Chicago Hounds Weekly Notes

Published on February 26, 2007 under International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Chicago Hounds News Release


Hounds Dominate Prairie Thunder

Hoffman Estates, IL. It was a wild night to at the Sears Centre when the Hounds battled the Prairie Thunder Friday. To start the contest, a crowd of 3,149 welcomed new owners of the Hounds, Craig and Sue Drecktrah with a standing ovation- and the cheers continued all night long as Chicago skated away with a 5-2 victory over the Thunder.

Early in the first, the crowd was temporarily silenced as former Chicago Hound Mike Zbriger fired a shot past Chicago netminder Brenden Cuthbert at 1:50. After several great saves by Bloomington goalie Jeff Reynaert, the Hounds found a way to tie the contest on a great goal by Tim Plett when he knocked the puck out of mid air with his stick and into the net locking the game at 1-1 at 16:37. The first period ended with just one minor penalty called but things were about to change.

In the second, Plett registered his second goal of the contest when he banged home a rebound off the Josh Elzinga point shot at 10:31 giving his team a 2-1 advantage. Just over two minutes later, Maris Ziedins was the recipient of a beautiful pass by Matt Johnson and Ziedins buried the puck into a gaping net for a 3-1 lead at 12:37. With just under six minutes remaining in the stanza, Jared Bourassa was called for an elbowing infraction when he laid out Ziedins at center ice. Mike Kautz came to the defense of Ziedins as did Chris Gehrke who fought with Sam Miller. Gehrke dominated Miller with several jarring punches to the delight of the Hounds fans. After the smoke cleared, the Hounds ended with a power-play which they were unable to capitalize. Late in the second, former Hound Greg Koehler put in elbow into the face of Matt Johnson which prompted Darryl McArthur to drop the gloves with Koehler and both were given five minutes for fighting.

The third period started with tensions running high but it was the goal scoring of Chicago's forwards that was the real story. Matt Johnson, who already had an assist on the night, deflected a Matt Amado shot behind Reynaert giving the Hounds a nice three goal cushion at 10:22. Amado would chip in with a power-play goal and the Hounds skated away with a 5-2 victory and a much needed two points in the standings.

Cuthbert made 27 saves on 29 shots while Reynaert was good on 28 saves on 33 shots. Chicago had six power-play opportunities that went scoreless while Chicago made good on one goal in six attempts.

February 21st, 2007

Hounds Fall in Shootout to Thunder, Lose 4-3

Nearing the end of regulation, the Hounds found themselves down by a goal with little time to fight back. But, it was the stick of Matt Johnson who tied the contest and silenced the crowd at 19:34. Johnson's goal gave the Hounds a point and for the second game in a row found themselves in a shootout. Five Hounds players attempted to score on Jeff Reynaert but no one was able to muster a goal. Down to their fifth shooter, Bloomington sent out B.J. Gaustad who beat netminder Brenden Cuthbert and gave the Prairie Thunder the victory by a score of 4-3.

Things started well for Chicago when Johnson started off the scoring at 5:20 by beating Steffan Braunlich who started the game off for Bloomington but was unable to finish due to injury. The Thunder roared back when Alex Goupil tied it at 1-1 at 13:09 on the power-play.

In the second period, Tyler Rennette gave his team their first lead when he took the feed from Greg Koehler and beat Cuthbert at 9:57. Chicago came right back when forward Matt Amado netted one and brought the game to a 2-2 tie.

In the last period, Chicago would fall victim to another Bloomington power-play goal when former Hound John Spoltore scored an unassisted goal at 6:50 putting his team up 3-2 before Johnson would tie it with less than one minute in regulation.

Cuthbert took the loss making 25 saves on 28 shots while Reynaert gets credit for a victory stopping 23 of 25. Braunlich made 15 of 16 saves while in net for the first 23:53 of play. Bloomington struck twice on six power-play chances while the Hounds went scoreless on seven of their attempts.

New Ownership, New Attitude!

Upon Craig Drecktrah's arrival as owner of the Chicago Hounds, the fans have noticed quite a big change: reduced ticket prices and a plethora of giveaways at Hounds home games. On Friday night, Drecktrah's Hounds gave away thousands of noise makers and t-shirts to fans in attendance. Assistant Coach Steve Cromie said he heard from dozens of new Hounds fans on Friday night, "We were talking to several families who came out to support the team and they all told me what great night it was for everyone. We love to see the smiles on everyone's faces and it's great to have a nice crowd on-hand to cheer on Chicago."

Drecktrah says the Hounds aren't done giving back to the fans that have been so loyal, "We have plenty of stuff up our sleeve and we are very excited about some great giveaways we have in the works, but, you have to come to the games to get them!" Chicago's director of Corporate Sales Sherri Matusz says that every single Saturday will be a giveaway for all fans who attend!

Chicago will of course be continuing the new Wednesday tradition of $1 days where beer, soda and hotdogs can be bought for just one-buck.

Leading Scorers:

The Chicago Hounds leading scorers are now Matt Amado and Steve Cygan who are both tied with 31 points. Within the month of February, Amado has accumulated 10 points in 12 games. His run isn't going unnoticed. Hounds forward Mike Brolsma said Amado is only scratching the surface of his ability, "Matt's speed and quick shot are great tools he possesses. With each passing game he grows more confident and it's showing on the score-sheet."

Another Hound forward that is getting noticed is Matt Johnson. This past week, he was nominated by the Hounds as UHL player of the week when he totaled four points in two games over the past week. Johnson says he is feeling great and playing better all the time, "I just try to use my size and get to the net. Luckily, I have been getting the bounces recently and I just hope I can continue to help my team win hockey games."

Also, Drew Otten leads the team in the month of February gathering 14 points in 11 games.

Goaltenders:

The Hounds have relied on the goaltending of Brenden Cuthbert recently as Marty Magers is sidelined with a lower body injury. Cuthbert has been excellent as of late and has helped his team to earn points in each of the last three contests. Cuthbert was nominated for goaltender of the week by the Hounds on Monday and his teammates say that Brenden's play is stellar, "He is so calm in his net and never gets rattled. If he gives up a goal, he doesn't let it bother him and he keeps on playing the best hockey he can. He is a welcomed addition to the team," remarked Hounds Captain Steve Cygan. Cuthbert will handle the workload while Magers recovers. It is unknown when Marty will make his return but he hopes it is sooner than later, "It's been something that has bothered me for a while and the doctors finally made a determination that I need to rest for a while. Granted, I can't stand watching from the seats but I know that I have to take care of myself in order to come back and start playing, "said Magers.

Standings:

With Chicago missing two games this weekend due to inclement weather conditions, they postpone their three game point gathering streak. Sitting three points above the last place Bloomington Prairie Thunder in the standings, Chicago remains in the fourth spot of the Western Conference. Chicago has played a total of 54 games will Bloomington played 57.

In the highly contested Eastern Conference, the Elmira Jackals fell to last place behind Port Huron. The Flags have two games in hand on the Jackals and rest one point above with 47 total points. This leap frog by the Flags changes little in terms of playoff race for Chicago as they know they have to try to catch the last place team in the Eastern Conference in order to make the playoffs, "It was unfortunate that we had to miss out on two games when this weekend. We had a big win against Bloomington Friday and we wanted to carry momentum into Quad City then back home. Basically, we have to be prepared for the next game and continue to practice hard," said Hounds forward Drew Otten.

Update on ChicagoHounds.com

The revamped Chicago Hounds website is drawing rave reviews from fans and players alike. The Hounds organization is providing the quickest information about the team and plans to expand the site to include interviews with coaches and players, "Our goal is to have a weekly interview segment with people in the organization that fans can download directly from our site. Access is a pretty big part of my philosophy as a media relations director and I want to give fans an in-depth look at many aspects of the organization," says the Voice of the Hounds, Jason Shaya. Hounds fans will find more exciting stuff every day on the website. Recently, the Hounds blog was reinstated and is now operational.

Chicago and the B2 networks have teamed up to give a free audio stream of Hounds home games starting on March 7th when the Hounds take on the Rockford IceHogs at the Sears Centre. The link to the B2 stream can be found on the front page of Chicagohounds.com.

Hounds Hit the Road...

The next four Chicago games will be on the road-staring in Kalamazoo. This will be an early addition of Hounds hockey because of a special school day game at Wings Stadium. The contest begins at 10:30am, about nine hours before normal game day time. So far this season, the Hounds have only managed one victory over the defending colonial cup champions but it was the last time they suited up against each other. The Wings were handed a 4-2 loss when they visited the Sears Centre on Wednesday February 7th. Marty Magers was the winning goalie in that contest making 37 saves on 39 shots including 19 in the third period. Despite the early start time for the contest, Hounds forward Matt Johnson says his team will be ready, "Obviously, this isn't a normal thing to have a game this early. It's going to be different for us, but at the same time, they aren't that used to it either. We are all professional and we know when the puck is dropped, it means business...no matter what time of day it is."

Back to back games in Bloomington are what the Hounds have to look forward to on Friday and Saturday when they face the Prairie Thunder again. The last outing was a wild event that saw tempers flare often with many fighting majors dished out to both sides. Despite the 5-2 victory, Chicago hounds goalie Brenden Cuthbert says he expects the Thunder to use that game as a rallying point, "They got beat here but they also won two days before in a close game. I know everyone is expecting things to boil over again, but the fact is we have to try and take four points out of that city when we leave Saturday. It won't be easy but that is our focus as a team."

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International Hockey League 2 Stories from February 26, 2007


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