CHL Chalk Talk
Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Amarillo Gorillas (1-8-3, 5 points)
The Gorillas have lost four consecutive games and have just one win in 12 games this season…Amarillo has played in seven one-goal games going 1-3-3…Chris Lipsett leads the team with 12 points (5-7=12)…Matt Miller and Grant Selinger each have three goals in their last five games…Amarillo has points in two of the four games played thus far with the Northwest Division (1-2-1)…Amarillo has outshot their opponents by 20 shots in the second and third periods combined…The Gorillas are allowing 4.58 goals per game (most in the CHL).

Arizona Sundogs (8-4-1, 17 points)
The Sundogs return home this week for a three-game set with Austin in between 12 road games…In the first five games of that stretch, the Sundogs are 3-2-0…Arizona is tied with Odessa for first place in the Southwest Division with 17 points (two more than New Mexico)…Alex Leavitt, Olivier Latendresse and Sean Sullivan are all on re-call with San Antonio (AHL)…Tyler Redenbach has an 11-game point streak, longest in the CHL this season, that has seen him amass 21 points…The Sundogs are 6-0 when leading after two periods…Arizona is a -2 in the first and second periods this season but are a +7 in the third period…Arizona’s penalty kill is the third worst in the league at 78.1%.

Austin Ice Bats (3-10-0, 6 points)
The Ice Bats ended their seven-game losing streak on Nov. 17 with a 5-4 shootout win versus Odessa…The win came in the 13th round of the shootout with Jason Tessier scoring his second goal of the shootout for the game winner…Austin tied the game with less than 10 seconds remaining with a power play goal from Jaime Thompson (he leads the team with seven goals this season)…Henry Kuster leads the team with eight assists and 12 points…The Ice Bats play three straight games in Arizona this week wrapped around Thanksgiving…Austin has allowed 21 PP goals in 84 chances (75%-worst PK in the CHL).

Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs (5-6-1, 11 points)
The Mudbugs have won five of their last six games after going winless in their first six…The team's three-game shutout streak came to an end on Saturday in Mississippi...JOhn DeCaro is 4-0 allowing just two goals in his last four decisions...The Mudbugs power play is last in the CHL at just under 8%...Bossier-Shreveport heads to Youngstown for a pair of games this weekend. 

Colorado Eagles (6-4-2, 14 points)
The Eagles have won three straight games and are 5-1 at home this season…Colorado has three games remaining on a seven-game road trip that has them 3-1 thus far…Paul Esdale has assists in each of his last six games…The Eagles signed former CHL All-Star Mike Lukajic on Tuesday…Marco Emond retunred from the injured reserve last weekend and went 2-0… Dating back to last season, Emond has won nine of his last 11 starts…Aaron Schneekloth is fourth among defensemen with 13 points (3-10=13)…Colorado’s power play is fourth in the league at 23.5%...The Eagles are second in the league averaging 4.25 goals per game.

Corpus Christi Rayz (2-8-1, 5 points)
The Rayz are 0-7 on the road this season and have lost four straight games overall… Chris Shaffer, acquired in a trade with Youngstown on Friday, played his first game with the Rayz on Tuesday and received a boarding major penalty and a game misconduct …Defenseman Geno Parrish is tied for the team lead with nine points (3-6=9)...The Rayz play seven of their next 10 games at home.

Laredo Bucks (11-3-0, 22 points)
After tying the CHL record with 10 straight wins to start a season, the Bucks have dropped back-to-back games and three of their last four…Jeff Bes is second in the CHL with 27 points (11-16=27)…His 11 goals are tied for the most in the league and his +16 is better than any other player…Kevin Beech is 5-0 with a league-best 1.72 GAA…Brent MacSween is third among rookie with 13 points (8-5=13)…Serge Dube is tied for the league lead among defensemen with 14 points (5-9=14)…Laredo is 8-0 when scoring the first goal of the game…The Bucks lead the league in goal differential outscoring their opponents by 2.5 goals per game…The Bucks give up a league fewest 24.43 shots per game.

Mississippi RiverKings (9-3-0, 18 points)
The RiverKings had two big divisional wins last week beating Youngstown on Friday night and Bossier-Shreveport on Saturday night…Mississippi’s 18 points on the season are the fourth most in the CHL yet they trail division-leading Youngstown by seven points...Sebastien Centomo is fourth in the league with a 2.00 goals against average and his six wins are tied for second most in the CHL…Rick Kozak has been suspended for one game by the CHL for his actions in Saturday’s game versus Bossier-Shreveport…Chad Woollard and Ryan Held are tied for the team lead with seven goals…The RiverKings have the league’s best penalty kill at 91.1%...Mississippi is a +10 in the third period this season (15-5)…The RiverKings have come back to win two of the four games they have trailed when heading into the final period.

New Mexico Scorpions (7-5-1, 15 points)
Konrad Reeder scored his third shorthanded goal of the season last week, he leads the league in that category…Mike Minard is 4-0 in his last four decisions allowing just nine goals against…Dominic Osman leads all rookie with nine goals and ranks fourth among first-year players with 12 points…The Scorpions have won three straight games and six of their last seven…New Mexico is 6-1-1 when scoring first…The Scorps leads the league with six shorthanded goals…New Mexico is a +7 in the first period this season (best first period differential in the league) and a -3 in the second and third periods combined…The Scorpions have outshot their opponents four times this season winning all of those games.

Odessa Jackalopes (8-4-1, 17 points)
Dominic Leveille has been named the Oakley CHL Player of the Week…Leveille has 19 points (8-11=19) in eight home games this season…Rookie goaltender Alexandre Vincent is 4-0-1 with a 2.16 GAA (fifth in the CHL)…The Jacks top line of Nathan Ward (T-3rd), Dominic Leveille (T-3rd) and Sebastien Thinel (6th) all rank among the CHL’s top scorers…Thinel is tied for the league lead with six power play goals…Odessa’s power play is clicking 23.8% of the time, third in the CHL…Odessa and Laredo are the only two CHL teams that rank in the top five in goals for and goals against…Leveille has goals in each of his last four games, longest active goal streak in the CHL.

Oklahoma City Blazers (5-7-0, 10 points)
Oklahoma City is 4-1 at home this year and just 1-6 on the road (six straight losses away from home)…The Blazers boast the league’s top power play at 26.1% (18 for 69)…The Blazers are second in the CHL on the penalty kill at 87.3%...The Blazers are a +3 in the first and second periods combined but are a -5 in the third period this season…Jason Wolfe is 3-0 with a 2.33 GAA at home this season…Justin Sawyer has amassed 49 PIM’s in just five games this season…Defenseman D.J. Jelitto has four goals in seven games since joining the Blazers in early November…The Blazers are 4-0 when leading after two periods and 0-4 when trailing after two frames. 

Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees (5-5-2, 12 points)
Rio Grande Valley’s Jeff Van Nynatten has been named the Oakley CHL Goaltender of the Week for his 124 saves in three games last week and his 2-0-1 record…David Masse has scored 10 of his 11 point at home this season…Rob Voltera and Dennis Maxwell each have seven points in their last five games…Lance Herauf, acquired from Tulsa last week, has notched three helpers in two games with the Bees (he had just three points in 10 games with Tulsa)…The Bees give up 38.3 shots per game, most in the CHL.

Rocky Mountain Rage (9-1-1, 19 points)
Rocky Mountain has won four straight games and are 7-0-1 at home…The Rage hit the road for three straight games this week traveling to Colorado, Tulsa and Texas…Scott Wray leads the CHL with 28 points (9-19=28)…Goaltender Scott Reid is 6-0 with a 2.60 GAA…Defenseman Tyler Butler is tied for sixth among his position with 11 points (2-9=11)…Rocky Mountain is 6-0-1 when scoring first this season…The Rage didn’t get their ninth win last season until January 27th…Trevor Weisgerber and Colt King each have modest three-game goal scoring streaks alive…The Rage have scored four goals in a single period three times this season.

Texas Brahmas (6-4-0, 12 points)
Texas has lost a season-high three straight games and are 0-1 on their current nine-game home stand that continues tonight versus Corpus Christi…The Brahmas have placed Robin Big Snake on the 14-day injured reserve…The Brahmas have been outscored 15-8 over their three-game slide…With the 3-1 loss to Youngstown on Saturday, the Brahmas are 0-10 all-time versus the SteelHounds and 0-7 in Texas…Scott Sheppard ranks among the top 10 in the league with eight goals…Grant Jacobsen has 11 assists this season, three more than any other Brahmas player…Texas is 3-0 this season versus the Southeast Division.

Tulsa Oilers (3-8-0, 6 points)
The Oilers have lost three straight games and play two division leaders this weekend (Rocky Mountain on Friday and Odessa on Saturday)…Tulsa had scored five power play goals this season (fewest in the league), their PP goal total is the same as their shorthanded goals allowed number (five)...Kevin St. Pierre has made 273 saves this season (fifth most in the CHL)…The Oilers are a -10 in the third period this season (biggest differential in the league)…Tulsa averages 26.5 shots per game (fewest in the CHL)…Paul Kelly leads the Oilers with 11 points and six goals.

Wichita Thunder (2-6-0, 4 points)
The Thunder begin a big three-game stretch this week that could get that right back into the hunt in the Northwest Division…The Thunder have suspended Sebastien Laplante and signed Layne Sedevie…Jon Horrell made 35 saves in a 5-1 loss on Saturday that saw the Rocky Mountain Rage score four times in the third period…Bruce Richardson leads the Thunder with three goals and eight points…Wichita has activated Ladislav Kouba off the injured reserve and waived Collin Cercelli…The Thunder are second in the league averaging 32.38 PIM’s per game.

Youngstown SteelHounds (12-1-1, 25 points)
The Hounds will see the home fans for the first time on Friday, November 23rd versus the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs in the first of back-to-back games…Following the two game series with the ‘Bugs, the Hounds will hit the road yet again for five straight road games…Eric Przepiorka has four goals and two assists in his last five games…Forward Petr Pohl (Syracuse) and defenseman Stephen Margeson (Lake Erie) are both on re-call with the AHL…Forward Jason Baird scored the game winning goal versus Texas on Saturday night, his first game with Youngstown after being acquired in a trade with Corpus Christi…Goaltender Andy Franck leads the CHL with 10 wins.