Thunder Weekly
February 20, 2012 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Wichita Thunder News Release
HUNTING SEASON SUCCESS- Wichita started out a busy week with a win against Laredo and Quad City. On Tuesday, Wichita blitzed Laredo, scoring four unanswered goals and won easily 6-1. Bryan Hogan earned the win, stopping 24 of 25 shots and RG Flath had a pair of goals to pace the Thunder. Only three players failed to record a point while Chappell, Flath and Summers each had two. Afterwards, a mass wedding took place as the Thunder brought back the Valentine's Day tradition that took a year off last season. Friday night, Wichita held on in a close affair against the Quad City Mallards. The two teams came into the game as the two highest scoring teams in the league, but both combined for just three goals. Quad City was without leading-scorer Brandon Marino and Wichita took advantage. Aaron Davis returned to the line-up and had two points and Matt Robinson scored the game-winning-goal just six seconds into a power play in the third. Starter Bryan Hogan was outstanding again in net for Wichita and earned back-to-back wins despite leaving midway through the final period with an undisclosed injury.
THUNDER SPLIT WITH MAVS- Wichita began a stretch of seven straight games against Missouri and Evansville this past Saturday night. Both goalies were outstanding in the first 35 minutes of the game before Dustin Donaghy put Wichita on the board with less than five minutes left in the second period. Matt Robinson scored two third-period goals and Travis Wight added an empty-netter as the Thunder extended its winning streak over the Mavericks to five straight with a 4-1 win. However, Missouri pounced on Wichita on Sunday afternoon in front of a large crowd and held on late. The Mavericks took a 4-0 lead before the Thunder mounted a furious rally that fell just short. Wichita scored three more goals in the third period, but Mavs starter Charlie Effinger wouldn't allow the equalizer and held on for the 4-3 win. Wichita remains in first place four points ahead of the Allen Americans in the Berry Conference as Allen was idle on Sunday.
PACKIN' THE HOUSE- Sunday afternoon was the fourth-largest crowd in franchise history . A year ago on Credit Union of America Night, Wichita hosted 10,114. This season, Thunder fans almost broke that mark as 10,085 came out to INTRUST Bank Arena. The largest crowd in franchise history was on January 23rd, 2010 against Tulsa (13,412) which is also the first game the Thunder played at INTRUST Bank Arena. Wichita is second in overall attendance in the CHL, averaging 6,273 fans per game. The franchise-best for average attendance in a season dates back to 1994-95, when Wichita averaged 6,525 per game.
POTW- Matt Robinson was named as the Oakley CHL Player of the Week on Monday. Robinson has had a productive February, recording 13 points including four game-winners. Last week, he scored the winning-goal in three consecutive games, beginning on Tuesday in Wichita's 6-1 win over Laredo. He then had two points against Quad City and followed that up with two goals in the third period against Missouri on Saturday. Robinson had five points during the week and is now tied for first in the CHL for game-winning goals (7). Robinson leads the Thunder with 25 goals, which also puts him in a fourth-place tie in that category overall in the CHL and is five goals shy of recording back-to-back 30 goal seasons.
HOGANS HEROES- Since coming over from Dayton, Bryan Hogan has been a wall in net for Wichita. The Michigan graduate earned victories in back-to-back starts and trimmed his already low goals-against-average to 1.16 in Thunder blue. He is 5-0-0 in six appearances with Wichita and is now above .500 for his season totals with a record of 12-11-5. Hogan has allowed just six goals with the Thunder and gloats a .954 save percentage. Before leaving Friday's game against Quad City, he had stopped all 28 shots he faced.
STREAKS - Matt Summers extended his point-scoring streak to four games with three more assists on Sunday afternoon. He has seven points in that span, all of which are helpers. In his last 10 games, Summers has 13 points (2g, 11) and is a +14. Robinson had his three game goal-scoring streak snapped on Sunday.
CLOSING TIME- Wichita is at the top of many categories in the CHL, but the most important stat to look at may just be the Thunder's ability to shut down its opponent in the third period. Wichita has outscored teams this season by a wide margin in the final frame. The Thunder holds a 70-43 edge in scoring against the other teams in the league in the third. Wichita only allowed two third-period goals and scored three times in the third in two out of the four games this last week.
THUNDERBOLTS... Wichita is first in goals per game (3.60) and fifth in goals against per contest (2.72)...Wichita is second in shots allowed (28.68/game)...Wichita leads the league in combined points (476), assists (276), goals scored (180), winning percentage (.700), wins (34), and wins at home (21)...The Thunder power play away from home is ranked first, going 21-for-96 at a clip of 21.9%...Flath is first in shooting percentage (.269) while Summers is fourth (.219)...In one-goal games, Wichita is 14-5-2...In four-goal games, Wichita is 4-0-0...When leading after one, The Thunder is 16-3-1...When trailing after one, Wichita is 8-7-1...Tied after two periods, Wichita is 10-2-2...When scoring first, Wichita is 21-7-1...When giving up the first goal, Wichita is 13-6-1...When outshooting the opponent, Wichita is 18-6-0...When outshot by opponent, Wichita is 10-7-2...Wichita is 11-5-2 playing on a Friday...Wichita is 12-4-0 playing on a Saturday...The Thunder is 13-5-2 against teams from the Turner Conference while going 21-9-0 in division...In division, Wichita is 8-7-0 on the road and 13-2-0 at home
UPCOMING WEEK- The Thunder head on the road for the next two, beginning Friday night in Evansville. Wichita returns home a week from Sunday to take on the Mavericks at 5:05 p.m. For tickets, call 755-SEAT, visit the INTRUST Bank Arena box office or online at www.selectaseat.com .
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