Monday, November 2, 2009
CENTRAL HOCKEY LEAGUE HEADLINES
Can We Play Them All in October
The Colorado Eagles are off to another strong start going 3-0-1 in the opening month of the season. Colorado went 8-0-0 last season in October and has not lost a regulation game in the month since October 20th, 2007 in Arizona. The Eagles are an amazing 14-1-2 out of the gates over the last three seasons and in each of the last two years have used that great start to propel them late in the year making the CHL Finals. Riley Nelson has been on fire this season scoring a goal in each of the Eagles first four games and sitting with 10 points (4-6=10) on the season. Ryan Tobler has assists in all four games and has a point in 11 straight games (7-12=19) dating back to last season. Colorado finishes their season-opening five-game home stand on Friday versus Wichita before heading to Amarillo for their first road game of the season on Saturday night.
Jekyll and Hyde
The Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs (3-3-0) have been a bit of an enigma to start the season going 0-3 at home while posting a perfect 3-0 mark away from home. The ‘Bugs have been outscored 14-6 at home and have scored three more than their opponents on the road (11-8) winning all three contests by one-goal. As a team, the Mudbugs have used the third period to ignite their offense scoring nine times in the third and just seven times in the first and second periods combined. Bossier-Shreveport will get their next chance for a home win on Friday night when they host the Southern Conference leading Odessa Jackalopes (5-1-1) in the first of back-to-back games. The ‘Bugs have won 11 straight games versus the Jacks including a one-goal shootout win earlier this season in Odessa. The Jacks have not won against the Mudbugs since December 21, 2002.
Big-Time Performers in October
With the season’s first month in the books, the Sher-Wood CHL Player/Goaltender of the Month awards are set to be announced this week with several candidates having a serious chance of taking home the awards. From the goaltending side of things, two players posted 3-0-0 marks, Allen’s Charlie Effinger and Odessa’s Juha Toivonen. Both players earned a shutout and had 1.67 goals against averages. Texas’ Joe Palmer, Colorado’s Andrew Penner and Laredo’s Jean Philippe Levasseur all posted 2-0-1 marks. Mississippi’s Ray Jean leads the league with four wins (4-2-0). As for the players, Amarillo’s Joe Guenther is the league’s top goal scorer with nine, Odessa’s Dominic Leveille leads the league in points with 13 (2-11=13) and Tulsa’s Rob Hisey (the reigning Oakley CHL Player of the Week) is tied for second in points with 12 (7-5=12) in just five games played. The monthly winners will be announced on Wednesday.
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BY THE NUMBERS
8- The number of unanswered goals the Missouri Mavericks scored in their two games this past weekend at Wichita after allowing the first goal of the game on Friday. The Thunder watched the Mavs scored six straight en route to a 6-1 win after scoring the first goal on Friday and then were shutout on Saturday, 2-0, thanks to Doug Groenestege’s 21 saves. The Mavs had just nine goals in their first five games before Friday’s and Saturday’s eight goal outburst.
5- The number of goals that Tulsa’s Rob Hisey has scored in two games this season versus Mississippi.
27.29- The average number of shots per game the Wichita Thunder allow, fewest in the CHL. The defense has allowed just over three and a half goals per game sitting in the middle of the pack.
7- The number of points that Texas rookie A.J. Gale has this season leading all first-year players. Gale has scored three goals with four assists and his seven points are tops on the defending champion Brahmas.
48- The number of saves that Odessa’s Joel Martin made in the Jacks 5-4 shootout win at Corpus Christi on Friday night (most in any game this season by any CHL netminder). The first-year Jackalope is fourth in the league with 121 saves on the season.
57%- The percentage of Amarillo Gorillas goals scored in the third period this season (16 of their 28 goals). Amarillo has scored just 12 goals in the first and second periods combined. Their 16 third period goals are tied for the most scored by any team in any period this season (Odessa has 16 in the second period).
SLAP SHOTS
-The Southern Conference leading Odessa Jackalopes have played in a league-high three shootouts this season going 2-1 in those games. Mike Ramsay has scored three times on four shots leading all CHL players in shootout goals.
-Arizona’s Torren Delforte is riding a team-high six-game point streak (tied for the longest in the league this season) that has seen him score eight points over that stretch.
-Corpus Christi’s Jereme Tendler has six goals in six games this season and points in each of the Rays six games. He is coming off a hat trick in the IceRays 5-4 OT loss to Odessa on Friday, a night that saw him take a league-high 11 shots on goal. He has also been an even or plus in five of Corpus Christi’s six games.
-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.
