Chicago Hounds Weekly Notes

Published on March 12, 2007 under International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Chicago Hounds News Release


March 10th, 2007

Winning Streak Halted, Jackals Smash Hounds, 6-3

Teams Split Series, 1-1

Hoffman Estates, IL. Chicago started the game off right with a goal from Tim Plett at 4:37 giving the team an early lead. However, just over two minutes later, Jackals defenseman Scott Drevitch tied the contest when he fired a shot that beat Brenden Cuthbert off the blocker and in the net during a 5-3 power-play. Elmira would get register the go-ahead goal at 9:01 when Rob Chappell snuck a shot between the post and Cuthbert. The Hounds would strike back again, this time it was Maris Ziedins who tallied a 5-3 power-play goal when he gathered the rebound on a Chris Busby point shot and fired it past Jackals netminder David Lemanowicz at 14:09. Less than a minute and a half later, the Jackals would ahead for good when they got a short-handed goal from Marc Lefebvre who wired the puck off the catching glove of Cuthbert and into the net at 15:34 giving the Jackals a 3-2 lead.

The second period's lone goal came off the stick of Jeff Daw on the power-play at 7:43. In the third, the Hounds registered an early goal on the great effort by Tim Plett who rushed to the net on a Matt Johnson point shot at 3:07 bringing the game to within one for Chicago. However, Chicago couldn't mount a comeback and Elmira tagged Chicago for two more goals in the third and would skate off with a 6-3 victory.

Chicago was able to muster one power play goal on five chances while Elmira took advantage of two out of six. Dave Lemanowicz got the win stopping 28 of 31 while Cuthbert turned aside 22 of 28.

March 9th, 2007

Chicago wins first of back-to-back vs. Elmira, 3-1

Hounds Win Franchise Record 5th Straight...

Hoffman Estates, IL. The Hounds didn't muster much offense in the first period, only registering five shots on goal. But, things turned around early in the second period when Todd Grant fired a shot from the right wing that fooled Jackals goaltender Dave Lemanowicz just 31 seconds after the start of the stanza. Chicago registered 19 shots on goal in the middle frame and stellar goaltending from both Lemanowicz and particularly Chicago's Brenden Cuthbert kept the game at 1-0.

In the third period, the Jackals fought back when Bobby Kukallka got the breakaway feed from Dan Veenama and shot the puck just over the right pad of Cuthbert tying the contest at 1-1.

However, Chicago was unrelenting in their attack. A few minutes later, Matt Amado grabbed a loose puck in the neutral zone, raced up the right wing boards, cut into the middle and beat Lemanowicz at 5:46 on a brilliant play for what turned out to be the game winning goal. Newly acquired forward, Kelly Miller scored the insurance marker at 8:30 and Cuthbert would slam the door on the remaining chances Elmira was able to garner.

Cuthbert got a Chicago record fifth straight victory stopping 29 of 30 Jackals shots. Lemanowicz turned aside 33 of 36 for the loss. Neither team was successful on two power-play chances.

March 7th, 2007

Hounds Shutout Streaking IceHogs, win 1-0

Cuthbert Stops 37 to secure first shutout as a Hound

Hoffman Estates, IL. A nail biting game came down to the wire and the Hounds were able to hold on to a one goal lead they received from Todd Grant in the second period. Until this contest, the Rockford IceHogs had garnered points in their last 15 contests, but that streak came to a halt largely due to the performance of Hounds netminder Brenden Cuthbert. The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan native made gigantic saves throughout the contest including a miraculous save on Preston Mizzi in the dying seconds of the first period.

Just after the first minute of play in the second period, Todd Grant took the nice feed from Steve Cygan skated to the slot and buried the puck past Jake Moreland at 1:05 for the first and only goal of the game. Later, it was Moreland who made a spectacular save going post to post on a Hounds two-on-one when the shot came from Drew Otten right on the doorstep.

Mid-way through the third period, Moreland pulled himself from the game because of a lower-body injury and Frederic Cloutier came in to replace him. Later, with the Hounds holding onto a one goal cushion, Mike Kautz took a penalty at 18:14 for hooking. Cloutier came off for the extra attacker giving Rockford a six-on-four advantage but they were unable to capitalize and Chicago grabbed the 1-0 victory giving the Hounds a franchise record four consecutive wins.

Leading Scorers:

With Todd Grant and Matt Amado playing on the same line, it's hard for one of them to break away from the other on the leader-board. Recently, Matt Amado became the first Chicago Hounds player to reach the 20 goal plateau when he struck for a goal against the Elmira Jackals on Friday night. Amado said it's nice to have 20 goals, but he was happier with the Hounds victory, "I am playing on a really good line with Grant and Cygan so I have been getting my chances. It's great to have 20 goals so far this season but it was better to see us win tonight against a tough opponent and a team that we are battling for a playoff spot."

Todd Grant recently had a seven game point streak snapped when he didn't register a goal or an assist on Saturday night's game versus the Elmira Jackals. He is tied with Amado for a team leading 36 points in 61 games (19 goals, 17 assists). Right behind Amado and Grant is there line-mate, captain Steve Cygan. Hounds players have noticed the offensive punch those three posses, "They are a big part of our recent success. Amado and Cygan have so much speed. It doesn't take much for them to get an odd man rush on a turnover. Grant is capitalizing on his chances as well and the three are producing at a great pace," remarked Hounds forward Matt Johnson.

Speaking of Johnson, he has been the Hounds most productive forward in their last ten games. Four goals and eight assists for 12 points in ten outings have him right above Todd Grant who has garnered 11 points with six goals and five assists.

Goaltending for Chicago:

Just ask Hounds players who the most valuable player has been in the recent stretch of victories and undoubtedly you'll get the answer, Brenden Cuthbert. In the last 11 games, Brenden has taken the reins as the Hounds number one goaltender while Marty Magers sits out of the lineup with a lower-body injury. In his last ten games, Cuthbert's record is a stellar 6-1-3 with a 2.20 goals against average. His first shutout as a Hound came this week on Wednesday March 7th when he closed the door on his former team, the Rockford IceHogs winning a tough 1-0 contest. Asking the goaltender about beating his former team, he said it was especially nice, "Any time you can defeat a team you used to play for is a good feeling. It was a big win for us because that team had a serious winning streak going. It just goes to show what we are capable of and we know we can match up against anyone in this league."

Marty Magers, who played in nearly every Hounds game until Brenden came on board is out with a lower-body injury. However, he doesn't think he will be much longer and maybe in the lineup this week, "I am feeling a lot better. It was important that I took time off because I would have kept getting worse and worse. Hopefully, practice goes well this week and I am able to get back and in and help out anyway I can," said Magers.

Standings:

Western Conference

In 61 games this season, the Hounds have accrued 53 points with 24 wins, 32 losses and 5 shootout defeats. This is good to remain at fourth in the conference. The Hounds were hoping to pass Elmira for a temporary playoff spot when they twice battled the Jackals this past weekend. But, the teams managed to split the two games-although Elmira lost the following night to the Bloomington Prairie Thunder. After the dust from the weekend settled, Chicago has 4 games in hand on Elmira and trail them by two points for the final playoff spot. This upcoming week is a tremendous opportunity for Chicago to solidify their playoff hopes when they play five games in 7 nights-the longest stretch of games in one week all season. Hounds forward B.J. Radovich knows what this weeks results will have in the standings, "I can't remember playing this many games in such a short period of time. Ultimately, we have a chance to jump up ten points in one week and that's the way this team has to think in order to be successful."

Meanwhile, atop the Western Conference are the Fort Wayne Komets who grabbed the number one slot when they defeated the IceHogs in Rockford on Sunday. Fort Wayne has two more games played than Rockford and that battle of Western Conference supremacy might go down to the last games of the year.

Coming Up... A lot of Games!

Tuesday night the Hounds travel to the Mark of the Quad to battle the Mallards. This is the re-make game from late in February that was canceled to due to inclement weather. The last time these two teams met was back on January 28th when Chicago won by a score of 3-2. The winning goalie that night was Brenden Cuthbert who made 41 saves on 43 shots while Jason Tapp turned aside 38 of 41 in the losing effort. This was a game that was marred in fighting majors and resulted in game misconducts to several Mallards. It's often said that hockey players have long memories and players from both teams remember that evening very well, "It was a close game, no doubt. There were quite a few scuffles during the game but ultimately our goal is to come away with the two points and that's what we will try to do on Tuesday," said Hounds captain Steve Cygan. The winning goal that night belonged to rookie forward B.J. Radovich who scored midway through the final stanza. Chicago is 4-2 this year against Quad City. Also, the mallards will visit the Sears Centre on Friday night, March 16th.

A night later, the Chicago Hounds battle the Flint Generals for the final time this season. In five games this season, the Hounds have managed a record of 3-2 against the Generals and they hope they will end the season with one more win against their cross conference rivals. Most recently, Chicago visited Perani Arena and Event Center on March 4th where they left town with two points after a 4-2 victory. Brenden Cuthbert backstopped the win making 26 saves on 28 shots. It was a close game that only saw the Hounds win when they tallied two goals in the final period of play. The winning marker was scored by Hounds forward Tim Plett at 17:55 against Generals goalie Jason Muzzatti.

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International Hockey League 2 Stories from March 12, 2007


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