Miami Manatees ready for home opener

By TidalShark

This is the first meeting between the two teams. Miami is an expansion team, while the Trax played in the ACHL last season. Macon took a 5-2 win over the Lakeland Loggerheads to start the WHA2 season off Thursday night in Lakeland.

The Trax are lead by Ryan Rivard who had two goals in the win. Forward David Deeves and a goal and two assists and defenseman Steve Howard had a goal and an assist in the win. Macon netminder Geoff Faulkner, who split time between the ECHL Augusta Lynx and the ACHL Macon Trax, backstopped the Trax to victory, turning aside 28 Lakeland shots for the win.

The Manatees will look to forward Oak Hewer for scoring. The 6�4� Ontario native had two goals and an assist in the Manatees exhibition win over Lakeland last Saturday. Joining Hewer up front will be Ryan Kiley who had 26 goals and 17 assists with the ACHL Cape Fear FireAntz last season. Left Wing Todd Nowicki had 25 goals and 23 assist for 48 points in 44 games with the Orlando Seals last season, and was a big part of the Seals ACHL championship team. Sniper Kevin Swider will be sure to light the lamp as well, tallying 40 goals and 40 assists for 80 points with the ACHL Knoxville Ice Bears.

On the blueline, the Manatees will be relying on Dmitri Doulebenets, not only for defense but for some scoring as well. Doulebenets spent last season playing for the ECHL Wheeling Nailers, where he recorded 13 goals and 18 assists. J.F. Picard will provide a more traditional type of defense. Picard spent last season in the Central Hockey League, playing with the Laredo Bucks and the Wichita Thunder. Picard as been tagged as the Manatees captain, and will provide leadership off the ice as well as on. Liam McCarthy, who appeared in the Manatees exhibition game last week in a Loggerheads� sweater, has since joined the Miami team. McCarthy spent four years playing NCAA hockey with Harvard University. Last season, the Belmont, Massachusetts native split time between the Orlando Seals and the Jacksonville Barracuda of the ACHL.

Mark Scally will tend to the Manatees nets. Scally comes to the Manatees from the ECHL Wheeling Nailers. A product of Pennsylvania State University, Scally won an ACHL Championship in college, posting a 21-7-1 record for Penn State. Scally credits his attitude in part for his success.

"You have to take a positive attitude. You can't go into games thinking that you're going to lose. You have to go in with the mentality that you have nothing to lose, and that you can win every game."

This will be the first hockey game to be played at the Miami Arena in over four years. The last hockey game to be held at the Miami Arena was on April 2, 1999 when Brent Belecki made 50 saves to give the ECHL Miami Matadors a victory.

The game begins at 7:05 PM. The doors open at 6:00 PM. The first 5,000 fans in attendance will receive a $10 gift card from Gameworks. Manatees� tickets start at $10 for lower bowl seats, to make it a very affordable evening for the entire family. Plenty of parking is available in the secured city lots near the Miami Arena for a $5.00 fee.

For additional information visit the Manatees on the web at www.miamimanatees.com or call them toll free at 1-877-sea-cows.

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