CHL Colorado Eagles

Another Panks Hat Trick Ignites Eagles Offense

Published on November 21, 2008 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Colorado Eagles News Release


LOVELAND, Colo. - The Colorado Eagles defeated the Rapid City Rush, 8-2, tonight on Greg Pankewicz's third hat trick of the season and the most explosive period in franchise history. Only four Eagles -- one of them being goaltender Morgan Cey -- went without a point on the night as the home team rung up seven goals in the middle frame.

Colorado got the first goal of the game -- the seventh time they've done so this season -- when Konrad Reeder scored just 1:51 in. The goal was the Eagles' 25th scored in the first period this season, more than any other team in the league. The tally developed when Tom Reimann banked a shot off the neutral zone boards to Ryan Tobler entering the Rush zone along the left wing. Tobler then quickly threw a pass diagonally through the zone to Reeder breaking toward the net wide open, and he easily directed the puck into the empty half of the net. Rapid City countered at 4:12 after Adam Hogg overskated a drop pass just inside the offensive zone and the play moved the other way with Brady Olsen snapping his first professional shot into the top left corner with a beautiful shot from the top of the right circle.

The Eagles erupted in the second with the best period in their history. They scored seven goals (the most ever in a period) on just 16 shots -- bolstered by Greg Pankewicz's third hat trick of the early season. His three markers improved his league-leading goal total to 14, with nine of them coming via hat tricks (64.3 percent). The first marker came just 37 seconds into the period when the Eagles' captain, streaking down the left wing, took a pass from Ed McGrane and cut across the front of the crease before getting Miguel Beaudry to go down and beat him with a sharp-angled shot from the right side of the net.

At 2:31, Reeder sent a pass the length of the neutral zone to spring Pankewicz again on a huge breakaway; this time he beat the Rush netminder with a forehand move. Under two minutes later, Riley Nelson took the puck down the left wing and passed it through the crease where Scott Polaski wiffed on the tap-in, but Kevin Ulanski was right behind him to toss it into the empty half of the cage. At that point, Rapid City called a timeout, trying to regroup, but just 10 seconds after the ensuing faceoff, Ulanski struck again when he sent a pass from the right mid-boards to a pinching Aaron Schneekloth on the back door, but the puck deflected in before it got to the Eagles defenseman (the 10 seconds between scores was one second off the franchise record of nine seconds).

The Eagles kept coming. About a minute and a half later, while on the man advantage, Pankewicz had a golden opportunity to notch his third goal of the period from between the circles, but Beaudry came out to challenge and stacked his pads to rob the veteran forward. But at 9:53, he wouldn't be denied when he scored on yet another breakaway after a turnover at the Eagles' blue line. Two and a half minutes later, Polaski set up Adam Hogg for Colorado's sixth goal of the period. And just 18 seconds later, Hogg set up Steve Haddon for the team's seventh -- setting a new team record for goals in a period. The crowd gave the club a standing ovation as the second intermission horn sounded.

As if the game didn't have enough excitement for the home crowd already, Tobler was awarded a penalty shot four and a half minutes into the final frame, but shot just wide of a leaning Beaudry. Kyle Sheen got the game's only power-play goal at 5:11, but it was inconsequential at that point.

The Eagles host the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs Saturday night before the Rocky Mountain Rage come to town on Thanksgiving Eve.

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Central Hockey League Stories from November 21, 2008


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