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Friday, Oct. 30, 1998
Calm, cool, collected: IceRays know it's no time to worry
Despite latest losses, CC stands atop division with long season ahead
By MARK BUTTON
Staff Writer

   Halloween may be just one day away, but these guys don't spook easily.
   After Wednesday's 4-3 lost to El Paso, the Corpus Christi IceRays have lost two straight home games and for the season, the team is a mediocre 3-3 inside Memorial Coliseum.
   But no one is panicking.
   Forward Craig Coxe, also one of the team's assistant coaches, points to three cold facts to justify the team's optimistic position.
   One, the IceRays are 5-3 overall, still good enough for first place in the Western Professional Hockey League's Central Division. Corpus Christi entertains San Angelo (1-2-2) at 7:05 p.m. today.
   "I mean, if we were 3-5, then yeah, it might be time to worry a little," he said. "You always want to win the games in your own building, but ultimately, the teams coming in here are going to look at our overall record. No one is going to ever be able to come in here and walk all over us."
   Two, the season is long - 70 games long - and most of the players have been through this. The veterans, like Coxe, know about pacing, about not getting too high or too low on the team's performances. The young players might not know it as well, but with guys such as Chris Robertson and Jody Praznik, Coxe said the inexperienced players will pick up the idea quickly.
   "We do have some young players in here," he said. "And the system takes some getting used to. But they all listen well, and they're only going to get better. As the season goes along, the young guys are going to improve and we'll become stronger as a team."
   Three - and this one is a tad scary - Coxe knows that the IceRays were in position to win all three of the games they lost. With the exception of the opening-night loss to Austin, Corpus Christi has held leads in every game.
   "We know we make mistakes," Coxe said. "The idea is to make as few as possible and try not to make the same ones over and over again. We're getting better. Last night (Wednesday), I felt like we played a really good game. We only made a couple of mistakes, but El Paso is a good team. They played with discispline and they capitalized on the mistakes we did make."
   IceRays head coach Taylor Hall said he and the entire team shares Coxe's positive stance on the season thus far.
   "We could have easily won every game if we handled our defensive zone better," he said. "Offensively, we're way better than I thought we'd be at this point."
   Hall said he saw progress in the team's defensive play Wednesday night, but the team needs to continue to work at reducing "sloppy turnovers" in its end of the rink.
   "We lead the league in goals scored and we have the most shots on goal," Hall said. "It's frustrating because I know we can be so much better. But also it's pretty encouraging since we're already at the top of the league and we're just a first-year team."
   The IceRays lead the WPHL with 46 goals this year, 16 more than second-ranked Lake Charles. Corpus Christi has fired 308 shots on goal, also a league best. The Arkansas GlacierCats have the second-most shots on goal, 244.
   During the 1996-97 season in New Mexico, Hall said he learned a valuable lesson about the pace of a season.
   "We were in first place all year, then lost in the first round of the playoffs," he said. "I'd rather this happen to us now than in March."

IceCubes
Staff Writer Mark Button can be reached at 886-3613, through e-mail at buttonm@scripps.com or on the internet at www. caller.com.

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