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Wednesday, Jan. 13, 1999
IceRays players unhappy about having to take playoff show on the road
Team saddened to learn scheduling conflict will prevent postseason home games
By MARK BUTTON
Staff Writer

   A travesty. A fiasco. A disappointment.
   Those were among the printable comments made by Corpus Christi IceRays players Tuesday upon hearing that they will not be able to host playoff games at Memorial Coliseum after April 9. From that day on, the coliseum will be turned over to the 61st annual Buccaneer Days festival, a three-week event highlighted by a rodeo.
   Corpus Christi could play its first two playoff series at home, but any games the IceRays qualify for after April 9 will have to be played elsewhere, according to the lease between the team and the coliseum.
   Commissioners of Buccaneer Days said IceRays management has known about this since June of 1997. Some of the players had no idea until recently.
   "You mean we have to play our playoffs games the road?" asked forward Craig Coxe, a 15-year veteran of professional hockey. "What a fiasco. I've never heard of anything like this."
   Coxe said he did not learn of the news until this week. Rookie defenseman Shaun Peet, like most fans of the team, found out when he read Tuesday's Caller-Times.
   "It's very disappointing," Peet said, "mostly for the fans. If they thought the games have been exciting so far, well, the playoffs epitomize hockey. The regular season is just a tuneup. You work hard all year just to get to the playoffs, and that's when the real hockey starts.
   "In Canada, all the rodeos are outside. Can't they have their rodeo outside somewhere?"
   Joe Ochoa, executive director of the Buccaneer Commission, said he and his staff looked into moving the rodeo, but it was too expensive. The rodeo portion of Buc Days only lasts from April 14-17, but the coliseum is booked with events from April 9 through May 2.
   Coach Taylor Hall said he had heard talk of the possibility of having to play playoff series away from home but it was his understanding that nothing was final.
   Upon hearing that indeed the Buccaneer commission's final position is the same one it had in June when the deal was signed, Hall said he felt badly for all the fans.
   "I guess you have to look at whoever negotiated the lease," Hall said.
   That would be Jay Johnson, the IceRays former events director. Johnson inked the deal in June, long before 95 percent of the team arrived in Corpus Christi.
   Coincidentally -- or perhaps not -- Johnson is no longer with the IceRays. He left the franchise in November. IceRays general manager James Garino would not say if Johnson was fired or he left on his own.
   "All I can say is that we parted ways," Garino said.
   IceRays captain Jody Praznik said the news should not be a distraction to the team and it is a little early to be talking about the playoffs anyway.
   "We still have half a season to go," Praznik said. "We can't look to the playoffs until we get there. Then we'll deal with it.
   "But would be really disappointing for the fans. They are just as much a part of us being a winning hockey team as we are. If we won a championship, half of it would belong to the city. I guess it is just tough luck."
   ICECUBES
   TOEWS CALLED UP: For the second time this season, IceRays left wing Lorne Toews has been called up to play for the Las Vegas Thunder of the International Hockey League.
   Toews has recorded 23 points -- 14 goals and 9 assists -- in the last 16 Corpus Christi games. He was called up for one game on Dec. 16, and Thunder general manager Bob Strumm said Toews should see time in at least four Las Vegas game before returning to Corpus Christi.
   "Strumm was impressed with his play the first time," Hall said. "It's a great opportunity for Lorne."
   ROBERTSON WINS AGAIN:IceRays forward Chris Robertson was named the WPHL Player of the Week for the second time Monday.
   Robertson scored a goal in the 1999 WPHL All Star Game in Austin Saturday and he scored on a penalty shot to give Team Texas a victory over Team World in the all star game Skills Competition.
   The 30-year-old forward also scored twice and recorded five assists in the IceRays' 11-1 victory against Lake Charles on Jan. 7.
   Robertson was named Player of the Week in week two of the season as well.
   VETERANS RETURN: Corpus Christi veterans Craig Coxe and Frank Caprice are officially of the injured reserve list.
   Coxe, who recorded at least one point in each of the IceRays' first 14 games, broke his left thumb in late November. He is expected to play center on the once league-dominating line of himself, and Russians Vadim Sharapov and Pavel Evstigneev. Corpus Christi was 6-6-3 with the 15-year veteran.
   Caprice, the team's No. 1 goalie, suffered a second-degree sprain of his right knee after just 12 games. Finally healthy, Caprice may start in goal Friday against Abilene.
   With Caprice's return, goalie Matt DelGuidice was waived late Monday night.
   IceRays defenseman Don Martin will miss the remainder of the season as he undergoes ankle surgery. Martin recorded seven assists and one goal in 18 games with the IceRays. He had a plus-minus ratio of +9.
   NEW GUY: Hall signed left wing Jason Jennings to a one-year contract Wednesday.
   A Vancouver native, Jennings played in Italy and Germany during the last two years.

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