Monday, February 22, 2010

CENTRAL HOCKEY LEAGUE HEADLINES

Mudbugs Strengthen Hold on Third Place
The Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs are on a four-game win streak heading into Tuesday’s game versus Texas.  The ‘Bugs are sitting in the third spot in the Northern Conference sitting six points ahead of the fourth place Mississippi RiverKings.  The Mudbugs are 13-6-1 in 2010.  Bossier-Shreveport has outscored their opponents 20-6 over their four-game streak including a 6-0 victory in Tulsa on Sunday.  David Rutherford continues to have the hot hand for the ‘Bugs with eight points (4-4=8) over his last five games all while riding the league’s longest active point streak at 16 games.  In net, Ken Carroll has won his last three decisions with a 1.97 goals against average.  The veteran goaltender is tied for the league lead with a .923 save percentage.

IceRays Flex Muscle at Home
The Corpus Christi IceRays are coming off a weekend that saw them blast a pair of opponents beating Laredo 9-4 on Friday and Northern Conference leading Rapid City 5-0 on Saturday.  The Rays are 4-1-1 in their last six games overall and have won three straight on home ice scoring 19 goals over those three games.  Forward Chad Woollard scored five goals and added five assists over those three wins.  Newcomer Kevin Beech has been solid in net earning his second shutout with the Rays in the win versus the Rush.  So far, Beech is 6-2-1 since joining Corpus Christi with a 2.43 goals against average and a .922 save percentage.

Weekly Awards
The Oakley CHL Player/Goaltender of the Week, respectively, were announced today with Corpus Christi’s Chad Woollard winning the player honor and Texas’ Brett Jaeger winning the goaltender award.  Both are arguably the two hottest players at their position as Woollard leads the CHL in goals with 35 and has 10 points (5-5=10) in his last four games and 17 points (11-6=17) in his last eight games.  Woollard notched his third hat trick in the past month on Friday night versus Laredo.  For Jaeger, he has won eight straight games allowing just 10 goals over that stretch and is 17-10-1 on the season ranking second in the CHL with a 2.45 goals against average and third with a .921 save percentage.  Jaeger won the award last week as well and three total times on the season.

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BY THE NUMBERS

26- The number of hat tricks in the franchise history of the Colorado Eagles after Ed McGrane’s third hat trick as an Eagle on Saturday night versus Mississippi.  McGrane scored the game winner and two empty-net goals accounted for the hat trick giving McGrane a team leading 27 on the season.   

60- The franchise record number of assists that Odessa’s Sebastien Thinel has this season (ranks first in the CHL).  The reigning CHL Most Valuable Player has 21 points (3-18=21) in the month of February.

27%- The power play percentage of the Amarillo Gorillas over their last five games.  They are 8 for 30 over that stretch scoring a PP goal in each of those five contests.  Overall, the Gorillas are ninth in the CHL connecting 15.3% of the time.  Amarillo begins a season-long six-game road trip on Tuesday night in Colorado that continues with a pair of games in Odessa over the weekend and then three straight games in Arizona versus the Sundogs next week.

4- The number of goals the Rapid City Rush has scored over their last three games although over that span they have remarkably earned three points going 1-1-1.  The drought comes after they scored 19 goals over the three games immediately leading up to their recent offensive struggles.  The Rush are third in the CHL averaging just under four goals per contest.

2-5-1- The record of the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees over their last eight games as they now trail the Corpus Christi IceRays by four points for the fifth and final playoff spot in the South.  The Bees are still in a good spot though as they go head-to-head with the Rays five times before the end of the season including this week on Thursday and Saturday.  The IceRays lead the season series five wins to four.

11- The number of consecutive wins the Mudbugs have over the Tulsa Oilers after Sunday’s shutout at the BOK Center.  The ‘Bugs and Oilers will meet twice more this week (Saturday and Sunday at the BOK Center).

13- The number of consecutive one-goal games the Arizona Sundogs have played in going 6-4-3 over that stretch earning 15 of a possible 26 points.
 
SLAP SHOTS

-The Wichita Thunder won their first game at their new arena, the INTRUST Bank Arena, on Sunday afternoon knocking off the Texas Brahmas who had won eight straight games entering that contest.  Wichita had lost 19 straight home games, a CHL record, before their 1-0 win over the Brahmas which was fueled by Ian Keserich’s first shutout with the Thunder.  Keserich earns his first win for the Thunder in his 14th game, this while boasting an impressive .922 save percentage and a 2.67 goals against average.

-Colorado ended the Mississippi RiverKings seven-game win streak against them on Saturday night with a 6-3 victory at the Budweiser Events Center.  Despite the loss, Louis Dumont scored two goals (one on a penalty shot) giving him six goals in three games versus the Eagles this season.

-The Allen Americans can be the second CHL team to clinch a playoff spot as early as Tuesday night when they play at Rio Grande Valley.  Allen looks to join Odessa as teams that have already punched their tickets for the post-season.  Allen is eight points behind Odessa for first place in the South and lead the third place Texas Brahmas by 11 points.  The Americans can earn that first-ever playoff berth with a win versus the Killer Bees on Tuesday.

-Ryan Garbutt (CRP) and Nick Sirota (MIZ) continue to go head-to-head for the rookie scoring lead with Garbutt holding the advantage with 41 points (20-21=41) compared to Sirota’s 40 points (17-23=40).