Monday, November 7, 2011

Top Three

1.)  Bees Buzzing in South Texas- After losing their first three games of the season, the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees (3-3-0) have come swarming back owning the league’s longest current win streak at three consecutive victories.  The Bees offense scored just five times in their first three games but have collected 13 goals during their three game win streak (outscored opposition 13-6).  Forward Aaron Lee has three goals and two assists during the win streak and overall has scored goals in five straight games (the longest goal streak in the CHL this season).  The Bees will look for their fourth straight win on Wednesday night when they host the Allen Americans (2-2-2) whom they have defeated just twice in the previous 10 regular season match-ups (2-7-1).  RGV is in the midst of a season-long nine-game home stand that has them 2-0 thus far.          

2.)  Paving the Way- The Missouri Mavericks (6-0-1) continue to pave the way in the Turner Conference and the CHL with a 6-0-1 record and 13 points.  The Mavs went 6-0 on their season-opening road trip and then fell in a shootout in their home opener on Saturday night against Wichita (5-1-0).  Missouri will be back on the road Tuesday night when they play the Texas Brahmas (2-4-0).  The Mavs and Brahmas have met just twice previously with Missouri winning both games.  The Mavs will return home to play Tulsa (4-3-0) on Friday and Wichita on Saturday.    

3.)  Rapid City Two-Step- The Rapid City Rush (4-1-1) are going to get a stern test this week when they battle the two top teams in the Berry Conference playing at Tulsa (4-3-0) on Tuesday night and at Wichita (5-1-0) on Wednesday night.  The Rush are currently 1-1-0 on their four-game road trip that ends in Wichita before they head home for a pair of games versus Fort Wayne.  Rapid City’s nine points are good for second place in the Turner Conference, four points behind the Missouri Mavericks (6-0-1).  Four of Rapid City’s six games have been decided by one goal (2-1-1).     

Inside the Numbers
1.50: The league-leading goals against average of the Evansville IceMen who have allowed just six goals in their four games.  The lone blemish on the IceMen’s 3-0-1 record is a 4-3 shootout loss to the Fort Wayne Komets on Oct. 29.  In the three wins for Evansville, they have shutout their opponent once and allowed a lone goal in each game of the other two victories.  Pier-Pelletier, 2-0-1 on the season, leads the league with a 1.30 goals against average and is third with a .952 save percentage. 

On the Fly
-Fort Wayne forward Brett Smith had an assist in Friday’s 3-2 win versus Rapid City, his 400th professional game.  Smith is tied for the team lead with five points (3-2=5).
-Missouri’s Sebastien Thinel, the 2009 and 2011 Joe Burton award winner as the league’s scoring champion, is off and running again this season with 14 points (4-10=14) in seven games – tops in the CHL.  Thinel is climbing the league’s all-time lists passing Paul Jackson for eighth in scoring (661 points) and passing Jeff Bes for 12th all-time in assists (422).  
-Evansville’s Todd Robinson is on quite a tear averaging three points per game in the early going for the IceMen.  Robinson is second in the league with 12 points (2-10=12) and has had multiple-point efforts in each contest thus far.
-Tulsa’s rookie class is doing well making names for themselves at the start of the 2011-12 season as four of the top five rookie scorers are all wearing Oilers sweaters.  Dylan Clarke is tops among all first-year players with eight points (2-6=8) followed by Mike Ullrich with seven points (4-3=7), Ryan Cramer with six points (2-4=6) and Jeff Terminesi is tied for fifth with five points (0-5=5). 
-After missing on their first 18 power play chances of the season, the Texas Brahmas finally broke through with a second period power play goal by Adam Hogg in Saturday’s 4-3 win at Laredo.  Offensively, the Brahmas are averaging 1.67 goals per game (last in the CHL) but on Friday and Saturday, they host Bloomington (allowing a league high 4.80 goals per game).
-The Bloomington Blaze will hit the road for the first time this season on Friday when they travel to Texas.  The Blaze won their first game of the season but followed that up by dropping four straight (0-3-1).  The Blaze have played from behind in four of their first five games allowing the first goal 80 percent of the time.
-On Saturday in Missouri, the Wichita Thunder handed the Mavericks their first defeat of the season with a 4-3 shootout win in front of a sold out crowd at the Independence Events Center.  The Thunder are a dazzling 4-0 in shootouts this season and are 5-1-0 overall, first place in the Berry Conference.
-Arizona and Dayton are both getting comfortable in the close ones playing in a league-high five one-goal games thus far.  Dayton is 2-1-2 in the one-goal contests having every one of their decisions thus far decided by the slimmest of margins.  Arizona is also 2-1-2 in one-goal games with five of their seven decisions decided by the lone tally.
-Laredo has gotten off to a few slow starts this season getting outscored 10-1 in the first period but combined in the final two periods have outscored the opposition 15-14.
-Quad City rebounded from a pair of close losses to Dayton on Friday and Saturday night to defeat the Fort Wayne Komets by a 3-2 count on Sunday afternoon.  The Mallards are an impressive 3-1-0 on the road this season.