CHL Northern Conference Preview

by Mike Wallin
Published on October 14, 2003 under Central Hockey League (CHL)

Northwest Division

Colorado Eagles
Expansion Franchise
Head Coach---Chris Stewart

The expansion Eagles will not be your typical first-year team. Head Coach Chris Stewart returns to the CHL after a one-year hiatus. Stewart guided Huntsville to a CHL title back in 1999 and most recently served as the bench boss for the defunct San Antonio Iguanas.

Colorado will be a fun team to watch, as the roster is loaded with experience from top to bottom. Ryan Tobler, Riley Nelson and Greg Pankewicz form the leagues most feared top line. Nelson and Pankewicz defected from the ECHL while Tobler joins Colorado after playing the past five seasons in the AHL, IHL and NHL.

Experience doesn't stop with the top line. Phil Crowe played in 94 NHL games, 331 IHL contests, a year in the ECHL and one season in Europe. Brent Thompson will anchor the defense and brings 121 games of NHL experience along with 659 games played in the AHL/IHL. Scott Swanson joins the Eagles with 238 professional games and is coming off a spectacular season in 2002-2003. While playing for Idaho, of the WCHL, Swanson earned "Defenseman of the Year" after posting 9G-60A-69Pts. Stewart will also have the luxury of having Igor Bondarev, Lee Ruff and Aaron Grosul on the blueline.

Ryan Bach returns to North America to tend goal for the Eagles. A veteran of 161 AHL/IHL games, Bach spent the past two years netminding in Europe. Backing uo Bach will be Scott Hay, a third year pro who played in Bakersfield of the WCHL lat season.

Eagles Outlook:
Big things should be in store for this expansion team. Stewart is a proven winner who has a lineup loaded with AHL caliber players. As long as this team can get along, they will go far. Expect a deep run in the playoffs.

New Mexico Scorpions
Last Season (31-28-5, 67pts)
Head Coach---Bill McDonald

The Scorpions will think defense first in 2003-2004 under McDonald. Veteran netminder Danny Lorenz joins New Mexico after playing last season in Europe. A 15 year pro, McDonald hopes the Scorps are solidified in goal. Rookie Miguel Beaudry will back up Lorenz. Beaudry played the last four seasons in the OHL.

On the blueline, Arturs Kupaks, Shaun Peet, Vladamir Hartinger and Jeff Alcombrack all return for another year. Solidifying the defense is ECHL defector Jaroslav Kerestes.

Up front, New Mexico will once again rely on Chris Richards and Peter Ambroziak to spark the attack. Richards led the Scorpions with 30G-46A-76Pts. Ben Gorewich and Craig Stahl also are back while Walker McDonald comes over from Charlotte of the ECHL to add grit to the lineup.

Scorpions Outlook:
New Mexico is definitely building a strong defense. Question remains, who will Richards feed the puck to? Look for New Mexico to hang around in the playoff chase, but fall short.

Wichita Thunder
Last Season (21-36-7, 49 pts)
Head Coach---Derek Laxdal

After assisting Don McKee in Odessa, Laxdal got his opportunity to become a head coach late last season. Improvement under Laxdal was an understatement for the Thunder. With a summer to recruit "his" team, Laxdal has Wichita fans once again excited about hockey.

Travis Clayton and Jason Duda will again be skating in Wichita. Clayton led all Thunder with 35G-57A-92 Pts, while Duda was right behind with 31G-52A-83Pts. Laxdal is hoping that newcomers Adam Calder and Mark Kolesar will help Clayton and Duda in putting the puck in the net. Calder played in the ECHL the past four seasons, averaging a point a game. Kolesar, a playmaking center, joins Wichita after five seasons skating overseas. Trevor Allman also has signed to play for the Thunder. Two years ago, while playing in Odessa, Allman scored 37 goals.

Defensively, Laxdal hopes that Henrik Bergfors, a Tampa Bay Lightning draft choice, will become a big time player. Joining Bergfors will be Chad Mazurak, 7G-22A-29Pts, for Roanoke of the ECHL and Alex Todd who played the past two seasons for Fresno of the WCHL.

Two young netminders will vie for playing time under Laxdal's Thunder. Mark Gowan, entering his fourth pro season, arrives from the WCHL while Matt Carney played in just eight games with Odessa last season.

Thunder Outlook:
Either Gowan or Carney must solidify the goaltending situation. That being said, Wichita also has overhauled the defense. Calder has All-Star potential which should take some of the offensive pressure off of Clayton and Duda. The Thunder will hang around all season and Laxdal's group will garner the final playoff spot.

Oklahoma City Blazers
Last Season (37-20-7, 81pts)
Head Coach---Doug Sauter

It's hard to imagine the Blazers without the legendary #19 Joe Burton. After eleven seasons and 565 goals, Burton has moved on. The Blazers will have to try playing without #19.

Blair Manning, Marty Standish, Peter Arvanitis and Ryan Campbell all return to try and take away the sting from the departures of Burton and Jonathan DuBois. Bryan Forslund comes over from the ECHL to help the offense as does Doug Sheppard. After a year away from hockey Sheppard returns and hopes to begin where he left off. In 2001-2002, Sheppard scored 23 goals for New Haven of the UHL while in his rookie campaign of 2000-2001, he tallied 30 goals for Roanoke of the ECHL.

Oklahoma City's defense will once again be anchored by All-Star Hardy Sauter. The ninth year pro scored 10G-57A-67Pts last year. Peter Robertson, Tyler Fleck and Tim Laurila also return to the Blazer blueline.

In goal, Boyd Ballard is back after winning 29 games in 2002-2003. Ballard posted an impressive .912 save percentage last season.

Blazers Outlook:
Two huge departures in Burton and DuBois create an offensive weakness. Still a solid defensive club, Doug Sauter will rely on Ballard and his defensive crew even more. The Blazers will sneek into the playoffs once again, but it won't be easy.

Tulsa Oilers
Last Season (37-22-5, 79pts)
Head Coach---Bruce Garber

After a great start to the 2002-2003 season, the Oilers fizzled down the stretch and missed the playoffs. Change has come about in Tulsa, beginning with the replacement of Gary Unger and the hiring of Bruce Garber as the teams head coach. Garber spent the last seven seasons serving as the bench boss for the Columbus Cottonmouths.

Todd Marcellus, 40G-53A-93Pts, will once again be counted on for instant Oiler offense. Derek Toninato and Aaron Millar are the other holdovers up front for Tulsa. Jason Bermingham was signed out of the ECHL and will be counted on heavily by Garber. With Arkansas last year, Bermingam scored 38G-35A-73Pts. Dan Gravelle has played in the AHL, IHL, ECHL, WCHL, COHL as well as overseas in Italy, Austria and Finland. Leadership and experiece is what Garber expects to gain from Gravelle. Marian Koveda, a rookie from Slovakia, may make Oiler fans forget Pat Hallett.

Defensively, Tulsa brings back just Jordan Flodell and Regan Harper. European skaters Rustan Baknriodinov and Branislav Keutan will be expected to make the roster.

Rod Branch will once again be counted on to carry the load in goal for the Oilers. Branch was spectacular last season, winning 32 games while posting a 2.88GAA and a .912 save percentage. Tim Kelleher, a rookie out of Boston College will play behing Branch.

Oiler Outlook:
Unless Garber can find some more reinforcements, it will be a rough year in Tulsa. Branch, one of the leagues best netminders will keep Tulsa in most games, however the defense is very thin and the offense has little beyond Marcellus and Bermingham. No playoffs again for the Oilers.

Northeast Division

Fort Worth Brahmas
Last Season (16-41-7, 39pts)
Head Coach---Bill Inglis

2002-2003 was a season to forget for the Brahmas. The team finished with the fewest wins and points in the entire CHL. Fort Worth also scored just 146 goals which was 38 less than the second worst offensive club. Defensively, the Brahmas allowed 251 goals. Only three other teams surrendered more. As a result, the Brahmas needed an overhaul.

Jeff Scharf, a center who played in El Paso, tallied 22G-37A-59Pts last year. Jan Jas comes over fro San Angelo, Shawn Roed spent the past two years in the UHL. These three join holdovers Chad Woolard, Justin Williams, TJ Warkus and Chad Grills. Wollard led Fort Worth with 35G-24A-59Pts.

Adam Davis, Jeff Washbrook return to the defense. Peter Trumbley, Brett Naugle and Carl Greehous join the unit.

In net, Erasmo Saltarelli returns after playing in 15 games last season. Tyler Nilsson arrives on the scene after a stellar career at the University of Calgary.

Brahmas Outlook:
Things look grim once again for Fort Worth. Suspect netminding, limited defense and little offense mean another long season for the Brahmas.

Indianapolis Ice
Last season (39-16-9, 87pts)
Head Coach---Ken McRae

McRae adjusted very well to the head coaches role after a successful stint as an assistant in Austin. A 19 game improvement in wins helped McRae earn CHL "Coach of the Year."

Once again, McRae has built his team around defense. Bernie John, Ryan Aikia and Nate Elliott all return to the defense while Mario Doyon joins the Ice after playing the past five years in Europe. John has averaged 69 points a year during his four seasons with the Ice. Aikia and Doyon are solid stay at home types while Elliott contributes at both ends.

Up front Indy returns Jared Dumba, Jason Baird and Ryan Carter while centers Russ Guzior and David Gilmore arrive from El Paso and Laredo. Joe Guenther, a rookie All-Star, defected from the ECHL to join the Ice. Jason Selleke returns to Indianapolis after playing one year for Fort Wayne of the UHL.

Jeff Sanger will handle the goaltending duties for the Ice. As a rookie last year, Sanger won 20 games playing for Reading of the ECHL.

Ice Outlook:
Team toughness and the ability of Sanger to replace All-Star Shawn Silver remain question marks. McRae has proved he knows how to build and coach a winner. This team has too much talent on defense and balance on the wings. A long run in the playoffs is expected.

Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs
Last Year (33-22-9, 75pts)
Head Coach---Scott Muscutt

After missing the playoffs last year, Muscutt decided to keep the roster in tact. The top thirteen scorers from a year ago return for 2003-2004. Dan Wildfong, Chad Spurr, Forbes MacPhereson, Jason Campbell and Chris Brassard form the offensive nucleus.

Muscutt will be counting on Brassard to return to the level of play he had in 2001-2002 when he scored 25G-15A-40Pts and 303 penalty minutes while playing in the ECHL.

On defense, Tony Bergin, Jason Basile, Craig Minard and Jim Sprott are all back. Ken Carroll won 25 games in goal and will once again be the Mudbugs netminder.

Wes Blevins, a defenseman who played last year in the ECHL and Craig Soke, a rookie from the University of New Brunswick, figure to be the top newcomers for Bossier.

Mudbugs Outlook:
You have to wonder why so many returnees. The Mudbugs missed out on the playoffs last year, yet the team remians the same. A year later, a year older, another missed post-season.

Memphis RiverKings
Last Year (39-21-4, 82pts)
Head Coach---Jim Wiley

Back-to-back titles for the RiverKings. Can they three-peat? Problem is, Doug Shedden has left for the AHL leaving former San Jose bench boss Jim Wiley to try and keep the trophy in Southaven.

Don Parsons, 57G-49A-106Pts, is back and will be looking for another MVP awarsd. Kahlil Thomas, currently playing for Shedden, should be back in Memphis soon to take some of the offensive pressure off Parsons. Jonathan Gagnon, Jay Neal and Brian Tucker also back. Brent Ozarowski arrives from a year in Europe where he scored more than a point a game.

On defense, Derek Landmasser, Stephen Margerson, Vaclav Zavoral and Jeremy Goetzinger all return while Jerry Gernander arrives after playing two seasons in the ECHL.

J.F. Racine went 22-9-3 last year and will be counted on even more in 2003-2004 with the retirement of Mark Richards. The Toronto Maple Laefs still may provide the RiverKings with more help, ecspecially in goal where the organization is loaded.

RiverKings Outlook:
Racine was the netminder of choice until the final playoff push when Richards took over. Racine remained on the bench throughout the playoffs. The loss of Richards, Luch Nasato, Brad Mueller, Michal Stastny and most notably Doug Shedden are too much to overcome. Memphis will miss out on the post-season.

Email the author with your thoughts and opinions. Indywallin@yahoo.com

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