Chicago Hounds Weekly Notes

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


Komets Soar Over Hounds, win 6-2

March 25, 2007. There isn't too much wrong with giving up six power-play chances...unless you allow four goals in the process. Chicago fell to Fort Wayne's power-play unit on Sunday afternoon at Allen County War Memorial losing 6-2.

The Komets started the game off with a power-play goal from Jonathan Goodwin at 3:29 giving his team a 1-0 lead. Chicago would score a power-play goal of their own, tying the game at 1-1 when Tim Plett found the back of the net at 6:59. Later in the period, Pascal Morency beat Hounds netminder Brenden Cuthbert at 15:09 recapturing the Fort Wayne lead.

In the second period, the lone goal was scored by the Komets at 5:50 on the power-play when Terry Marchant netted the third goal for his team.

Despite Chris Busby's tally at 9:16 of the last stanza, the Hounds surrendered three more Komets goals, two of them from Matt Syroczynski and both on the power-play.

Chicago was only able to manage one power-play goal on seven chances. Brenden Cuthbert took the loss stopping 38 of 44 shots while Kevin St. Pierre turned aside 30 of 32.

Magers' Spectacular as Hounds Defeat IceHogs

March 24, 2007 - Hoffman Estates, IL The night before, Marty Magers faced 54 Port Huron shots and stopped 52 of them. The following evening, he would have to be ready for nearly the same amount of work as the IceHogs visited the Sears Centre on Saturday Night. While Rockford forward Paul Brown took a penalty just after the first minute of play, Chicago jumped on the opportunity to strike first. Defenseman Chris Busby rifled a shot from the blue line and Todd Grant re-directed it past goaltender Frederic Cloutier at 1:53 to give Chicago a 1-0 advantage. That would be all the scoring in the game until the final stanza.

Rockford unleashed 16 shots in the first period, followed by 20 more in the next. However, they could find their way around the brilliant netminding of Magers until early in third period. A face-off inside the Hounds zone was won by Rockford and defenseman Matt Gens blasted the puck low on the blocker side of Magers at 3:22 tying the contest and setting up a tense third period.

While Magers was putting on a show in his crease, Frederic Cloutier was quietly having a great game too. He made several fantastic saves including one on a short handed breakaway by Kelley Miller. But, Chicago would find the answer on the power-play when Maris Ziedins tipped another Busby point shot behind the IceHogs goaltender at 13:24 for what turned out to be the winning goal. Todd Grant added an insurance marker later in the period on the power-play when he wired the puck five-hole at 17:57 bringing the game to its final score of 3-1.

Chicago scored all three goals on the power-play. They had nine total attempts. The IceHogs were scoreless on their six tries with the man advantage. The winning netminder, Magers, stopped 49 of 50 shots, While Cloutier made 27 of 28 saves.

Hounds Chew Up Flags, win 3-2

March 23, 2007. Making their final trip to Michigan for the remainder of the regular season, Chicago wanted to end their stay with a victory. In a battle of teams fighting for a playoff spot, it's no wonder the contest was so close. Great goaltending was the story of the first period as both netminders kept the game scoreless. Finally, in the second stanza, Todd Grant fired a shot past Dustin Traylen at 4:35 giving the Hounds a 1-0 lead. With Hounds forward Matt Johnson in the penalty box for tripping, the Flags' Colt King beat Magers, tying the contest at 1-1. The Hounds would respond with a power-play goal of their own. This time, it was Drew Otten at 9:54 who helped recapture the Chicago one goal lead.

In the third period, Chicago looked to put the contest away when Grant registered his second of the contest at 8:50. Just under ten minutes later, Port Huron got back within one when King blasted another one behind Magers setting up a tense final couple minutes. In the end, the Flags couldn't tie the game and Chicago left Port Huron with two points in the bag.

Magers turned aside 52 of 54 shots while Traylen stopped 32 of 35. Both teams scored one power-play goal. Chicago had four chances while the Flags had five.

Leader Board:

Todd Grant rests atop of the Hounds leader-board. He has pulled away from his long tie with linemate Matt Amado. In four games this weekend, Grant managed six points which included two -two goal performances. In 70 games this season, he has managed 25 goals and 24 assists for 49 points. Right behind him is rookie Matt Amado. The Notre Dame graduate has played five less games than Todd and is two points behind him in scoring. In 65 this season, Matt has 22 goals and 25 assists for a total of 47 points.

It's important not to overlook the work of all-star defenseman Chris Busby. The rearguard played in integral role in the Chicago victory against Rockford on Saturday night and was announced as the second star of the game registering two assists. Busby accrued five points in four games this week and managed to stay a +2. Currently, he leads the team in the plus/minus department with a +13.

Goaltending is Everything:

The outstanding goaltending of Marty Magers was the story this weekend. Marty played back to back contests against Port Huron and Rockford. Both team have a potent offense that Magers was able to subdue. In the two games played, Magers faced 104 shots. (54 against the Flags and 50 against Rockford). He stopped 101 of those shots for a save percentage of .971 and a goals against average of 1.5. Those are incredible numbers by any standards and the Chicago Hounds nominated Magers for goaltender of the week.

Meanwhile, things haven't gone the way Brenden Cuthbert had hoped. Cuthbert played in games against Rockford on Wednesday night and Sunday against Fort Wayne. In those games, he surrendered 12 goals (six on both nights) while facing 88 shots on net. Recently, Cuthbert backstopped the Hounds to a franchise high five game winning streak while Magers was out battling a lower-body injury.

Standings:

Things have changed a great deal in the recent weeks for the Chicago Hounds-they are technically in the playoffs at this point. Despite the troubles during the first half of the season, Chicago is one of the hottest teams in the UHL in the last 20 games. So far in the month of March, the team has gone 10-4-1. Quite a difference considering the team had yet to play any month of .500 hockey since the first month of the season (four games in October saw Chicago accumulate a 2-2 record).

As the standings view now, the Hounds have gathered 64 points in 70 games with a record of 29-35-6. Currently, they rest in fourth spot in the Western Conference. Entering the playoffs at that spot is more than likely which means they will face the likes of either Fort Wayne or Rockford. The IceHogs are only two points back of Fort Wayne and equal in games played. This battle for supremacy of the West will likely continue until the end of the season.

Coming Up at Home:

Wednesday night will mark the return of the Port Huron Flags to the Sears Centre. This will be a remake game from earlier in the season when inclement weather forced a postponement of the contest. The last time these teams met was on March 23rd and a 52 save performance and two goals from Todd Grant were the difference. So far this season, the Hounds have a record of 2-0-1 against the Flags. This game will mark the last time the Hounds take on the Flags in the regular season. Great tickets are available to this game and as always, beer, hotdogs and soda are only $1 on Wednesday nights!

Friday night will see the return of the Bloomington Prairie Thunder for the last time this season. Battles between these two Illinois teams have been monumental and nothing less is expected in the contest on Friday night. Chicago is 6-4-1 against the Thunder this season. The last time these teams met was back on March 17th when Chicago skated away with a 6-3 victory. Hounds rookie forward B.J. Radovich registered the first ever Chicago Hounds hat-trick and Marty Magers stopped 25 of 28 shots for the victory.

The Fort Wayne Komets will march into the Sears Centre for the final time in the regular season. This could very well be a preview of the Western Conference first round. Currently, the Komets are atop the West with the Hounds holding onto the last spot in the fourth position. Most recently, Chicago was defeated by Fort Wayne on Sunday March 25th when they allowed four power-play goals against them in a 6-2 defeat. This season, the Hounds have managed a record of three wins and seven losses against the Komets. Saturday night will also mark the first ever HAT GIVEAWAY night. The first 1000 fans will be handed free Chicago Hounds hats. Great seats are available to all Chicago Hounds home games. Just call 847-882-2255 or log onto ChicagoHounds.com.

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International Hockey League 2 Stories from March 26, 2007


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