CHL Headlines for Friday, December 17
Streaking Clubs
Both the Bloomington PrairieThunder (12-6-1) and the Arizona Sundogs (11-10-3) enter play this weekend on win streak and both have been climbing the ranks in their respective conferences by racking up the points. The PThunder have won four straight games and are three points behind Colorado and Rapid City for first place in the Turner Conference. The ‘Dogs have won three straight games and have moved their point total overall from six on Nov. 13 to 25 just over a month later. The Sundogs have gone 9-3-1 in their last 13 games and will host the Rush on Friday and Saturday night at Tim’s Toyota Center. Bloomington has gone 6-2-0 in their last 10 games and they host Dayton on Friday and Wichita on Saturday.
No Defense Needed
The Wichita Thunder (11-9-2) host the Tulsa Oilers (11-13-1) on Friday night, the seventh meeting of the season between the two teams with each team winning three times. On Tuesday, the Thunder ended the Oilers six-game win streak with a 7-6 victory at the BOK Center. Wichita is 2-1-0 in Tulsa this season scoring 18 times in those three games. The Oilers are 2-1-0 in Wichita scoring 13 times in those three games including seven strikes in a 7-4 win on Dec. 11. The two rivals are combining to score more than seven goals per game this season with Wichita ranking fourth in the league and Tulsa ranking sixth. Tulsa’s Harrison Reed and Wichita’s Andrew Martens are each on five-game point streaks with Reed accumulating nine points and Martens seven points.
Thursday Night’s Solo Show
The Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs had won three straight one-goal contests against the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees but on Thursday in the lone contest on the CHL schedule, the Bees turned the tables with a 4-3 win at the CenturyTel Center. Sean Muncy and Aaron Lewicki each scored a pair of goals in the win for the Bees and Tomas Klempa and Aaron Lee each contributed a pair of helpers.
Numbers Game
6- The magic number for the Colorado Eagles (13-6-2) on home ice when they host the Missouri Mavericks (11-7-3) as in all three games played at the Budweiser Events Center in the history of the two teams has seen the Eagles win by scoring six goals. In the all-time series, the Eagles have won four of the six meetings but Missouri has taken each of the last two games (both in Missouri).
6-3-0- The home record of the Quad City Mallards this season who play game two of a four-game home stand on Friday versus Fort Wayne. The Flock will next host Evansville on Dec. 18 and Dec. 22. The Mallards are 3-1-0 in their last four home contests and will play five of their next six games in the friendly confines.
15- The number of points the Missouri Mavericks (11-7-3) have earned in their last 11 games posting a 7-3-1 mark over that stretch. The Mavs are sitting tied for third in the Turner Conference with 25 points. Goalie Rob Nolan is 3-1-0 in his last four decisions allowing just six goals (1.56 GAA) over that stretch. His 2.06 GAA overall is tops in the CHL.
18- The league-leading number of goals that Bossier-Shreveport’s David Rutherford has scored this season. Rutherford struck for two scores Thursday night in the ‘Bugs 4-3 loss to RGV. Odessa’s Sebastien Thinel, the league’s leading scorer with 41 points (16-25=41), is second sitting two goals behind Rutherford.
10- The number of goals that Luke Erickson has scored for the Arizona Sundogs since coming over in a trade from Rapid City. Erickson has 19 points (10-9=19) in 13 games with the Sundogs and is coming off his third multiple goal game for his new team and it just so happened to come against his old team.
Slap Shots
-The Fort Wayne Komets (5-13-1) are stuck in a five-game losing streak and this week shook things up on the roster releasing Brandon Naurato (25 goals and 46 points with Port Huron-IHL last season) and removing the Captain and Alternate Captain labels from veterans Guy Dupuis and P.C. Drouin. The Komets are in Quad City (11-11-0) on Friday and then host Dayton (11-9-1) on Saturday.
-For the first time this season, the Dayton Gems (11-9-1) have lost three straight games and have seen their spot in the Turner Conference fall to the sixth spot with 23 points. The Gems have been outscored 14-6 over their three-game slide but will look to turn things around this weekend with games at Bloomington and Fort Wayne.
-The Mississippi RiverKings (11-11-1) were the first CHL team to make a coaching change this season relieving Kevin ‘Killer’ Kaminski (the 2009 CHL Coach of the Year) and replacing him with Paul Gardner who spent seven seasons as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Nashville Predators among many other impressive stops on his resume. Gardner’s first chance for a ‘w’ will be at home on Friday night when the ‘Kings host the Evansville IceMen.
This Date in CHL History (Dec. 17, 2005)
The Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees defeated the Laredo Bucks 2-1 in a game that Terry Dunbar made 24 saves and helped thwart nine of 10 Bucks power plays earning the win for the Bees. Bill Newson and Clay Plume (now with the Mudbugs) scored the goals for the visiting Bees whose strikes both came on the power play. The loss would spur on a hot stretch for the Bucks as they would go 16-3-1 in their next 20 games and cruise to the Ray Miron Presidents’ Cup Championship that season. Laredo would lose in regulation only seven more time that season finishing 43-15-6. The Bees and Bucks meet for the 100th time in the history of the rivalry on Saturday night in Laredo.
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