Ice Notes

Several roster moves to report this week including Kevin Harris, Frank Furdero and a new addition.

Defenseman Kevin Harris did not play in either of the Ice Bears home games over the weekend...Harris tested his lower body injury in warm-ups on Saturday, but could not go. According to Coach Scott Hillman "Kevin Harris is day-to-day right now."


On Friday against Richmond, forward Frank Furdero crashed into the boards going for a loose puck - which resulted in icing ... the second period injury forced Furdero from the game. Furdero said "The defender's skate came in to my other leg, my left leg, took me out and my right ankle just crammed into the boards, spraining it, so we'll see.”

"Unfortunately,” Coach Hillman said, “due to the collision on the icing call - Frank Furdero's going to have to be moved to the 30-day IR ... he's pretty sore right now. The good news is we're able to bring Chris Rebernik off the IR, although we don't expect him in the next week or two, we do expect him back well before 30 days."

The Ice Bears signed coach Scott Hillman's former defensive partner Chris Brannen to a 3 game tryout on Christmas eve. Brannen played the previous 4 years in the central hockey league - 3 of those seasons with the Odessa Jackalopes. Brannen said he “played with Scott in Odessa here, and a bunch of the guys, and i think the world of Hilly and just looking forward to the opportunity to try and help the team." Most recently, Brannen played 23 games this season for the CHL's rocky mountain rage.

On Christmas night against the Cottonmouths, Knoxville netminder Andrew Gallant recorded his second professional shutout - it was his first as an Ice Bear. He says “if you're going to go and play on Christmas, you might as well go all the way. I asked Santa for a goose egg, so I guess I was a good boy this year."

Both Gallant and Kirk Irving remain ranked among the top goaltenders in the league...both have better than 2.75 goals against averages and 91-percent save percentages.

Ice Bears captain Kevin Swider continues to lead the southern league scoring race with 42 points through 25 games ... Swider added to his total last week with 2 goals and 4 assists.

Knoxville's Tim Vitek, BJ Pelkey, and Mike Carter moved up last week among the top 10 scorers in the league - all with 26 or more points - better than a point a game average.