Cotton Kings Road Preview
February 25, 2007 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Lubbock Cotton Kings News Release
2/25/07 -LUBBOCK COTTON KINGS (18-25-6) @ AMARILLO GORILLAS (26-20-3)
- 5:00 PM CAL FARLEY COLISEUM RADIO- KKAM 1340 AM
GO FOR TWO
The Lubbock Cotton Kings garnered their first win under new bench boss Craig Janney last night with a 3-0 shutout win over the Amarillo Gorillas and tonight, they close out the weekend three-in-three stanza and the home-and-home series with the Amarillo Gorillas. Lubbock's win last night snapped a four-game winless streak, and now they seek consecutive wins for the first time since November 16th. Both teams are seeking standing points to jockey for playoff positioning. Amarillo, winless in their last four games, is two standing points behind division-leading New Mexico entering the game. The Cotton Kings are eight standing points behind Austin and Rio Grande Valley for the final playoff spot, with a game-in-hand over Austin and two over Rio Grande Valley.
THE SERIES
Tonight marks the ninth of 11 meetings on the year, the fourth of six in Amarillo and the 83rd all-time meeting. Lubbock brings in a 45-25-12 all-time series record and Amarillo brings a 37-39-6 all-time series mark. Lubbock leads the season series 5-3-0, coming off a 3-0 win last night. The Kings are led by Simon Watson (4g,6a), who has 10 points in the series. The Gorillas are led by Bill Vandermeer, who has 5 goals and 6 assists for 11 points in the series. Former King Jan Melichercik (10g,34a) has 44 points against Amarillo to stand as the all-time leader in scoring against Amarillo for the Kings. Amarillo's all-time leader in scoring against Lubbock is former Gorilla Derek Hahn, who has 16 goals and 28 assists for 44 points.
THE LAST TIME
2/24/07 - Lubbock Cotton Kings goaltender J.F. Perras made 32 saves to shutout the Amarillo Gorillas in a 3-0 victory Saturday night at City Bank Coliseum. The win is the first in the head-coaching career of Lubbock's Craig Janney.
A scoreless first period saw the Gorillas out-shoot Lubbock 17-4, as the Cotton Kings surrendered 17 consecutive shots to Amarillo after getting the game's first two shots on goal.
With 4:00 left in the second period, Kyle Nosan converted on his shot, as he went near side on Amarillo goaltender Jaime Vandespyker. Nosan, who was in his first game back from the 14-day injured reserve, recorded his 17th goal of the year. Lubbock rebounded in the second period by out-shooting Amarillo 14-10.
The third period featured Jason Beatty firing a laser from the left circle past Vandespyker. The power play goal gave Lubbock the 2-0 lead with 4:42 remaining in regulation. Cotton Kings Anders Strome collected an empty-netter with 17 seconds left in the contest to clinch the win for Lubbock. The empty-netter is the third of the season for the Cotton Kings.
Rookie Perras earns his 12th win of the year (12-13-2) and records his third shutout of the season. Vandespyker takes the loss in net (12-10-2) as he made 29 stops off of 31 shots on goal. The two squads each fired 32 shots on net. Lubbock was 1-for-6 on the power play, while Amarillo was 0-for-8 on the man-advantage..
ROSTER CHANGES
Lubbock made a move yesterday with the release of Mark Scott, as the Kings activated Kyle Nosan.
STANDINGS
Kings - 42 points, 5th place, 15 points back, Southwest Division.
Gorillas - 55 points, 2nd place, 2 points back, Southwest Division.
TEAM LEADERS
Kings - Points: 47 Anders Strome, Goals: 25 Anders Strome, Assists: 30 Bobby Brown, Penalty Minutes: 181 Paul McBrien.
Gorillas - Points: 65 Bill Vandermeer, Goals: 32 Bill Vandermeer, Assists: 41 Rich Hansen, Penalty Minutes: 199 David Silverstone.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Kings - Power play: 14.1% 14th, Penalty killing: 86.2% 3rd.
Gorillas - Power play: 16.3% 7th, Penalty killing: 83.3% 12th.
GOALTENDERS
Kings - JF Perras (12-13-2, 3 SO, 2.94), Kyle Stanton (6-12-4, 1 SO, 3.39).
Gorillas - Shawn Conschafter (14-11-1, 1 SO, 3.24), Jamie Vandespyker (12-10-2, 0 SO, 3.43).
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Central Hockey League Stories from February 25, 2007
- Cotton Kings Remove Gorilla Off Their Back with 3-2 Win over Amarillo - Lubbock Cotton Kings
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- Cotton Kings Road Preview - Lubbock Cotton Kings
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