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Chicago Hounds Weekly Notes

December 19, 2006 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Chicago Hounds News Release


Hounds Comeback Thwarted: The Chicago Hounds nearly came back in the final minutes of Saturday nights contest versus the best team in the league when assistant captain Greg Koehler scored two power-play goals. With Chicago down three goals late, it seemed all but over. Hounds goaltender, Marty Magers had evacuated the crease for an extra attacker. While the Hounds shuffled the puck around, Captain Steve Cygan made a brilliant pass to Greg Koehler who stationed himself on the doorstep of the crease and rifled a shot that beat Fury goalie Clayton Pool at 17:45. In the final minute, Chicago was sporting a six-on-three man advantage. It was Koehler who again scored against Pool who was sprawling after he made an initial save on Chris Busby's point shot. Despite the Hounds valiant efforts, it wasn't enough and Muskegon clung to their one goal lead and crawled out with a victory.

At 7:43 of the first period, it was Fury forward Kelly Thompson beating Magers to give his team a one-goal lead that they took with them into the next stanza. The second period saw the Hounds allow two power-play goals to Mike Watt and Justin Cuoto that would inevitably be the difference in the contest as the Fury would win 3-2.

Magers finished the contest with 38 saves on 41 shots while Pool made 29 saves on 31 shots. Both teams were 2-8 on the power-play.

Finally for Flint: After suffering two losses to the Hounds by scores of 5-0 and 5-1 earlier this season, the Generals finally got their victory. The first period saw the Hounds come out of the gate roaring and getting goals from forwards Greg Koehler and Tim Plett. After that, the Generals managed four unanswered goals which were the downfall of the Hounds. Jason Selleke tallied a power-play mark at 6:08 of the second period that sparked Flint's comeback. David Frawley and Mike Kinnie would also register second period goals against Hounds goalie Marty Magers and a Selleke empty netter would seal the victory in the closing moments of the third period giving the Generals a 4-2 win.

Magers finished with 25 saves on 28 shots while Bryan Worosz would make 24 off 26 shots. Chicago went 0-3 on the power-play and Flint would finish 2-5.

The Beginning and The End: It took 21 seconds for Chicago to capitalize on Fort Wayne's miscommunication. Komets goaltender Kevin St. Pierre thought he had the puck covered after defensemen Mario Larocque played a blocked shot back to him. Hounds forward Paul Caponigri recognized the play was still alive, saw the puck in the crease and smashed it into the Komets net. With momentum on their side, the Hounds drilled 13 shots into the crease in the first period but were unable to register another goal.

The second period was riddled with whistles and didn't see either team able to grab any momentum. However, the Hounds were relentless all night throwing the body on Komets forwards--including a bone-crushing hit on Bogdan Rudenko by Hounds forward Tim Plett.

The third period was tense as the Hounds tried to hang on to their lead. In the dying seconds of the period, St. Pierre was pulled from the crease. With Fort Wayne extra attacker on the ice, Maris Ziedins intercepted pass inside the Hounds zone that led to a shot on the empty net that sailed wide. But, Paul Caponigri raced down the ice to negate a potential icing call and flipped the puck into the empty net at 19:31. The end seemed all too near when Komets forward Martin Gascon rifled a shot passed Hounds goalie Marty Magers just 17 seconds later and brought the gap to within one goal. With one last chance to end the game, the Komets captured possession of the puck after the face off and drove shot on Marty Magers that found its way into the back of the net, but time had already expired. Despite the protest from Komets players, referee Brett Klosowski ruled the game over. Magers finished the night with 22 saves on 23 shots while St. Pierre stopped 24 of 25.

The Hounds Teach a Lesson: Dozens of mites and squirts turned out for the first annual Hounds clinic hosted by the Sears Centre and the Chicago Hounds hockey team. Head Coach Greg Puhalski, Assistant Coach Steve Cromie and the entire Hounds roster showed up on Saturday morning to show hockey's future the tricks of the trade. It was a truly delightful experience for all those involved. Hounds forward Matt Amado was thrilled to take part in the activity, "When you get a chance to see smiling faces of the children and have them listen to everything you tell them, it's a pretty cool thing. I know if I was a kid and had a chance to skate with professional hockey players, I would have been thrilled. It didn't matter that it was early in the morning, I was just happy to be asked to take part in this." Director of Youth Hockey, Mark Peters and Director of Ticket Sales, Rob "Newby" Newburg, organized the event to rave reviews of parents and players alike.

A Much Needed Rest! The Hounds will take a few days to relax after having played a tremendous amount so far this month. All together, they have 15 games in the month of December but they will be on a break (from games) until Friday and Saturday night when Rockford and Elmira make their way into the Sears Centre. Head Coach Greg Puhalski says the team will be ready and it will be nice to do some actual practicing this week, "When you play games so frequently, it's tough to get some real practice time with the players. This week, we plan on skating hard in anticipation of the long week ahead."

Leading Scorers: Greg Koehler jumped into the lead as the leading scorer for the Chicago Hounds recently. He mustered three points in as many games this past week and has been playing some of his best hockey of the season. Chris Busby continues to be a threat on the blueline leading all Hounds defensemen in scoring with 16 points in 22 games. Mike Brolsma has been sidelined due to a lower-body injury and hopes to jump back on the tear he was on earlier this season upon his re-entry into the lineup.

# PLAYERS POS GP G A PTS +/- PIM PPG PPA SHG SHA GWG SHOTS SPCT

11 Koehler, Greg RW 22 7 10 17 -2 24 4 5 0 0 1 79 .089

2 Busby, Chris D 22 3 13 16 +5 25 2 6 0 1 0 45 .067

27 Caponigri, Paul RW 21 6 7 13 +3 49 1 1 1 1 2 53 .113

9 Brolsma, Mike C 20 5 8 13 +5 31 1 2 0 1 0 40 .125

18 Cygan, Steve LW 20 4 8 12 -3 33 2 2 0 0 2 44 .091

A Goaltender's Story:

Marty Magers has displayed the work ethic necessary to lead his team time and time again. Getting the call each and every game, he has yet to have a break over the past two months. Despite his losing record and minutes logged, he sports a save percentage of .912

# GOALIES GP MIN W L SOL SO GA GAA SV SV%

31 Magers, Marty 21 1249:38 8 12 1 1 64 3.07 663 .912

35 Joy, Andrew 0 0:00 0 0 0 0 0 .00 0 .000

The Standings:

Western Conference

Team GP W L SOL PTS PCT GF GA PIM HOME AWAY

Fort Wayne 23 15 8 0 30 .652 88 55 762 10-2-0 5-6-0

Rockford 25 12 11 2 26 .520 79 76 720 6-5-2 6-6-0

Quad City 23 8 12 3 19 .413 66 93 656 2-5-2 6-7-1

Chicago 22 8 13 1 17 .386 59 70 473 4-5-0 4-8-1

Bloomington 25 8 17 0 16 .320 51 89 520 5-7-0 3-10-0

Up Next...IceHogs and Jackals! Rockford rests second in the Western Conference and they have had their way with Chicago recently. Friday will mark the first time all season that Rockford will play in the Sears Centre. Chicago Hounds forward, Adam Kostichka is looking forward to another match-up against their inter-conference rivals, "We are anticipating a good game against a very talented team. Everyone knows when you play a team in your conference that a victory is important because you are taking points away from them and putting them in your teams pocket."

The Jackals are one of the teams the Hounds have had some success against, but the teams knows they can't take their victories for granted. "We have to build on the back to back wins we had against them earlier in the season and do it again Saturday night. They are a tough team, playing in a tough division and we have to be ready," said Hounds forward Paul Caponigri.

Roster Additions and Subtractions: This past week saw forward B.J. Radovich find his way over to the Hounds roster as well as defenseman Tom Zabkowicz. Both men played this past weekend with Radovich registering a point on Saturday's game against Muskegon. Leaving the team via trade was John Spoltore to Bloomington.

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International Hockey League 2 Stories from December 19, 2006


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