CHL Headlines for Monday, November 22
Following the Flock- The Quad City Mallards (8-5-0) won their fourth straight game on Sunday beating Dayton 6-4. The Flock has won five of their last six games and are 3-1-0 in their last four road games. Those instincts away from home will come in handy in the next few weeks as Quad City starts a stretch of seven of their next eight games on the road. The Mallards will look for five in a row on Tuesday night in Tulsa against the Oilers (1-11-1 in their last 13 games). Goaltender Adam Russo (signed on Oct. 28) is yet to have a blemish winning all four of his starts and allowing just six goals on the season. The Mallards have allowed three goals or fewer in eight of their last 10 games.
Jacks on the Attack- It took a few weeks to work off the rust but the defending CHL Bud Poile Governors’ Cup Champion Odessa Jackalopes are finally hitting their stride and reaching the form that saw them hit the 100-point plateau last season. Odessa has won three straight games and have done so in impressive fashion outscoring the opposition 17-6. Last year’s CHL Most Outstanding Goaltender Joel Martin has been in net for all of the wins during the streak and 2009 CHL Most Valuable Player Sebastien Thinel has picked up the offense scoring 11 points (4-7=11) over his last five games and leading the league with 25 points (10-15=25). The Jacks will be tested this week hosting the Texas Brahmas on Tuesday and then heading to Rapid City to face the Rush on Friday and Saturday.
Sunny Days for ‘Dogs- It looked as if it was going to be a road trip to forget as the Arizona Sundogs started their season-long eight-game journey back on November 5 with a 4-2 loss in Wichita and then proceeded to go 0-3-2 on their first five games. The Sundogs then rebounded winning each of their last three games on the trip and now have turned their record around going 3-0-2 in their last five games. Arizona traded with Rapid City for Luke Erickson and he made an immediate impact scoring three goals with two assists in the three games he has played, all wins. Goaltender Levente Szuper is 3-1-1 with a 2.33 GAA and a ,933 save percentage helping fuel the Sundogs strong play. The Sundogs host Allen this week in three games (Wednesday, Friday and Saturday).
Turkey Day in the CHL- The Thanksgiving Holiday won’t be a quiet one in the CHL as three games are scheduled for Thursday and six games on Thanksgiving eve. The Tulsa Oilers, Dayton Gems and Fort Wayne Komets all host games on Thanksgiving. The Komets game will mark the 49th game on Turkey Day for the team who boast a 30-14-4 record. The prime match-up on Wednesday night is the battle for first place in the Turner Conference when the Colorado Eagles (9-3-1) host the Rapid City Rush (8-4-2).
Thanksgiving Day Games:
Evansville at Dayton
Quad City at Fort Wayne
Mississippi at Tulsa
Numbers Game
4 - The current goal streak by Dayton’s Tim Hartung who has five goals and three assists over that stretch. The goal streak is one shy of the longest in the league this season (Colorado’s Riley Nelson and Quad City’s Zac Pearson)
6- The total points that separate the first place team and the eighth place team in the highly-competitive Turner Conference. The Colorado Eagles are leading the way with 19 points followed by Rapid City with 18 points and Dayton with 17 points. Only the Fort Wayne Komets are not at or above .500 as they are struggling at 2-8-1.
99- The number of points that Texas forward Jason Deitsch has scored in his 97 career games with the Brahmas. The 2009 CHL Playoff Most Valuable Player has scored 33 goals with 66 assists wearing a Brahmas sweater.
.939- The league-leading save percentage of Colorado goaltender Kyle Jones who is 6-0-1 on the season with a league-best 1.88 goals against average. The first-year Eagle has allowed one goal or fewer in three of his last five starts (shutout Dayton on Nov. 5).
6-1-0- The record of the Evansville IceMen when being outshot by their opponent. Conversely, when the IceMen earn more shots than the opposition, they are 1-3-1.
Slap Shots
-The current top active point streaks in the CHL belong to Quad City’s Obi Aduba and Mike McLean and Rapid City’s Scott Wray, each have points in seven straight games. Aduba is coming off a three assist game on Sunday (a 6-4 win over Dayton) and has five goals and six assists over his seven game streak (he also is carrying a +8 over those seven games) and his teammate McLean has six goals and seven assists and is a +5 during his streak. Wray has four goals and seven assists during his seven game streak. Allen’s Nino Musitelli had an 11-game streak, the longest in the league this season.
-Allen rookie David Strathman has two goals and four assists in his last five games and has moved into a tie for the league lead among first year players with 12 points (4-8=12). Strathman is tied with Dayton’s Erik Boisvert (6-6=12).
-The Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs are the top team in the league in one-goal wins going 7-2-0 in the close ones - four of the wins on the ‘Bugs current five-game win streak have come by one-goal.
-One of the biggest special teams differences in the league this season belongs to the Rapid City Rush who are first on the power play with a 25.4% success rate but who are 16th on the penalty kill at 77.9%.
-The Laredo Bucks host the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees on Monday night looking to end their franchise record six-game losing streak. The Bees have gone 2-0-1 so far this season versus their rivals. Laredo’s last win came against Rapid City on Nov. 5.
-Fort Wayne’s current five-game losing streak is the longest in 13 years and the longest since the team finished the 1996-97 season with eight straight losses.
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