Monday, October 19, 2009
CENTRAL HOCKEY LEAGUE HEADLINES
Perfect Start
The Amarillo Gorillas are coming off an opening weekend to remember as they won three straight games defeating Wichita, Odessa and Mississippi. The turnaround is remarkable for a team that never won three straight games a year ago and whose winningest month saw them win four times. The defense has been most notable allowing just three goals and stopping 21 of 22 shorthanded situations. The Gorillas will play at Arizona on Wednesday and host Odessa and Missouri over the weekend.
La-Road-O Off to Impressive Start
A year ago, the Laredo Bucks were sitting an un-impressive 11-14-3 on the road with a couple weeks of the regular season remaining but they rebounded to win four straight on the road to finish out the regular season and have since carried that over to the 2009-10 season winning two straight to start the season. The Bucks won convincingly on Friday beating the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs 6-1 and then on Saturday topping the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees 5-3. The Bucks will go for their seventh straight road win on Friday in Corpus Christi.
Oldest CHL Rivalry Heats Up This Weekend
The Tulsa Oilers (1-0-0) and Wichita Thunder (0-2-0) will re-new their rivalry this weekend with a home-and-home series that begins in Wichita on Friday and then moves to the BOK Center on Saturday. The two teams have played 192 times in their histories with Wichita winning 102 times.
Opposite Ends of the Expansion Spectrum
The CHL’s two expansion clubs, the Allen Americans and the Missouri Mavericks, each had different experiences in their opening weekends with Allen winning a pair of road games in Arizona and Missouri dropping a pair in Rapid City. The Americans controlled the Arizona Sundogs never trailing in the six periods of play at Tim’s Toyota Center. Christian Gaudet scored a goal in each of the Americans victories and notched the only goal in Friday’s 1-0 win. The Mavericks dropped games in Rapid City by a 3-2 count on Friday and a 5-2 score on Saturday.
Championship Re-Match a Split
The Texas Brahmas (1-1-0) and Colorado Eagles (1-0-1) split their much anticipated CHL Finals re-match over the weekend with Texas winning in overtime, 3-2, on Friday and Colorado coming out on top, 5-2, on Saturday. The two teams will meet for the final time in the regular season on January 2nd in Texas. Eight of the 12 goals scored over the weekend came via special teams with four PP goals scored and four SH goals.
________________________________________
BY THE NUMBERS
3- The number of shorthanded goals the Texas Brahmas scored in their first two games of the season, both in Colorado. The Brahmas tied for the league lead a year ago with 19 SHG’s. Grant Jacobsen, Kevin McLeod and A.J. Gale each scored shorthanded markers over the weekend.
.984- The league-leading save percentage of Amarillo goaltender Mike Brown who stopped 60 of 61 shots in his two victories over the weekend. His 2-0 record and great performances earned him the Oakley/CHL Goaltender of the Week honor.
500- The milestone number of points reached by Colorado Captain Riley Nelson on Saturday night. A PP goal served as the milestone marker giving Nelson 203 goals and 297 assists with the Eagles.
9- The number of seasons that Bossier-Shreveport goaltender Ken Carroll has played with the Mudbugs setting a new franchise record. Carroll is the league’s all-time leader with 29 shutouts. Missouri’s Mike Gorman is the closest active player to Carroll with 17 shutouts.
874- The number of points that Wichita’s Jason Duda has in his CHL career leaving him just one point behind Doug Lawrence for third place on the CHL’s all-time point list. Duda is currently third on the league’s list in goals (338) and assists (536).
SLAP SHOTS
-Odessa’s Collin Circelli saved his best for last in the Jackalopes home opener on Friday night as he scored the game-tying goal with less than a minute remaining and then the game winner in the shootout of Odessa’s 3-2 win. Last season, Circelli scored five game winning goals with the last one coming on January 30th.
-Texas Brahmas forward and CHL Playoff Most Valuable Player Jason Deitsch has been suspended one game by the CHL for his actions in the Brahmas 5-2 loss at Colorado on Saturday. Deitsch will miss Texas’ game at Mississippi on Friday.
-Be sure to check out the new CHL-TV offering fans an interactive approach to watching their favorite CHL teams. Fans purchasing the CHL-TV Season Pass before October 30th will receive 300 points in the CHL Loyalty Rewards program. Watch CHL-TV at http://chltv.insinc.com.
