First-Place Everblades Return Home to Face Sunshine State Rivals

ESTERO, Fla. – After splitting four games in a grueling five-day stretch which included a successful 2-0-1 road trip, the first-place Florida Everblades return to Southwest Florida for some home cooking in the form of two games versus Sunshine State foes on Hertz Arena ice.

This week, the Blades will take on Orlando on Wednesday, November 17 at 7:30 pm and then meet up with Jacksonville on Saturday, November 20 at 7:00 pm in a pair of critical early-season South Division matchups.

ON ICE THIS WEEK

Wednesday, November 17     Everblades vs. Solar Bears     Hertz Arena                    7:30 pm

Promotion: The Everblades are here to get you over the hump, with great deals at every Wednesday home game this season! Take advantage of $3 John Morrell hot dogs and Bud Lights. Also, college students can show a valid student ID at the box office to purchase a student ticket for only $5! Secure your tickets for the game HERE.

Saturday, November 20         Everblades vs. Icemen           Hertz Arena                    7:00 pm

Promotion: Every Saturday home matchup this season will kick off with a free pregame tailgate party! Come out to Hertz Arena early and tailgate from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. This Saturday’s tailgate party will feature live music by Chris Bepko and bounce houses for the kids!

In addition, The Everblades will wear specialty military-themed jerseys to honor Veteran's Day and salute the armed forces. The jerseys will be auctioned off via the DASH auction app starting on Wednesday with net proceeds benefiting the National Coalition for Patriots. Also, celebrate with Swampee the gator on his 24th birthday! Secure your tickets HERE.

NEWS AND NOTES

LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK: Last week, following a 3-2 setback to the visiting Orlando Solar Bears on Wednesday, the Everblades travelled north and bounced back to claim a pair of wins over the host Greenville Swamp Rabbits. Florida was a 4-0 victor on Friday and a 5-4 winner on Saturday to remain perfect in five games away from Southwest Florida.  The five-game road winning streak was snapped by Atlanta in heartbreaking fashion on Sunday, with a 3-2 loss in overtime.  

THIS WEEK’S RIVALS: A pair of familiar rivals will visit Hertz Arena as the Orlando Solar Bears and the Jacksonville Icemen come to town. Both teams will visit Estero for the second time this season and the Everblades will look to avenge losses to both opponents. Jacksonville topped the Everblades 5-1 on opening night while Orlando posted a 3-2 win over the Blades on November 10. 

SCANNING THE SOUTH: The Everblades (6-3-1-1) enter the week in first place in the South Division with 14 points, two points ahead of second-place Norfolk (6-4-0-0) which has 12 points. Orlando (5-4-1-0) sits in third place with 11 points, one point ahead of both Atlanta (5-1-0-0) and South Carolina (5-3-0-0) which both have 10 points in a deadlock for the number four spot. Jacksonville (3-4-1-1) finds itself in sixth place with eight points, while Greenville (2-6-0-0) is looking up at the division from seventh place with four points.

ORLANDO OBSERVATIONS: The ECHL affiliate of the defending Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning and the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch, third place Orlando comes to town for the final stop of a five-game road trip. A 6-3 win at South Carolina on Sunday snapped the Bears’ two-game losing streak. Riding a 10-game point streak, Aaron Luchuk tops all Orlando players with eight goals and 10 assists, good for an ECHL-best 18 points.

JACKSONVILLE JOURNAL: The ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s New York Rangers and the AHL’s Hartford Wolfpack, sixth place Jacksonville posted a 3-1 win over Orlando on Friday to snap a six-game losing streak. Saturday night’s game in Estero will be the Icemen’s only road game in a 10-game stretch. Ara Nazarian leads all Jacksonville skaters with nine points and six assists, while Christopher Brown has scored a team-best four goals.

WINIECKI’S A WINNER: The sizzling Blake Winiecki continues to enjoy one of the hottest stretches in the ECHL.  Last week’s Inglasco/ECHL Player of the Week, Wniecki ran his point streak to seven consecutive games with an assist on Sunday. The Lakeville, Minn. native has tallied at least one point in each of the Everblades seven November contests, registering seven goals and four assists over that span. Winiecki is tied for the ECHL lead with eight goals and comes in tied for second with 15 points.

CAPTAIN KEEPS CLIMBING: With an assist on Sunday, Everblades captain John McCarron now has 14 points on six goals and eight assists this season, continuing his ascent towards the top of the Everblades’ career leaders list. While donning a Blades sweater, McCarron has 128 career regular-season goals, third-most in franchise history. The captain is just 17 goals shy of Reggie Berg’s all-time mark of 145. He also ranks fourth in Blades history with 170 regular-season assists, just 37 shy of Tom Buckley’s team record of 207. Including playoff games, Captain Everblade has tallied 146 goals and is five shy of Matthieu Roy who sits in second place with 150, while his 198 assists are three behind Berg’s 201 for second place.

RALPH ON THE RADAR:  Everblades veteran head coach Brad Ralph is zeroing in on both his 500th win as a head coach and 250th victory behind the Blades bench. The veteran leader sports a stellar 490-210-65 (.683) career mark in 12 seasons and a 239-92-34 (.701) tally in his sixth season guiding the Everblades.--

JOIN THE FUN

Become a member of the Florida Everblades family by securing a great seat location and big savings with a Blades 365 Membership!

Purchase a new Voucher 12 package that allows you to use 12 tickets in any quantity during the 2021-22 season to earn the exclusive benefits of being a Blades 365 Member! To view the Blades 365 Membership savings, benefits and options click HERE.

Everblades put the FUN in FUNdraising! There is no handling of money or tickets and no limit to the amount of money your group can make with the Everblades easy-to-run online Fundraiser! For more information, or to reserve a Fundraiser Night at an Everblades regular season home game, call or text (239) 948-7825.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

Watch every Florida Everblades game on FloHockey.TV. Listen to the exciting game action on ESPN Southwest Florida on 770 AM, 98.1 FM, 104.3 FM and online at https://espnswfl.com. 

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The Florida Everblades are the proud ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s Nashville Predators and the AHL's Milwaukee Admirals.

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