Friday, February 6th, 2009
CENTRAL HOCKEY LEAGUE HEADLINES
1) Finals Preview?
2) Karlander and Jacks Streaking
3) Rush Make Big Mid-Season Signing
1- The Northern Conference leading Colorado Eagles (34-7-2) visit the Texas Brahmas (30-10-4), tied for the most points in the Southern Conference, on Friday night at the NYTEX Sports Centre. It will be the first meeting between the two teams since last year’s Northern Conference Finals Game Seven that the Eagles won 3-2 at the Budweiser Events Center. During the off-season, the Brahmas moved to the South setting up what could be a Ray Miron President’s Cup Finals match-up in May. Friday’s game will be the only regular season meeting between the clubs and it can be seen LIVE on the CHL Network.
On a side note: Colorado’s Scott Polaski (4-3=7) and Texas’ Scott Sheppard (7-2=9) were the leading scorers for their clubs during last year’s seven-game series in the playoffs.
Goalie Spotlight
Andrew Penner (Eagles)
Record: 23-1-2
GAA: 2.47
Save%: .920
Brett Jaeger (Brahmas)
Record: 21-5-4
GAA: 2.37
Save%: .925
2- The Odessa Jackalopes (30-10-4) face a big test on Friday night when they travel to Mississippi to take on the RiverKings (27-14-2). Both the Jacks and veteran forward Kory Karlander are on streaks with Odessa earning points in seven straight games (6-0-1) and Karlander notching points in 11 straight games (six goals, 10 assists). His point streak is the longest active streak in the CHL and fourth longest in the league this season. For the season, Karlander has 25 goals and 28 assists for 53 points. After the game versus Mississippi, the Jacks travel to Wichita for the first of two games this season at the Kansas Coliseum versus the Thunder.
3- The Rapid City Rush signed forward Matt Zultek this week bringing in a former first round NHL draft pick (15th overall in 1997 by the LA Kings). In 349 career games in the ECHL, the Mississauga, Ontario native has scored 130 goals with 137 assists. His best season came in the 2003-04 season with Trenton when he totaled 35 goals with 30 assists. The Rush are just 2-8 in their last 10 games and in need of offense scoring just 20 goals over that stretch.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
18
The number of games that Arizona’s Mark Kolanos has gone without scoring a goal…His last goal came on December 17th yet he still has 15 goals on the season and has been productive setting up 11 goals during his goal-less streak…Last year, his rookie season, Kolanos’ longest drought was five games
8
The number of games that Bossier-Shreveport’s Neil Clark played in during his AHL re-call to Rochester…During his time with the Amerks, the Mudbugs forward had an assist and 17 PIM…For Bossier-Shreveport this season, Clark has 12 goals and nine assists with 122 PIM
2-9-09
The date of the CHL’s trade deadline which comes at 3:00 PM (CST)…So far, names like Brent Cullaton, Jason Lawmaster and Chris Greene have found new homes…Keep up with all the league’s trade movement at the CHL Trade Tracker on www.centralhockeyleague.com
.930
The save percentage of Tulsa’s Davis Parley over his last five games…He has turned away 173 of 186 shots in those five games but is just 2-2-0 over that stretch with one no decision
TIDBITS
-Colorado played with only 13 skaters on Tuesday night in their 2-1 loss at Tulsa…Brett Hammond and Jason Beatty are both injured and Greg Pankewicz was serving a one-game suspensions for his actions in last Saturday’s game versus NMX
-OKC’s Andy Franck is 3-8-1 allowing 45 goals over his last 12 games…The starting goaltender in the CHL All-Star game started the season with a 9-0-2 record
-Bossier-Shreveport’s Kevin Cooper has scored three goals in three games since returning from the injured reserve list…Cooper has 12 goals and 10 assists in 24 games this season
-The Laredo Bucks matched their biggest win of the year with a six-goal triumph (7-1) over Corpus Christi on Thursday…Rick Kozak and Darryl Smith each had a pair of goals and Brent Cullaton had an assist in his first game back with the Bucks
