday snapped a five-game losing streak at the hands of the Stingrays and allowed Greenville to remain alone in first place in the South Division. Andrew Carroll fueled the Road Warriors’ offensive machine with a goal and two assists while Shane Harper chipped in a goal and an assist himself. Carroll deflected a point shot from Wes Cunningham past Jared DeMichiel 10:42 into the game and the Road Warriors never looked back from there. Harper scored off of a rebound from Trevor Glass’ point shot 3:59 into the second and earned the game-winning goal. Derek Keller scored a power play goal for the second straight game at 8:15 of the second to pull the ‘Rays within one of the Road Warriors, but Jimmy Kilpatrick restored the two-goal lead at 2:05 of the third with his 11th goal of the season. Nic Riopel picked up the win with 29 saves.

2/19 vs. South Carolina: W 4-3 OT

A club-record crowd of 6,388 fans were treated to an overtime thriller which the Road Warriors won with eight seconds left in the sudden death period. The Road Warriors took an early first-period lead thanks to Shane Harper but less than two minutes later South Carolina’s Rob Ricci tied the score with a 5-on-3 power play goal. Trent Campbell turned a Road Warriors’ power play into a Stingrays advantage with a shorthanded goal at 6:13 of the third and earned South Carolina its only lead of the night. Greenville rallied to tie it on Sam Klassen’s third goal of the season with 9:17 left. Chris Clackson appeared to have the game winner with 6:07 left to play as his seventh goal of the season gave Greenville a 3-2 lead. However, Tommy Goebel capitalized on a Greenville turnover and re-tied the game with 1:40 remaining. In overtime Nic Riopel came through with an acrobatic save with about 15 seconds to play and thwarted a Stingrays’ 2-on-1. That save led to a Greenville breakaway which Shields scored on to earn the win.

2/20 at South Carolina: L 2-4

A chance to win three of four over South Carolina last week went by the wayside on Sunday evening as the Road Warriors could not overcome a stingy Stingray defense. The Road Warriors were limited to 27 shots on goal in the game and allowed 41 to South Carolina. Trent Campbell and Rob Ricci scored 1:14 apart midway through the first to open up a 2-0 lead before Marc-Olivier Vallerand’s team-leading 18th goal of the season at 13:46 pulled the Road Warriors back within one. That goal was canceled out, however, by South Carolina’s 5-on-3 power play goal by Joe Finley 58 seconds after Vallerand’s score. The Road Warriors nearly went into the third down by two, but Chris Clackson scored a rebound with 18 seconds remaining in the middle period and gave the Road Warriors a chance in the third. Limited to just eight shots, though, Greenville never put enough pressure on the ‘Rays and goalie Shane Owen to complete the comeback. Pierre-Luc O’Brien scored an empty-net goal with four seconds left to seal the victory.

ONE-TIMERS:
Scoring Streaks:
Goals:

·    C. Clackson, 2 games (2G); 2/19-2/20

Assists:

·    B. Parlett, 3 games (4A); 2/11-2/15

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

·    C. Shields, 2 games (3A); 2/19-2/20

·    M. Vallerand, 2 games (3A); 2/19-2/20

Points:

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

·    B. Parlett, 3 games (1G, 3A); 2/11-2/15

·    C. Clackson, 2 games (2G); 2/19-2/20

·    C. Shields, 2 games (1G, 2A); 2/19-2/20

·    M. Vallerand, 2 games (1G, 2A); 2/19-2/20

Quick Hits:

· Wes Cunningham’s seven points (2G, 5A) in the month of February are half as many as he had in the previous four months combined.

· The Road Warriors are averaging 4,235 fans per game in the 2011 portion of their schedule. They had their largest home crowd of the season with 6,388 on February 19, 2011.

· Connor Shields leads the team, and is sixth in the league, in plus/minus at +18. He has been even or better in eight of 10 games in February.

· Nic Riopel has started 10 consecutive games for the Road Warriors and is 5-5-0 in those games. Dov-Grumet Morris has the high-water mark with 15 straight starts from 11/28/10 to 1/6/11 (11-3-1).

· The Road Warriors have 8 games remaining against South Division opponents (3 home, 5 away) and 10 games combined remaining against the North/Atlantic Divisions (7 home, 3 away).

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

3/4 vs. Trenton, 7:05: The Road Warriors are hosting a special Church Night. The night includes group tickets starting as low as $7 for church groups of 10 or more. There will be a post-game concert on the ice featuring MyCalvary.

3/5 vs. Elmira, 7:05: The BI-LO Center will be going to the dogs when the Road Warriors host Dog Night/Grrrowl Night presented by Camp Bow-Wow. Fans can bring their dogs with them to the game and tennis balls will be given away courtesy of Dunlop. The Road Warriors will also honor former Greenville Grrrowl players prior to the game.

3/6 vs. Elmira, 4:05: Join us for the final post-game skate with the Road Warriors of the season. Ticket holders from the game can skate with the Road Warriors for free after the game, and those without skates can rent them from the BI-LO Center for $3.