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Saturday, March 24, 2001
Playoffs are put on ice
Monroe mauls C.C. squad, 6-2
By George Vondracek
Caller-Times

George Tuley/Caller-Times

IceRays' Layne Roland maneuvers in front of the Moccasins' net but is blocked by Monroe's Jason Smith (72) and goalie James Jenson on Friday night.

The champagne remains on ice for the Corpus Christi IceRays.
   The Monroe Moccasins made sure the IceRays wouldn't be celebrating a playoff berth at their expense, riddling ailing Corpus Christi goaltender Eddy Skazyk with four first-period goals on the way to a 6-2 win in front of 3,931 at Memorial Coliseum.
   Corpus Christi's magic number remains at one-half. A win over the Moccasins (34-25-9) would have sealed the IceRays' third playoff berth in as many years in the WPHL. The IceRays (37-27-4) continue to need one win or a loss by Monroe. The Moccasins, the only threat to the IceRays' postseason hopes, trail Corpus Christi by one point, 78-77.
   Monroe's must-win mode continues. It has home games against Eastern Division-leading Tupelo tonight and Sunday against Fort Worth. Corpus Christi closes the season Sunday in Austin. The only way Monroe can make the playoffs as the fourth and final team in the Eastern Division is to win its last two and have the IceRays falter in Austin.
   "We just weren't mentally prepared enough,'' said Corpus Christi's Kurt Wickenheiser, who scored his 800th career goal in the third period. "If they played like that every game, they'd be in first place. They've got two more big games.''
   Corpus Christi may soon be in that position should Monroe win tonight, which would make the Sunday's matchups the final determining factor.
   "Tonight wasn't do or die. But Sunday we may be facing that,'' IceRays coach Taylor Hall said. "But every time we've had our backs to the wall our guys have found a way to get it done.''
   That wasn't to be Friday, as Darren Dougan scored a hat trick for the Moccasins. The dominating first period set a dangerous tone for Monroe.
   "They came out like their lives depended on it,'' Wickenheiser said. "They caught us a little off guard. They played like it was a life-and-death situation.''
   The game wasn't 6 ½ minutes old and the IceRays were staring at a 3-0 deficit. While the hosts were playing sluggishly, nearly everything the Moccasins were throwing at Skazyk resulted in Monroe goals. Of Monroe's eight first-period shots, four found the net.
   Skazyk, who has been under the weather, was pulled after the first period, mainly to rest him for Sunday's game, Hall said. The IceRays were coming off Thursday's 4-3 win in Lake Charles.
   "I thought we were going to win the hockey game,'' Hall said. "I had no reason to think we weren't. Monroe played very well in the first period. They had a great start and they finished the game strong.''
   Jeff Paluseo scored the other goal for the IceRays, and Mario Dumoulin had two assists.
   Trailing, 5-1, entering the final period, time was against the IceRays. Then penalties started mounting. The IceRays were whistled for six penalties, three for fighting. Jamie Hearn was ejected after a fight with Monroe's Carlin Nordstrom at the 11-minute, 6-second mark of the period.
   Matt Hill's goal at the 10:28 mark iced the win for Monroe. Wickenheiser followed with his goal three minutes later. It was his 92nd goal as an IceRay.
   "It's nice to finally get it,'' Wickenheiser said of his 800th goal. "It'd have been better in a different situation. But some day I can look back when my career is over and be satisfied with that accomplishment. Right now it doesn't mean as much.''
   Corpus Christi tried to change the momentum at the outset of the second period. Dumoulin found Paluseo open 20 feet in front of the net, and Paluseo drilled a slapshot past the right knee of James Jensen for the IceRays' first score of the game. Paluseo's 20th goal of the year cut Monroe's lead to 4-1 1:37 into the period.
   That momentum was short-lived. The IceRays had two power-play chances in the second period but were 0 for 4 on shots. For the game, Corpus Christi was 0 for 7.
   On the first power play in the second period, Dougan broke free and took a pass from Jason Carriere. Dougan skated to the right of Brad Erbsland and flipped it past the IceRays' relief goalie for the hat trick. His 28th goal of the year at 6:56 gave Monroe a 5-1 lead.
   Dougan tied the league's longest scoring streak at eight games just 2:04 into the contest when he scored off an assist from Russ Parent. Three minutes later, Ryan Cirillo fired a goal with help from Parent and Dougan. Less than a minute later, Ryan Prentice and Cirillo assisted on Jason Smith's goal to boost Monroe's lead to 3-0.
   Then matters grew testy. Corpus Christi's Byron Pool and Monroe's Colby Van Tassel got in a fight, with the former serving four minutes for roughing and the latter two minutes. Ten seconds later, the IceRays' Matt Van Horlick and Nordstrom got into it, each earning five-minute penalties for fighting.
   With that one-man advantage, Dougan scored his second goal of the game at 15:43, with assists from Parent and Smith, giving the Moccasins a 4-0 lead.
   IceCubes
   A QUINNELL'S RETURN: Bob Quinnell returns to the club in time for the postseason, should the IceRays make it. The IceRays' all-time leader in points by a defenseman, Quinnell played 36 games for the Graz 99ers of the Austrian Elite League. He recorded eight goals and 28 assists. Quinnell scored 100 points in two previous seasons with the IceRays. He was held pointless in his return Thursday night in the IceRays' 4-3 win at Lake Charles.
   A FIRTH NAMED MVP: Tupelo forward Jason Firth was named the WPHL's most valuable player. Entering Friday's home game against Bossier-Shreveport, Firth led the league in points with 117, on 52 goals and 65 assists. It is the seventh time Firth has scored 100 points in a season and sixth in a row. The four other finalists were Bossier-Shreveport goalie Ken Carroll, Lubbock's Kyle Reeves, New Mexico's Peter Ambroziak and Odessa goalie Grant Sjerven.
   A SLAPSHOTS: Monroe forward Jason Renard served the final game of his two-game suspension Friday. He was suspended by the league for a boarding penalty last Saturday at Lake Charles. . . . Shawn Frappier, Dennis Shirayev and Alex Kholomeyev will finish the regular season on the injured reserved list, although all three could rejoin the IceRays for the playofs. . . . Wickenheiser isn't the only IceRay to have reached a milestone, and another is approaching one. Skazyk earned the 50th win of his career when Corpus Christi beat Lake Charles on Thursday. Forward Cory Evans is three points shy of reaching the 100-point mark of his career.
   Monroe 4 1 1-6
   Corpus Christi 0 1 1-2
   First period - 1, Monroe, Dougan 26 (Parent), 2:04. 2, Monroe, Cirillo 19 (Parent, Dougan), 5:26. 3, Monroe, J. Smith 17 (Prentice, Cirillo), 6:29. 4, Monroe, Dougan 27 (Parent, J. Smith), 15:43. Penalties -Dumoulin, CC (elbowing), 3:24; Pool, CC (double minor, roughing), 13:39; Van Tassel, Monroe (roughing), 13:39; Dumoulin, CC (cross-checking), 14:08; Nordstrom, Monroe (fighting), 14:18; Hearn, CC (fighting), 14:18.
   Second period - 5, CC, Paluseo 20 (Dumoulin, Pool), 1:37. 6, Monroe, Dougan 28 (Carriere), 6:56. Penalties - Wickenheiser, CC (high sticking), 2:58; Prentice, Monroe (tripping), 5:32; Van Tassell, Monroe (roughing), 12:44; Van Tassell, Monroe (fighting), 15:30; Pool, CC (fighting), 15:30; Roland, CC (slashing), 19:43.
   Third period -7, Monroe, Hill 15 (Yoder), 10:23. 8, CC, Wickenheiser 29 (Roland, Dumoulin), 13:16. Penalties - Praznik, CC (elbowing), 2:37; Wingfield, CC (high sticking), 6:01; Hearn, CC (elbowing), 8:34; Wickenheiser, CC (cross-checking), 10:23; Nordstrom, Monroe (roughing, fighting), 11:06; Hearn, CC (fighting, game misconduct), 11:06; Van Horlick, CC (fighting), 15:49; Cirillo, Monroe (roughing, fighting), 15:49
   Shots on goal -Monroe 8-9-8--25, CC 10-10-11--31. Power-play-opportunities - Monroe 2 of 6; CC 0 of 7. Goalies - Monroe, Jensen 4-1-2 (31 shots, 29 saves). CC, Skazyk 21-12-3 (8, 4); Erbsland (17, 15). A - 3,931. Referee -Chris Brown. Linesmen -Randy Sappo, Eric Von Feldt.

Staff writer George Vondracek can be reached at 886-3731 or by e-mail at vondracekg@caller.com

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