News release
31 December 2013
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. - For the fifth year in a row the Jackals ring in the new year on the road. Tonight they pay their first visit to the North Charleston Coliseum for a showdown with the South Carolina Stingrays.
WHO: Elmira Jackals - Ottawa and New Jersey/NHL & Binghamton and Albany/AHL (9-15-3) at South Carolina Stingrays - Boston/NHL & Providence/AHL (21-5-3)
WHAT: Jackals Away Game #16. Game broadcast on Gem 98.7 FM begins at 5:50.
The Jackals are facing the Stingrays tonight for the first of four meetings this season, and first of two at the North Charleston Coliseum. The Jackals went 2-1-0 against the Stingrays during the 2012-13 season which moved their all-time record against South Carolina to 6-8-1. It was just the second year in which the Jackals posted a winning record against the Stingrays. Tonight the Jackals will contend with the ECHL's top goaltender in Jeff Jakaitis. He currently leads the ECHL with a 1.63 goals-against average and is second in wins with 16. The Stingrays' skaters, meanwhile, have been called up to the AHL at a rapid rate and South Carolina enters today without five of its top six point producers. Rob Bellamy is Elmira's hottest scorer of late with three points (2G, 1A) in his last three games.
Tonight the Jackals are playing on the road on New Year's Eve for the fifth year in a row and the sixth time in the seven years since they have joined the ECHL. Thanks to last year's 3-2 win in Wheeling the Jackals have a two-game New Year's Eve winning streak, and they are 4-1-0 on this date reaching back to 2007. This is the first time the Jackals have faced the Stingrays on New Year's Eve. South Carolina hasn't hosted a New Year's Eve game since 2011, but is 3-2-0 in New Year's Eve home games since 2007.