The IceRays Weekly is a weekly recap and preview of IceRays news, games and more. The IceRays Weekly will be released every Monday during the 2016-17 season.
LAST WEEK…
Friday, January 20: IceRays 5, Amarillo Bulls 3
Shots: IceRays 27, Bulls 50
PP: IceRays 1-for-3, Bulls 1-for-6
The Corpus Christi IceRays (16-14-1-3) surged ahead with a three-goal third period to claim a 5-3 win over the Amarillo Bulls (13-18-7-1) on Friday night at the Amarillo Civic Center.
Bulls forward Brendan Walkom (6:50 1st) opened the scoring to jump out to a 1-0 lead and claim the lone goal of the first period. IceRays forward Griffin Loughran (6:48 2nd) answered on a rebound chance before Bulls forward Nestor Plarsmo (7:37 2nd) earned back the one-goal lead, 2-1. The IceRays scored three unanswered heading through the third period from forwards Mason Krueger (18:32 2nd), Brad Power (PP, 3:29 3rd) and Cole Filler (10:50 3rd) to jump out to a 4-2 lead. Bulls forward Luke Edgerton (PP, 14:30 3rd) broke the scoring streak to draw within one, 4-3, but IceRays forward Nathan Bryer (EN, 19:13 3rd) sealed the game and the 5-3 win.
IceRays goaltender Tomáš Vomáčka (11-10-2) stopped 47 of 50 shots in the win, while Bulls netminder Brandon Bussi (8-5-3) halted 22 of 26 shots in the loss.
Friday, January 21: IceRays 6, Amarillo Bulls 1
Shots: IceRays 40, Bulls 44
PP: IceRays 2-for-4, Bulls 1-for-6
The Corpus Christi IceRays (17-14-1-3) finished their season series with the Amarillo Bulls (13-19-7-1) on a strong note, taking down the home side 6-1 on Saturday night from the Amarillo Civic Center.
IceRays forward Cole Gammer (2:21 1st) helped set the tone with an early re-direction goal to take a 1-0 lead followed by the eventual game-winner by forward Mason Krueger (PP, 11:38 1st) on a rebound to take a 2-0 lead. IceRays defenseman Cody Fleckenstein (4:38 2nd) and Trevor Wilhelm (12:22 2nd) capitalized in the middle portion including the first of Wilhelm’s career to quadruple the lead, 4-0. IceRays forward Matt Novo (9:19 3rd) also scored his first NAHL goal, and forward Larry Jungwirth (PP, 12:53 3rd) helped spread the lead to 6-0 before Bulls forward George Mika (PP, 14:41 3rd) broke the shutout late in the game.
IceRays netminder Tomáš Vomáčka (12-10-2) earned the win, stopping 43 of 44 shots. Bulls goaltender Nikita Babintsev (11-15-3) halted 15 of 19 shots through 32:22 minutes in the loss, and goalie Brandon Bussi turned down 19 of 21 shots in 27:38 minutes of relief.
THIS WEEK…
Friday, January 27 @ Odessa Jackalopes – 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, January 28 @Odessa Jackalopes – 7:05 p.m.
The Corpus Christi IceRays make their first trip of the season to the Ector County Coliseum and continue their three-week road trip against the Odessa Jackalopes. The IceRays and Jackalopes have met just twice this year in their eight-game series, and the Jacks took both games 2-1 on October 14 & 15 at the American Bank Center. The IceRays have taken hold of the franchise series since 2011-12 with a 35-19-4 record and are 16-11-3 at the Ector County Coliseum.
The Odessa Jackalopes ran into tough luck last weekend, slipping late in 5-4 and 6-3 losses on Friday and Saturday to the Topeka RoadRunners from the Kansas Expocentre. Jackalopes forwards Zach Zech and Ludwig Stenlund led the way with five-point weekends (2+3=5) and were just two of seven players to record points. Of those seven, six earned multi-point weekends. Netminder Jonny Hogue stopped 30 of 35 shots in Friday’s loss, and Jon Flakne halted 31 of 36 shots on Saturday.
South Division Outlook:
The Lone Star Brahmas expanded their win streak to ten games last weekend with a Monday afternoon overtime win over the Shreveport Mudbugs and a road sweep of the Wichita Falls Wildcats while also expanding their lead in the South Division to 17 points. The Corpus Christi IceRays also gained ground on second place while breaking the deadlock for fourth place thanks to back-to-back road wins over the Amarillo Bulls. The Topeka RoadRunners kept postseason hopes alive with a home sweep of the Odessa Jackalopes, drawing within one point of sixth place.
| TEAM | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | PTS | PCT | L10 |
| LONE STAR BRAHMAS | 40 | 31 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 63 | .788 | 10-0-0-0 |
| SHREVEPORT MUDBUGS | 35 | 22 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 46 | .657 | 6-3-1-0 |
| WICHITA FALLS WILDCATS | 36 | 21 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 46 | .639 | 3-5-1-0 |
| CORPUS CHRISTI ICERAYS | 35 | 17 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 38 | .543 | 7-2-0-1 |
| AMARILLO BULLS | 40 | 13 | 19 | 7 | 1 | 34 | .425 | 3-6-0-1 |
| ODESSA JACKALOPES | 35 | 13 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 30 | .429 | 4-6-0-0 |
| TOPEKA ROADRUNNERS | 40 | 13 | 24 | 2 | 1 | 29 | .363 | 2-8-0-0 |
ICERAYS NEWS…
The IceRays added their sixth tender for the 2017-18 season on Wednesday by signing forward John Moncovich of the Hampton Roads Whalers from the U.S. Premier Hockey League (USPHL) Elite. The 18-year-old owns 46 goals and 24 assists for 70 points through 36 games with eight power play goals and nine game-winning goals. He sits second in the USPHL Elite in scoring while leading the league in goals. He’s the second forward to tender for next season and first from the USPHL.
IceRays goaltender Tomáš Vomáčka was ranked 13th among North American goaltenders by NHL Central Scouting in their Mid-Term Rankings for the 2017 NHL Draft. The Czech netminder sits fifth among goalies in USA Hockey junior developmental leagues and becomes the second IceRays goaltender to be ranked by NHL Central Scouting, joining Anthony Stolarz (’11-’12), who finished fourth at season’s end.
ICERAYS BITS…
For the first time in junior franchise history, the IceRays earned a sweep of the road series against the Amarillo Bulls last weekend. The IceRays won all four games played at the Amarillo Civic Center by a combined 17-5 and never won by less than two goals. The team also won the season series with a 6-2-0-0 record, their best showing against the Bulls in junior franchise history. The team’s previous best road record against Amarillo was in 2012-13 (3-3-0 record) and the best overall record was in 2015-16 (6-3-2 record) in terms of wins but in 2014-15 (4-3-1 record) as the only other season with a winning record.
IceRays goaltender Tomáš Vomáčka set a new franchise record with the win on Saturday night, recording the most consecutive wins by a goaltender. His six-game win streak snaps a record set by Anthony Stolarz (’11-’12) between Oct. 8, 2011 and Nov. 4, 2011 and upheld by Graham Hunt (’15-’16) from Dec. 19, 2015 to Jan. 2, 2016. During his six-game span, the 17-year-old owns a 1.82 goals-against average and a .946 save percentage.
