Baxter, Gauvreau to return tonight March 26, 2002

By DON HAMMACK
THE SUN HERALD

When was the last time the Mississippi Sea Wolves had to scratch a player from the lineup?

"I don't even remember," first-year coach Bob Woods said.

Actually, it's been since Dec. 12. Tonight, he'll get to do it again with the return of top defenseman Jim Baxter and third-leading scorer Brent Gauvreau.

The Sea Wolves (38-25-5) play the return half of a home-and-home with the Arkansas RiverBlades (29-30-10) in North Little Rock and Woods should have 19 healthy bodies.

Jim Baxter will be playing in his first full game since spraining his ankle in a game on Feb. 1. He dressed and played briefly in one game since but only because the Sea Wolves were extremely shorthanded.

Gauvreau was hurt in Wednesday's victory at New Orleans.

"This time of year, as soon as we can clinch second place, it gives us the opportunity to rest a guy that needs to heal up a little bit," Woods said. "It's nice to get the team that you're going to have going into the playoffs, the lines that you're probably going to use and start making a run."

The Sea Wolves can clinch second place in the ECHL Southwest Division with a victory tonight. That's good for home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The Sea Wolves were within striking distance of the Pensacola Ice Pilots for about a month before finally overtaking them last week.

It was a goal to avoid playing the Ice Pilots on their home ice, where they are 23-9-4. Now, the Ice Pilots may not even finish third to set up that matchup. They have only one game to play, and New Orleans and Jackson are closing in fast with two games in hand each.

The RiverBlades, on the other hand, were eliminated from the postseason last weekend. Woods doesn't expect a cakewalk by any stretch of the imagination.

"They're a hard-work team and they're playing at home," Woods said. "I don't think any games are going to be easy. We were out of the playoffs last year and we competed at the end. I don't think this will be any different."