Cotton Kings Weekly Notes

Published on November 22, 2005 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Lubbock Cotton Kings News Release


FOR THE WEEK OF Nov. 21 - 27th

TIME TO GET ILL

The Lubbock Cotton Kings enter Thanksgiving Week coming off a 2-1-0 weekend, which saw the Kings battling more than their competition. In the three-in-three weekend, the Kings had a different assortment of players hit with 24-hour flu-like viruses in each of the games and at times only had 12 healthy skaters on the roster. The healthy skaters combined with the dressed sickened that put their heart into playing pushed the Kings to close out the weekend with a pair of wins. The Kings hosted the Youngstown SteelHounds Friday night and were trailing 2-1 until Nolan Graham, Mike Brolsma and Stacey Bauman combined for goals in a span of 2:41 with under four minutes remaining in the game, to post a 4-2 come from behind victory. Saturday, the Kings were in Amarillo and after two scoreless periods, Paul Fioroni scored his first goal of the season, and it ended up standing as his first game winning goal in three seasons, as rookie goaltender Brett Koscielny stopped all 31 shots on goal to earn his first pro shutout enroot to a 2-0 win over the Gorillas. The Kings will enter a busy Thanksgiving Week co-leading the Southwest Division with Odessa, with home contests Wednesday (vs Laredo) and Friday (vs Memphis) before wrapping up the week in Amarillo Saturday.

"HEROES & LEGACIES" COTTON KINGS "HERO OF THE WEEK"

Each week a member of the Cotton Kings is selected as the "Heroes & Legacies Hero of the Week" for their performance in last previous week's games and this week's recipient for their effort last week is goaltender Brett Koscielny. The rookie netminder made two starts of the three games last week and went 1-1-0 in the pipes. In Odessa on Thursday, he stopped 25 of 27 shots on goal and only allowed two goals in an unfortunate 2-1 loss. Both goals were allowed in the opening period and since then, he has built a career high active shutout sequence of 102:48. 60 minutes of that shutout time was completed Saturday night in Amarillo, as Koscielny stopped all 33 Gorillas shots on goal to help defeat the Gorillas 2-0. It was Koscielny's first pro shutout. For the combined week, Koscielny stopped 58 of 60 shots on goal for a 96.7% save percentage. Among league leaders, the Brandon, Manitoba native sits just under two minutes shy from qualifying on the leaderboard with what would be a league-leading 2.01 GAA.

KINGS OF "D"

In their last six games, the Lubbock Cotton Kings have allowed just six goals, with two of the games resulting in shutouts for the Kings. The two shutouts on the season is a CHL team high for this season. The six-game span has aided the Kings to lead the CHL in average goals allowed per game, with an allowance of just 2.36 goals per game. The Kings also rank fourth in the league in shots allowed per game with an allowance of 31.9 shots per game.

THE KILLERS

Friday, the Cotton Kings allowed a power play goal to the Youngstown Steelhounds that ended a span of four consecutive games in which the Kings had not allowed a power play goal. The Cotton Kings were 30 for 30 during the four-game span. Since allowing the goal, the Kings have continued their defensive supremacy on the penalty kill have killed off 12 consecutive power plays. That included a six for six performance in Amarillo against the Gorillas squad that led the CHL in home power play percentage. The Kings have held the opposition to 1 for 43 (2.3%) on the power play over the last six games. Overall on the season, the Cotton Kings, who were ranked 12th in the CHL before the six game span, currently rank second in the CHL with a PK percentage of 88.3%. The 11 power play goals allowed co-leads the CHL with Tulsa.

THIS WEEK'S "INSIDE THE NUMBERS"

2:41 - Span - Saturday, the Cotton Kings produced three goals in a span of 2-minutes and 41-seconds, which was the fastest produced trio of goals this season for Lubbock.

102:48 - Shutout Sequence - Brett Koscielny is carrying an active career high shutout sequence of 102-minutes and 48-seconds.

169 - Shots - In the last four games, the Cotton Kings have fired off 169 shots on goal (42.3 average) and three of the last four games have included the top three shots on goal performances for the season (53 on 11/12 vs OKC, 45 on 11/19 at AMA, 44 on 11/18 vs YNG).

WEEK IN REVIEW

Nov. 17 @ Odessa L 1-2 Top Star: ODE - Matt Cressman (1 SH, GW goal)

Nov. 18 vs. Youngstown W 4-2 Top Star: LUB - Lance Leslie (32 saves off 34 shots)

Nov. 19 @ Amarillo W 2-0 Top Star: LUB - Brett Koscielny (33 saves, Shutout)

WEEK AHEAD

PRACTICE TIMES: Tue: 10 AM - 11:15 AM... Wednesday, Friday: 10 AM -11:00 AM... Thursday: TBA

Wed. Nov. 23 7:05 pm vs. Laredo Bucks Radio: *KKAM 1340 AM TV: CHLTV.COM *join in progress at around 8:45 pm

Notes: The Lubbock Cotton Kings open the week against the defending Southern Conference Champion Laredo Bucks, who have won 8 of their last 11 games. Their 8-5-1 record has them atop the Conference and the Southeast Division. It will be the first of three meetings this season and the 15th, all time meeting between the two clubs. Laredo has dominated the all-time series with an 11-1-2 series mark. Lubbock is 3-10-1 all-time against the Bucks, but last season they went with 2-1-0 against the Bucks with Lance Leslie, who is a former Buck, posting a 1.95 GAA and a 93.2% save percentage to aid the Kings. Fans are encouraged to bring canned foods to receive a $3 discount off any ticket for the game.

Fri. Nov. 25 7:05 pm vs. Memphis RiverKings Radio: KKAM 1340 AM TV: CHLTV.COM

Notes: The Kings remain home for consecutive home games for just the second time of the season, as they host the Memphis RiverKings. It will be the only visit to Lubbock this season for Memphis, who will close the season series by hosting Lubbock on February 21st. There is a short history between the two clubs, as they have only met five times, with Memphis holding a 3-2-0 series edge, as Lubbock is 2-2-1 all-time against the RiverKings. The two teams only met once last season, with Memphis' Don Parsons contributing a pair of goals in a 4-2 win in Lubbock. Fans are encouraged to bring canned foods to receive a $3 discount off any ticket for the game.

Sat. Nov. 26 7:00 pm @ Amarillo Gorillas Radio: KKAM 1340 AM TV: CHLTV.COM

Notes: The I-27 series continues at the Cal Farley Coliseum in Amarillo on Saturday night. Lubbock leads the series with a 2-1-0 record. Derek Hahn has two goals and an assist for three points to lead the Amarillo and the series in scoring this season, while the Kings are led by Nolan Graham's two points (1g,1a). As for the all-time series, it will be the 64th all-time meeting between the two clubs, with Lubbock bringing in a 37-18-8 all-time series record and Amarillo bringing a 26-33-4 all-time series mark. Former Cotton King Kyle Reeves is the all-time leader in scoring against Amarillo with 39 points (27g,12a). Amarillo's all-time leader in scoring against Lubbock is Hahn, who all-time has 10 goals and 17 assists for 27 points against Lubbock.

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