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…
Thursday, January 12: Amarillo Bulls 3, IceRays 4 (SO)
Shots: Bulls 29, IceRays 37
PP: Bulls 1-for-5, IceRays 1-for-5
The Corpus Christi IceRays (15-13-1-3) and Amarillo Bulls (12-17-7-1) took a close game into a shootout, and the IceRays came out on top 4-3 on Thursday night at the American Bank Center.
Bulls forward Brendan Walkom (1:30 1st) opened the scoring early in the contest to take a 1-0 lead before IceRays newcomer Larry Jungwirth (12:10 1st) answered for his first IceRays goal on his first shot to tie the game at 1-1. On their second power play, IceRays forward Griffin Loughran (PP, 3:42 2nd) scored his first NAHL goal to push ahead, 2-1. The Bulls answered from defenseman Jeff Solow (10:33 2nd) to send a 2-2 game into the third period. Another early IceRays goal, this time from forward Mason Krueger (0:54 3rd), gave the home side a 3-2 lead, but Bulls forward Steven Ipri (10:41 3rd) knotted the game at 3-3 and went into overtime and a shootout. IceRays forward David Thomson (2nd) scored the lone goal in the shootout to earn a 4-3 home win.
IceRays goaltender Tomáš Vomáčka (10-10-2) stopped 26 of 29 shots in the win, while Bulls netminder Brandon Bussi (7-4-3) halted 33 of 36 shots in the shootout loss.
Friday, January 13: Amarillo Bulls 3, IceRays 0
Shots: Bulls 32, IceRays 36
PP: Bulls 1-for-4, IceRays 0-for-4
The Corpus Christi IceRays (15-14-1-3) were held off the scoreline thanks to an impressive goaltending performance during their 3-0 loss to the Amarillo Bulls (13-17-7-1) on Friday night at the American Bank Center.
Bulls forward Brendan Walkom (12:45 2nd) didn’t open the scoring this game until midway through the second period for the lone goal in the first two frames. Bulls forward Steven Ipri (1:08 3rd) deflected a shot from the blue line to double the lead, 2-0, early in the third period, and an empty net goal by Bulls forward Eric Cooley (EN, 18:29 3rd) sealed the IceRays’ fate in the 3-0 defeat.
Bulls netminder Brandon Bussi (8-4-3) stopped all 36 shots faced in the shutout win, while IceRays goaltender Camden Burggrabe (4-4-1) turned aside 29 of 31 shots in the loss.
THIS WEEK…
Friday, January 20 @ Amarillo Bulls – 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, January 21 @ Amarillo Bulls – 7:05 p.m.
The Corpus Christi IceRays continue their four-game stretch with the Amarillo Bulls by traveling to the Amarillo Civic Center to close out the season series. The IceRays are ahead in the season series and will win the head-to-head matchup outright with one win in their next two games after going 4-2-0-0 through six games. The IceRays now stand at 25-42-3 through seven seasons against the Bulls while owning a 12-22-2 record at the Amarillo Civic Center.
South Division Outlook:
The Lone Star Brahmas continue to roll through South Division play with a seven-game win streak thanks to their sweep of the Odessa Jackalopes at the NYTEX Sports Centre last weekend. The Shreveport Mudbugs picked up six points on second place after winning three-straight at home against the Topeka RoadRunners and now sit one point back of the idle Wichita Falls Wildcats. The Amarillo Bulls moved into a share of fourth place thanks to a three-point road weekend against the Corpus Christi IceRays.
| TEAM | GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | PTS | PCT | L10 |
| LONE STAR BRAHMAS | 37 | 28 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 57 | .770 | 7-3-0-0 |
| WICHITA FALLS WILDCATS | 34 | 21 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 46 | .676 | 5-3-1-1 |
| SHREVEPORT MUDBUGS | 34 | 22 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 45 | .662 | 6-4-0-0 |
| CORPUS CHRISTI ICERAYS | 33 | 15 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 34 | .515 | 5-4-0-1 |
| AMARILLO BULLS | 37 | 13 | 17 | 7 | 1 | 34 | .447 | 5-4-0-1 |
| ODESSA JACKALOPES | 33 | 13 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 30 | .455 | 4-4-2-0 |
| TOPEKA ROADRUNNERS | 38 | 11 | 24 | 2 | 1 | 25 | .329 | 2-8-0-0 |
ICERAYS NEWS…
The NAHL announced on Friday that the 2017 Robertson Cup National Championship will be played in Duluth, Minn. this seasons at the Essentia Health Duluth Heritage Center from May 11-14, 2017. This season’s championship format will be a best-of-three series between the #1 and #4 seeds out of the Division Finals and the #2 and #3 seeds. The winner of those series will play a one-game championship at Sill Arena, which seats about 1,600 fans inside the complex.
ICERAYS BITS…
This weekend marks the beginning of the team’s second-longest road trip of the season: a three-week trek through northern and west Texas as well as Louisiana. The IceRays will travel roughly 3,194 miles round trip during their yearly three-week trip through the end of January while finishing a season series, making their first trip to Odessa, and returning to Shreveport for the second time. In the team’s 10-game road trip to start the season, the IceRays traveled 2,877 miles and earned a 4-3-1-2 record. Over the last four years, the IceRays are 11-11-2-1 in their January road trip.
The IceRays’ four-game win streak and six-game point streak came to a close on Friday night but stands as the team’s best stretch of the season. During the six-game stretch, the IceRays were 5-0-0-1 while outscoring opponents 23-11 and keeping opponents to two goals of less in four of six contests. The power play was also buzzing during the stretch, going 5-for-18 (27.78%) while also owning a 19-for-21 (90.48%) conversion on the penalty kill.
Despite the loss, the IceRays have held a positive record over their last three games, which ties a season-high stretch dating back to November 4-11, during which the IceRays were 8-6-1-2 at their peak. In fact, the IceRays also matched during their last three games their highest difference from .500 for the season, which still stands at two games.
