CALLER-TIMES INTERACTIVE: NEWS
Friday, Oct. 16, 1998
Toews' trick thwarts 'Hogs, 8-2
CC clobbers Alexandria for first win
By MARK BUTTON
Staff Writer
Who said Corpus Christi sports fans don't know hockey?
The 3,398 in attendance for the IceRays 8-2 pounding of the Alexandria Warthogs showed their hockey intelligence in the third period when left wing Lorne Toews scored his third goal of the game. As tradition has it, when a player scores three goals in a game - known as a hat trick - fans are called upon to take off their hats and throw them onto the ice.
With 3:31 to go in the game, Toews took a feed from forward Chris Robertson and fired a waist-high shot past Alexandria goalie Brian Renfrew. The hats flew onto the Memorial Coliseum ice as the fans erupted into applause.
The IceRays led, 3-1, heading into the third period. Then Corpus Christi exploded for five goals, two by Toews, who said the team was motivated to erase the memory of the 4-3 opening night loss to Austin.
"We had a little bit of a let down in the last game," Toews said. "but we made up for it tonight."
Robertson had three assists in the game for Corpus Christi, and goalie Frank Caprice stopped 28 shots.
Toews scored his first goal 5 minutes, 28 seconds into the second period. The goal gave the IceRays a 3-0 lead.
"Bummer (Geoff Bumstead) was in front, laying guys out," Toews said. "(Chris) Robertson saw me in front and gave it right to me. I let it go and it got through."
In addition to the heavy scoring, the Corpus Christi defense played valiantly. The penalty killing unit, for example, killed 10 of 11 Alexandria power plays, including a two-minute, two-man disadvantage midway through the third period.
A roughing call on the IceRays Don Martin coupled with a tripping penalty on Jody Praznik gave Alexandria a five on three advantage with 8:45 second to play in the game. The Corpus Christi defenders scrambled, Caprice stopped three Warthogs shots and as the 3,398 in attendance counted down the final 10 seconds of Martin's penalty time Alexandria found itself unable to score.
It was a much quicker, more alert and aggressive IceRays squad that showed up Thursday. Players such as Shaun Peet, Phil Valk and Martin seemed to balance their offensive or defensive duties with not only looking for Warthogs to check but going out of their way to do so.
Peet put Corpus Christi ahead early when he took a pass from Robertson off of the game's second face-off and unleashed a blue line slap shot that beat Alexandria goalie Brian Renfrew just 1:10 seconds into the contest.
Craig Coxe, the wily old veteran, put the IceRays up, 2-0, near the end of the first period as he scored on a pass from Pavel Evstigneev and Vadim Sharapov - also known as "The Russian Connection." Coxe rushed down the right boards, jumping over a Alexandria defensemen's stick while he held possession of the puck, and gave Renfrew a couple of fakes before poking the puck through short side, to the goalie's left.
The 34-year-old Coxe spent six years with the Vancouver Canucks of the NHL and has played professional hockey for 15 years.
Corpus Christi out shot Alexandria, 15-13, in the first period. Caprice was red hot as he stopped all the Warthog first-period shots, including five power-play chances. Alexandria had three power plays in the first, Corpus Christi had just one.
Alexandria didn't register a shot on goal until 3:40 had expired from the game clock in the first.
Robertson had a chance to put the IceRays up, 3-0, when he had a break-away chance in the first. The 6-foot-0, 190-pound forward broke free from the Alexandria defense at the Warthogs blue line, but his backhand shot found the net of Renfrew's glove as the goalie fell backwards to the ice.
The Warthogs finally scored 16:09 into the second when forward Jim Mroz flipped a shot over Caprice's right shoulder seven seconds into a Warthogs power play. Newly acquired Warthog Andrew Stewart assisted on the goal. Stewart joined the Alexandria squad Thursday afternoon.
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