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CHL Colorado Eagles

Eagles Week In Review

December 10, 2007 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Colorado Eagles News Release


Monday, December 3; Schneekloth's Hat Trick Voted Performance of the Week

The Central Hockey League (CHL) announced that Colorado Eagles defenseman Aaron Schneekloth's hat trick on November 23 in the Eagles 6-5 win versus Amarillo has been voted by the fans as the winner of week six's Performance of the Week. The hat trick was the first in the Eagles history recorded by a defenseman. Schneekloth received nearly twice as many votes as the runner-up (Mississippi's Chad Woollard's two goals in November 21 win at Oklahoma City). In all, Schneekloth totaled 424 votes (43%). There were 968 votes cast during the week six poll. Schneekloth will be automatically considered for the 2007-08 CHL Performance of the Year which will be announced in April, 2008. Schneekloth is the Eagles top scoring defenseman and ranks second in the CHL among blueliners with 21 points (10-11=21). Fans can vote for their choice as the CHL Performance of the Week at www.centralhockeyleague.com.

Friday, December 7; Eagles Silence Thunder, 5-3

LOVELAND, Colo. - The Colorado Eagles beat the Wichita Thunder, 5-3, to keep pace with the Rocky Mountain Rage atop the Northwest Division. Colorado dominated much of the game and ended with a 48-21 edge in shots as Greg Pankewicz extended his point streak to 10 games with two goals -- one the game-winner. The Eagles dominated the first period of play (out-shooting the Thunder 13-5), and the edge in play began right out of the chutes as Colorado was able to keep the puck deep in the Wichita zone for over a minute at the start of the game. Despite the decided edge in play, Wichita took advantage of a 5-on-3 as Kris Richardson was able to get the Thunder just their third road power play goal of the season when he poked the puck past Marco Emond from a scrum at the front of the crease. The Eagles continued to dominate play in the second period, expanding their edge in shots to 34-13, but the game remained locked in a tie. Colorado's dominance finally came to fruition in the third as the Eagles increased their lead with three goals. At 7:17, Seth Leonard slid a pass from behind the goal line to the left of the goal to an open Schneekloth on the doorstep for the Eagles' second power play goal of the night. Less than a minute and a half later, Brett Thurston sent Pankewicz into the offensive zone with a great lead pass and the captains fired a low shot from the top of the right circle that beat Laplante's right leg. Then with time winding down, and the Thunder net empty, Leonard scored with 45.6 seconds left after hitting the post just moments earlier as the Eagles came away with a win.

Saturday, December 8; Eagles Boil 'Bugs, Win 5-2

LOVELAND, Colo. - Marco Emond saved 48 shots and Ed McGrane had a four-point night in leading the Colorado Eagles past the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, 5-2. Emond's 48 saves set a Colorado high for the season and rank second in franchise history for most saves in a game, and McGrane scored his first goal since November 17 (a stretch of seven games). The two teams came into the game with identical records at 10-6-3. Befitting their records, the Eagles and Mudbugs played an even first period, with each team getting a goal on their 12 shots. McGrane helped power the Eagles to a two goal lead in the second with two goals and an assist, registering a point in all three Colorado goals in the period. The most spectacular goal came at 3:17 when Scott Polaski flipped a back-hand pass from the right wing circle in his own zone to McGrane at the opposite blue line; McGrane broke in and beat John DeCaro with a back-hand-forehand move. Emond -- who had already made some stellar saves throughout the game -- turned it up another notch in the third as the Mudbugs threw 24 shot his way. But the netminder stopped them all and Paul Esdale added an insurance goal on the power play with 41 seconds left to help solidify the win. McGrane sent a pass from the goal line to Esdale at the top of the circles. Esdale then passed the puck back and forth with Williamson before beating DeCaro with a shot from the point.

Sunday, December 9; New Episode of the NoCo Hockey Show Debuts

WINDSOR, Colo. - The December episode of the Colorado Eagles NoCo Hockey Show debuts on Altitude Sports & Entertainment. This month's special guest is Mike Haynes, the voice of the Colorado Avalanche. The first airings took place on Sunday, December 9 (at 2 a.m. and 5 p.m.). Be sure to check your local listings for Altitude Sports & Entertainment and additional Colorado Eagles coverage.

The Week Ahead

Friday, December 14; Eagles Head to Bossier City for Rematch with 'Bugs

Just six days after beating the Mudbugs 5-2, the Eagles will try and beat them again on their own ice. In 15 regular season meetings with Bossier-Shreveport, the Eagles are 9-5-1 and their record on the road is an outstanding 5-1-0. Ed McGrane is averaging over two points per game in his career against the Mudbugs (15 points in seven games) after registering four points (2-2-4) -- and scoring his first goal in seven games -- against them on Saturday.

Saturday, December 15; Eagles Travel to Take on RiverKings

Colorado will finish their two-game road trip with their first meeting of the year against the Mississippi RiverKings (formerly of Memphis). The Eagles' all-time record against the franchise is 7-6-0, and they're one game below .500 on the road at 3-4-0. The RiverKings are currently in second place in the Northeast Division with a record of 13-6-1 (27 points).

Notable Numbers

On the Marco - Eagles goaltender Marco Emond not only won the CHL's Goaltender of the Week award with his performances over the weekend, but his 48-save performance against Bossier-Shreveport on December 8 resulted in several changes to the Eagles' record books. In a game in which Colorado allowed 50 shots against (second-most in team history), Emond's 48 saves became the second most saves in a game in team history. Not only that, but Emond stopped all 24 of those 50 shots that came in the third (matching a franchise high of shots allowed in a period). The 5-2 win also left Emond in second place on the Eagles' all-time wins list with 34; he now trails Paulo Colaiacovo by just nine games.

Mac Attack - With his four-point night (2-2-4) against the Mudbugs last Saturday, Colorado's Ed McGrane now has 15 points (5-10-15) in seven games against the 'Bugs. He will look to keep pace with that over two-points-per-game average when the Eagles head to the CenturyTel Center for a rematch this Friday.

PointStreak(s) - The Eagles currently have three players with extended point streaks: Greg Pankewicz (11), Riley Nelson (7) and Aaron Schneekloth (5). By not getting an assist in his last game, Pankewicz's franchise-record 10-game assist streak (14 assists) was broken, but he is still riding an 11 game streak (5-16-21) due to his goal against the Mudbugs. Nelson's seven-game streak currently ranks fourth on the Eagles' all-time list, and Schneekloth's five-game goal streak is currently tied for second-longest.

Schneeking Into the Play - Eagles defenseman Aaron Schneekloth ranks at or near the top of many of the league's categories for offensive defensemen. The former CHL All-Star ranks first in goals (12), power play goals (7) and shooting percentage (.222); the next closest is .154. He also ranks second in points among defenders with 24 (12-12-23), one off the lead of the Blazers' Mike Burgoyne (25).

Game-Winner - By notching the game-winning goal in both of Colorado's wins over the weekend, Eagles captain Greg Pankewicz now has four such tallies on the season. The four game-winning-goals puts him just one behind Mississippi's Rick Kozak for tops in the league. They also account for 36 percent of Colorado's game-winners. Riley Nelson ranks second on the team and is tied for third in the league with three winners.

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