The Florida Everblades dropped two of three games to the Texas Wildcatters at the Ford Arena in Beaumont, Texas this weekend. The Blades now fall to second place in the South Division standings, 2 points in front of the Gwinnett Gladiators with one game in hand on that team.

Thursday night, Texas grabbed an early 2-0 lead, scoring a pair of goals within 26 seconds of each other, midway through the first period. Jason Beeman's wrist shot was the first past Blades netminder David Shantz. Alex Leavitt scored his initial goal in a Texas uniform right off the face off.

Reggie Berg tallied on the power play with just over five seconds remaining in the period to make it a 2-1 game, going into the locker room. It was Berg's 12th of the season, a deflection of a Frank MacDonld shot.

In the second stanza, Jonathan Paiement's short handed attempted bounced off an Everblades defender and into the net to make it 3-1 Wildcatters. Paul Albers finished off the scoring on the power play, at 3:11 of the third. Shantz turned away 31 Texas shots, dropping his record to 9-4-0, while Miroslav Kopriva picked up the win for the lone star state squad. Boxscore.

Craig Kowalski earned a shut out win against the Stingrays on Saturday the 23rd. This next start in net six days later, would also prove to be a shut out. But the Wildcatters' Matt Yeats was no slouch either, as both goalies denied all shooters in regulation, and overtime, sending the 0-0 game to a shoot out.

Vince Bellissimo, Brent McDonald and Chris Lee all got past Yeats in the shoot out, while Mike Bayrack would sneak one by Kowalski. That was all Texas would get through, as the Blades took the win; they gave up one point in the standings to Texas however, due to the tie. Boxscore.

Kowalski, who picked up the MVP award in the 2001 Florida College Hockey Classic with Northern Michigan University, could not carry his win streak into the new year. Bayrack picked up his team leading 16th goal just under four minutes into the contest to stake the Wildcatters to an early 1-0 lead. Jason Beeman tallied with just over four minutes left to play in the period to make it 2-0 Texas going into the locker room.

Much like Thursday night's performance, Reggie Berg netted the Blades solo goal to make it 2-1 Catters late in the third. Florida tried hard to tie the game, pulling Kowalski for the extra attacker, but the strategy backfired, not once, but twice, as Olivier Proulx and Leon Hayward both recorded empty netters to seal the win for Texas.

Yeats kicked out 46 saves for the Texas victory, while Kowalski made 22 saves in the losing effort. Boxscore.

The Blades finally get a break from their familiar nemesis, not facing Texas again until March. Returning to Florida, the Everblades kick off a five game homestand, taking on the Charlotte Checkers on Friday, Saturday and Tuesday and the South Carolina Stingrays the following weekend.

The Florida Everblades take to the ice against the Texas Wildcatters again tonight at Germain Arena, hoping for a different result than Tuesday night's game.

The Blades will rely on Carolina talent to get them through as Craig Kowalski gets the start in net and forward Bill Kinkel, who was a healthy scratch on Tuesday returns to the ice.

"They came out crashed and banged and they knocked us around," Kinkel said to the Fort Myers News Press in regards to the opening night game against Texas. "The next night I went in and (forward Brad) Parsons went in and the game was a little different. They weren't going to do the same (expletive) with me on the ice."

The crashing and banging on Tuesday cost the Everblades Panther prospect Derek Damon and Amerks farmhand Jonathan Lehun. Damon has a knee injury and will a miss a month, while Lehun suffered a concussion.

"I need to let them know it's going to be a different game," said Kinkel, who leads the team in penalty minutes (33), fights and black eyes. "They're not going to get way with the (expletive) they got away with in the last game."

Panther prospect Jeremy Swanson was promoted to Rochester earlier this week, in exchange for Franklin MacDonald, who played in Tuesday's game.

The Blades will also be going with the regular goalie rotation, despite the fact that Kowalski replaced David Shantz part way through Tuesday's loss. Shantz will play Saturday night's rematch against Texas.

“This is an opportunity for somebody else to step up and show us that he has the ability to play in those positions that maybe he hasn’t seen yet this year. (Associate coach) Jason (Nobili) and I talked about the personnel changes yesterday and our combinations on the power play and the penalty kill, and we feel very confident with the guys we have designated to play in those situations," Everblades head coach Gerry Fleming said to the Naples Daily News in regards to line changes for tonight's contest.

The Wildcatters are a physical style team, while the Everblades will need to rely on their speed and skating to take the game. Kinkel's return is particularly important to keeping the lanes open.

“What we have to do is use our speed, make them turn and skate and try to keep up with us," Kinkle said in the same article. "And if they do continue to go after our smaller guys, my job is to make sure they’re safe and that nothing happens to them. So I’ll be in (the Wildcatters’) ear making sure they know what not to do, and I can obviously help more in that role.”

Kinkel played in the AHL with the Houston Aeros last season and is on a two way contract with the AHL Albany River Rats this year.

The Wildcatters have won six straight and are finishing off their roat trip in Florida. They will return to Beaumont on Sunday.

The Blades meanwhile are on a two game losing skid. They hope to change their fortunes tonight and tomorrow at home before heading out on a two week road swing.

Saturday night is the Everblades annual Teddy Bear toss. Fans are asked to bring a new plush toy to the game with them to throw on the ice after the Blades score their first goal in the game.

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Next Game
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Who: Texas Wildcatters at Florida Everblades
When: Friday, December 1, 2006; 7:30 PM
Where: Germain Arena
TV: B2 Network
Radio: Sportsradio 770 AM
Internet: www.abc-7.com
Web site: www.floridaeverblades.com