Nine Lynx back on ice

The Augusta Lynx will be back at full strength for tonight's game at Greenville.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services ruled late Monday afternoon that nine Canadian players had their cases approved and will be eligible for the 7:05 contest against the Grrrowl, pending proper documentation by the ECHL.

Augusta forwards Brian Passmore, Joe Pereira, Dan Sullivan, Nicholas Corbeil, Ryan Lang and Doug Wright, and defensemen Phil Cole, Martin Lapointe and Steve LeCuyer had their petition for temporary employment in the United States denied last week.

Augusta's front office worked with several lawmakers from Georgia and South Carolina, as well as the governors of both states, to get the matter resolved.

"Obviously, it's a huge relief,'' Lynx general manager Rob Mueller said. "It wouldn't have been possible without the help of the congressmen and senators who worked on our behalf to make it happen.''

The Lynx learned Nov. 22 that the petition had been rejected and worked with the ECHL office to refile the paperwork, but it couldn't be done before Augusta's Thanksgiving Day game at Gwinnett.

The Lynx (7-5-2) play five games in the next six days, including home games against Pensacola, Columbia and Greenville.

Even without the eight healthy players - Wright is on injured reserve - the Lynx won two of their three games during the weekend.

Former Lynx, and fan favorite, John Whitwell returned and scored the winning goal in a shootout against Gwinnett, and Augusta goaltender Jason Wolfe stopped 42 shots in a 3-1 win against Charlotte.

The only blemish came against Greenville. In that game, Augusta trailed 2-1 after two periods before the Grrrowl scored six times in a penalty-filled final period and left with an 8-2 win.

"Other teams have had issues, but not with nine players at one time,'' Mueller said. "It's just a tribute to the regular players we had left and the guys who came in that enabled us to get two wins over the weekend.''

Reach John Boyette at (706) 823-3337 or john.boyette@augustachronicle.com.