Monday, October 26, 2009
CENTRAL HOCKEY LEAGUE HEADLINES
Homecoming for Hillman
The expansion Missouri Mavericks (0-4-0) will play the Odessa Jackalopes (3-1-1) on Tuesday night in the Ector County Coliseum in what will be the first visit to his old stomping ground for former Jackalopes legend and current Mavs head coach Scott Hillman. During his playing days, the defenseman was a four-time all-star with Odessa and is the franchise leader with 446 games played. The Mavericks are off to a rough start on their season-opening nine-game road trip dropping their first four decisions.
What a Difference a Year Makes
The Rapid City Rush will play their first road game of the young season on Tuesday night after starting the year 3-1-0 with their home games. The Rush will play the Tulsa Oilers in the BOK Center in a match-up of two clubs off to great starts. The Rush’s six points have them tied for first place in the Northern Conference and just two points behind are the Oilers (2-1-0). Last season, the clubs never faced each other when either team was near or over .500. Rapid City won three of the five meetings during the 2008-09 season.
Moving Up the Charts
With a goal and an assist in Friday’s 5-1 win versus Tulsa, Wichita’s Jason Duda has moved into third place on the league’s all-time scoring list passing Doug Lawrence (875 points). The veteran Thunder forward added assists in the team’s games on Saturday and Sunday giving him 878 in his career. Duda trails former long-time teammate Travis Clayton (now with Bossier-Shreveport) by 10 points for second on the all-time list.
MVP Hits a Milestone
The reigning CHL Most Valuable Player, Sebastien Thinel, reached a couple of milestones on Saturday night in the Jacks 5-4 SOL to Bossier-Shreveport. With his three assists in the game, Thinel reached the 500 point plateau and the 300 assist mark in his pro career. The reigning CHL scoring champ is just one goal away from 200 in his career.
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BY THE NUMBERS
6- The number of combined CHL/WPHL Championships won by the three victims of the undefeated Allen Americans. The 4-0 Americans have beaten the Arizona Sundogs twice (one CHL crown), the Laredo Bucks once (two CHL Championships) and the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs (three WPHL titles).
99- The number of goals that Rapid City forward Colt King has scored in his career. So far this season with the Rush, King has found the back of the net three times with his next goal pushing him to the century mark.
60%- The success rate of Mudbugs defenseman Simon Mangos in shootouts during the 2008-09 season and during the one shootout the team has been in this year. The D-Man is 6 for 10 in shootouts and on Saturday scored twice in the 11-round marathon including the game winner in the 11th round.
56 seconds- The time it took the Arizona Sundogs to score three goals on Friday’s 5-4 win at Rapid City. It marked a franchise record for the Sundogs who got goals from Torren Delforte, Steve Potvin and Jason Visser.
149-32-12- The Colorado Eagles all-time record at the Budweiser Events Center where they have a five-game home stand to start the season. So far, the Eagles are without a regulation loss going 2-0-1 with a home game and chance for win #150 in the friendly confines on Friday when they host Rapid City.
SLAP SHOTS
-The home opening attendance of 9.040 for the Tulsa Oilers on Saturday night in their 3-1 win versus Wichita was the largest single-game crowd in the CHL this season and the third largest hockey crowd in the history of the BOK Center.
-Both Bossier-Shreveport wins have come on the road and both have been in comeback fashion. Twice the ‘Bugs trailed by a goal before winning 4-3 in Corpus Christi on Oct. 17 and on Saturday they erased a 3-0 deficit to beat Odessa 5-4 in a shootout.
-The Thunder went 2-1 this past week thanks to strong penalty killing stopping 20 straight shorthanded chances. They currently rank third in the league with a 93.5% kill rate.
-Be sure to check out the new CHL-TV offering fans an interactive approach to watching their favorite CHL teams. Fans purchasing the CHL-TV Season Pass before October 30th will receive 300 points in the CHL Loyalty Rewards program. Watch CHL-TV at http://chltv.insinc.com.
