CHL Chalk Talk
Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Amarillo Gorillas (15-22-6, 36 points)
The Gorillas have matched a season-high by winning four straight games…Amarillo has outscored their opposition 26-13 over their four-game win streak…The Gorillas are now just one point out of a Southern Conference playoff spot…They begin a three-game road trip on Friday that sees them visit Wichita, New Mexico and Arizona…Forward Bill Vandermeer is the reigning Oakley CHL Player of the Week and has five goals and eight assists in his last four games…Amarillo is 12-9-3 since December 7th…All-Star defenseman Nate Fornataro has one goal in his last 20 games.

Arizona Sundogs (24-14-4, 52 points)
The Sundogs are one point behind Odessa for first place in the Southwest Division and are just 4-5-1 in their last 10 games…The Sundogs are 6-8-3 in their last 17 games…Arizona will be at home for seven of their next nine games…Robert McVicar is 1-2-0 in his three starts with the Sundogs since being acquired by Arizona…Alex Leavitt ranks second in the CHL with 70 points (25-45=70) but has just one assist in his last four games…Leavitt leads the CHL in shooting percentage (.202)…Jason Visser is averaging a point-a-game in 2008 with six goals and seven assists in his last 13 games…The Sundogs PP is first in the league at 24.2%.

Austin Ice Bats (16-26-1, 33 points)
After their six-game winning streak, the Bats have lost three of their last four…Miguel Beaudry had his five-game personal win streak snapped on February 1st with a 1-0 loss at New Mexico (he made 36 saves in the loss)…Beaudry has allowed just nine goals in his last six games…Austin and Laredo will meet three times this weekend with Friday’s and Saturday’s games in Austin…Jason Tessier is just outside the top 10 among defensemen in scoring with 29 points (10-19=29)…Austin is 11-6-1 when scoring the first goal…Austin is 8-7-1 in games versus the Southeast Division.

Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs (32-7-4, 68 points)
The Mudbugs are 22-0-1 in their last 23 games and have increased their lead in the race for the Governors’ Cup to six points over Laredo and Rocky Mountain…After losing their first four home games this season, the Mudbugs have won a franchise record 18 straight home games…Ken Carroll left his last start due to injury but has won his last 13 decisions…John DeCaro leads the league with a 1.65 GAA and a .944 save percentage…DeCaro set the CHL record on Tuesday by extending his scoreless minute streak to 222:41 beating the old record set in the 2002-03 season by Shawn Silver (Indianapolis).

Colorado Eagles (24-12-5, 53 points)
Colorado has lost three straight games and trail the Rocky  Mountain Rage by nine points in the Northwest Division…Sebastien Laplante has allowed nine goals in his first two starts with the Eagles…Ed McGrane has two goals and five assists in his last five games…Aaron Schneekloth is tied for second among defensemen with 41 points (16-25=41)…His 16 goals are tied for the most among blueliners…Colorado is 12-4-3 versus the teams of the Southern Conference…The Eagles have scored four goals in six of their last seven games going 3-3-1 over that stretch.

Corpus Christi Rayz (16-22-5, 37 points)
The Rayz ended a five-game losing streak on Friday with a win versus Rocky Mountain…Corpus Christi is still holding on to the fifth and final Southern Conference playoff spot by one point over Amarillo and four points over Austin…The Rayz begin a three-game road trip on Wednesday in Arizona…Defensemen Geno Parrish is second in the CHL with 21 power play assists…Jon Jankus leads all rookies with 28 assists…Parrish’s 40 points (10-30=40) are tied for fourth among defensemen…The Rayz power play is fourth in the league connecting 18.9% of the time…Their road power play is second with a 22% success rate…The Rayz lead the league with seven shootout wins.

Laredo Bucks (30-13-2, 62 points)
Laredo has won three straight games and have increased their Southern Conference lead to nine points over Odessa…Jeff Bes leads the league with 72 points (29-43=72)…He has eight points (3-5=8) in his last three games…Bes is tied for the league lead with a +28…Andrew Desjardins is third in the CHL among rookies with 41 points (15-26=41)…Dustin Traylen is third in the league with a 2.21 GAA…Laredo plays Austin three times this weekend and are 4-1-0 this season versus the Ice Bats…Chris Korchinski has three goals in his last five games…Laredo is 19-2-2 when scoring first…The Bucks are 8 for their last 24 on the power play (33%).

Mississippi RiverKings (25-14-2, 52 points)
The RiverKings looked to be on their way to their fourth straight win on Friday night when they had a 4-0 lead at Laredo but the Bucks came storming back to win in OT 5-4…The RiverKings are two points behind Youngstown for second place in the division and third place in the conference…Ryan Campbell has scored goals in four straight games…Mississippi is third in the league averaging 27.2 PIM’s per game…The RiverKings are 13-1-1 versus the Northwest Division but just one game over .500 versus the Northeast Division (11-10-0)…The Kings are 16th in the CHL with a 14.8% power play…Mississippi is a +19 in the third period (46-27)…The 27 goals allowed in the third period are the fewest in the league.

New Mexico Scorpions (22-15-5, 49 points)
New Mexico has won back-to-back games and are 2-0-1 on their current seven-game home stand…After allowing seven goals to Amarillo on January 26th the Scorpions have allowed just five goals in their last three games…Konrad Reeder has three goals in his last five games and has scored 32 points in 22 home games…Reeder is tied for the CHL lead with five shorthanded goals scored…Valdi Hartinger is sixth among defensemen with 36 points (11-25=36)…New Mexico is 15-4-4 when scoring the first goal of the game…New Mexico is 4-1-1 versus the Northern Conference…New Mexico is a +15 in the first period this year (53-38).

Odessa Jackalopes (23-12-7, 53 points)
Despite being 5-5 in their last 10 games, the Jackalopes have re-claimed first place in the Southwest Division leading the Sundogs by one point…Odessa begins a seven-game road trip tonight in New Mexico…This season, the Jacks are 8-7-5 on the road…Odessa is 2-7 in games decided in overtime/shootouts…The Jackalopes are 18-4-3 when scoring the first goal of the game…Odessa is 7-0-2 versus teams of the Southeast Division…Sebastien Thinel became Odessa’s all-time leading goal scorer on Saturday when he scored his 131st goal as a Jackalope…He is currently sixth in the CHL with 59 points (24-35=59)…Alexandre Vincent is fourth in the CHL with a 2.34 GAA.

Oklahoma City Blazers (19-19-6, 44 points)
OKC is 1-3-2 in their last six games…On Friday, the Blazers scored three times in the last half of the third period to defeat the Colorado Eagles 5-4…The next night, the Blazers blew a 3-1 first intermission lead to fall to Youngstown 4-3 in a shootout…The Blazers are 1-0-1 on their current five-game home stand and will face Bossier-Shreveport on Friday…Mike Burgoyne leads all defensemen with 44 points (16-28=44) but has not scored a goal in nine games (Jan. 12)…Garrett Prosofsky has three goals in his last four games…Prosofsky has scored 27 of his 38 points at home…OKC is 2-9-3 versus the Northeast Division.

Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees (10-25-7, 27 points)
RGV are currently on an three-game losing streak (0-2-1)…David Lemanowicz has made 31 or more saves in 11 straight games…Rob Voltera has nine goals in his last nine games…He has 10 points (6-4=10) in his last six games…Travis Banga has three goals with three assists in his last four games…The Bees will be on the road for four of their next six games…The Bees have won just two of their 20 road games (2-14-4)…RGV is 0-3 in OT and 0-4 in shootouts…The Bees are 5-2-2 versus Corpus Christi this season…The Bees penalty kill is last in the league stopping 78.5% of the power plays they have faced…The 58 PP goals allowed by the Bees is tops in the league.

Rocky Mountain Rage (29-9-4, 62 points)
The Rage return home on Friday for a three game home stand following their seven-game road trip that saw them post a 2-4-1 record…Each of the Rage’s next six games are against teams that would qualify for the post-season if the season ended today…Daymen Rycroft leads the league with 36 goals and is fifth in the league with 60 points (36-24=60)…Brent Cullaton is tied for third in the league with 66 points (12-54=66)…He has missed each of the last three games with an injury…Scott Reid leads the league with 19 wins…Tyler Butler is tied for fourth among defensemen with 40 points (12-28=40)…The Rage are 4-1 in shootouts this season…The Rage are second in the CHL with a 23.8% power play percentage.

Texas Brahmas (21-18-1, 43 points)
The Brahmas are 7-3 in their last 10 games…Texas is nine points out of a Northern Conference playoff spot…Texas is 5-2-0 in their last seven games…David Cacciola is tied for third in the CHL with 17 wins…Texas is fourth in the league averaging 26.6 PIM’s per game…The Brahmas are 9-1-0 versus teams of the Southeast Division…Texas is 13-0-1 when leading after two periods…The Brahmas have not won a game by more than two goals this season going 0-8 in games decided by three goals or more…Anders Strome is currently on a nine-game point streak (11 points over that span)…Tyler Skworchinski has four goals in his last three games.

Tulsa Oilers (15-24-3, 33 points)
The Oilers are 5-1-0 in their last six games…Jeff Christian has scored the game winning goal in each of the last three wins for the Oilers…He has nine goals in his last 13 games…Warren McCutcheon has four goals and six assists during his current eight-game point streak…Guy St. Vincent is 4-2-0 with a 3.09 GAA since signing with the Oilers…David Beauregard has three goals and five assists in his last five games…Brent McMann and Mike Looby each are a +4 in the last five games for the Oilers…Paul Kelly has a goal and four assists in his last five games…The Oilers are 4-1 in shootouts this season…The Oilers have allowed 13 shorthanded goals, the most in the league.

Wichita Thunder (12-28-1, 25 points)
The Thunder have lost seven straight games…Four of the next six games for Wichita are at home…Alex Goupil has three goals and an assist in his last three games…Cedric Bernier has 88 PIM’s in the 11 games he has played with the Thunder…Bruce Richardson tied a season-high with three assists on Tuesday versus Bossier-Shreveport ending a four-game scoreless streak…The Thunder are the only team in the CHL this season not to have a game go to a shootout…They are 3-1 in overtime games…Wichita is 9-9 when scoring the first goal of the game.

Youngstown SteelHounds (26-14-2, 54 points)
The SteelHounds have won four straight games and are 6-1-0 in their last seven games…Kirill Starkov has three goals and four assists in his last four games and on Wednesday was called-up to the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL…Andy Franck is 6-1-0 in his last seven starts allowing just 11 goals in the six wins…Chris Richards has four assists in his last three games…Eric Przepiorka has three goals, eight assists and is a +8 in his last four games…The SteelHounds are 2-0 on their current eight-game home stand…For the first time this season, the Hounds do not lead the league in penalty minutes averaging 31.1 PIM’s per game (Wichita is first at 31.7)…Youngstown is 14-2-2 in games played outside the Northeast Division.