April 3, 1999
Florence Morning News
From Staff Reports
GREENVILLE -- The Pee Dee Pride completed their run through the
East Coast
Hockey League record book, completing the most successful regular season in
league history by downing Palmetto State rival Greenville Grrrowl 6-0 Saturday.
Ryan Petz scored his 27th and 28th goals of the season and Mark
Richards held
the Grrrowl scoreless as the Pride recorded their second consecutive shutout to
close out the regular season.
The Pride played the game without Head Coach/Director of Hockey
Operations
Jack Capuano, who did not make the trip after being diagnosed with pneumonia
of the right lung early Saturday by team doctor Joe Gurein of McLeod Health.
The team was coached Saturday by team associate Bill Keels, who made his
coaching debut.
Capuano, who was treated and released, did not make the trip but
is expected
to return to the Pride bench when they open the playoffs on April 10 against a
team to be determined.
The Pride entered the game needing to win to break the 1995-96
Richmond
Renegades' ECHL record for most standings points in a season. In that season,
the Renegades finished with 105 points (46-11-13) but lost in the second
round of the ECHL playoffs to Jacksonville.
Pee Dee (51-15-4) set league records for most wins -- becoming
the first team
in ECHL history to win 50 or more games -- and standings points (106) by
defeating their last two opponents by a combined score of 13-0, including a 7-0
win over Charlotte in the final regular season game at the Florence Civic Center
on Friday.
That win over Charlotte gave the Pride a 28-4-2 home record on
the season,
one win better than Louisiana to extend the ECHL record in that category. The
Pride also finished with a .757 winning percentage, just shy of the franchise
and ECHL record set in 1990-91 when the Pride played as the Knoxville
Cherokees.
The Pride sent the Grrrowl a statement early, going on the
attack in the first
minute of the game. Petz tried to send a pass to Peter Geronazzo, making his
second appearance since returning from the disabled list. But the pass slipped
past Greenville goaltender Paxton Schafer and into the net for a goal with only
28 seconds elapsed in the game.
Pee Dee made it 2-0 five minutes later when Geronazzo scored his
third goal
in two games, punching in his 27th goal of the season on assists from Brian
Goudie and Petz.
Rod Aldoff made it 3-0 Pride advantage when his cannon shot from
the blue
line beat Shafer at the 13:03 mark of the first period. Petz added another goal
at the 17:12 mark, punching home a rebound for his 28th goal on assists from
Geronazzo and Brendan Flynn, who both assisted on Petz's earlier goal.
In the second period, the Pride extended their lead on goals by
Kurt Mallett
and Michael Payne -- his first goal as a professional.