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Shots from the Point for February 8, 2013

February 8, 2013 - Central Hockey League (CHL) News Release


Three Things You Need to Know

1.) Back Behind the Bench- The Arizona Sundogs (22-20-4) announced this week that Scott Muscutt will be the team's head coach for the remainder of the season. The last time Muscutt was behind a bench, his team won the CHL Championship (Bossier-Shreveport - 2011). Muscutt is well decorated reaching the post-season in 10 of his 11 seasons as a coach and he is second on the league's all-time wins list (432). He inherits a team that has not lost since David Lohrei stepped down early last week as the team's coach. Arizona is currently tied for fifth place in the Berry Conference and are currently riding a four-game win streak. The Sundogs will need Muscutt this weekend when they travel to Rapid City for a pair of games against the Rush, a team they have beaten just three times in the last 22 meetings (RPD is 19-3-0 against ARZ since the start of the 2010-11 season).

2.) Gale Leading the Way- The Denver Cutthroats (23-17-6) lost in a shootout against Arizona on Tuesday night but that did not stop forward A.J. Gale from continuing his torrid pace scoring both the Fish's goals. Gale leads the league with 29 goals and is tied for first in points with 63. Over his last 11 games, the Nanaimo, British Columbia native has struck for nine goals. Over his last eight home games, Gale has scored seven goals with five assists. The Cutthroats host the Fort Worth Brahmas (25-15-5) this weekend in a pair of games pitting the league's third and fourth place teams. Denver is 5-0-2 in their last seven home games and the Brahmas are 5-1-0 in their last six road games.

3.) Menei Hits Stride- What a run for Tulsa forward Ryan Menei who has been on an unparalleled pace scoring seven goals over his last two games. The Oilers have benefitted from his hot hand winning a season-best four straight games and for Menei, he has accounted for more than half of his team's 20 goals over that span. In his last four games, the Winnipeg native has lit the lamp 11 times giving him 26 goals on the season, second in the CHL. Although it is a record that is not kept, it is believed that his seven goals in two games is a league record. The 2011 CHL MVP finalist is doing it alone as line mate Ben Gordon has dished out a dozen assists over the last four games and is tied for the league lead in points with 63 (24-39=63). Gordon has also been getting his share of goals with scores in each of the last three games. Menei's last outing saw him score four times giving him 18 goal s since Christmas (had just eight goals in the 28 games before December 25). The Oilers have a busy weekend with road games in Wichita and Missouri on Friday/Saturday and then a home game against Allen on Sunday.

By the Numbers

7: The current winless streak of the Allen Americans (25-9-8) which stands as the longest in the team's history. The previous long was four games done during each of the last two seasons (2010-11 and 2011-12). Allen has not won a game since January 19 (a 2-1 win at Arizona) and are 1-4-6 in their last 11 games. Allen hosts Missouri on Friday night.

One-Timers

-Tulsa goaltender Shane Madolora had a rough start with the Oilers going 1-5-1 in his first seven decisions but since has shown some great promise with a 7-4-0 mark and four straight wins. The rookie is 8-9-1 with a .905 save percentage on the season.

-Maybe no offensive player has been hotter than Quad City's Mickey Lang over the past dozen games. The second-year forward is currently riding an 11-game point streak with nine goals and 12 assists over that stretch. The high-scorer is also a +8 over his last eight contests. Lang has 24 goals and 30 assists on the season (tied for fifth in the CHL in scoring).

-Rapid City returns home on Friday for their first home game since a 5-2 win over Missouri on January 19. The Rush went 3-3 on their recently completed six-game road trip with all three wins coming in either overtime or a shootout.

-Wichita defenseman Nathan Lutz leads all blue liners with a +20 plus/minus rating (+6 better than any other d-man in the league). Lutz has two goals and 20 assists on the season and has been even or a plus in 29 of the 39 games he has played this season.

-The Bloomington Blaze will look to right the ship this weekend when they have a home-and-home with Quad City and then host Missouri on Sunday. The Blaze are just 1-4-1 in their last six games and are currently on a three-game losing streak (tied for the longest slide of the season).

-The Missouri Mavericks have just two wins in their last six games and forward John-Scott Dickson has netted the game winning goal in both of those wins. On the season, Dickson has 17 goals and is tied for the league lead with six game winners.

-Be sure to catch all of the action on CHL-TV all season long.

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Central Hockey League Stories from February 8, 2013


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