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Shots from the Point for February 3, 2012

February 3, 2012 - Central Hockey League (CHL) News Release


Top Three

1.) January Record Rewind- It was a very competitive month in the CHL to kick-off 2012 as the Evansville IceMen led the way for the month with a 10-1-2 record climbing to the top of the Turner Conference. The IceMen are followed by Missouri at 8-3-1, Wichita at 7-4-1, Allen at 7-4-1 and Rapid City at 6-2-2. Texas also finished above .500 at 6-4-1 while Bloomington at 6-6-0 and Tulsa at 5-5-2 each finished right at .500. Showing the parity for the month, the Arizona Sundogs and Dayton Gems were the bottom two clubs but both were 4-6-2, just two games under. 500. Rounding out the results for January; Quad City was 6-7-0, Fort Wayne and Laredo finished 5-6-1 and Rio Grande Valley was 5-6-2.

2.) Turner Conference Clash- It should be quite a battle at the Ford Center this weekend as the Rapid City Rush visit the Evansville IceMen on Friday and Saturday nights. The Rush are 2-2 on their current seven-game road trip and the conference-leading IceMen are coming off a 10-1-2 month of January (Rush were 6-2-2 in Jan.). The IceMen have a two point lead over the Fort Wayne Komets at the top of the conference and the Rush are tied for the final playoff spot in the Turner, just one point behind Missouri for third place. The Rush took two of three of the previous meetings, all in Rapid City, with Scott Wray and Konrad Reeder each scoring three goals against Evansville. The IceMen were an impressive 5 for 16 on the PP against Rapid City.

3.) Oilers Look to Keep Streakinng- The Tulsa Oilers have earned at least a point in six straight games and at least a point in four straight road games and this weekend they go head-to-head against the Allen Americans in the Allen Event Center. Tulsa has won both meetings in Allen this season and are 4-1 against the Americans in the season series. Michel Beausoleil and Sean Erickson each have three goals and five assists in the previous five match-ups. Tulsa has relied heavily on the third period against Allen outscoring the Americans 7-3 in the final frame. Allen is one point behind Wichita for first place in the Berry Conference and Tulsa is tied with Texas for third place in the conference.

Inside the Numbers

10: The number of wins that Evansville rookie goaltender Bryan Gillis had in January earning him both the Sher-Wood/CHL Goaltender of the Month and the 50/50 Central CHL Rookie of the Month awards. Gillis went 10-0 with a pair of shutouts. The first-year netminder has not lost a game since New Year's Eve and had a pair of shutouts in the month. He is second in the league with a 2.28 GAA and second with a .928 save percentage.

On the Fly

-Missouri's leading scorer, Sebastien Thinel, is approaching a historic milestone as he is just five points away from becoming just the seventh player to record 700 CHL points. Thinel currently has 248 goals and 447 points. Only 11 CHL players have ever reached 250 goals (Thinel needs just two scores) and with three more helpers, Thinel will become the eighth player to reach 450 assists. The Mavs host Arizona on both Friday and Saturday.

-The Oakley Three Stars of the Month for January were announced this week with Quad City's Brandon Marino earning the first star honor with 20 points followed by both Missouri's Brandon Coccimiglio and Evansville's Bryan Gillis with 19 points each. Coccimiglio earned the Sher-Wood/CHL Player of the Month with 18 points (8-10=18) in 12 games and Gillis went 10-0 during the month earning the Sher-Wood/CHL Goaltender of the Month award.

-Evansville's Mario Boilard leads the league with 143 penalty minutes this season and is third with 12 fighting majors. He is followed in total minutes by Arizona's Adam Smyth and Wichita's Erick Lizon who each have 131 penalty minutes. As for fighting majors, Lizon is tied for the most in the league with Quad City's Jason Kostadine (13 fighting majors each).

-The Missouri Mavericks and Arizona Sundogs meet this weekend for the first time since October when the Mavs earned three straight wins at Tim's Toyota Center outscoring the Sundogs 13-5. John-Scott Dickson had seven points (3-4=7) in the three games against the Sundogs. In the five all-time games played between the two teams, the home team has never won as Arizona is 2-0 all-time at the Independence Events Center. The Sundogs are beginning an 11-game road trip.

-The Quad City Mallards will try to figure out the Fort Wayne Komets on Friday night as they look to end their three-game losing streak against the Komets. Bobby Chaumont has seven points (2-5=7) against the Flock. Despite dropping three of the four games, the Mallards have benefitted from 23 PP chances compared to 10 for Fort Wayne in the four games thus far.

-Brandon Marino (QDC) and Bruce Graham (ALN) are tied for the league lead in points with 57 followed closely by Todd Robinson (EVA) with 54 points and Jesse Schultz (RPD) with 52 points and Eric Giosa (QDC) rounds out the top five with 51 points.

-The score after 40 minutes is always a big indicator of the end result but no more than the Bloomington Blaze this season who are 9-0-1 when leading after two periods and 0-23-0 when trailing. An even score after two frames is not a bad thing either for Paul Gardner's bunch as they are 6-1-1 when tied after two periods.

-Laredo's Neil Trimm currently is riding the longest active point streak in the league at eight games. The forward has 13 points (2-11=13) over those eight games. Goaltender Torrie Jung is also riding a hot streak going 4-0-1 in his last five decisions.

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Central Hockey League Stories from February 3, 2012


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