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| NEWS ARCHIVES: 8-9-04 to 8-15-04 8-16-04 to 8-22-04 8-23-04 to 8-31-04 9-1-04 to 9-14-04 9-15-04 to 10-14-04 10-15-04 to 11-6-04 |
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| 11-7-04: ICE BATS 9, Royals 1-- The Boy Scout motto doesn't mean a whole lot when you've got a roster filled with talent, the Ice Bats learned on Sunday night at Wakota Arena. Despite never having held a full-team practice, skated on the same ice together as a group, or even seeing each other face-to-face, the Ice Bats defeated the Royals--last season's undefeated beginner league champions-- for the first time in franchise history. Victory came largely at the hands of a smothering defensive effort; the Bats were able to repeatedly maintain extended pressure in the offensive zone, and new recruit Paul Hedlund notched the first hat trick of the season with three blistering slapshots from the point. Jeff Kocovsky made several key saves throughout the second half of the game, denying the Royals an opportunity to build any momentum until one squeaked by him with around five minutes remaining in the third period. Needless to say, it was an impressive start to the season and questions concerning team preparation at this point seem largely irrelevant. Official scoring statistics have not yet been released by the league; when they are, the box score will be posted in the "statistics" page. The Ice Bats next face off against the Wolf Pack at 7:00 PM in Wakota arena, Sunday November 14th. |
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| Ice Bats News |
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| 11-14-04 ICE BATS 8, Wolf Pack 0-- Jeff Kocovsky made 15 saves en route to his first shutout of the season in the Ice Bats win over the Wolf Pack at Wakota Arena. Once again, the Bats were the beneficiaries of a stifling defensive effort, which wore down the Wolf Pack's reserves and found them dragging a bit as the game progressed. Paul Hedlund once again led all scorers with two goals and two assists; Dan Latvala and Rob Shulfer each added a goal and an assist; and Mark Lanz, Derek Bitter, Kevin Lewis, and Josh Halttunen all netted goals in the offensive onslaught. The Bats next face off against the Lakers on Saturday, November 20. The two are the only remaining undefeated squads in the division. |
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| 11-20-04 LAKERS 6, Ice Bats 4-- The top two teams in D2 West faced off late Saturday Night in St. Louis Park in an old-fashioned shootout. With shots on goal favoring the Lakers 43 to 38, both goaltenders had their hands full. Despite missing a couple of players, the Ice Bats held their own in the first and third periods; unfortunately, the Lakers also scored two in the second period that went unanswered. It was a good game with lots of great hockey and the Bats are looking forward to a rematch later on in the season. With the loss, the Bats drop to a three-way tie for second place with the Royals and Nighthawks. The next game is vs. the Aurora on Sunday, November 28th at 9:30 PM in Breck Ice Arena. |
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| 11-28-04 ICE BATS 13, Aurora 3-- The Ice Bats finished off the month of November on a high note, scoring a franchise record 13 goals in three periods of hockey against the Aurora on Sunday night at Breck Ice Arena. Mark Lanz earned first star honors with a four-point night on 3 goals and an assist while leading scorer Paul Hedlund resumed his assault on the league leaderboard in goals scored, netting a pair. The Ice Bats outshot the Aurora by an astounding ratio of more than 4 to 1, and the Aurora didn't do themselves any favors by taking 18+ minutes in penalties. Next game is a late one-- 10:10 PM on Saturday December 11 vs. the Nighhawks. |