By ANDY KENT
Naples Daily News

ESTERO -- Tonight's ECHL hockey game between the Florida Everblades and South
Carolina Stingrays at Germain Arena will feature two teams in flux and on
different ends of a quirky schedule.

The Stingrays (2-4-3) are playing their fourth game in five nights and fifth in
a week, including three straight from this past Friday through Sunday.

Meanwhile, Florida (3-1-0) has played four games total because the start of its
season was delayed a week due to Hurricane Wilma.

"I'm not looking for excuses but I'm not going to lie to you, we're an exhausted
hockey team," said South Carolina coach Jason Fitzsimmons, whose team lost at
Charlotte, N.C. on Sunday, 7-2, then drove 13 hours to Estero. "This is a
rivalry but it's early in the season and we're not going to dwell on what
happened last year in the playoffs (the Blades eliminated the Stingrays in four
games in the first round). I just know they're going to be competitive every
year and be a good hockey club."

Florida (27-14-8 all-time against South Carolina) has seen its roster change so
many times since the start of training camp that head coach Gerry Fleming is
close to developing writer's cramp from changing up his lines on a regular
basis. Tonight will be no different as the arrival of forward Phil Aucoin
coincided with the loss of forward Paul Cabana to a shoulder injury for at least
two to three weeks.

Aucoin, 23, began the season with the Charlotte Checkers and actually scored the
game-winning goal in overtime for them against the Stingrays on the road Oct.
29. Charlotte won that game, 5-4, and Aucoin had a goal and two assists in four
games for the Checkers, but became expendable when New York Rangers first-round
draft pick Hugh Jessiman was reassigned to the team.

Keith Aucoin, Phil's older brother, had two assists in one game for the
Everblades in 2001-02 and told Phil not to pass up the opportunity. Aucoin had a
choice of being traded to the Stockton Thunder and went with his brother's
advice.

"I left Charlotte the other day and got in before Saturday's game, but this was
my first practice," said Aucoin, who grew up 10 minutes away from Everblades
forward Steve Saviano in Chelmsford, Mass. "Charlotte was an older team and I
think this is a better fit for me. Steve and I grew up together and played
together for about seven years, so it's good to be reunited with him."

During Monday morning's practice, Fleming had Aucoin and Saviano on a line with
newcomer Anders Strome.

Cabana, whose shoulder was popped out of joint by a linesman during a fight in
Saturday night's 4-3 shootout win over Augusta, is going need to time to heal.
He was the team's second-leading scorer behind Saviano with five points (3
goals, 2 assists).

Fleming wouldn't say whether Phil Osaer or Craig Kowalski will be his starting
goaltender tonight. Osaer is 2-1-0 with a 2.92 goals-against-average and a .906
save percentage, having stopped 62 of 67 shots over the weekend in two wins over
Augusta. Kowalski is 1-0-0 with a 1.00 GAA and .958 save percentage but tweaked
a muscle last week in practice.

Fitzsimmons' goalie, Maxime Daigneault, has played five games in a row and eight
of his team's nine overall. There's a chance Mike Brown, who is up in the
American Hockey League with the Providence Bruins, could be sent down in time
for tonight's game, but Fitzsimmons couldn't confirm it.

Fleming is focused on his team and finding some sort of chemistry, even though
he's had a hard time sending out the same lineup. He wants to make sure the
energy expended in the two emotional wins over the Lynx can be recaptured
against the Stingrays.

Florida's players are looking forward to playing so quickly after back-to-back
tough contests with Augusta, especially with the first road trip of the season
looming (the Blades travel to Atlanta this weekend for two games against the
Gwinnett Gladiators).

"They're going to be hungry because we took them out in the playoffs last year,"
said veteran forward and assistant captain Ernie Hartlieb. "They've got a good
squad and it's going to be good to get on a pro schedule here. It's like we've
been playing on a college schedule here, playing two games on the weekend,
taking a week off and playing two games. We're going to get into the flow of
things now and it should be good."

IF YOU GO

What: Florida Everblades (3-1-0) vs. South Carolina Stingrays (2-4-3) in a South
Division matchup
When: Tonight, 7:30
Where: Germain Arena
Radio: SportsRadio 770-ESPN (WWCN-AM-770)
Tickets: Cost $10-31 and are available at the arena box office or by calling
948-PUCK (7825)

November 8, 2005


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