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Friday, October 19, 2001
One game, one loss
San Antonio outmuscles, outshoots Corpus Christi in new CHL opener, 4-0
By Javier Becerra
Caller-Times

George Tuley/Caller-Times

This is a standard photo. The cutline goes here.

San Antonio and Corpus Christi officially opened their first season as opponents in the inaugural game of the new Central Hockey League.
   It was San Antonio that provided all the fireworks in a 4-0 win over the IceRays Thursday night at Memorial Coliseum.
   Johnny Brdarovic scored twice to lead the speedier Iguanas past Corpus Christi, which had trouble in the offensive zone throughout the game. The IceRays (0-1-0, zero points) managed just five shots on goal in the first period, and finished with 23 against former Corpus Christi goaltender Rob Galatiuk.
   On the other side of the ice, San Antonio battered IceRays netminder Hugo Hamelin with 50 shots. Henry Kuster and Clay Awe finished with one goal each for the Iguanas.
   "We obviously have a lot of work to do, especially defensively," first-year IceRays coach Dale Henry said. "Obviously we've got to find a way to score goals, but we can't let a team get some goals like they got on us."
   The opening night victory sends San Antonio to the top of the Southeast Division standings with a 1-0-0 (two points) record. Corpus Christi enters Saturday night's game against the El Paso Buzzards with nothing to show in the points column.
   Iguanas coach Chris Stewart credited the win to Galatiuk.
   "We didn't have many breakdowns, but when we did have a breakdown Galatiuk played real strong," Stewart said. "He made some tough saves look real easy."
   Smoke from the pregame pyrotechnics had barely started to clear from the arena when the Iguanas opened the scoring.
   Forty-eight seconds into the game, San Antonio's Matt Van Horlick had a shot deflected by goaltender Hugo Hamelin. The puck rolled unnoticed to the left of the net, and Henry Kuster had no problem scoring on the rebound to give the Iguanas a 1-0 lead.
   Less than two minutes later, Iguanas forward Brdarovic took a pass from Blair Manning and slapped the puck over Hamelin's right shoulder for the goal.
   San Antonio had a chance to build on its 2-0 lead when Corpus Christi's Cory Evans was called for hooking at 6:19. The Iguanas lost a man 20 seconds later on a high sticking penalty against Ken Richardson.
   But the IceRays soon found themselves short another skater on a hooking penalty against Derek McKinlay, which gave San Antonio a 4-3 advantage. The Iguanas continued their assault at the IceRays' goal, but Hamelin effectively defended the net with several diving saves.
   San Antonio's defense kept the IceRays out of the Iguanas' zone for much of the period. With two minutes left before the first intermission, Corpus Christi made a hard charge at goaltender Galatiuk.
   Ryan Prentice dished the puck to Alex Kholomeyev in close on Galatiuk, who deflected Kholomeyev's shot to the boards behind the goal. Moments later, Kholomeyev found Prentice open inside, but misfired on the scoring opportunity.
   A bench minor penalty on the IceRays after play had ended in the first period gave San Antonio a power play for the first two minutes to open the second.
   As the penalty was about to expire, Corpus Christi's Jeff Cheeseman stole the puck in the nuetral zone and had breakaway on Galatiuk. Cheeseman's first shot was blocked by Galatiuk, who then was able to cover up on Cheeseman's rebound attempt.
   The teams played at full strength for just 32 seconds before Corpus Christi's Eric Silverman was called for high sticking. While on the power play, Brdarovic put the Iguanas ahead, 3-0, on his second goal of the game.
   Midway through the second period, Corpus Christi's Mike DeGurse and San Antonio's Henry Kuster tangled in the first fight of the new CHL. Kuster was bloodied, and DeGurse was sent to the locker room for the remainder of the game, charged with a 10-minute misconduct for instigating and fighting.
   Back on a power play following the penalties to DeGurse, San Antonio struck again, this time on a goal by Clay Awe, to make it a 4-0 lead.
   San Antonio 2 2 0--4
   Corpus Christi 0 0 0--0
   First period -- 1, SA, Kuster 1 (Van Horlick) :48; 2, SA, Brdarovic 1 (Manning) 2:41. Penalties-Evans, CC (obstruction hooking) 6:19; Richardson, SA (highsticking) 6:39; McKinlay, CC (hooking) 7:20; Van Horlick, SA (interference) 11:50; Wickenheiser, CC (holding the stick) 12:44; Bench, CC (bench minor) 20:00.
   Second period -- 3, SA, Brdarovic 2 (DeSantis, Manning) 3:48; 4, SA, Awe 1 (Dubois) 10:27. Penalties-Silverman, CC (highsticking) 2:32; Bench, CC (too many men on the ice) 5:54; DeGurse, CC (fighting, instigating, misconduct) 9:55; Kuster, SA (fighting) 9:55; Gatto, SA (boarding) 12:52; Cheeseman, CC (boarding) 12:52; Kuster, SA (roughing double minor) 12:52; Van Horlick, SA (hooking) 19:30.
   Third period-none. Penalties-Pool, CC (fighting) 5:48; Gray, SA (fighting) 5:48; Smith, CC (roughing) 7:11; McKinlay, CC (fighting) 7:54; Richardson, SA (fighting) 7:54; Cheeseman, CC (slashing) 8:53; Edwards, SA (tripping) 10:10; DeGurse, CC (highsticking) 12:48; McKinlay, CC (fighting) 14:46; Richardson, SA (fighting) 14:46; Parrott, SA (hooking) 18:35; DeGurse, CC (roughing) 19:28.
   Shots on goal-San Antonio, 18-11-21--50; Corpus Christi 5-9-9--23. Power-play opportunities-San Antonio 2 of 9; Corpus Christi 0 of 5. Goalies-San Antonio, Galatiuk 5-9-9 (23 shots-23 saves); Corpus Christi, Hamelin 16-9-21 (50-46). Referee-Guy Pellerin. Linesmen-Dave Pfohl, Stacey Jackson. A -- 3,715.


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

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