BY: Ray Schmitt, Voice of the Greenville Road Warriors
After finishing their 10-day, six-game road trip last week, the Greenville Road Warriors are back in the Upstate for a pair of home games this week against the first place Gwinnett Gladiators.
Record: 19-13-2, 40 pts., 2nd place South Division
Leaders:
Goals – Brendan Connolly: 20
Assists – Justin Bowers: 30
Points – Brendan Connolly: 43
+/- – Brendan Connolly: +9
PIMs – Brendan Connolly/T.J. Reynolds: 121
PPG – Jeff Prough: 7
SHG – Brendan Connolly/Marc-Olivier Vallerand/Jeremy Gouchie: 1
Wins – Nic Riopel: 11
GAA – Bryan Hince: 1.48
SVP – Bryan Hince: .942
Previewing the Upcoming Week:
1/12 & 1/13 vs. Gwinnett – 7:35 p.m.; 1/14 at Gwinnett – 7:05 p.m., Home vs. GWT 1-0-0, Away vs. GWT 1-1-0
First place in the South Division will be on the line when the Road Warriors and Gladiators meet for three games in three days this week. The Gladiators enter the week three points ahead of the second place Road Warriors and have won seven of their last 10 games (7-1-2). Each of Gwinnett’s last 10 games have been against South Division opponents and the three this week will continue a stretch of 23 consecutive games against divisional opponents. The Road Warriors are beginning their own string of 13 straight games against the South where four will be played at the BI-LO Center and nine will be on the road. Greenville is 9-2-1 against the division at home this season and 3-3-0 away from Greenville. The Road Warriors have won two straight by a combined score of 7-3 over Gwinnett after dropping the first of the season 6-1 in Duluth.
Day-by-Day Schedule:
1/9/12 – Off
* Season Ticket Holder Party at Carolina Ale House, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
” Between the Pipes” radio show at Ford’s Oyster House and Cajun Kitchen, 7:00 – 8:00 p.m.
1/10/12 – Off
Supercuts Opening in Easley, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
1/11/12 – * Practice at BI-LO Center, 10:00 a.m.
1/12/12 – * Pre-game skate at BI-LO Center, 10:00 a.m.
Road Warriors vs. Gwinnett, 7:35 p.m.
1/13/12 – * Pre-game skate at BI-LO Center, 10:00 a.m.
Road Warriors vs. Gwinnett, 7:35 p.m.
1/14/12 – * Pre-game practice TBD
Road Warriors at Gwinnett, 7:05 p.m.
1/15/12 – Off
* Denotes an appearance/event that is not open to the general public.
Road Warriors Broadcast Information
All Greenville Road Warriors games are broadcast live online courtesy of America One. You can listen to every game for free by clicking on the “Listen Live” link located on the Road Warriors’ website – greenvilleroadwarriors.com. The Road Warriors Pre-Game Show kicks off every broadcast 15 minutes prior to faceoff.
Recapping Last Week:
1/4 at Cincinnati: L 3-6
In an offensive slugfest the Road Warriors hung with Cincinnati through 20 minutes of play and made it to the second intermission with the score deadlocked at two. Greenville got goals from Brett Robinson and Marc-Olivier Vallerand to wipe out Cincinnati leads of 1-0 and 2-1. The Cyclones out-scored the Road Warriors 2-0 in the second period, though, and put the game out of reach. A strike by Brendan Connolly just under four minutes into the third drew the Road Warriors back within one at 4-3, but the Cyclones tacked on a pair of insurance goals before the final horn. Jason Missiaen took the loss in net with 32 saves on the night.
1/6 at Kalamazoo: L 4-6
The Road Warriors were trying to slow down the Eastern Conference’s best offense last Friday in Kalamazoo and for the first period they were on track. Brendan Connolly put Greenville up 1-0 36 seconds into the game and Justin Bowers followed at 8:38 as Greenville took a two-goal lead. Brandon Svendsen sliced the lead to one before the period expired, but it was the second period in which the Wings did most of their damage. Four straight goals, two on the power play, allowed Kalamazoo to snare a 5-2 lead. The Road Warriors battled back with a pair of power play goals from Brett Robinson and Marc-Olivier Vallerand, but one goal was as close as they would get. Just 1:05 after Vallerand’s goal, Bryan Haczyk potted an insurance score against Jason Missiaen. The Road Warriors’ rookie goalie took the loss for the second straight night.
1/7 at Toledo: W 4-1
This go-around when the Road Warriors struck first they made sure the lead stuck and they came away with their third win in as many tries against Toledo this season. Brendan Connolly assisted on all three first-period goals for Greenville as the Road Warriors picked up a power play marker from Connor Shields, an even strength tally from Marc-Olivier Vallerand, and a shorthanded goal by Jeremy Gouchie. With 27 saves by Bryan Hince on 28 shots, those three goals were more than enough to lift the Road Warriors to victory. Brandon Wong finished off a 1G, 1A game by adding his ninth goal of the season with just under nine minutes to play in the game.
1/8 at Wheeling: L 3-5
Less than 24 hours after knocking off the Walleye, the Road Warriors couldn’t muster the same defensive effort in their final meeting of the regular season with the Wheeling Nailers. A bumped up start time to 2:00 did hinder the team’s power plays as each cashed in once in the first period. Like in Kalamazoo two nights before, the second period doomed the Road Warriors as they gave up a pair of goals, including one just eight seconds into the period that broke the 1-1 tie. Then a strike by the Nailers 13 seconds into the third pushed the lead to 4-1 and proved to be the game winner. Greenville tacked on a couple of power play goals from Brett Robinson and Connor Shields in a comeback effort, but fell short of tying the game. Wheeling added an empty net goal with 1:09 left to play to set the final score.
Quick Hits:
* Jeff Prough has recorded two assists in three games since returning to the Road Warriors from the American Hockey League’s Connecticut Whale on January 6. He has seven assists in his last 11 games, overall, with Greenville.
* Jeremy Gouchie’s shorthanded goal on Jan. 7 broke a 23-game goal-less drought. He scored his first two professional goals on Oct. 29 in a 5-3 win over Florida.
* The Road Warriors were 7-for-28 on the power play last week and scored at least one power play goal in all four contests. They lead the league in road power play at 27.4% and are third overall at 22.3%.
* On December 31, 2011 Bryan Hince became the fifth different goalie the Road Warriors have used in the first half of the 2011-12 season. That equals the number of goalies the Road Warriors used during the entire 2010-11 season. Hince is the ninth goalie in the history of the Road Warriors to suit up in the blue and white.
* Greenville has a .694 winning percentage (12-5-1) against South Division opponents so far this season which includes a 9-2-1 mark at home. That win percentage is best among Eastern Conference teams against divisional opponents and behind only Alaska (.786) and Las Vegas (.833) in the entire league.
Upcoming Events:
Thursday, Jan. 12: Road Warriors vs. Gwinnett Gladiators, 7:35 p.m. – Throwback Thursday Presented by WSSL 100.5, The Greenville News, and New Rock 93.3. Come out to enjoy $2 draught beers, $2 fountain drinks, $2 hot dogs, and $2 pretzels. Also, any college student with a valid ID gets in for just $6.
– Wine, Women, and Warriors Night – The Road Warriors will host a party in the Mezzanine Lounge of the BI-LO Center from 5:30-7:00pm. Then following the game the ladies will be invited to the concourse lounge for a private mixer (cash bar) with Road Warriors players.
Friday, Jan. 13: Road Warriors vs. Gwinnett Gladiators, 7:35 p.m. – Spinx Family Four Pack. Fans can get four tickets, four hot dogs, four soft drinks, and four pretzels for just $48!
– Clemson Jersey Night – The Road Warriors will also be wearing special Clemson University-themed jerseys which will be auctioned off live after the game. A portion of the proceeds will go to charity.
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