News release
14 April 2014
ELMIRA, N.Y. - The Elmira Jackals ended their season on Saturday with a 7-0 loss at the hands of the Gwinnett Gladiators. The Jackals finished the year with a 24-40-8 record and missed the playoffs for the first time since joining the ECHL in 2007-08. Despite missing the playoffs, there were some team and individual milestones achieved in 2013-14.
Overall Record: 24-40-8; third place Atlantic Division, 12th place Eastern Conference
Player's Player (Best Teammate) - Corey Bellamy
Jackals Booster Club Most Popular Player - Rob Bellamy
Community Service Award - Patch Alber & Zach McCullough
4/14 - Media Availability and Exit Physicals at First Arena - 1:00 p.m.
4/15 - Rob Bellamy acoustic concert at SplitRock Brewing Company - 7:00 p.m.
Patch Alber and Zach McCullough guest bartend with tips donated to Habitat for Humanity
The Jackals opened the last week of the 2013-14 campaign with a season-high 46 shots on goal and powered past the Gladiators 6-3 on Wednesday night. Jordan Pietrus, Rob Bellamy and Taylor Law each scored twice for Elmira. Law's first two professional points came in just his second pro game. Mike Vaskivuo recorded three assists and increased his team-leading point total to 59 on the season. Neil Conway stopped 39 of 42 shots en route to his team-leading ninth victory of the year.
Elmira got on the board first with an unassisted goal by Jordan Pietrus just 3:51 into the opening frame. But, South Carolina responded with two first period tallies to take a 2-1 lead into the intermission. Former Jackal, Jack Downing, opened the scoring for the Stingrays and Wayne Simpson followed with one on the power-play later in the first period. South Carolina would add two more goals in the final 40 minutes to down the Jackals 4-1. Mike Vaskivuo earned a penalty shot in the third period with his team down by two, but failed to convert on the opportunity. Chris Driedger stopped 41 of 44 shots in his third professional start.
Playing their second game in as many nights and skating two skaters short were odds too long for the Jackals to overcome in the season finale. The Jackals fell flat and tied their worst margin of defeat of the season in the 7-0 loss. This was the eighth time this year Elmira was shutout by an opponent. Neil Conway started the game and stopped 24 of 29 shots before he was replaced by Chris Driedger in the third period. Driedger stopped 11 of 13 in relief duty. Brenden Walker scored a hat trick and Casey Pierro-Zabotel notched four points (two goals, two assists) for the Gladiators.