Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - IceRays give thanks to WPHL schedule-maker

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Saturday, July 31, 1999

IceRays give thanks to WPHL schedule-maker
Corpus Christi will open, close season on homestands
By Mark Button
Caller-Times

A fourth-place finish in the Western Professional Hockey League apparently is good enough to earn a favorable schedule for the following season.
   The WPHL released its 1999-2000 schedule Friday and the Corpus Christi IceRays, who posted a 40-23-6 record last year, have one of the best schedules in the 18-team league.
   Coach Taylor Hall's club will host the league opener against Austin on Oct. 13, followed by seven straight home games.
   The IceRays also will finish the season with seven home dates in their final 10 games.
   "I think it's going to work for us," IceRays general manager Bill Davidson said. "It's nice to host the league opener against Austin. It's kind of an honor to host the first game. My feeling is that it has a lot to do with us having the best fans in the league."
   Waco will visit Corpus Christi twice during that first homestand - on Oct. 17 and Oct. 24 - bringing former IceRays GM (if only for a month) Stu Kehoe back to town.
   The meetings also will match the IceRays against Corpus Christi media mogul Rick Dames, who owns the Wizards. Dames owns radio station KCCG-106.1 FM, which will broadcast the IceRays games.
   Lake Charles, the team that ended Corpus Christi's season last year, pays a visit to the Igloo on Oct. 23 before the IceRays take to the road. The Ice Pirates beat Hall's team in the WPHL quarterfinals.
   Other key home dates include Nov. 2, a date Tyler Boucher fans may want to circle their calendars.
   That's when the former IceRays forward will return to town with his new team, the New Mexico Scorpions. Hall traded Boucher for defenseman Greg MacEchern in May after Boucher asked to be dealt.
   The IceRays pay for the heavy home dates early and late in the season with some long and frequent road trips during the middle of the year. The team will spend Nov. 19-27 and Dec. 11-18 on four-game road swings.
   After two three-game sets away from Corpus Christi in January, the IceRays embark on a 15-day, six-game road trek from Feb. 5-20.
   Last year, Corpus Christi hosted games on Halloween and New Year's Eve.
   Not this time.
   "I wish we had more holiday dates, so our promotions staff could be creative," Davidson said. "But we won't let that stop us."
   On Wednesday, Hall left town on a 21-day scouting and recruiting trip to Canada. He'll spend half of the trip in Vancouver and half in Saskatchewan.



Mark Button can be reached at 886-3613 or by e-mail at buttonm@caller.com

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