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Sunday, Jan. 10, 1999
Texas all-stars topple World, 10-6
Western Division stars shine in WPHL All-Star Game
By MARK BUTTON
Staff Writer

   AUSTIN -- Jim Morrison and the Doors were right, the West is the best.
   At the halfway point of the regular season, teams in the Western Professional Hockey League's Western Division have the best win-loss record -- 124-86-16 -- and average the highest number of points, 43.7.
   The 1999 WPHL All Star Game did nothing to refute those numbers.
   Led by El Paso's Billy Trew, the 11 Western Division All Stars recorded 14 points Saturday night, as Team Texas defeated Team World, 10-6, at the Travis County Exposition Center. Trew recorded a hat trick in the first 15:43 of the game and finished with 4 goals and 2 assists.
   Trew, the Buzzards' only representative in the game, was named the game's Most Valuable Player. He was the 1998 WPHL playoff MVP. El Paso has won both WPHL championships to date.
   The Western Division currently has the two top teams in the league, Abilene and Arkansas. Both teams have 51 points.
   Abilene's Tony Martino, another Western Division All Star, started in goal for Team Texas and turned in the most impressive night between the pipes. Martino stopped 24 of 26 shots before leaving the game at the 10:29 mark in the second period. Martino earned the No. 2 star of the game.
   The Eastern Division, which filled 17 of the 18 spots on Team World, recorded 17 points, with no player tallying more than three. The Eastern Division has an overall record of 112-96-16; the teams average 40 points each.
   The Central Division, the weakest so far in the regular season with an average of 39 points per team, recorded 13 points. Waco's Tony Cimellaro led the way with three assists and one goal. Austin's Chris Johnston had a goal and two assists.
   Team Texas was made up of all stars from the 10 Texas WPHL teams, five of which play in the Central Division. Team World consisted of players from the seven non-Texas teams.
   Corpus Christi forward Chris Robertson finished with one point. The 6-foot 190-pound IceRay scored his goal at the 15:54 mark of the second period. The goal gave Team Texas an 8-2 lead, and it was assisted by Abilene's Charles Poulin and Amarillo's Chris Brooks.
   IceRays defenseman Regan Harper recorded one assist and finished with a plus-minus ratio of +1. Harper, like Robertson, made his second WPHL all-star appearance Saturday. Playing for New Mexico, Harper led the league in 1996-97 with a plus-minus of +54.
   Team World's starting goalie, Ryan Hoople of Arkansas, stopped 24 of 31 shots before giving way to Lake Charles' Bryan Schoen, also 10:29 into the second.
   The game was telecast live on Fox Sports Southwest. A sellout crowd of 7,427 witness the event in person. There were no penalties in the contest.

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