Buzzards fall 4-2 to Jackalopes
December 28, 2002 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
El Paso Buzzards News Release
EL PASO, Texas â In a game marred by penalties, the El Paso Buzzards had their three-game losing streak snapped falling to the Odessa Jackalopes 4-2 in a wild affair. Buzzards' right wingers Derrell Upton scored a goal and an assist, Jeremy Vokes added a power play goal, but it was all for not in a losing effort. The story of the game, however, was the large amount of penalties called against El Paso. The on-ice officials called the Buzzards for 23 penalties, three game misconducts and three 10-minute misconducts.
Odessa opened the scoring with an unassisted, fluttering goal by Scott Hillman from the red line at 4:12 in the first period. The period stopped at 11:45 because referee Mark Hulshof took an inadvertent stick to the mouth in the El Paso zone. When play resumed, the Buzzards had two penalties called against them right away and Odessa capitalized. Odessa forward Sebastien Thinel redirected a Hillman shot on the near side past Carmichael to give Odessa a 2-0 lead. Thinel notched his 14th goal of the season, assisted by Hillman and defenseman Jamie Yoder. The Jackalopes controlled most of the period, outshooting the Buzzards 12 to 4 after one period.
In the second period, the Buzzards got aggressive and frustrated. Buzzards' defenseman Rhett Dudley started the chaos with a one-sided fight and received a game misconduct for instigating the fisticuffs. The disarray continued when Buzzards' right winger Josh Tymchak made a clean hit along the near side boards, but Hulshof called an illegal use of the stick penalty and the forward. Hulshof said Tymchak used the base of his stick to purposely injure Odessa's Thinel. The icing on the cake came when Buzzards' defenseman Mike Zeibaq came to the aid of left winger Russ Guzior and mixed it up. He received a 10-minute misconduct for his actions. Odessa scored two power-play goals and went up 4-0 after two periods.
Daunted by a four-goal deficit, the Buzzards searched deep inside to make it a close game. Upton started the offensive scoring for the Buzzards 56 seconds into the third period with a backhanded goal past Jackalopes goaltender Mike Gorman. Buzzards' Bob Rapoza and Scott Mahar assisted on the play. Then Vokes scored a power play goal at 9:05 in the second period, assisted by Upton and defenseman Jason Tessier. The Buzzards outshot Odessa 18 to 3 in the period, but it wasn't enough as Odessa came away with the victory.
The loss drops the Buzzards to 9-17-2 overall and 7-10-1 at the Nest. Odessa improves to 20-6-4 and 8-3-2 on the road. The Jackalopes have now won all six contests between the two clubs this season.
The Buzzards' next game will be at 7 p.m., Monday, at the Nest against the archrival New Mexico Scorpions. Listen to all of the Buzzards games on 1380 AM, El Paso's Sports Ticket with the voice of the Buzzards, Michael LaPlaca.
Central Hockey League Stories from December 28, 2002
- This year's Ice best ever - OSC Original by Mike Wallin
- Buzzards fall 4-2 to Jackalopes - El Paso Buzzards
- Brahmas Slapshot for Saturday, December 28 at Oklahoma City - Fort Worth Brahmas
- Schneider Returns to Laredo - Laredo Bucks
- Bucks Game Notes - Laredo Bucks
- Austin @ Lubbock Preview - Lubbock Cotton Kings
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