ICE CHIPS: The KOOTENAY ICE finished the 2014-15 regular season with a 37-31-1-3 record (21-13-1-1 at home, 16-18-0-2 on the road, 6-1 in overtime, 3-3 in shootouts) and in fourth place in the CENTRAL DIVISION and seventh place in the new playoff wildcard standings...KOOTENAY clinched a playoff berth for the 17th consecutive season, the longest active streak in the WHL...The ICE completed the regular season with a .500 or better record for a WHL record 16th straight year...KOOTENAY will face the CALGARY HITMEN in the EASTERN CONFERENCE QUARTER-FINAL.
ROSTER BREAKDOWN: KOOTENAY is currently carrying 24 players (two goaltenders, nine defensemen and 13 forwards)...The ICE roster is made up of three 1994-born players, 11 1995-born players, three 1996-born players, five 1997-born players, and two 1998-born players...KOOTENAY has seven first-year players on its roster.
PLAYOFF EXPERIENCE: KOOTENAY holds a career playoff record of 93-73 (50-31 at home, 43-42 on the road, 24-12 in overtime)...The ICE have played in 31 playoff series in franchise history and hold an 18-13 career record...SAM REINHART (29), JAEDON DESCHENEAU (22) and LUKE PHILP (21) lead KOOTENAY in career playoff games played...REINHART leads the ICE in career playoff scoring with 26 points (7-19-26)...DESCHENEAU is second with 21 points (10-11-21)...KOOTENAY will face CALGARY in the post-season for the fifth time in franchise history (2-2 career playoff series record)...The last playoff meeting between the ICE and HITMEN was the 2014 EASTERN CONFERENCE QUARTER-FINAL won by KOOTENAY in six games.
EASTERN CONFERENCE QUARTER-FINAL: Game Two (March 29 at 4:00 pm) of the EASTERN CONFERENCE QUARTER-FINAL versus CALGARY will be played on the road...Games Three and Four will played in CRANBROOK on Tuesday, March 31 and Wednesday, April 1...Both home games will start at 7:00 pm...Single-game tickets are now on sale at the KOOTENAY ICE OFFICE or by phone at 250-417-0322.
DID YOU KNOW: KOOTENAY posted a 3-4-0-0 record versus CALGARY during the 2014-15 regular season (2-2-0-0 at home, 1-2-0-0 on the road, 1-0 in overtime)...LUKE PHILP led the ICE in scoring versus the HITMEN during the regular season with 11 points (6-5-11)...LEVI CABLE (6-2-8) and TIM BOZON (2-6-8) were second with eight points...WYATT HOFLIN was named the VAUGHN HOCKEY WHL GOALTENDER OF THE MONTH for March on March 23...HOFLIN, who set a franchise record for games played by a goaltender in one season with 67, led all WHL netminders in minutes played during the regular season with 3,848, finishing second in the League in wins (36) and saves (1,837)...RINAT VALIEV and SAM REINHART were both named to the WHL EASTERN CONFERENCE SECOND ALL-STAR TEAM March 25...REINHART appeared in his 250th career regular season game March 22 at CALGARY...LUKE PHILP finished 15th in WHL regular season scoring with a career-high 82 points (30-52-82)...TYLER KING made his 100th regular season appearance in a KOOTENAY uniform March 22 against the HITMEN.
ONE YEAR AGO: After Game One of the 2014 EASTERN CONFERENCE QUARTER-FINAL the ICE were 1-0 against the CALGARY HITMEN.
DRAFTED PLAYERS: SAM REINHART - Buffalo Sabres (1st Round, 2014 NHL Draft), TIM BOZON - Montreal Canadiens (3rd Round, 2012 NHL Draft), RINAT VALIEV - Toronto Maple Leafs (3rd Round, 2014 NHL Draft), JAEDON DESCHENEAU - St. Louis Blues (5th Round, 2014 NHL Draft), TANNER FAITH – Minnesota Wild (5th Round, 2014 NHL Draft).