ICERAYS WEEKLY – OCTOBER 3, 2016

Oct 3, 2016

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.

 

THIS WEEK…

Thursday, October 6 @ Topeka RoadRunners – 6:05 p.m.
Friday, October 7 @ Topeka RoadRunners – 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, October 8 @ Topeka RoadRunners – 7:05 p.m.

The Corpus Christi IceRays open the month of October with a three-in-three series and their final series of the 10-game road trip to begin the 2016-17 season against the Topeka RoadRunners from Landon Arena in Topeka, Kan. The IceRays had their most successful campaign against the RoadRunners last season, earning a franchise-best 5-2-1 record through eight games including 3-1-0 in Topeka. This season, the IceRays and RoadRunners play five games with three of those coming this weekend. Over the franchises’ histories, the RoadRunners have owned the matchup, leaving the IceRays with a 7-19-4 record through six seasons.

The Topeka RoadRunners returned home to Landon Arena in their first meeting with the Amarillo Bulls this season, splitting the games with a 5-3 loss on Friday and 6-1 win on Saturday. Forwards Marcus Russell and Peyton Frantti led the weekend with three points (1+2=3) in two games with two other players earning two-goal weekends: forwards Matthew Barnes and Alex Frye. Eight players earned at least one point and seven were goal-scorers. Goaltender Ryan Snowden halted 39 of 40 shots in 94:24 minutes of relief while getting the win on Saturday, and Mike Rockwell stopped 12 of 17 shots in 25:36 minutes.

 

South Division Outlook:
The Amarillo Bulls finished up a two-week road trip last weekend against the Topeka RoadRunners, splitting the weekend set at Landon Arena while maintaining their hold atop the South Division for the second-straight week and becoming the first team to double-digit points. The Lone Star Brahmas spoiled the chance at a sweep by the Shreveport Mudbugs on the return of regular season hockey to Shreveport, edging out a shootout win on Saturday to split the weekend despite the Mudbugs picking up three of four points. The Wichita Falls Wildcats and Odessa Jackalopes also split their weekend set at the Kay Yeager Coliseum to maintain just about equal points across the division. The Corpus Christi IceRays were the only idle team in the division.

TEAM GP W L OTL SOL PTS PCT L10
AMARILLO BULLS 9 5 3 1 0 11 .611 5-3-1-0
LONE STAR BRAHMAS 7 5 2 0 0 10 .714 5-2-0-0
WICHITA FALLS WILDCATS 10 4 4 2 0 10 .500 4-4-2-0
ODESSA JACKALOPES 7 4 3 0 0 8 .571 4-3-0-0
TOPEKA ROADRUNNERS 9 4 5 0 0 8 .444 4-5-0-0
SHREVEPORT MUDBUGS 6 3 2 0 1 7 .583 3-2-0-1
CORPUS CHRISTI ICERAYS 7 3 2 0 2 6 .429 2-3-0-2

 


ICERAYS BITS…

The IceRays closed the month of September with a 2-3-0-2 record and six points through seven games, staying just one point shy under a point-per-game clip. Historically, the IceRays have maintained just around one point-per-game through the opening month, only sitting above .500 twice (2014-15: 3-2-0-2; 2012-13: 3-2-0-3) while equaling that mark once (2011-12: 3-3-0-0). Last month’s mark is a solid rebound from that of the 2015-16 campaign (2-4-0-0).

The off-weekend for the IceRays is the first of two crossing into the month of October start out the season. After two more weeks of games, the IceRays have one more off-weekend prior to the final weekend of the month. From that point, the IceRays will only have time off during Christmas and New Year’s Weekend, meaning three of the four off-weekends come in the first half of the season.

 

#REDRISING –