CHL Colorado Eagles

Eagles Ride First Period Outburst Over Bucks in Cup Rematch

Published on November 17, 2007 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Colorado Eagles News Release


LOVELAND, Colo. - The Colorado Eagles carried a 3-0 first period lead into a 5-4 win against the Laredo Bucks in a re-match of last year's President's Cup finals. Colorado jumped on Buck's goaltender, Kevin Beech (5-0-0, 1.12 GAA, .943 SV% coming into the game) early, but Laredo changed goalies after the Eagles' fourth goal, and the switch seemed to spark the Bucks.

The Eagles broke out to a 3-0 lead in an opening period that saw plenty of back-and-forth action. Ed McGrane scored the first goal at 2:25 with a pin-point wrister into the top left corner of the net behind Beech. His shot from the right faceoff dot was set up by a drop pass from Steve Haddon, with Aaron Schneekloth earning the second assist. Moments later, Haddon missed his own goal when a McGrane rebound found itself alone next to the post and Haddon just missed poking it in. Later in the period Dave Iannazzo came skating down the right-wing boards and lasered a shot past Beech and off the left post from the right circle, as Colorado kept humming.

But at 15:34, converted defenseman, Jay Birnie, scored his second goal in five games off a faceoff in the Laredo zone. Riley Nelson won the faceoff in the left circle and Birnie ripped the puck top shelf. Just under two minutes later, Seth Leonard made it 3-0 after he danced around the net and back in front before putting a shot on Beech. The puck snuck through the goalie's 5-hole, but a Bucks defender swept it away before it could fully cross the goal line. Unfortunately for Laredo, the puck bounced off of Beech's pad and back into the net. Haddon and Schneekloth both earned their second assists of the period on the goal.

Laredo came back in the second, living up to their reputation as the top offense in the league (4.69 goals per game). After Riley Nelson stepped on the puck and fell, causing a turnover in the Eagles' zone, Igor Agarunov threw a shot from the left dot over Emond's right shoulder to put the Bucks on the board at 6:50. But just over a minute later, Colorado countered when Jason Beatty dumped the puck behind the goal, where Iannazzo spun a blind, back-hand pass into the slot to an un-checked Haddon. Haddon quickly deposited the puck past Beech for his third point of the night (1-2-3) at 8:03. Laredo then swapped goalies, sending Dustin Traylen in to replace Beech. The switch appeared to spark the bucks as Steve Simoes cut the Colorado lead in half, 2-4, with a low shot from the left circle, and then Jeff Bes (the league's second-leading scorer), made it 3-4 at 15:04. After the puck rattled around to the right of Emond -- drawing everyone's attention, it squirted free to a wide open Bes standing to the left of the goaltender.

The Bucks continued their comeback when they tied the game at four at 13:47 when James Hiebert poked in a Bes wrap-around. But less than a minute later, Scott Polaski split the Laredo defense and broke into the offensive zone, drawing a hooking penalty. The ensuing power play proved critical when Iannazzo crossed into the Bucks' zone and lashed a slapshot that beat Traylen on the blocker side; Traylen appeared to be screened by his defenseman in the high slot. The Eagles had to hang on the rest of the period, withstanding a six-on-four in the final half minute to beat the Bucks in the Budweiser Events Center again.

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Central Hockey League Stories from November 17, 2007


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