Corpus Christi Online - / IceRays defeat Lake Charles, 6-4, to even five-game series

Marketplace \| Services \| Contact Us \| Community \| Arts & Leisure \| Local Guides

Tuesday, Mar. 30, 1999
IceRays defeat Lake Charles, 6-4, to even five-game series
Toews scores three goals for Corpus Christi vs. former coach
By MARK BUTTON
Staff Writer

   Maybe Bob Loucks taught Lorne Toews a little too much for Loucks' liking.
   Six years ago, Toews, a left wing for Corpus Christi, played for Loucks, the Lake Charles coach, in Toews' final year of his Canadian Juniors career. Prior to that 1992-93 season in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Toews' role in hockey was one of a checker, a grinder, a physical force who did not score goals as a first or second option.
   Loucks changed that.
   "He gave me the opportunity to be more than just a physical player," said Toews, who scored three goals to lead the IceRays to a 6-4 victory over the Ice Pirates in Game 2 of the Western Professional Hockey League quarterfinal series. "He put me on a line with two talented offensive players. Before that year, the most goals I had ever scored was 13."
   Toews scored 41 goals under Loucks, and put up 72 points in 72 games.
   "I taught him everything he knows," Loucks said half-jokingly. "He was a player who needed a little direction. He needed to settle down and play with the abilities he had."
   Toews learned, and he taught Lake Charles a thing or two Monday with a five-point night, including his third hat trick of the year.
   With the series tied, 1-1, action will shift to Lake Charles Thursday and Saturday for Games 3 and 4. Game 5 will be back at Memorial Coliseum Easter Sunday, if necessary.
   "I have to give Bob Loucks a lot of credit," Toews said. "He gave me the chance to let me play my game."
   Chris Robertson added two goals and three assists and Jody Praznik had two assists in the winning effort.
   "We just carried over what we did in the second and third periods on Saturday," Robertson said. "We played our game, which is simplified hockey."
   Corpus Christi goalie Jason Genik stopped 36 shots to earn his first career professional playoff victory. Ice Pirates goalie Rob Dopson stopped 29 shots.
   Toews gave the IceRays their first lead of the series 1:26 into Game 2. Assisted by Robertson and Regan Harper, Toews collected his own rebound and slapped it past a sprawled-out Dopson to give Corpus Christi the 1-0 advantage.
   The Ice Pirates, winners of four straight entering the contest, responded with the equalizer 10 minutes later.
   Lake Charles' Paul Fioroni tied the game, 1-1, with a 15-foot slapshot that blew by a shielded Genik. With three players piled up in front of Genik and his crease, Fioroni, who received the puck from right wing Kevin Malgunas with his back to the net, had time to spin around, square his shoulders and let loose the shot that knotted the contest with 8:35 to play in the first period.
   Uninterested in heading to Lake Charles down two games, the IceRays did not let the first period end in a tie.
   With 2:21 to play before the first intermission, Corpus Christi veteran Craig Coxe pushed a shot under Dupont to give the IceRays their second lead of the night, 2-1. Defenseman Shaun Peet and left wing Dave Shute assisted on the Coxe goal.
   A five-minute boarding penalty helped Lake Charles tie the game for a second time. IceRays forward Roger Lewis crushed Malgunas into the left corner boards of the Corpus Christi zone, prompting referee Ron Morgan to assess Lewis the five-minute punishment.
   Corpus Christi killed off 3 minutes of the penalty, but Ice Pirates forward Ryan Equale sent a slapshot over Genik's right shoulder with 1:24 remaining on the Lewis penalty. It was Equale's second goal of the series, and it tied the game, 2-2, with 10:20 to play in the second period.
   Corpus Christi surged ahead for a third time 4:55 later when the league's Most Valuable Player notched his first goal of the 1998-99 WPHL playoffs.
   Assisted by his linemates, Toews and Geoff Bumstead, Robertson squeezed a shot through a crowd as he fell to the ice, sending it past Dopson with 5:25 to play in the second period.
   Although Corpus Christi took the 3-2 lead into the locker room for the second intermission, the Ice Pirates exploded for 17 second-period shots.
   Toews' second goal of the game - a power play goal - gave the IceRays a two-goal lead, 4-2, with 15:38 to play. Assisted by Praznik and Robertson, the Toews' score came 55 seconds after Lake Charles center Bill Lund was whistled for tripping.
   Toews then recorded the hat trick exactly three minutes later. After off-setting slashing penalties had the teams skating four-against-four for two minutes, Toews again took assists from Praznik and Robertson before scoring.
   Robertson scored his second goal at the 10:56 mark of the third period, assisted by Toews. The Robertson goal gave the IceRays a brief 6-2 lead.
   Down four goals and up one game, the Ice Pirates did not fold.
   Mike Torkoff and Graeme Townshend scored back-to-back goals within 30 seconds to pull within two goals, 6-4, with 7:25 to play.
   "In the playoffs, you never want to give up," Lake Charles forward Darcy Verot said. "You go into a series wanting to get a spilt in the games in their barn. But once you get the first one, you want the second.
   "But Corpus Christi played the better game tonight, and they deserved to win."
   Only 3,042 fans showed for the game, which competed against the NCAA men's basketball Division I national championship game. It was the first time in 37 franchise games that the IceRays failed to sell out.
   A few of those fans were responsible for a two-minute IceRays penalty midway through the third period. After several warnings, Morgan called a bench minor on Corpus Christi because fans had thrown coins onto the ice.

Post your comments on this story in our forums.