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Braunlich stymies Rockford

Rockford, Ill.- Missed opportunities was the story for the Rockford IceHogs on Wednesday night as they fell to the Bloomington PrairieThunder 3-1 at the Rockford MetroCentre. Bloomington goalie Steffan Braunlich turned away 29 Rockford shots to pace the Thunder who accumulated only 12 shots on goal, one shy of the IceHogs club record for fewest shots given up in a game.

PrairieThunder winger Jon Booras opened the scoring at 3:17 of the first period when he knocked in his second goal of the season past Hogs goalie Frederic Cloutier. Rockford countered with the equalizer at the 10:26 mark with a great effort by winger Nicolas Corbeil. Corbeil wrapped his ninth tally of the campaign around Braunlich to knot the score at 1-1.

Later in the opening period Bloomington regained the lead. A 2-on-2 breakaway started by Brad Thompson was finished by Mike Adamek when he punched in a rebound at 12:47 for his second goal of the season.

After the first period, the Thunder managed only five shots on goal including two in the third period. One of those shots, however, found the back of the net as Bloomington's leading goal-scorer Alex Goupil wristed home his seventh lamp lighter of the season at 1:07 of the final frame.

Rockford outshot the PrairieThunder 30-12 in the contest and both teams were held off of the board on the power play as Rockford went 0-for-6 and Bloomington 0-for-5. The game was the fifth in the season series between the two Western Conference foes and all five games have been won by the road team.

Upcoming Weekend Games: Friday, Dec. 15 vs. Quad City Mallards. Game time is slated for 7:30 p.m. The Hogs homestand continues as the archrival Mallards return to the MetroCentre. The first 1,000 fans to the game will pick up IceHogs Poster #3 from Medicine Man, Pepsi, Johnson Press and the Rockford Register Star.

Saturday, Dec. 16 vs. Bloomington PrairieThunder. The puck drops at 7:05 p.m. Another match-up with the Thunder at the MetroCentre. The IceHogs and Insight Communications welcome Dora the Explorer to the MetroCentre on Saturday. Fans are encouraged to bring their cameras as kids can pose for a photo opportunity with one of TV's top animated stars!

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Moline, IL-The Quad Mallards announced today that the team's game on Saturday, December 16th vs. Port Huron will air on Q106.5 FM. The move is made to accommodate alternate programming on Fox Sports Radio AM 1230. Saturday's broadcast begins at 6:05 p.m. central time with the Hayman's Ace Hardware Pre-Game Show.

On Friday night, the Mallards are in Rockford. Game time is 7:30 p.m. central time. The Hayman's Ace Hardware Pre-Game Show begins at 7:05 p.m. on Fox Sports Radio AM 1230.

The Mallards are hosting a carload special during the team's December 20th game vs. Bloomington. For just $50 per vehicle, all fans packed into cars, buses or trucks will receive tickets to the game. Fans must use one of The MARK's parking facilities and parking is included in the admission fee. A portion of the proceeds from the Mallards Carload Special will go towards the purchase of phone cards for U.S. Military Personnel. For details or for large groups, please call the Mallards office (309-764-7825) in advance. In addition, every fan in attendance on December 20th will also be registered to win a pair of round trip airline tickets.

Mel Foster, the Mallards and The MARK are collecting phone cards for troops. To participate, fans can deposit phone cards (good for 90 minutes or more) into the footlocker located at the new Mallards Team Store at The MARK. The cards will then be distributed to soldiers both domestically and overseas. This campaign kicks off this weekend and will continue until December 20th. All fans that participate will receive two Mallards tickets for the price of one.