Chicago Hounds Weekly Notes

Published on January 15, 2007 under International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Chicago Hounds News Release


Dominating the Komets...Hounds Win 3-2

Despite their supremacy over the Western Conference for the majority of the season, Fort Wayne has been unable to contain the Chicago Hounds. In five meetings this season, the Hounds have three wins and two loses which includes the victory by Chicago Sunday night. Starting his second game in a row, Brenden Cuthbert manned the crease stopping 37 of 39 shots. The game winning marker was tallied by all-star defenseman Chris Busy on the power-play at 8:40 of the second period which was his second of the game. Despite the late power-play goal by Mike Dombkiewicz which brought the Komets within one, Fort Wayne couldn't close the gap and the Hounds skated away victorious.

The second period was a parade to the penalty box which included the Hounds blueliner Chris Gehrke and Komets forward Pascal Morency going to battle at center ice. Four power-play goals were registered during the game which included all three Hounds goals. In goal for the Komets was Dan McWinnney who stopped 27 of 30 and took the loss for the Komets.

Furied Again...Chicago Falls 4-1

The Hounds have played the Fury to four one goal losses this season. Saturday night, the Hounds felt ready to take on the leagues top team as they collided in Muskegon. But, the Fury were too much to overcome and the Hounds dropped the contest 4-1.

This game marked only the second time Marty Magers didn't start in net for Chicago all season. Starting in goal was Brenden Cuthbert, the newly acquired goaltender from Rockford. The first period remained scoreless despite the Hounds 3 power-play opportunities. However, the second period only took 25 seconds for Muskegon to final strike as left wing Dave Noel-Bernier beat Cuthbert and gave his team a one goal lead. Less than three minutes later, it was the leagues leading scorer Todd Robinson chipping in and putting the fury up by two at 3:09. The Fury would add two more shorthanded second period goals. Wings defensemen Philipe Plante tallied his goal at 13:16 and Noel-Bernier would net his second of the night at 19:06.

Matt Amado would be the only Hound to score when he fired his shot past Fury goalie Ryan Cyr. Cuthbert would finish with 26 saves on 30 shots while Cyr ended the night with 27 of 28 saves. The Hounds gave up two short-handed but were unable to capitalize while on the power-play as they went 0-8 and Muskegon went 0-5.

Can't Top the K-Wings...Wings win 4-1

The Chicago Hounds have not been successful against the Kalamazoo Wings all season and Friday was no exception. Despite leading by a goal after the first period off the stick of Hounds forward Todd Grant at 4:46, the Wings would score four unanswered goals in the ensuing two periods to solidify the victory. The Hounds had a chance to open the lead up a bit more after an "intent to injure" and five minute high sticking major were called against Wings D-man Chris McAllister. However, Tom Askey shut the door on the Hounds power-play.

In the second period, trailing by a goal, Kalamazoo right winger Justin Cross beat Hounds tender Marty Magers and tied the game at 4:46. In the third Period, veteran K-Wing Kory Karlander took over and found the back of the net twice, the first time at 7:42 and the last at 10:42. Nick Bootland assisted on both of Karlander's efforts.

Both teams were unsuccessful on the power-play for the evening. Chicago went 0-5 and Kalamazo went 0-7. Magers stopped 38 of 42 shots while Askey turned aside 21 of 22.

We're Talking 'bout Practice!

Recently this week, the Voice of the Chicago Hounds, Jason Shaya, got a chance to practice with his team. The exciting experience was put into words by the Detroit native and can be read starting this week at ChicagoHounds.com on his hockey blog space. Here is a little piece of the well constructed document, "...the entire team was already imbedded in typical locker-room banter when I finally maneuvered my way around the sticks and equipment while I barely clung to my gargantuan bag, pads and sticks. The roar from the team was unmistakable."

Leading Scorers:

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

11 Koehler, Greg RW 36 11 16 27 -9 37 4 8 0 0 1 101 .109

18 Cygan, Steve LW 34 9 13 22 -13 37 5 3 0 0 2 74 .122

2 Busby, Chris D 35 5 17 22 +3 54 4 9 0 1 1 89 .056

15 Ziedins, Maris C 36 11 10 21 +1 35 3 2 2 1 4 85 .129

The Captain of the Hounds, Steve Cygan has moved into second in team scoring this week. The Spring Grove native tallied two points in three games this putting him into a tie with all-star defenseman Chris Busby with 22 points. Meanwhile, Greg Koehler still remains atop the Hounds leader board. He has 27 points thus far in 36 games but was held scoreless over the weekend in the three game road swing. In fourth place on the Hounds leader board is all-star forward Maris Ziedins. A tough weekend for the Riga, Latvia native because he too was held without a point during the three game trip. The Hounds came away with a 1-2 record and Coach Puhalski knows production has to be better, "Our best player's must be our best player's night in and night out. It is great to get goal scoring for the third line but we will not win many games if our top guys aren't there for us."

Welcome Brenden Cuthbert...

Up until this past Saturday, Marty Magers started every single game for the Chicago Hounds except one. This weekend marked the first time someone had started in back to back games other than Marty and it was Brenden Cuthbert. Recently brought into the organization via trade with Rockford, Cuthbert didn't have a full week of practice with his new team but was eager to get his time in the Hounds crease. After both games were done, Cuthbert was 1-1 with a 3.00GAA and a .910% SVPCT. His first victory came on the second of back to back games when he helped his team defeat the Western Conference power-house Fort Wayne Komets. Overall, Cuthbert felt happy about his performance, "I had to adapt to playing on a new team very quickly. I knew that we were battling three great teams this weekend and there wasn't much room for error. The more I played the better I felt and I know that this weekend was a step in the right direction."

Standings:

Western Conference

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

Fort Wayne 38 23 13 2 48 .632 131 96 1059 13-5-1 10-8-1

Rockford 37 20 14 3 43 .581 118 104 1009 12-7-2 8-7-1

Quad City 36 16 16 4 36 .500 123 141 896 8-7-3 8-9-1

Chicago 36 13 22 1 27 .375 96 119 714 8-8-0 5-14-1

Bloomington 38 11 25 2 24 .316 93 144 794 8-11-0 3-14-2

Sitting second from the bottom in the Western Conference and the league, the Hounds are trying to start a tough climb up the ladder. This weekend only put two more points on the board for Chicago when they could only muster two out of a possible six points. Bloomington has played two more games than Chicago and is three points back. The real challenge will be to catch Quad City and ensure a playoff birth. Hounds forward Paul Caponigri said the team is ready to battle it out, "These next two months will be critical for us. We are going to be rested after the all-star game and have two big home games this next weekend. Every game against Western Conference rivals will mean a great deal in April."

Get Ready for the Break!

With head Coach Greg Puhalski going to Fort Wayne for all-star festivities, the team is still on the hook for practicing when he is gone! Scheduled for Tuesday afternoon is a skate at the practice rink and the Hounds roster sans all-stars are too be prepared. "The vets will have to lead the troops and I know they won't be slacking off...either way, I will have my spies working overtime," joked Puhalski.

Coach Mongo McMichael and the Chicago Slaughter.

At the press conference on Tuesday to announce the launch of the new indoor-football team at the Sears Centre, new head coach of the Chicago Slaughter Steve "Mongo" McMichael said he had a soft spot in his heart for a viscous predator. All this was done at the announcement at the Sears Centre that ChicagoLand Sports LLC had a new team playing at the Sears Centre. The Slaughter will be members of the Continental Indoor Football League. Also named to the team was William "The Refrigerator" Perry whose title will be Director of Player Personnel. Mongo stated that he plans on a family friendly atmosphere and perhaps a chance for a lucky fan to come down to the field and call a play during the game. The first Slaughter home game will take place on March 23rd against the Springfield Stallions.

Puck Cancer Night...

Director of Youth Hockey Mark Peters is pleased to announce that the Chicago Hounds hockey team is teaming up to help beat cancer. On January 20th, the Hounds will donate a portion of the proceeds to fight cancer and give help to the families that are suffering from the infliction. "Puck Cancer" is a non profit organization that dedicated to raising money for cancer research and to personally and financially helping families and individuals in need because of cancer related issues.

Peters feels this will be a great opportunity to the help the less-fortunate, "We are committed as a team to serving the people who have suffered the most. The people at Puck Cancer do great work and we are pleased to do everything we can to help them."

For every ticket bought from the Chicago Hounds office, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Puck Cancer. Also, the Hounds will be selling pink chuck-a-pucks to be thrown on the ice during the second intermission. The inter-state/conference rivals the Rockford IceHogs will be on hand that night on the Hounds.

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International Hockey League 2 Stories from January 15, 2007


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