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Thursday, February 8, 2001

IceRays face division-heavy finish
League forced to rework teams’ schedules after loss of Stampede
By Javier Becerra
Caller-Times
Geoff Bumstead hadn't paid much attention to the Corpus Christi IceRays' schedule this season.
   Until now.
   Twice this year, the Western Professional Hockey League was forced to revise its schedule to accommodate the loss of one of its franchises. The league released its second revision last Tuesday, which now has Corpus Christi playing 19 of its remaining 21 games against Eastern Division opponents.
   "We've been talking about controlling our own destiny. Well, it doesn't get any simpler than that," said Bumstead, third on the team in scoring with 36 points (16 goals, 20 assists).
   "Every game is a four-point game," he said. "There's two for you for the win, and then the two they don't get. I think if we win 11 or 12, we'll be in the playoffs."
   Corpus Christi is 26-20-3 (55 points) and is tied with Monroe (25-19-5) for fourth place in the Eastern Division. The IceRays are scheduled to face the Moccasins three times before the end of the season, all at Memorial Coliseum.
   Only the top four teams in each division advance to the playoffs, which Bumstead said should be a source of momentum, especially against Monroe.
   "Down the stretch, you have to look at who you're playing," Bumstead said. "If we win all three against Monroe, we're in the playoffs. We could also end up on the outside looking in."
   Of Corpus Christi's six Eastern Division opponents, only Lake Charles and Fort Worth trail the IceRays in the standings. Austin leads the division with 67 points, followed by Bossier-Shreveport (62 points) and Tupelo (60 points).
   Even with 21 games still left, Corpus Christi forward Kurt Wickenheiser said, the atmosphere is more like the postseason.
   "This is pretty well close to playoff hockey already," said Wickenheiser, who leads the IceRays with 48 points (23 goals, 25 assists). "Our destiny is in our hands. We can't look for any other teams to help us out."
   Corpus Christi will play Austin six times before the end of the season, including two additional road games to account for the collapse of the Central Texas franchise. The IceRays are 2-5-1 overall against the Ice Bats and 1-3 when they play in Austin. Only four games remained against Austin before the scheduled was revised again.
   "This is already the third schedule we've had this year," Bumstead said. "I'm not happy that we have to play Austin two more times at their building."
   Austin has defeated Corpus Christi, 8-1, on two different occasions earlier this season. The Ice Bats' last win over the IceRays was a 3-2 shootout victory.
   Corpus Christi left Austin with a 2-1 win when it last played the Ice Bats on Jan. 19.
   "At the beginning of the year, we really struggled against Austin," IceRays coach Taylor Hall said. "As of late, we've been playing better against them. We're capable of beating them if we want."
   What Bumstead wants is for the IceRays to continue their recent run of success.
   Since Dec. 29, Corpus Christi is 10-3-1, which includes winning streaks of three and four games. The IceRays snapped a two-game slide with a 3-1 win over El Paso last Tuesday.
   "If we would've played like that all year, we'd be walking away with first place," Bumstead said. "Any time you can win 10 of 14, you're going to be a force. We're upset that we lost those last two, but you have to look at the whole picture. When you win two out of three, you don't completely attain your goals, but you accomplish a lot."
   A ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Friday night's game against Fort Worth will be Corpus Christi's sixth straight home game. After that, however, the IceRays won't play in Memorial Coliseum for another 12 days.
   The IceRays begin a six-game, 10-day road trip against the Brahmas Saturday night. Corpus Christi will face Austin Sunday afternoon and return home before a second tour that will take the team to Odessa, Bossier-Shreveport and back to Austin and Fort Worth.
   With Friday's matchup against the Brahmas, Corpus Christi will have played nine of its last 11 games at home.
   A COME FROM BEHIND: Corpus Christi is now 2-18-0 this season and 11-59-6 lifetime when trailing entering the third period. The IceRays' posted their second come-from-behind win this season against El Paso last Tuesday when they rallied for a 3-1 victory.
   The IceRays have a lifetime record of 77-18-12 when leading entering the final 20 minutes of play. This season Corpus Christi is 20-1-1 when the IceRays have the lead after the first two periods.


Staff writer Javier Becerra's Corpus Christi IceRays report appears each Thursday during the season. To comment or make suggestions, contact Becerra at 886-3734 or by e-mail at becerraj@caller.com

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