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Thursday, December 14, 2000

Rookie forward Cheeseman what IceRays wanted for Christmas
Recently signed player takes league honors after his first week
By Javier Becerra
Caller-Times

David Adame/Caller-Times

Jeff Cheeseman (center) tries to work the puck past Fort Worth goalie Rob Laurie in a recent game.

Christmas came early for the Corpus Christi IceRays.
   This year, the team received more than just a stocking stuffer for the holiday season.
   After going 6-8 last month, the IceRays are 5-1 in December behind the play of rookie forward Jeff Cheeseman.
   Signed Dec. 1 to help bolster Corpus Christi's offense, the 5-foot-8, 180-pound Cheeseman made an immediate impact with a goal and an assist in his first game as an IceRay.
   Cheeseman was let go by two teams before arriving in Corpus Christi for a tryout. But after just one week with the IceRays, the Minden, Ontario, native was named Western Professional Hockey League Player of the Week.
   "After a rough couple of months, I just hoped to get a chance to play," Cheeseman said. "Coach Hall gave me the chance. That's all I was asking for. It's working out, that's for sure."
   The stats are hard to ignore:

The IceRays are 5-1 since Cheeseman was added to the roster.

In those six games, Cheeseman has scored 10 points (six goals, four assists) and has recorded at least one point in each game, including four points last Friday in a 8-4 win over Fort Worth.

Corpus Christi has scored 27 of its 85 goals with Cheeseman on the roster. The IceRays scored 58 goals in their first 23 games.

With Cheeseman, the IceRays are averaging 5.1 goals a game; without him, they were scoring 2.5.
   Cheeseman's play has made him a quick fan favorite; fans wearing blue "cheese-head" hats with Cheeseman's No. 41 on them have begun to sprout during games at Memorial Coliseum.
   His quick production may surprise some, but not some of his teammates. Fellow IceRays forward Brad Wingfield first witnessed Cheeseman's firepower in junior hockey.
   "That season, he had 120 points in the league. I knew he had offensive capabilities, but I hadn't seen him in four or five years," Wingfield said. "In practice, it's hard to tell how you'll perform until you get a chance to play. So far, he's been unstoppable. He's doing something right."
   Most of Cheeseman's ice time has been on the same line as forwards Geoff Bumstead and Matt Sharuga, which Wingfield said further enhances Cheeseman's abilities.
   "He has speed and a tenacious forecheck and is all over the ice on (the opponents') end," Wingfield said. "Jeff's also got a good set of hands. When you have a good set of hands and get opportunities, you're going to hit the net, and it's been going in."
   Cheeseman began the 2000 season with the Columbus Cottonmouths of the Central Hockey League, but was released Nov. 15. From there, Cheeseman traveled to Amarillo and played one game with Rattlers before he was let go.
   "Columbus decided to go with bigger forwards. Amarillo had a lot of the same type of players as me and figured they needed to bring in some bigger and tougher guys," Cheeseman said.
   Though he is the smallest forward on the IceRays' roster, Cheeseman isn't bothered by the game's physical play.
   "I knew in juniors that if I wanted to play college hockey or in the pros, I'd have to get physical and stick my nose in it," Cheeseman said. "I don't shy away from hitting. I don't mind that part of the game."



Staff writer Javier Becerra can be reached at 886-3734 or by e-mail at becerraj@caller.com

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