Friday, November 28th, 2008

CENTRAL HOCKEY LEAGUE HEADLINES

1) Home at Last
2) Familiar Look
3) Southern Conference Finals Re-Match

1- The Rapid City Rush (3-5-5) get to play in front of their home fans for the first time on Saturday afternoon when they host the Colorado Eagles (14-2-0) in the first home game in Rush history.  The game, scheduled to start at 2:05 PM MST, will be played in the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center Arena and is a complete sellout.  The Rush had to start the season on the road for a CHL record-tying game 14 games in order to for their building to be completed and deemed ready for play.  Friday marks the final game of that string, a game in Colorado versus the Eagles.  Joe Ferras’ bunch showed their competitiveness during their road trip earning points in eight of the 13 games despite winning just three times.  The Rush and Eagles have built quite a rivalry in their brief history playing four times with the Eagles winning each of the games, two in shootouts.  Friday’s Rush game in Colorado can be seen LIVE on Altitude Sports and Entertainment and on a delay on the CHL Network.       

2- The Mississippi RiverKings (10-7-0) and the Corpus Christi IceRays (5-7-1) play a pair of games this weekend in Corpus Christi.  The teams met last Saturday with the Rays pulling out a 3-2 victory.  Both Mississippi and Corpus Christi took advantage of the influx of players and staff from the Youngstown SteelHounds (CHL members from 2005-08).  The RiverKings snagged head coach Kevin Kaminski who in two years with the Hounds posted a 73-40-15 record leading them to the post-season each year.  He brought with him to Mississippi from Ohio goaltender Kevin Beech, forwards Garrett Larson and defensemen Adam Smyth, Stephen Margeson, Jeff Alcombrack and David Simoes.  Kaminski even brought Equipment Manager Adam Dexter from the Hounds.  The IceRays also have a NE Ohio feel to them with the Hounds all-time leading scorer Chris Richards along with forwards Chris Shaffer and Ryan Bennett.  The Mississippi’s Smyth’s brother Matt was briefly a SteelHound before being traded to the IceRays.  He never dressed for Youngstown.  The ‘Kings are on a season-long eight-game road trip and are 3-1-0 thus far winning each of the last two (Tuesday in Laredo and Wednesday in Rio Grande Vallley).      

3- The Laredo Bucks (10-5-0) will travel to Arizona this weekend for a pair of games with the Sundogs (8-8-1).  The last time the two teams met was on April 26th, 2008 when the ‘Dogs win game seven of the Southern Conference Finals in Laredo.  The game was a landslide with Arizona winning 6-1 and advancing to the Ray Miron President’s Cup Finals where they eventually won the championship.  This season has been much of the same for the five-time defending Southeast Division champion Bucks who fell out of first place with a loss to Mississippi on Tuesday but for the Sundogs it has been a bit of a struggle winning back-to-back games just twice.  The teams square off on Friday and Saturday at Tim’s Toyota Center.  Both games can be seen LIVE on the CHL Network. 
 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
13  The number of consecutive games that Laredo forward Jeff Bes has recorded at least a point…The league’s reigning MVP and current leading scorer has points in 14 of his 15 games this season with four goals and 23 assists for 27 points
18.80 The average penalty minutes per game for the Texas Brahmas, the least penalized team in the CHL…Good thing for the Brahmas who have allowed 24 goals in 106 chances while shorthanded ranking 13th in the league at 77% on the PK
12-25-07 The date the Oklahoma City Blazers won their 12th game of the season last year beating Tulsa on Christmas Day…The Blazers won their 12th game this season over a month earlier on November 23rd and currently have 13 wins and 28 points tying for the most points in the CHL this season (Colorado – 28 points)
5-0-2 The RGV Killer Bees record when outshooting their opponent…The Bees are second in the league averaging 37 shots per game but are second from the basement allowing almost 37 shots per game
11  The number of game misconducts the Tulsa Oilers have received this season…The Oilers total is the same as Rio Grande Valley, Mississippi, Colorado, Laredo, Amarillo, Texas, Wichita Rocky Mountain and Rapid City combined

TIDBITS
-Odessa has won six straight road games…More than half way to the CHL record of 10 straight wins away from home
-Arizona’s Karl Sellan has accumulated 151 PIM’s (tops in the CHL) and13 major penalties…The RGV Killer Bees team has 268 PIM’s and eight majors as an entire team
-Ken Carroll’s win a week ago in Rocky Mountain moved him to fourth all-time on the CHL’s win list passing Lance Leslie…Carroll’s 155 wins trail only Mike Gorman (163), Tony Martino (187) and Rod Branch (194)…Carroll is 3-2-1 this season with a 2.44 GAA

THIS DATE IN CHL HISTORY (November 28, 2004)
Current Dallas Stars Captain Brenden Morrow scored a power play goal for the Oklahoma City Blazers in their 4-2 win over San Angelo.  Morrow finished that season with 22 points (8-14=22) in 19 games played with the Blazers during the NHL Lockout season.