Ice Notes

Catch up on this weeks roster moves, who's on top of their game, and a major league milestone.

Ice Bears Alternate Captain Mike Carter kept the goal judges busy on Sunday. The fifth year pro out of Cambridge, Ontario, Canada recorded his second hat trick of the season, in leading the boys to victory over the Columbus Cottonmouths. "Great teammates I'm playing with - what can I say about Kevin and Tim ... you know I love playing with them and they're great players, and so it's good!" Carter said after the game. Coach Hillman added, "Mike Carter is truly is playing the best of his career right now."

The Ice Bears recent acquisition from Fayetteville - forward Justin Keller - continued to put the puck in the net. Over the weekend, Keller scored in 2 of the team's 3 games. "Like Hilly said, 'just go out there, and take shots and you never know, they might go in,' so that's what I've been doing." Keller said.

Forward Frank Furdero scored in his first shifts back from sitting 30-days on injured reserve. Furdero's 6th goal of the season came Friday night against the havoc. "When I pulled it back and shot and I seen the back of the net whip, it was the best feeling in the world,” Furdero said. “I've scored lots of goals and every goal feels like your first one."

Ice Bears captain Kevin Swider scored his 25th goal of the season on Friday - and was named star of the game for netting a pair of goals, including his 7th game-winning goal of the season. "We've been doing a great job of widening the gap between us and the rest of the league and 3 out of 4 games played against Huntsville and beaten them all three times has definitely been something we looked forward to" Swider said.

Swider also had a hand in all 4 Ice Bears goals in Sunday's win against Columbus, with those 4 helpers, the Livonia, Michigan native continued to lead the SPHL scoring race with 70 points in 41 games played.

Ice Bears forward Derek Pallardy remains on the 30 day IR until next Tuesday - at that time, the Ice Bears will have to make another roster move, or keep Pallardy on injured reserve for a second 30-day stint, just as they did last year with forward Chris Affinati, who eventually quit the team for lack of playing time.

You may remember last year that that full Ice Bears roster also had Matt Withers on the IR for two full months, but unlike Affinati, Withers stayed with the team, and is considered part of last year's championship team.

Ice Bears athletic trainer Bill Murray celebrated a career milestone over the weekend. Murray logged his 1800th game behind the bench - that's one-thousand, 8-hundred nights of keeping players healthy and tending to their injuries. "Just a sense of accomplishment and a little bit of reflection looking back on those years and starting out, and how quickly it's passed by," Murray said.

Murray has worked 21 years in professional hockey - from the minor leagues to the NHL new jersey devils ... 2 Stanley cup rings for this trainer! "Game 7 of the Stanley cup victories as the most memorable game for sure - 2003.”

Bill Murray's also worked 5 seasons of professional baseball, a year of pro football, and 2 years in minor league basketball...a true sportsman!




Picture courtesy of Jeff Haas of Haas Designs and Laura Adkins via Volzeye.com