Amarillo picks up division win during three game stretch

Published on November 8, 2005 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Amarillo Gorillas News Release


AMARILLO, TX "" The Gorillas took to the road to begin another busy 3-games-in-3-days weekend, starting in Wichita before returning home for a pair against Lubbock and Tulsa.

Overall, Amarillo picked up two points over the weekend, dropping to third place in the Southwest Division though still sit just one point behind Lubbock and Odessa in the standings.

The most glaring numbers came in the form of penalties, as Amarillo and its three opponents combined for 240 penalty minutes, 131 for the Gorillas, and 9-for-60 when playing for the man-advantage. Amarillo, entering the weekend with the Central Hockey League's most successful power play unit, was just 3-for-25 (12%) and 29-of-25 (83%) on the penalty kill.

Surprisingly enough, the calmest game from the weekend came against division-rival Lubbock. Still, we begin the look at the contests in Wichita.

4-2 LOSS AT WICHITA:

In a penalty minute-filled contest in Wichita, the Gorillas lost 4-2 to the first-place Thunder. Amarillo entered the game having lead for only one-minute-and-twenty-five-seconds all season long and it was unable to add to that margin, falling behind 1-0 from the outset.

The two teams played almost dead-even throughout the first period, both squads killing a rash of penalties and only combining for 21 shots on net. But, with just under three minutes remaining in the first, the Thunder struck while on the power play at the hands of Daniel Tetrault. It was the defenseman's second goal of the season, with assists going to Jason Duda and Travis Clayton. The score remained 1-0 in favor of Wichita for another 21 minutes, at which point the Thunder doubled their lead, again on the power play, this time on a Clayton goal, his third. Again Tetrault was involved in the play, as was Tab Lardner, each getting a point.

Wichita made it 3-0 on yet another power play goal early in the third, with Duda earning his third goal of the year and assists were awarded to Ryan Fairbam and Joe Blazneck, the Central Hockey League's Player of the Month for October. All three goals were scored on former Thunder goaltender Jamie Vandespyker, who allowed four goals on the evening and blocked 35 shots. Only then did Amarillo's attempt at a comeback begin.

Rich Hansen, a new acquisition playing in his first CHL game, walked into the left end of the ice while on the power play and tallied his second career goal. His first came at the end of last season with the Muskegon Fury of the United Hockey League. Derek Hahn and Mark DeSantis each recorded assists. Hahn leads the team in most of the major offensive categories. Meanwhile, DeSantis has earned at least one point in every game this season.

Less than four minutes after Hansen's goal, the youngster helped out with another Gorilla goal, this time scored by Hahn, with Kevin Wilson notching the other assist. The game stood at 3-2 with just under 12 minutes to play. But, Wichita struck again with a little more than three minutes remaining on a Kris Wiebe even-strength goal, only the second even-strength score of the game. Lardner earned another assist, as did Tyler Liebel.

The game then had a rather messy ending, with 22 penalty minutes being dished out at the 20:00 mark of the third period. Chris Bain was given 7 of his 16 PIMs on the night for charging and fighting for his tilt with Trevor Socholotuk. Meanwhile, Keith Rowe was given ten minutes for abuse. All told, the teams combined for 94 penalty minutes, with Amarillo getting the 55-39 edge. The squads also combined to go 4-for-22 with the man-advantage. Sebastien Laplante took the win in net for Wichita, stopping 26 shots and allowing only two scores as his team improved to 4-1-0. Amarillo dropped to 1-3-1 with its third consecutive loss.

3-1 WIN VERSUS LUBBOCK:

Riding a three-game losing streak entering play, the Gorillas responded against the division rival Lubbock Cotton Kings with a 3-1 victory at The Jungle. The game was a defensive battle for the first 13:31 before rookie forward Keith Rowe batted home a Derek Hahn slapper for his third goal of the season, all three coming on the power play. Both Hahn and Brent Hughes earned assists. The goal marked the first time that the Gorillas had scored first in a game through six contests this season.

The second period belonged entirely to Hahn and the Gorillas. With Amarillo already up 1-0, Hahn doubled that margin with his fifth goal of the season by sending home a Kevin Wilson deflection in the left end of the ice at the 7:59 mark. Wilson would get credit for an assist, as would new addition Richie Hansen, his third point in two games. Nearly nine minutes later, Hahn would strike again for his sixth goal of the year, this time with the man-advantage, and third point of the game. Hughes would be credited with his second assist of the evening. 3-0 Amarillo after 40 minutes of play.

Lubbock attempted a comeback early in the third period when Vic Pereira, also on the power play, scored his first professional goal. Bobby Brown and Nolan Graham got the helpers. After that, the game belonged to Amarillo's defense and its goaltending of Shawn Degagne, back in net after back-to-back games on the bench.

Degagne allowed just one score while blocking 26 shots. Meanwhile, Lance Leslie, who had bested Degagne in net earlier in the season, allowed three goals and stopped 28 blasts. The Gorillas out-shot the Cotton Kings 31-27 and extended their streak of scoring a power play goal in a game to a season-long six contests. Amarillo was 2-for-7 with the man-advantage and killed off 9-of-10 penalties. Win the win, the Gorillas leap-frogged Lubbock into second place in the three-team Southwest division.

4-1 LOSS VERSUS TULSA:

It was a bit of a mess...that's simply the easiest way to describe it.

Amarillo and Tulsa matched up Sunday evening to close out a busy weekend and the Gorillas were defeated by their worst margin of the season, three goals, at the hands of the Oilers. The game also involved 33 penalty offenses for 108 penalty minutes and 21 power play opportunities between the two teams. The ironic thing is, after 20 minutes of play, that truly never could have been predicted.

With Shawn Degagne in net for the second straight day for Amarillo, Tulsa countered with Chris King, who entered undefeated at 2-0-0 with a 2.40 Goals-Against-Average, good for fourth in the CHL.

It was an extremely calm first period, featuring 22 shots, the Gorillas with the 12-10 edge, and just six penalty minutes. There was a lone score at the 8:02 mark, Mario Joly's first of the season, assisted on by Korey Diehl and Klage Kabel. It was the sixth time in just seven games that Amarillo allowed its opponent to score first.

Then, penalty minutes slowly picked up early in the second period before all hell broke loose at the 10:01 mark. After an Oiler player fell into Degagne's net in the right end of the ice, a pile up began involving nearly every player on the ice, with the exception of Tulsa goaltender Chris King who wanted to get involved but was encouraged to stay at his end of the ice. It proved to be a wise move.

Degagne and rookie Shawn Futers exchanged a couple of quick blows before Degagne intelligently retreated to the Gorillas' bench, where he would attempt to wait out the rest of the scrap that was taking place against the right end-boards. Meanwhile, Trevor Socholotuk was getting physical with Oilers defenseman Ryan Moren. Upon Futers noticing that Degagne had left the shoving match, he rushed toward the Gorillas bench, avoiding restraint, and proceeded to fight more with Degagne. He was also greeted by some blasts to the head from behind by Ryan Shannon. At the end of it all, Degagne, with 25 saves on 26 shots at the time, and Futers were both ejected and 60 penalty minutes were issued. There would eventually be 94 PIMs in the second period alone.

Degagne was replaced in net by Jamie Vandespyker who, without warm-ups, struggled immediately. He allowed two goals in the first handful of shots that he faced, both to Mario Joly, once short-handed and once on the power play. The scores would give Joly a natural hat trick and Chad Moore, Michael Young and Todd Paul would all earn assists. After two periods of play, 3-0 Tulsa. The Oilers would also out-shoot Amarillo 19-5 in the second.

Amarillo's hopes at a comeback were all but sealed just 55 seconds into the final period when Todd Paul, on the power play, netted his first goal of the season, with Jim Dahl and Joly getting the helpers. The point was Joly's fourth of the evening.

The Gorillas were able to avoid the shutout by getting one score across at the 13:28 mark when Bryan Lachapelle was tripped in the right end of the ice but managed to simultaneously fist the puck past King with his stick. Jeremy Kyte would earn the lone assist in his first game against the team that had traded him only days prior. The goal was Lachapelle's second of the season.

When all was said and done, Amarillo was out-shot 39-25 and each team was issued 54 penalty minutes for a total of 108. The Gorillas failed to score on the power play for the first time all season, going 0-for-8 with the man-advantage, while they were 11-of-13 on the penalty kill. Shawn Degagne play 30:01 minutes and stopped 25 shots, allowing one goal and Jamie Vandespyker allowed three scores in 13 shots. He would also take the loss, dropping his record to 0-3-1. Chris King improved to 3-0-0 with 24 saves in 25 opportunities.

With the loss, the Gorillas dropped to third place in the Southwest Division with five points on a 2-4-1 record. Lubbock and Odessa each have six points. Tulsa improved to 4-2-0.

ON TAP:

Amarillo plays this coming Friday and Saturday on the road at Laredo and Corpus Christi, respectively.

FRIDAY at Laredo "" 7:30 PM "" Laredo Entertainment Center All Time: 5-3-0 vs. Wichita (1-0-0 in 2005-2006)

SATURDAY at Corpus Christi "" 7:35 PM "" AmericanBank Center All Time: 9-4-1 vs. Lubbock (0-0-0 in 2005-2006)

TOP PLAYERS FROM THE WEEKEND:

Derek Hahn "" 3 Goals (1 PP), 2 Assists

Richie Hansen "" Goal (PP), 2 Assists, +1

Shawn Degagne "" 1-0-0, 51 saves, 2 goals against, 90:01 minutes

RADIO:

Amarillo Gorillas Hockey Presented by NewsChannel 10 this weekend will be broadcast on 1440 AM The Score with Gorillas Pre-Game set to begin at 7:15 pm on both Friday and Sunday. The games will also be available at www.amarillogorillas.com and on CHLTV.

GET TICKETS:

Great seats are still available! Tickets for Gorillas games can be purchased at the Gorillas Hockey Office, located at 1934 Civic Circle off of I-40 and Georgia, the Civic Center Box Office and all Panhandle Ticket Outlets. These include Randy's Music Mart, the West Texas Event Center in Canyon and United Supermarkets. Tickets can also be charged by phone at (806) 378-3096 or (806) 242-PUCK (7825).

For further information on the Amarillo Gorillas, please contact Broadcaster and Director of Media and Public Relations Adam Kaufman at (806) 242-PUCK (7825).

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Central Hockey League Stories from November 8, 2005


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