Amarillo Gorillas weekly notes

November 17, 2008 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Amarillo Gorillas News Release


Amarillo @ Oklahoma City

Thursday, November 20, 2008 - 7:10 PM - FORD CENTER

Amarillo @ Laredo

Saturday, November 22, 2008 - 7:30 PM - LAREDO ENT. CENTER

Amarillo went 1-1-0 in games played last week. The Gorillas defeated the Southwest Division-leading Odessa Jackalopes on Friday, 6-2, at the Ector County Coliseum. The following night, Amarillo traveled to Corpus Christi and lost to the IceRays in a close game, 5-4.

On the season, Amarillo is 4-8-0. They have won three of their last five games, and three of their last five against Southern Conference foes as well.

Amarillo will play their first game against Oklahoma City this season on Thursday. Last season, the two teams played each other just once last season, with Oklahoma City winning 6-3 at home on December 7, 2007. Still yet, Amarillo has won three of its last four games against the Blazers, going back to 2006-07.

The Gorillas will play Laredo for the first time in 2008-09 on Saturday. The Gorillas have not defeated the Bucks since 2005-06, going 0-4-0 versus their conference rivals over that span. Last season, the Bucks defeated the Gorillas twice, winning by a combined score of 15-3. Further, Amarillo has not won in Laredo since November 11, 2003, when they emerged with a 3-2 shootout victory.

After getting an assist in last Saturday's game against Corpus Christi, Sam Ftorek extended his point streak to ten consecutive games entering the week (4A, 11A over that span). The point streak is tied for the longest in the league, along with Laredo's Jeff Bes. Ftorek scored a season-high four points against Odessa last Friday, and leads the Gorillas in points with 15. His 15 points also ranks him among the top 25 in the league heading into this week's games.

Jason Weitzel, after potting just one goal in his first eight games, has scored five in his last four games. He netted a hat trick on 11/7/08 against Rapid City, and countered with a two-goal performance on 11/15/08 against Corpus Christi. Weitzel is now 19th in the league in goal scoring, and first on the team.

Since joining the team on 11/1/08, defenseman Neil Smith has scored three points in just five games. He is tied for the lead among defensemen for the Gorillas (with the inactive Nick Theriault) for defense scoring.

Defenseman Jamie McKinven joined the Gorillas just minutes before the team's bus left for Odessa last Friday. He had no problem adjusting to his new teammates, however, as he scored a powerplay goal that night in Odessa. The following evening, he followed his initial performance up with another powerplay goal against the IceRays. After just two games with the Gorillas, he leads the defensive corps in goals with two.

CLEARING THE ZONE: Joe Guenther, who played with Amarillo in 2005-06, is second on the Gorillas in goals with five...Gordon Bell and Neil Smith lead the Gorillas with a +1 rating...Amarillo is the third-least penalized team in the league with just 22.6 penalty minutes taken per game...the Gorillas have yet to win a Saturday game in 2008-09, going 0-4-0 this season...after spending the first eight games last in the CHL in penalty killing, the Gorillas' penalty killing has improved to 79.8% (12th in the CHL)...Amarillo has killed off 27 of the last 30 opponents' power plays.



Central Hockey League Stories from November 17, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central