CHL Colorado Eagles

Eagles Week in Review

Published on November 5, 2007 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Colorado Eagles News Release


Week In Review

Tuesday, October 30; Eagles Beat Rage in OT

The Colorado Eagles defeated the Rocky Mountain Rage 4-3 in overtime, handing the Rage their first loss of the season. The puck seemed to follow Rage forward Nathan Rosychuk all night long, as he recorded a natural hat trick, but in the end, it was the Eagles' veteran duo of Greg Pankewicz and Riley Nelson that powered the defending champs past their in-state rival.

Friday, November 2; Rage Get Revenge With 4-2 Win

The Rocky Mountain Rage looked like a new-and-improved team Friday night as they beat the defending President's Cup champions 4-2. The combination of a physical game and a better Rage team added to the natural rivalry between the two teams, and the Eagles -- already skating without Ryan Tobler (14-day IR) -- also lost All-Star Chris Hartsburg for at least the second half of the game. Les Borsheim saw his first action of the season in Tobler's place.

Amarillo Edges Eagles in Shootout For First Win

The Gorillas picked up their first win of the season by downing the Eagles 5-4 in a shootout. Eagles' rookie goaltender, Ian Keserich, making his first professional start, stopped 40 of 44 shots and made several big saves (many coming off of numerous Amarillo odd-man breaks), but the lone shooter to beat him in the shootout was enough to ruin his special night and drop the defending champions' record to 3-2-2.

The Week Ahead

Tuesday, November 6; Eagles Head to Oklahoma City

Colorado faces the team they defeated in seven games to advance to the conference finals last season for the first time this year. Heading into the week, the Blazers trail Colorado by only two points in the Northwest division (8-6). Oklahoma City's offense is led by their defenseman, three of whom are in the 20 scoring defenseman in the league (Burgoyne at 5-4-9, Robertson at 3-5-8 and Wilson at 1-5-6). The Blazers have the top home power play in the league (third overall) at 36.8 percent.

Friday, November 9; Eagles Meet Sundogs for Fourth Time in Early Season

The Eagles will look to even the season series against the Sundogs who took the first two games in Arizona. Colorado countered by winning their lone home game against Arizona so far this season, keeping the trend going as the home team has won every game in the history of their meetings. The Sundogs are currently in first place in the Southwest with a record of 5-2-1.

Saturday, November 10; Brahmas Return to League, Bud Events Center

The Eagles and Brahmas will face-off for the first time in two years, as the team formerly known as the Fort Worth Brahmas suspended operations last season. The Brahmas finished their last season (2005-06) with a 17-39-8 record, and heading into this week hold down second place in the Northeast with a record of 6-1-0 (good for second most points in the CHL).

Stats & Streaks

Medic! - The Eagles are hurting as they head into the third week of the season with two all-stars and a championship goalie on the IR. Heavy-hitting offensive threats, Ryan Tobler and Chris Hartsburg, were hurt over the past week after both were off to fast starts this season. Tobler -- who reached 500 professional points and 200 professional goals over the opening weekend -- had accumulated eight points in five games (4-4-8) and Hartsburg had five in six (3-2-5) while tying for the team lead with two power play goals. Marco Emond has yet to start a game this season in net for the Eagles after notching nine wins in the playoffs last year.

Shooting Spree - Colorado's Ed McGrane and Greg Pankewicz have the second and third most shots in the CHL respectively (45 and 44, trailing Scott Wray with 46). The two Eagles held the same spots on the CHL shooting list in last year's playoffs with 96 and 92. McGrane finished eighth in the league last season with 259, and Pankewicz had only 76 because he played in only 18 games (4.5 shots per game).

There's No Place Like Home - In their 11 games against each other, the home team always skates away with two points when the Sundogs and Eagles play. Last season -- Arizona's first -- each team won their four home dates, and so far this season, Arizona is 2-0-0 at home and Colorado is 1-0-0 at the Budweiser Events Center. The Sundogs took two points each in two high-scoring affairs in Prescott Valley over opening weekend, with a 6-5 shootout and a 7-6 win the next night. In Loveland, the game was again decided by just one goal as the Eagles won 3-2.

Power Play Pros -The Eagles own the top power play in the league -- clicking at 26.8 percent -- but they might not want to play a lot on special teams this week because they'll be playing against three other teams in the top five as well. Oklahoma City is ranked third at 24.5 percent, Arizona is fourth at 23.1, and Texas is fifth at 22.2. The Blazers own the league's top home power play, while the Brahmas and Sundogs rank fourth and fifth respectively on the road. Colorado is second at home and on the road for their first overall rating.

Second Period Scoring - Through their seven games, Colorado has scored 30 goals and allowed 29. Of those, 15 goals-for and 14 goals-against have been registered in the second period of their contests. That means that 50 percent of the Eagles' goals and 48.3 percent of their goals against have come in the second.

Check out the Colorado Eagles Statistics

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Central Hockey League Stories from November 5, 2007


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