Eagles tie sellout streak record, beat Odessa 4-3
Published on January 11, 2008 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Colorado Eagles News Release
LOVELAND, Colo. - The Colorado Eagles tied the minor pro hockey record for consecutive sellouts with their 144th on the way to beating the Odessa Jackalopes 4-3. Brad Williamson scored two goals in the second to help bring the Eagles back from an early 2-0 deficit and Olivier Proulx had three points (1-2-3) in his first game with Odessa.
Proulx, making his debut in the CHL, made his mark early with a Gordie Howe hat trick (a goal, an assist and a fighting major) in the game's first 10:43. Proulx - who scored 119 points in 71 games for his junior team in 2001-02 - scored on his first shot as a Jackalope at 7:24. Proulx, the trailing player on a 3-on-2 breakaway, took a pass from Sebastien Thinel and snapped a shot past Bryan Bridges from between the circles. Thinel and Proulx connected again at 9:15 when a defensive breakdown left Proulx wide open in the right circle.
He sent a pass to an open Thinel to the left of Bridges for an easy tap-in and a 2-0 lead. About a minute and a half later, Steve Haddon took matters into his own hands and made sure that the red-hot Proulx would stay off the ice by engaging him in a fight. The Eagles converted on the power play with just 59 seconds left in the period when Jason Beatty took a Paul Esdale rebound, skated to the bottom of the right circle and snapped the puck past Mike Gorman to cut the Odessa lead to 2-1.
Williamson scored twice in the second to put the Eagles in the lead. His first score came at 4:56 when he took a pass from Dave Iannazzo in the right corner, skated along the goal line and put a high shot on Gorman. The puck bounced off the goaltender's shoulder and fell into the crease where Williamson knocked in the rebound to tie the game at 2. The CHL's reining "Most Outstanding Defenseman" struck again at 12:23. Just after a Colorado power play expired, Williamson got off a shot from between the circles that made its way through a maze of bodies and over Gorman's left shoulder. The Eagles would end the period with a 12-3 edge in shots; the three shots against rank fifth-lowest in a period in team history.
Both teams got a goal in the final period. Colorado got their second power play goal of the night at 2:05 when Iannazzo knocked in an Esdale rebound. Esdale took a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle along the boards and the rebound fell right to Iannazzo to the left of the crease. The Eagles continued to carry the momentum for the rest of the game, but Ryan Palmer scored for Odessa at 16:40 to make the final score, 4-3.
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