CHL Chalk Talk
Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Amarillo Gorillas (4-13-3, 11 points)
Amarillo won their first road game in 11 tries on Saturday in Texas with a 7-4 victory…Defenseman Nate Fornataro had four points (2-2=4) in his first 12 games with the Gorillas but had six assists in his last two games…Matt Miller’s hat trick on Saturday came after going eight straight games without a goal…Rookie forward David Nimmo is tied for fourth in the CHL among first-year players with 18 points (11-7=18)…Dan Bauer has won each of his last two starts (Dec. 1 & 8)…Amarillo is 1-4 when scoring the first goal of the game…The Gorillas best period this season is the third where they are a -3…The Gorillas are allowing 4.50 goals per game, 17th in the CHL…Amarillo ranks third in the CHL averaging 36.1 shots per game. 

Arizona Sundogs (14-5-1, 29 points)
The Sundogs are 3-1 on their current seven-game road trip with games at Corpus Christi, Austin and Oklahoma City remaining…Arizona is tied with Odessa for first place in the Southwest Division but with two fewer games played have the highest winning percentage in the Southern Conference…Tyler Redenbach’s point streak stands at a league-high 18 games (every game he has played in this season)…The reigning Sher-Wood CHL Player of the Month (Redenbach) is second in the league with 37 points (9-28=37)…Alex Leavitt and Olivier Latendresse were both re-assigned by San Antonio (AHL)…Rookie goaltender Andrew Gallant ranks seventh in the CHL with a 2.45 GAA and is 10-2-0 on the season.

Austin Ice Bats (6-15-1, 13 points)
Austin is 3-2-1 in their last six games and are an impressive 4-2-1 in inter-division games…The Ice Bats are last in the league with a 74.6% penalty killing percentage…Defenseman Jason Tessier leads the team with 18 points and has three goals and two assists in his last five games…R.G. Flath has two goals and two assists in his five games since joining the Ice Bats…Veteran Jamie Thompson has a goal and three helpers in his last two games…Veteran Henry Kuster has goals in back-to-back games and in three of his last five games…The Bats are 0-14 when trailing after two period.

Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs (10-7-3, 23 points)
The Mudbugs eight-game point streak (6-0-2) came to an end on Saturday with a 5-2 loss at Colorado…Bossier-Shreveport has won seven straight home games and host the Colorado Eagles on Friday…Elias Godoy has three goals and six assists in his last five games…Justin Aikins is on a five-game point streak scoring three goals with five assists over his streak…Ken Carroll is 2-0-1 in his last three starts, while John DeCaro’s seven-game win streak came to an end this past weekend with a SOL in Rocky Mountain and the loss in Colorado…Chris Brassard has four goals in his last five games…The Mudbugs power play ranks 14th in the CHL (13.8%) but their penalty kill is 4th at 85.8%.

Colorado Eagles (11-6-3, 25 points)
After 144 games, 50 goals and 120 points with the Eagles, forward Chris Hartsburg has retired from playing and will move into the Eagles Hockey Operations department…Hartsburg had five points in six games this season with Colorado before suffering a serious knee injury…Ryan Tobler remains on the Injured Reserve list…Goaltender Marco Emond, the reigning Oakley CHL Goaltender of the Week has been granted a leave of absence for personal reasons…Greg Pankewicz is currently on an 11-game point streak (5-16=21)…Riley Nelson has three goals and six assists in his last five games…Colorado leads the league averaging 4.30 goals per game…The Eagles are 7-2-1 when outshooting their opponents…Pankewicz’s four game winning goals are the second most in the CHL…Aaron Schneekloth has goals in five straight games and is second among defensemen in points with 24 (12-12=24).

Corpus Christi Rayz (6-12-2, 14 points)
Brent Howarth and Justin Quenneville are tied for team lead with 19 points…The Rayz are 4-1-1 in their last six games and have pulled to within shouting distance of a playoff spot (five points)…Corpus Christi hosts two division leaders (Arizona, Laredo) to conclude their five-game home stand (1-1-1 through three games)…Quenneville has seven assists in his last five games…Jason Tapp leads the CHL with 1074:53 minutes played…Howarth’s 19 points are third among rookies in scoring…Geno Parrish ranks tied for sixth among defensemen with 17 points (4-13=17)…The Rayz rank last in the league in PIM’s with 18.25 minutes…Corpus Christi is 2-5 when scoring the first goal…The Rayz lead the league with four shootout wins.

Laredo Bucks (16-6-2, 34 points)
The Bucks have lost three straight games (0-2-1) for the first time this season…The Bucks lead the league with eight shorthanded goals, while allowing just two SHG’s…Jeff Bes  ranks fourth in the CHL with 35 points (14-21=35) but has no points in his last five games…Kevin Beech (1.69) and Dustin Traylen (2.30) rank first and fourth in the CHL in goals against average…Alex Penner is tops among rookies with 79 penalty minutes, teammate Tyler Harder is second with 55 PIM’s…The Bucks and Ice Bats meet three times in the next five games for Laredo…The Bucks are 11-1-2 when scoring the first goal.

Mississippi RiverKings (14-6-1, 29 points)
The RiverKings are two points behind the SteelHounds for first place in the NE Division…Mississippi is the top defensive team in the CHL allowing just 2.19 goals per game…Rick Kozak leads the league with six game winning goals…Sebastien Centomo is second in the league with a 1.99 GAA and is tied for the league lead with a .929 save percentage…The RiverKings are the only team killing 90% of their shorthanded situations…The best period for Mississippi is the third period where they outscore the opponent 21-12…The RiverKings are 7-0 when being outshot by the opponent…Aaron Davis has four points (3-1=4) in his last five games, all four points were scored in one game.

New Mexico Scorpions (10-9-2, 22 points)
The Scorpions begin a three-game home stand on Thursday that will see Amarillo, Rio Grande Valley and Corpus Christi visit Rio Rancho…New Mexico is 3-1-1 in the last five games…Konrad Reeder ranks ninth in the CHL with 30 points (11-19=30)…Kevin Harvey leads the CHL with 129 PIM’s…Andrew Martin ranks ninth in the CHL with a 2.54 GAA…New Mexico is 8-2-2 when scoring the first goal…The Scorpions are tied for second in the league with seven shorthanded goals scored but rank last with nine allowed…Craig Macdonald has five goals and two assists in his last five games…Mike Minard is 5-2-0 in his last seven decisions.

Odessa Jackalopes (12-5-5, 29 points)
The Jacks have earned a point in nine of their last 10 games (4-1-5) and are currently tied for first place in the Southwest Division…Dominic Leveille is third in the CHL with 36 points (17-19=36) and leads the league with his 17 goals and eight power play goals…Alexandre Vincent is tied for fourth in the CHL with a 2.30 GAA and is 5-1-3 on the season…Odessa is 9-2-3 when scoring the first goal…Odessa is 10-3-3 versus teams of the Southern Conference…The Jacks rank fifth on the PP (19.5%) and third on the PK (86.1%)…Odessa is 7-3-2 when outshooting their opponents…Nathan Ward has six assists in his last five games.

Oklahoma City Blazers (10-10-1, 21 points)
The Blazers are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games and have battled back to .500 for the season…The Blazers are 7-1-1 at home this season…Mike Burgoyne and Garrett Prosofsky are tied for the team lead with 10 goals on the season…Marty Standish has three goals and three assists in his last five games…Jason Wolfe is 3-0-1 in his last four decisions…Burgoyne leads all defensemen in scoring with 25 points (10-15=25)…OKC’s power play is fourth in the CHL connecting 22.6% of the time…At home, the Blazers power play is tops in the league at 30.8%...The Blazers are -10 in the third period this season (15-25)…OKC is 0-6 when trailing after two periods.

Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees (8-10-3, 19 points)
The Killer Bees have just one win in eight road games this season…RGV currently sits in the fifth and final playoff spot in the Southern Conference five points better than the sixth team (Corpus Christi)…Dennis Maxwell has been placed on the 14-day IR…Lance Herauf has three goals and two assists in his last four games…David Lemanowicz has stopped more than 30 shots in all but one of his 10 starts this season (.915 save percentage)…Rookie forward Josh Bonar ranks 10th among first year players with 15 points…The Bees have scored first in just six of their 21 games thus far (2-2-2 in those games)…The Bees power play is 15th in the league at 13.1%.

Rocky Mountain Rage (15-2-2, 32 points)
The Rage have won three straight games and are the top team in the CHL with a .842 winning percentage…The Rage are 9-0-2 at home and are the only CHL team to not own a regulation loss on home ice…Scott Wray leads the league with 39 points (16-23=39)…Brent Cullaton is second in the league with 27 assists…Scott Reid is tied for the CHL lead in wins with 11…Tyler Butler is the first defensemen this season to earn the Oakley CHL Player of the Week and currently ranks third among d-men with 23 points (7-16=23)…The Rage are 10-0-1 when scoring the first goal of the game…Rocky Mountain is third in the league with a 25.2% power play…The Rage are 22 goals better than the opposition in the second period this season (41-19).

Texas Brahmas (12-6-0, 24 points)
The Brahmas begin a season-long six-game road trip tonight in Youngstown…It will be the Brahmas first road game since Nov. 10, they went 6-3-0 on their just completed nine-game home stand…Scott Sheppard left Saturday’s game with a lower body injury and is day-to-day…Greg McConnell (7 goals, 4 assists, +11) has been placed on the 14-day injured reserve…The Brahmas play the SteelHounds three times this week, all in Youngstown, and are 1-8-2 all-time versus the Hounds…David Cacciola is tied for the league lead with 11 wins…Texas has the second best road power play in the CHL, 23.3%...The Brahmas rank 16th in the league averaging just over 28 shots per contest…The Brahmas are the only CHL team without a shorthanded goal. 

Tulsa Oilers (6-11-1, 13 points)
The Oilers went 1-1 last week under interim head coach Dan Hodge…Tulsa is 2-3-0 on their current seven-game home stand that has Mississippi and Bossier-Shreveport remaining…Tulsa will play in their 1000th regular season CHL game on Saturday when they host the Mudbugs…Jeff Christian has three goals with seven assists in his last five games while notching just seven points (1-6=7) in his first 13 games…Goaltender Kevin St. Pierre is 1-6-1 over his last eight games allowing 30 goals…The Oiler are 5-3 when scoring the first goal.

Wichita Thunder (4-14-0, 8 points)
The Thunder dismissed coach Mark French on Sunday and replaced him on an interim basis with Rob Weingartner…The former Wichita forward played four seasons with the Thunder between 1992-1996 totaling 85 points (47-38=85) and 564 PIM’s in 149 career games…Wichita has lost four straight games and still remains winless on the road this season in nine games…The Thunder’s opponents have scored twice as many goals as Wichita this season (68-34)…Bruce Richardson missed Wichita’s game on Tuesday in Mississippi…Wichita ranks 16th in the CHL in PP % (12.3) and PK % (75.0)…The Thunder average 1.89 goals per game, the fewest in the league.

Youngstown SteelHounds (15-5-1, 31 points)
The Hounds will play 30 of their remaining 43 games at home…Andy Franck remains on re-call with Providence (AHL) and has been solid posting a 4-1-0 record for the Bruins…Defenseman Stephen Margeson  has three goals and three assists in 16 games with Lake Erie (AHL) and is one of just four Monsters with a plus rating (+1)…Petr Pohl leads the CHL’s Three-Star race with 32 points and has been named the game’s first star five times (most in the league)…Chris Richards has four goals and four assists in his last five games and is three games shy of playing in his 150th game with the Hounds…Eric Przepiorka leads the team with 10 goals and with a +11…Jason Baird has six assists in his last three games and has 10 points (4-6=10) in eight games since joining the SteelHounds.