KINGS HAVE NO WIND LEFT IN LUNGS DUE TO BLUEGILLS Kings drop their record 5th game in a row when they face the number 2 team in the leauge the Bluegills. The problem wasn't the oppoents, yet it was the short bench the Kings were faced with January 14, 2003- Its happened before this season, and its happened again. Earlier this season the Kings were left with 6 players and a goalie when they faced the number 1 team eariler this season, the Blackbears. A repeat performance with 8 players occured Tuesday night when the faced the second seed in the league, the Bluegills.

Left- Goaltender Marty Hoesli is seen here taking a sip of water after a 3 goal first period. The night of bad luck on the 13th continued as Hoesli led up 12 goals, letting a lot of stoppable shots in. - It was going to be a tough start before they even dropped the puck Tuesday night for the DI Kings. Already facing 3 players out with injury, and a conflict of schedules due to the Tuesday night affair, the Kings were going to have to skate their tails off if they were going to have a chance against the Bluegills. Having 3 defenseman, and 5 forwards, the Kings did wear down, and they wore down quickly.

The Bluegills got on the board first with Tom Link Jr. started his great performance this night, netting his first 7 minutes into the period. 45 seconds later, it would take him only 4 seconds into the powerplay to net his second, and quickly it was a 2-0 Bluegills lead. The 'gills added one more goal to end the first, and the Kings were down by a score of 3-0. At the time, the Kings were not playing a bad game, and still were in the game. However the short bench started to show its impact already. In the second, the Kings quickly got on the board after Mike Brewster got the rebound from Will Damiter's shot, and the Kings were on the board, and only down by 2. Heartbreak would set in for the Kings, when the Bluegills would score 7 consecutive goals to put it out of reach. 5 goals were scored in the 2nd alone by the Bluegills, and they added another 4 in the third. Daimter would get his second point of the game, when he put in his second goal of the season with 8 minutes left in the third. The goal was worthless however, after the Kings were winded and tired, losing the game 12-2. After the game, goaltender Martin Hoesli showed his frustration after giving up a large number of stoppable shots. The Kings are going to win some and lose some, and even if Hoesli did make those saves, it was going to be a hard task for the Kings to keep up the pace.

Some concern the Kings have have to be the goals against in the last two games. In those two games, the Kings have been outscored 21 to 6. Their GAA has doubled in their 5 game losing streak, compared to a 3.00 GAA during their 3 game winning streak. More concern as the Kings recieved some bad news this week when the word that centerman Richie Urquizu was going to miss the remainder of the season (back). Also, Game 13 saw Mike Witmer missing his second game in a row (mouth), and scheduled to miss his third and final game on January 19th. The Kings are now waiting on the status of Issac Herr, who earlier was to miss the entire season. His progress is yet to be determined, and it is unclear if the Kings will be able to use his services for the remainder of this season.