Cotton Kings Weekly Update

Published on December 27, 2005 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Lubbock Cotton Kings News Release


FOR THE WEEK OF Dec. 26 - Jan. 1st

KINGS LOOK TO CLOSE THE YEAR ON A GOOD NOTE

The Lubbock Cotton Kings went into the Christmas Break in a not so jolly way, as the Kings lost a three-game set to the Odessa Jackalopes last week to fall eight standing-points back from the Southwest Division leading Jackalopes. The three-game losing streak has placed the Kings record to 12-13-1 and they have fallen under .500 for the first time since November 17th, when the record was 5-6-1. Lubbock's has gone 2-4-0 in their last six games and five of the contests, including their last four games, have been decided by just one goal. This week, Lubbock seeks to get the bounces going their way, as they look to grab some wins with three games scheduled over a four-day period. Lubbock starts the week, ending the Christmas Break Wednesday on the road in Austin with a tilt against the Austin Ice Bats. The Kings return home Friday to host the Corpus Christi Rayz before closing the week Saturday hosting the Northeast Division Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs.

STARTING TO LOOK LIKE STARS

The 2006 Central Hockey League All-Star Game, presented by Obra Homes, will be held Wednesday, January 18th in Hidalgo, Texas, hosted by the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees. Last week, the Head Coaches were decided, as Laredo's Terry Ruskowski will coach the Southern Conference and Colorado's Chris Stewart will head the Northern Conference squad. The coaches, who ironically coached their respective teams against each other in last season's President's Cup Series, were selected because their teams held the highest winning percentage in their conference at the end of games completed on December 23rd. Voting for starting members began last week, with each team represented by three forwards, two defensemen and a goaltender on the ballots. The voting will be conducted by team coaches, team broadcast/media staff members and a select media member from each CHL market. The voting is only for starters, as Ruskowski and Stewart, along with advisement from the CHL's Hockey Operations Department, will select the non-starting members to the All-Star roster. Each team will have at least one member invited to the All-Star game. All players, not just the players on the ballots, are eligible to be selected onto the roster (non-starters) by Ruskowski and Stewart when they select the non-starters. The following is a breakdown of Cotton Kings members that are on the ballots:

FORWARDS:

Nolan Graham - The second year Cotton Kings member currently leads the Cotton Kings in points with 25 and goals with 14. He ranks tied for 10th in the CHL in goals (10), which is tied for fifth in the Southern Conference. 7 of the goals are power play goals, which ranks him tied for seventh in the CHL and second in the Southern Conference.

Jan Melichercik - The Kings all-time leading scorer started off the season on a slow note, but has sped up the offensive pace recently. He ranks second in scoring on the Kings roster with 21 points and leads the Kings with 17 assists. In the past ten games, Melichercik has three goals and ten assists for 13 points.

Kyle Nosan - A native of Baudette, MN, Nosan leads all first-year rookies on the Kings squad with 17 points (7g,10a), which ranks tied for fifth in the CHL. He also has a CHL rookie co-leading 2 shorthanded goals.

DEFENSEMEN:

Stacey Bauman - The Yale product co-leads Cotton Kings defensemen in points with 12 and leads Kings defensemen in goals with 4. He also leads the Kings with a plus/minus of 9.

Matt Macdonald - Co-leading Kings defensemen in points with Bauman is Macdonald, who is a first-year pro out of St. Lawrence University. Macdonald leads the "D-men" in assists with 9. He also leads the club in penalty minutes with 65 and ranks third among rookies in shots with 86.

GOALTENDER:

Brett Koscielny - The youngest member of the Kings (21), "Killer" ranks second in the CHL with a 2.29 GAA and fourth with a 92.4% save percentage. Out of ten starts, only twice has he allowed more than two goals in a game. His 4-6-1 record has been overshadowed by the team's 0-4-0 record in one-goal games when Koscielny is in the pipes. Koscielny was the CHL Oakley Goaltender of the Month for November.

"HEROES & LEGACIES" COTTON KINGS "HERO OF THE WEEK"

Each week a member of the Cotton Kings is selected as the "Heroes & Legacies Hero of the Week" for their performance in the previous week's games, and this week's recipient for their effort last week is defenseman Stacey Bauman. The Hanover, Ontario native co-led all Kings scorers on the week with two points (1g,1a), leading all Kings defensemen in the week offensively. Friday, he scored the Kings lone goal in a 2-1 loss in Odessa. He followed the contest with an assist Saturday on Kyle Nosan's shorthanded goal. On the season, Bauman has 12 points off 4 goals and 8 assists, and he leads the Kings with a plus/minus rating of 8.

HOMECOMING WEEKEND

This week, the Lubbock Cotton Kings host the Corpus Christi Rayz Friday night and Bossier-Shreveport on Saturday to mark the first time this season the Kings have had consecutive home games on consecutive nights. The Kings are the last team in the CHL this season to complete the task. At home this season, the Kings are 6-3-1 and they are led by Nolan Graham, who has 10 goals and 4 assists for 14 points at home this season. Defenseman Matt Macdonald has 8 (1-7-8) of his 12 points tallied at home this season.

THIS WEEK'S "INSIDE THE NUMBERS"

4-6-1 - Record - The Lubbock Cotton Kings are 4-6-1 this season in one-goal game differentials, and are 0-4-0 in one-goal decisions against Odessa.

45- Penalty Minutes - The Kings racked up a season high 45 penalty minutes as a team on Saturday against Odessa.

97 - Points - Nolan Graham is three points away from 100 career points.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Dec. 21 @ Odessa L 1-2 Top Star: ODE - Sebastien Thinel (2 goals)

Dec. 23 vs. Odessa L 3-4 Top Star: LUB - Nolan Graham (2 goals)

WEEK AHEAD

PRACTICE TIMES: Fri: 10 - 11 AM

Wed. Dec. 28 7:30 pm @ Austin Ice Bats Radio: KFYO 790 AM TV: None

Notes: The Cotton Kings start the week on the road this week with their second trip of the season to the Travis County Expo Center to battle the Austin Ice Bats. The season series is split 1-1-0, after each team grabbed a home win in the series. Austin brings former Cotton Kings Head Coach Bill McDonald and former Kings members Dave MacIntyre and Julius Halfkenny. Lubbock faces Austin for the 22nd time all-time and holds an 9-8-4 all-time record against the Bats, while Austin holds a 12-7-2 series advantage. Nolan Graham has 5 points (4g,1a) to lead the series offensively for Lubbock this season, while Austin is led by Paul Vincent, who had 5 points (2g,3a) in the previous combined meetings this season and has since been released. The all-time leading scorer in the series is former Austin forward Dan Price, who has 22 points (9g,13a), while Lubbock 's all-time leader is Jan Melichercik, who has 5 goals and 15 assists for 20 points.

Fri. Dec. 30 7:05 pm vs. Corpus Christi Rayz Radio: KKAM 1340 AM TV: CHLTV.COM

Notes: Lubbock returns home to host the Corpus Christi Rayz to kick off the Cotton Kings New Years Eve Weekend set of games, which offers fans an opportunity to purchase four tickets for $20.06. The meeting is the second of four meetings on the season, with each team hosting a pair of games. Lubbock has dominated the all-time series with Corpus Christi with a 12-1-1 record. The Kings are 67-1-1 all-time in games played in Corpus Christi. The all-time leading scorer in the series is Jan Melichercik, who has 13 points off 4 goals and 9 assists all-time against Corpus Christi. The Rayz all-time leader in the series is former Corpus member Geoff Bumstead, who has 6 assists. Lubbock is 1-0-0 so far this season against the Rayz. The Kings won 3-2 in OT with a goal and two-point performance by Josh Anderson on December 11th.

Sat. Dec. 31 5:05 pm vs. Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs Radio: KFYO 790 AM TV: CHLTV.COM

Notes: The defending Southwest Division Champion Lubbock Cotton Kings will host the defending Northeast Division Champion Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs to close out the 2005 calendar at the Lubbock Municipal Coliseum. The ‘Kings did not play the Mudbugs during the regular season last season and Lubbock's all-time record between against the Mudbugs in regular season play is 3-5-0. The two teams will meet three times this season in regular season play with two contests scheduled in Lubbock (12/31/05, 2/16/06) and one game held in Bossier City, Louisiana (2/19/05). Jason Campbell of the Mudbugs is the series all-time leading scorer with 5 goals and 2 assists for 7 points, while Lubbock has several members tied atop the all-time list of scorers against the ‘Bugs with 5 points. Fans arriving early receive water bottles compliments of Millennium Wireless.

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Central Hockey League Stories from December 27, 2005


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