Time to catch up on the whereabouts of former Fayetteville FireAntz/Marksmen players are and how they're faring.
But first, a few numbers on the Marksmen, who are home Thursday and Saturday nights this week.
Fayetteville is 10-19-3 and one point ahead of Birmingham in the duel for the Southern Professional Hockey League cellar and one point behind Roanoke, which it plays Thursday and Friday nights. Nick Mazzolini was fired as coach after a 2-7-1 start, Ryan Cruthers was 1-0-1 as a weekend fill-in role, and the team is 6-12-4 under current coach Phil Esposito.
Fayetteville's longest winning streak is two games — Mazzolin's last and Cruthers' first — and its longest losing streak, which came Dec. 23-Jan. 5, is five games.
Fayetteville's atrocious defense and goaltending is reflected in the goals-against numbers, which at 152 goals allowed is 33 more than the second-worst defense (that of expansion Birmingham). Since Esposito took over — and he inherited a ton of problems — Fayetteville has scored 54 goals and allowed 94.
ECHL (Double-A)
Norfolk Admirals: Christian Horn, who scored 13 points in 15 games for the FireAntz last season before a call-up to Rapid City, began the season with SPHL Peoria. He's now played 18 games for the Admirals and scored 12 points. ... Max Cook, a call-up from Fayetteville this season, scored seven points for Norfolk, but last saw action Dec. 29 and was placed on the injured-reserve list the next day.
Jacksonville Icemen: Defenseman Travis Jeke has played in 23 games since leaving Fayetteville. He's scoreless and minus-6 in plus/minus.
Florida Everblades: Sean Robertson left the Marksmen Nov. 4 to take the call-up but hasn't played since Nov. 18 due to injury.
Atlanta Gladiators: Sean Bonar earned the SPHL's MVP and Goalie of the Year awards last season after recording a league-record 32 victories. Traded to Pensacola in the offseason, "Bones" was 4-0 for the Ice Flyers before a call-up to Atlanta, and he's carved out a spot on the roster. To date, Bonar has a 9-4-0-1 mark for the Gladiators, two shutouts, a goals-against average of 2.43 and a saves percentage of .926.
Bonar made 34 saves in a 4-0 blanking of Norfolk on Jan. 27 in front of a crowd of 9,949. Given the starting nod the next night, he gave up four goals on 16 shots in a loss at Orlando. Last Thursday, he won at Jacksonville, stopping 23 of 24 shots, but on Saturday night, with 10,052 fans on hand at home and facing Orlando again, he started, was pulled, then came back in to finish the game in a 6-0 loss.
SPHL (High-A)
Pensacola Ice Flyers: Trever Hertz has 24 points and is plus-11.
Peoria Rivermen: Joe Kalisz has played five games since the trade, has scored one point and is minus-4. ... Goalie Peter Di Salvo, who was part of the same trade, has performed much better for Peoria, winning two games and bringing his GAA way down compared to his Fayetteville stats at 2.50.
Knoxville Ice Bears: Berkley Scott, whose one season here in the 2015-16 season was ended a broken femur, is among the league's top scorers with 18 goals and 39 points, and he's plus-13. ... Defenseman Kristaps Nimanis, traded to Knoxville on Jan. 15 by Macon, has a point and is plus-7 since joining the Ice Bears. He was part of Macon's championship team last season.
Evansville Thunderbolts: Chase Nieuwendyk has 23 points and is minus-4. ... Nick Lazorko has four points in four games since joining the team after starting the season in Huntsville.
Huntsville Havoc: Sy Nutkevitch, who saw action in five regular-season games for the FireAntz in the 2015-16 season, is among the SPHL scoring leaders with 38 points and has a plus-9 rating.
Mississippi RiverKings: Shane Bennett has 15 points in 22 games since being traded by the Marksmen, but is minus-4 there versus a plus-4 rating he had when the deal was made. ... Cody Walsh, part of that same transaction, has five points. ... Former Antz goalie Tyler Green is 13-12-0-2 with a 2.96 goals-against and a .903 saves rate.
Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs: Daniel Vernace, who was with the Antz for five games last season, joined the Dawgs on Dec. 27 and has six points in 14 games. ... Taylor Love, cut earlier this season by Fayetteville, has one point and is minus-1 in 16 games since being picked up. ... Goalie Matt Zenzola had a 2-2 record, a 4.85 GAA and a horrid .841 saves percentage in five appearances for Fayetteville this season. Since landing in Roanoke, he's 4-5 with a 3.86 GAA and an .877 saves percentage.
Birmingham Bulls: Myle McCauley, released by the Marksmen after 16 games, has eight points in 13 outings for the first-year Bulls. ... Andrew Darrigo, who was here in 2015-16, has four points and is minus-6.
Federal Hockey League (Low-A)
Port Huron Prowlers: Several former FireAntz are tearing it up for first-place Port Huron, which is 22 points ahead of the league's second-place team thanks to a 22-5-0-2 record. Matt Robertson is tops among them, having scored 53 points in 30 games and boasting a plus-27 rating. ... Austin Daae has played 24 games and scored 39 points, and owns a ridiculous plus-35 rating that is second in the league. ... Goalie Michael Santaguida, cut by the Marksmen after compiling an 0-3-1-1 record, a 4.75 goals-against and an .871 saves rate, is flourishing in the FHL. In 11 games, he's got 10 wins and an overtime loss, a league-best 2.81 goals against and a .924 saves percentage. ... Rob Vanwynsberghe has 11 points in nine games.
Watertown Wolves: Anton Lennartsson has 32 points and a plus-22 rating in 30 games.
Danville Dashers: Former Antz defenseman Aaron Atwell has six points in 16 games played and is plus-2.
On a side note, the expansion Carolina Thunderbirds, who call Winston-Salem home, are fifth in the standings in the six-team FHL. But the T-Birds are by far the best draw in the league, averaging 2,214 fans for 15 home games. Danville and Port Huron are tied for second at — get this — 930 per contest. Carolina's average would put it ninth in the SPHL, 51 fans per game more than Mississippi is drawing. Fayetteville is averaging 2,849 for each home contest, which is an outstanding increase of 1,092 over what the FireAntz attracted in their final season.
Sports editor Thomas Pope can be reached at tpope@fayobserver.com or 486-3520.