CHL Headlines for Friday, October 22
Northwest Powers Flex Their Muscles- One of the best rivalries in the CHL will be tested this weekend when the Colorado Eagles (1-1-0) and Rapid City Rush (2-0-0) play each other in a home-and-home series with Rapid City playing their first home game on Saturday. It will be the 23rd all-time regular season meeting between the Eagles and Rush with Colorado going 12-7-2 versus Rapid City. The Rush will celebrate their Ray Miron Presidents’ Cup Championship in a pre-game ceremony on Saturday night when they raise the banner and receive their rings.
Alumni Weekend in Laredo- The Bucks (1-1-0) home opener is slated for Saturday night at the Laredo Energy Arena when they host their South Texas rivals, the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees (1-0-1). The Bucks will be celebrating their history by welcoming back to town several former star players including Adam Rivet, Chris Grenville, Steve Simoes, Igor Agarunov, Paul Elliott, Ladislav Kouba and Mike Amodeo. Fans at the game on Saturday are going to have a chance to vote on which former Buck great will be inducted first into the newly formed Laredo Bucks Hall of Fame.
Domination Challenged in Missouri- The rivalry between the Mavericks (1-0-1) and Thunder (0-2-0) is renewed on Friday night in the Independence Events Center and for Wichita, they hope things will be much different than last season when they played Missouri. A year ago, during the Mavs expansion season, Wichita fell all 10 times they played Missouri getting outscored 42-14. It was a different story for the Thunder’s new head coach, Kevin McClelland, who went 4-1-1 last season against the Mavs when he coached the Colorado Eagles.
Home Cooking for the PrairieThunder- The Bloomington PrairieThunder (1-0-0) are looking to build on their shootout win last Saturday in Missouri when they host the Odessa Jackalopes (1-1-0) tonight in their home opener and then follow that up with a home showdown versus the Tulsa Oilers (2-1-0) on Saturday. The games will mark the first-ever contests between Bloomington and their opponents.
Rematch Tests the Perfect Americans- The ‘Bugs (3-1-0) and Americans (3-0-0) are at it again for the second straight night and for Allen it is a showdown that will try to keep them perfect on the young season after winning their first three games. Last night at the CenturyTel Center, the Americans defeated the Mudbugs 6-4 behind a pair of goals from Tobias Whelan and three assists from Dave Bonk.
Numbers Game
7-0-1- The all-time record of the Allen Americans in the month of October. Last season, the team’s expansion campaign, Allen went 4-0-1, all on the road. The Americans will look to win their fourth straight game this season when they play in Bossier-Shreveport tonight and then travel to Wichita on Saturday. The Americans are tied with the Mudbugs for first place in the Berry Conference with six points.
199- The number of all-time CHL goals that Laredo’s Jeff Bes has scored. With his next goal, Bes will become just the 21st player to record 200 CHL goals. So far this season, Bes has three helpers in two games for the Bucks.
3-in-3- It is a busy weekend for both the Quad City Mallards and the Evansville IceMen as each team will play three-games-in-three nights including a home-and-home series between each other on Saturday and Sunday. Evansville starts the weekend in Mississippi and then heads home for their home opener at Swonder Ice Arena versus the Mallards before heading to Moline to finish off the weekend. Quad City starts in Dayton before the pair of games versus the IceMen.
88- The number of shots that Texas goaltender Wayne Savage faced in the Brahmas opening weekend games in Allen. Savage faced the most shots in the league and carries an impressive .943 save percentage. The Brahmas will host Rio Grande Valley on Friday night at the NYTEX Sports Centre in their home opener and then host the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs on Saturday.
121- The number of points that Colorado’s Aaron Schneekloth has scored over the past two seasons, two seasons in which he was named the CHL’s Most Outstanding Defenseman after each respectively. Schneekloth and his +80 plus/minus rating over the last two years will be missed in the Eagles line-up as he was placed on the 30-day injured reserve on Thursday.
Watch Out For
Long-Distance Connection – The Arizona Sundogs are set for their home opener on Friday night when they begin a two-game home set versus the Fort Wayne Komets at Tim’s Toyota Center. The game marks the two teams in the CHL with the furthest distance between them as more than 1,800 miles separate Fort Wayne and Prescott Valley. The Sundogs are coming off an impressive opening weekend in Colorado that saw them split a pair of games versus the Eagles, while Fort Wayne has played just once, a 4-0 loss to Rapid City.
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