Series Preview - Rapid City vs. Fort Wayne


Rush and Komets Meet in the Battle of Champions

Regular Season Series: Rapid City won series 2-0

Oct. 16:    Rapid City 4 at Fort Wayne 0
Mar. 12:    Fort Wayne 1 at Rapid City 3

Opening Round for Rapid City: The Rush defeated the Dayton Gems in three games seemingly getting their wake-up call for a repeat championship after falling behind 3-0 in the first period of their game one versus Dayton.  Rapid City went on to outscore the Gems 12-5 throughout the remainder of the series earning the sweep.  Two of the three wins were one-goal victories as Les Reaney led the charge with three goals and two assists in three games.  

Opening Round for Fort Wayne: It was a sweep for the Komets as well in the opening round taking care of business against the Bloomington PrairieThunder.  Seven of the 14 goals in the series for the Komets were scored on special teams (5 PPG’s and 2 SHG’s).  Mathieu Curadeau led the way with four goals and four assists and had two of the three GWG’s in the series.  Nick Boucher won all three starts in net stopping 83 of 89 shots.

A Closer Look: What a classic series this should be as the defending CHL Champion Rush face-off against the IHL Champs from the last three seasons in the Komets.  The two clubs met just twice in the regular season with Rapid City winning both contests but the Fort Wayne team that dismantled the PThunder in the opening round was a different bunch than what was seen in the regular season.  The power plays during the opening round for the Rush and Komets were the two best in the CHL with Rapid City going 5 for 13 and Fort Wayne going 5 for 16.  Nick Boucher and Danny Battochio provide a great goalie battle as either can steal a game on any given night.  Two of the top fan bases in the league should be in for a great ride during the five-game series.     

X-Factor for Rush: Ryan Menei. The Rush’s leading scorer and MVP candidate from the regular season was held to just an assist in the opening round of the playoffs.  His one point in three games matches the lowest output of the entire regular season where he scored 87 points (39-48=87).  He could be primed and ready for a huge series.

X-Factor for Komets: Mathieu Curadeau. After a quite regular season, the highly-skilled forward broke out with a big opening round series leading the Komets over the PThunder.  Curadeau finished with eight points (4-4=8) in three games.  During the last 19 games of the regular season, the Montreal native had just three goals and had just 33 points (14-19=33) in 62 regular season games.

Series Schedule (all times local):
Apr. 15- Fort Wayne at Rapid City, 7:05 PM
Apr. 16- Fort Wayne at Rapid City, 7:05 PM
Apr. 20- Rapid City at Fort Wayne, 7:30 PM
Apr. 22- Rapid City at Fort Wayne, 8:00 PM
Apr. 24- Fort Wayne at Rapid City, 6:05 PM



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