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Chicago Hounds Weekly Notes

January 8, 2007 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Chicago Hounds News Release


Hounds Trample Flags. After three tough losses in a row, Chicago needed to bounce back in a bad way. They players took their frustration out on Port Huron when they defeated the Flags, 5-1. An early goal by Vernarsky set the tone when he won the face off and took the puck right across the goal mouth and slammed the puck past a sprawling Noah Ruden at 1:20. Maris Ziedins would follow up with a power-play goal when he took a backdoor pass from Tom Zabkowicz and fired it home putting Chicago up by two at 7:53.

In the second period, Colt King rifled a shot over the shoulder of Chicago netminder Marty Magers after a Hounds turnover in their zone. This gave Port Huron life by cutting the Hounds lead in half at 11:21. But, it was too little too late. Just over two minutes later, Steve Cygan took a nice pass from Matt Amado who forced a turnover in the Flags end. Cygan made no mistake and beat Ruden to put the Hounds back up by two at 13:35. Cygan would follow up with another tally as Greg Koehler fed him a breakaway feed. The Captain of the Hounds beat Ruden for the second time at 15:46 and secured the Hounds victory.

Magers finished with 33 saves on 34 shots while Noah Ruden took the loss with 29 saves on 34 shots. Port Huron was 0-5 on the power-play and Chicago managed one power-play goal on 6 chances.

Hounds come up Short on Muskegon again, lose 5-4: An avalanche of goals started the contest and before the rubble could be cleared, the Fury lead by four in just under five minutes of play in the first period.

Billy Collins started the barrage of goals when he forced the puck behind Hounds netminder Marty Magers at 1:25. It only took 26 seconds for the Fury to strike again. This time it was Evan Kotsopoulos who blasted the puck in the Hounds net giving the Fury a 2-0 advantage. League leader Todd Robinson got in on the action when he fired a shot that beat Magers at 4:10. This would end the night for Marty and bring in back-up Corey Wogtech for his first appearance at the Sears Centre. But, Wogtech too would feel the wrath of the Fury on the first shot he faced. This time it was Rustyn Dolyny who fooled Wogtech after cutting across the net and put his team up 4-0.

Hounds leading scorer Greg Koehler would finally get his team on the board when he blasted a shot past Clayton Pool off a Chris Busy rebound at 10:57. Still in the first period, a power-play goal by B.J. Radovich at 15:20 would inch the Hounds closer but about a minute and a half later, Mike Watt launched a rocket that found its way behind Wogtech and the period ended 5-2.

The game changed momentum as Steve Cygan scored a power-play marker and in the third Radovich would get his second of the night but it wasn't enough to pull out the victory as the Hounds lose 5-4. Chicago was unsuccessful on two 5 on 3 advantages during the contest and went 2-11on the power-play, Muskegon was 0 -6.

Hounds Edged Out by Fury, Lose 4-3 It had all the action of a heavyweight boxing match and when the smoke finally cleared, it was Muskegon who laid the final knockout blow. Kelly Thompson's third period goal was the difference in a game that saw the Fury down by two goals twice and fight their way back each time. Thompson fired a shot which Hounds goaltender Marty Magers stopped, however, left undefended, Thompson was able to re-gather his rebound and blast the puck in the net at 16:32 to give his team a 4-3 lead. Late in the third period, the Hounds were sporting a two-man advantage when Philippe Plante and Tom Galvin, who received a four minute minor, were penalized. After great saves by Fury backstop Clayton Pool, Chicago went unsuccessful. With under a minute to go in the third, Magers was pulled giving Chicago a 6-4 advantage. A clearing attempt was foiled by Todd Grant and a loose puck was cradled in by forward Matt Amado who fired a point-blank shot on Pool only to be stopped by the goaltenders glove.

In the first period, Chicago avoided several attempts by Muskegon to put up the initial goal because Magers was fantastic stopping 14 Muskegon shots. In that same period, Chicago's Todd Grant protected the puck well and fired a shot over the shoulder of Pool at 16:32.

Chicago would tally the next mark in the second period when Kris Vernarsky took the nice feed from Maris Ziedins and beat Pool at 4:30 of the second. Muskegon would finally answer on the power-play when defensemen Philippe Plante fired a shot past Magers and pulled Muskegon within a goal. The Hounds would answer right back with a goal from Greg Koehler who missed just seconds earlier on a two-on-one. Koehler controlled the rebound, skated to the slot and beat Pool low at 9:29. The hectic pace of the second period continued but it was again Muskegon chopping the Chicago lead in half when another defenseman, Tom Galvin, fired a puck that fooled Magers at 13:43. Later in the period, Dave Noel-Bernier took the pass from Justin Coutu and tied the game at 18:05.

The third period Kelly Thompson goal was the difference in the game and the Hounds were unable to mount a comeback during the only time they had trailed during the contest. Marty Magers stopped 44 of 48 shots, which included 40 in the first two periods. Clayton Pool made 34 saves on 33 shots and Muskegon was 1-4 on the power-play while Chicago ended the night 0-7.

Western Conference All-Stars The Chicago Hounds are delighted at the announced by the United Hockey League that both Defenseman Chris Busby and Forward Maris Ziedins were selected to the Western Conference All-Star team.

Chris Busby, the Kenilworth, Illinois native leads all Hounds defensemen in scoring this season. His presence in the locker-room and on the ice has helped the expansion franchise a great deal. Head Coach Greg Puhalski was thrilled at the selection of Busby, "Chris has displayed the kind of talent necessary to be an all-star. We are proud that he was picked and will represent the Hounds."

Maris Ziedins, the one time Latvian Olympian was also selected to represent his conference. Ziedins is second in scoring with 19points in 30 games while maintaining the highest plus/minus mark on the team. Ziedins is thrilled at the chance to play in an all-star game and his coach is also happy for him, "Maris is a big part of this club and has excelled with the responsibilities given to him. Along with his scoring touch is great defensive play and he will represent the conference very well," boasted Puhalski.

The annual event is being hosted by the Fort Wayne Komets and will be played on Wednesday, January 17th, 2007 at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The official rosters for each conference are comprised of 20 players (18 skaters and 2 goaltenders) with each UHL Member Club represented by a minimum of two players.

Leading Scorers:

Greg Koehler is leading the way with 27 points in 33 games. In his past five games, he has tallied 7 points which included a three point night in a loss to Muskegon. Koehler says he scoring is great, but he would like to win more, "It's always nice to contribute and I know that I have to continue to do so. But, in the end we want to win games and we aren't going to be happy unless that starts to happen." Recently named All Star Maris Ziedins is also very happy with his stats but would still like to get the two points after every game for his team, "We are fighting for a play-off spot every time we play a game. With each additional loss, we feel that we are slipping a lot. It's time we put some wins together and make a genuine push for the playoffs." Rounding out the three spots in Hounds scoring is the Captain Steve Cygan, Defenseman Chris Busby and forward Todd Grant.

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

11 Koehler, Greg RW 33 11 16 27 -5 37 4 8 0 0 1 99 .111

15 Ziedins, Maris C 33 11 10 21 +1 35 3 2 2 1 4 80 .138

18 Cygan, Steve LW 31 8 12 20 -11 35 4 3 0 0 2 66 .121

2 Busby, Chris D 32 3 16 19 +5 50 2 8 0 1 0 79 .038

24 Grant, Todd F 33 7 9 16 -10 49 1 4 0 0 0 80 .088

Marty Magers...Who Else? Despite being pulled in a couple contests recently, Magers has still started every game for Chicago but one. He is credited for 32 starts this season which leads the way in the UHL. His 1819:45 minutes played is also the most in the league as is his 980 saves. With recent addition to the backup carousel being Brendan Cuthbert, there is no telling if Magers will get a break anytime soon.

Standings:

Western Conference

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

Fort Wayne 34 22 11 1 45 .662 121 84 988 12-4-1 10-7-0

Rockford 34 17 14 3 37 .544 102 98 878 9-7-2 8-7-1

Quad City 32 13 15 4 30 .469 105 122 821 6-7-3 7-8-1

Chicago 33 12 20 1 25 .379 91 109 671 8-8-0 4-12-1

Bloomington 35 10 23 2 22 .314 78 127 732 7-10-0 3-13-2

With Chicago losing to Bloomington on Saturday, they only led the Thunder by one point. However, picking up the victory on Sunday afternoon, the team got right back up by three points. However, they are still five points behind Quad City the Mallards having one game in hand.

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International Hockey League 2 Stories from January 8, 2007


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