CHL Chalk Talk
Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Amarillo Gorillas (2-10-3, 7 points)
The Gorillas lost back-to-back games at Colorado last weekend despite nearly pulling off a miraculous comeback on Friday night…Amarillo trailed 5-1 midway through the second period before scoring four of the games next five goals and eventually losing by a goal…Chris Lipsett has four goals in his last three games and leads the Gorillas with nine goals on the season…David Nimmo ranks just outside the top 10 rookie point leaders with 11 points (7-4=11)…The Gorillas are winless versus the Southern Conference this season (0-6-2)…Amarillo allows 4.60 goals per game (most in the CHL).

Arizona Sundogs (11-4-1, 23 points)
The Sundogs lead the Southwest Division by two points over Odessa…Tyler Redenbach has the CHL’s longest point streak of the season notching at least a point in all 14 games he has played this season (6-23=29)…The Sundogs start a seven-game road trip on Friday in Rocky Mountain…Arizona is 4-3-1 this season on the road…Mark Kolanos has points in eight straight games (6-6=12) and leads all rookies with 20 points (10-10=20)…Rookie goaltender Andrew Gallant has won three straight starts and is 7-2-0 on the season…Defenseman Sean Sullivan and forwards Alex Leavitt and Olivier Latendresse all still remain on re-call with the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage. 

Austin Ice Bats (3-13-0, 6 points)
The Ice Bats are coming off a disappointing three-game skid in Arizona over Thanksgiving week getting outscored 17-7 in the three games…Henry Kuster (4-9=13) leads the team with 13 points and Jamie Thompson paves the way with eight goals…The Bats have scored the first goal of the game in more than half of their contests (nine of 16 games)….Austin is 0-6 versus the Northern Conference…Austin’s penalty kill ranks last in the league at 71.8%...The Ice Bats have scored five shorthanded goals this season ranking third in the league…Austin is 0-12 when trailing heading into the third period this season.

Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs (6-6-2, 14 points)
The Mudbugs have earned points in seven of their last eight games (6-1-1)…John DeCaro, the reigning Oakley CHL Goaltender of the Week, has won five straight starts allowing just four goals over that stretch and ranks third in the CHL with a 1.88 GAA…Joe Ori leads Bossier-Shreveport with seven goals but has just one in his last five games…11 of the Mudbugs 14 games have been within the Northeast Division and are 3-6-2 in those games…Bossier-Shreveport has 10 PP goals in 95 chances (10.5 percent) ranking 15th in the league…The Mudbugs are one of just three CHL teams that have not gone to a shootout yet this season…The duo of DeCaro and Ken Carroll have a 2.36 GAA ranking them third in the CHL in goals allowed per game.

Colorado Eagles (8-5-2, 18 points)
The Eagles are 7-2-0 at home this season and are 5-1-0 overall in their last six games...Fraser Filipc returned from the injured reserve list on Friday and had three fights and 27 PIM’s in the two games versus the Gorillas…Ed McGrane ranks just outside the top 10 with 21 points (9-12=21)…Goaltender Marco Emond is 3-1-0 since his return from the injured reserve…Aaron Schneekloth’s hat trick on Friday versus Amarillo was the first by a Colorado defensemen in the franchise’s history…Colorado’s power play is second in the CHL connecting 24.4% of the time…After setting a CHL record last season with 30 shorthanded goals, the Eagles have yet to score one this season…The Eagles are the only CHL team averaging over 40 shots per game (40.20)…Colorado is 6-2-1 when outshooting their opponents.

Corpus Christi Rayz (3-11-1, 7 points)
Corpus Christi ended a six-game losing skid on Sunday with a shootout victory over New Mexico…Justin Quenneville has six goals in his last five games after posting just one goal in his first 10 games…Defenseman Geno Parrish leads the Rayz with 14 points and has seven assists in his last five games…The Rayz are the only CHL team averaging less than 20 PIM’s this season (19.33)…All three of the Rayz wins this season have come in a shootout and all four shootouts they have played in have come at home…Corpus Christi is 0-8-0 on the road this season…

Laredo Bucks (14-3-1, 29 points)
Laredo has won three straight games and is 13 points in front in the Southeast Division race…With their 5-0 win versus Rio Grande Valley on Tuesday, the Bucks are 4-0 versus the Killer Bees this season and are 8-0 versus the teams of the Southeast Division…Dustin Traylen leads the league with three shutouts and ranks fourth with a 2.19 GAA…Brent MacSween is tied for second among rookies with 15 points (8-7=15)…Jeff Bes leads the league with 34 points (14-20=34) and his 14 goals are tops in the league as well…Laredo is 10-0-1 when scoring the first goal of the game…The Bucks penalty kill is successful 86.6% of the time (third in the CHL)…The Bucks lead the CHL with seven shorthanded goals (tied with New Mexico).

Mississippi RiverKings (12-3-0, 24 points)
The RiverKings have won five straight games (fourth longest win streak in the CHL this season)…Chad Woollard is fourth in the league in goals with 12 and has seven goals in last four games…Sebastien Centomo is 8-2-0 this season and leads the league with a 1.69 GAA…The RiverKings play three road games in three nights beginning Thursday night seeing Oklahoma City, Texas and Odessa…Mississippi has scored the first goal just six times in their 15 games (5-1-0)…Mississippi is 7-0-0 versus the Northwest Division…The RiverKings penalty kill is tops in the league killing 92.0% of the chances they face…The RiverKings as a team allow just 1.73 goals per game (tops in the league)…Mississippi has won three of the five games where they have trailed heading into the final period.

New Mexico Scorpions (7-8-2, 16 points)
Spending Thanksgiving in South Texas is something the Scorpions probably will never want to do again…New Mexico went 0-3-1 on their South Texas swing…The Scorpions return home to meet Colorado and Rocky Mountain this weekend…New Mexico acquired center Erik Johnson from Youngstown on Wednesday in exchange for future considerations…Johnson had four goals and five assists and was a +8 for the SteelHounds…Konrad Reeder is seventh in the league with 25 points (10-15=25)…Kevin Harvey ranks third in the league with 86 PIM’s and is tied for the league lead with eight fighting majors…Rookie Dominic Osman is tied for the league lead among first year players with 10 goals.

Odessa Jackalopes (9-5-3, 21 points)
Odessa had a string of four straight games decided in a shootout come to an end on Tuesday when they were shutout by Tulsa…The Jacks trio of Nathan Ward, Dominic Leveille and Sebastien Thinel have combined for 82 points (33-49=82), the Jacks as a team have 155 points…Odessa is 6-2-1 when scoring the first goal of the game…Odessa is 4-0-1 versus the Northeast Division…Odessa is a +9 in the third period (22-13)…The Jacks are a perfect 6-0 when leading after two periods…Four of Odessa’s next five games are at home.

Oklahoma City Blazers (6-8-1, 13 points)
The Blazers have been strong at home going 5-1-1 but are 1-7-0 on the road…OKC is 2-1-1 in their last four games…Defenseman Mike Burgoyne has two goals and six assists in his last five games and leads the CHL defensemen with 19 points (8-11=19)…Jason Wolfe has just one win in his last five games (1-2-1)…Gordon Bell has a goal and two assists in his last two games and is the only Blazer with a plus rating (+2)…Peter Robertson is fifth among defensemen and second on the Blazers with 15 points (5-10=15)…OKC is third in the CHL with a power play percentage of 23.9…The Blazers penalty kill is second killing 88.0%...Oklahoma City is a +8 in the second period this season (20-12)…

Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees (7-7-2, 16 points)
The Killer Bees dropped their fourth game of the season to Laredo on Tuesday night…The loss marked the second time this season that the Bees have been shutout…Dennis Maxwell had his seven-game point streak end with the loss to the Bucks…Goaltender Jeff Van Nynatten is 4-0-1 in his last five decisions…David Lemanowicz is 0-4 in his last four decisions…Rio Grande Valley is 5-4-2 within the Southeast Division including going 4-0-1 versus Corpus Christi…The Bees are 2-4-1 when trailing after two periods…The Killer Bees will play three of their next four games at home.

Rocky Mountain Rage (12-1-1, 25 points)
Rocky Mountain has won seven straight games (second longest win streak in the league this season)...The Rage went 3-0 on their recently completed road trip…Scott Wray is second in the CHL with 32 points (11-21=32)…Scott Reid was forced to leave the Rage’s last win due to illness but still earned the victory making him 8-0-0 on the season…Tyler Butler is just outside the league’s top 5 in defensemen scoring with 14 points (3-11=14)…Rocky Mountain is 8-0-1 when scoring the first goal of the game…The Rage have scored 29 goals in the second period this season, one more than in the first and third combined.

Texas Brahmas (8-5-0, 16 points)
Texas is 2-4-0 in their last six games…The Brahmas have five games remaining on their nine-game home stand (2-2-0 thus far)…Scott Sheppard leads the team with 10 goals and is tied with Grant Jacobsen for the Brahmas lead with 17 points…David Cacciola has started 13 of the Brahmas 15 games…Greg McConnell is tied for fourth among rookies with seven goals…Texas is 5-0 versus the Southeast Division…The Brahmas are 4-1-0 when outshooting their opponents…McConnell has four goals in his last three games.

Tulsa Oilers (5-9-0, 10 points)
The Oilers won back-to-back games for the first time this season...Tulsa is 1-0 on their season-long seven-game home stand…David Beauregard’s hat trick on Tuesday in Tulsa’s shutout victory over Odessa gives him the team lead with eight goals on the season…Mike Looby had five points in 10 games with Rio Grande Valley before being traded to Tulsa and since has no points in five games with the Oilers…Rookie goaltender Clint Chalmers is 3-1 this season…Tulsa is 3-0 versus the Southwest Division…Tulsa has just six power play goals this season and has allowed five shorthanded goals…Tulsa’s 26.9 shots per game are the fewest in the CHL.

Wichita Thunder (3-9-0, 6 points)
The Thunder are winless in five road games this season…The opponents in the Thunder’s next 10 games have a combined record of 53-28-9 (Rocky Mountain, Colorado, Bossier-Shreveport, Mississippi, Odessa and Oklahoma City)…Bruce Richardson leads the Thunder with 10 points (4-6=10)…Goaltender Sebastien Laplante returned to the Thunder from team suspension and made 39 saves in his first game back (a 3-0 loss to Mississippi)…Wichita’s power play is 8 for 78 (10.3%, 16th in the CHL)…The Thunder is the only CHL team averaging less than two goals per game (1.92).

Youngstown SteelHounds (13-2-1, 27 points)
The Hounds played their first home game of the season on Nov. 23 and now head back out on the road for five straight games beginning Friday night in Bossier-Shreveport…Following the Hounds upcoming road trip, the team will play 30 of their remaining 43 games at home…Petr Pohl has been re-assigned by Syracuse to the Hounds, he is second on the team with 20 points…Goaltender Andy Franck became the third Hounds player to be summoned by the AHL when he was re-called by Providence on Wednesday…The SteelHounds have the CHL’s two top penalty minute gatherers in Adam Smyth and Milan Maslonka (92 PIM’s each).