CHL Colorado Eagles

Eagles Week In Review

Published on January 14, 2008 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Colorado Eagles News Release


Week In Review

Wednesday, January 9; Colorado Puts Hurtin' on Wichita, Wins 5-2

LOVELAND, Colo. - Colorado defeated Wichita 5-2 to win their fourth game in as many contests against the Thunder this season. Scott Polaski had two goals on seven shots and added an assists as the game's First Star, while all-star defenseman Aaron Schneekloth also recorded a three-point night with a goal and two assists to go with his +4 plus/minus rating. The Eagles sold out their 143rd consecutive home game, setting them up to tie the record for most consecutive sellouts in minor pro hockey history on Friday night against the Odessa Jackalopes and break the record Saturday night against the Rocky Mountain Rage. For the third time in as many home meetings with Wichita this season, the Eagles dominated the first period. This time they out-shot the Thunder 19-7 along with playing four minutes on the power play. But just like the three previous meetings, the score at the end of the first period was 1-0. Polaski got the period's lone goal just after the Eagles' first power play had expired. Both teams scored twice in the second. Colorado made it 2-0 just 1:46 into the second when Seth Leonard skated the puck in from the left point, cut to the left of the net, and slid a pass back through the crease to Riley Nelson who put it past Laplante. Wichita countered just 23 seconds later when Mike Batovanja rushed into the Eagles' zone and crashed hard into Marco Emond while getting off a weak shot. As Batovanja carried Emond to the ice and out of the crease, Kyle Bruce swooped in and put the puck into the empty net. The Eagles took control of the third from the outset, scoring just 1:18 in. Polaski skated down the right-wing boards, turned up to stall the play, and hit Dave Iannazzo who scored from the slot. Colorado scored again at 3:41 when Schneekloth battled his way through the left circle and passed from his knee to Polaski in the slot. Polaski put the puck past Laplante for his second goal of the game. About 30 seconds later, Kyle Bruce got in his second fight of the night. The first fight came in the first period against Brett Thurston, and lasted an incredible 55 seconds. That fight was fairly even, but the second one - against Jason Beatty - was about as lopsided as they come. Beatty landed several punches, pummeling Bruce to the ice. The Thunder would mount few other chances the rest of the way as they lost their fourth game to Colorado this year.

Thursday, January 10; Eagles to Make History, Break Sellout Streak Record

LOVELAND, Colo. - Saturday night, with their 145th consecutive regular season sellout, the Colorado Eagles will set a new standard for minor league professional hockey. Minor league hockey has been played in North America for over 100 years, and come Saturday, no team will have strung together as many sellouts as the Eagles. Including playoff games, the Eagles will have sold out 173 consecutive games total - every single game in their four-and-a-half years of operation. "Our fans have shown their love of hockey and the Colorado Eagles by setting this new sellout record. I am very proud to be part of this organization and all of its accomplishments - especially setting this historic number," said Eagles president, general manager and head coach, Chris Stewart. "Hockey has been played in this country for over a century, and the fans in Northern Colorado should be proud to call this incredible record their own." Many things have contributed to the sellout streak: a successful team (two CHL championships in its first four years), a great facility (the Budweiser Events Center, completed in 2003) and a hard-working front office. Above all, the incredible fans in Northern Colorado deserve credit for the accomplishment. Their support has been phenomenal since the franchise's inception - the Eagles' streak started with the very first game in franchise history, October 17, 2003 - and they have made the Budweiser Events Center the "Toughest Building to Play In" three straight years in the CHL's annual survey of media, team and league personnel. In the same three surveys, the fans have also been voted the league's best. "This accomplishment is a tribute to how dedicated Eagles fans are," said Eagles executive vice president of ticketing and marketing, Chris Augusto. "They should be proud that they have made hockey history; 145 consecutive sellouts and counting." The sellout streak doesn't look like it will end anytime soon either. The team currently has a season-ticket waiting list of over 200 names. One of the very first season ticket holders, Paul Czarnecki, explained the communities' ties to the Eagles, in part, by saying, "I have made friends with the folks around me and see many business associates at the games. Every Eagles game is different and exciting and the cost for that level of family entertainment is exceptional." The record has been held by the Wilkes-Barre Penguins (minor-league affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins) of the American Hockey League since October 30, 2004; their streak began on December 22, 2000.

Friday, January 11; New NoCo Hockey Show Episode Airs This Weekend

The Colorado Eagles announced that the January episode of their Colorado Eagles NoCo Hockey Show would debut on Altitude Sports & Entertainment over the weekend. This month's special guest is Reed Saunders, the public address announcer for both the President's Cup champion Eagles and the National League champion Colorado Rockies. The show will also feature: a player profile on All-Star defenseman Aaron Schneekloth, a look at the longest consecutive sellout streak in minor pro hockey history, a re-cap of the Eagles' Championship Ring ceremony, another Hockey 101 segment with Ed McGrane and Les Borsheim (high-sticking) and Tori Holt takes viewers on a road trip through Bossier-Shreveport and Mississippi. The first airing of the new episode took place on Sunday, January 13 at 10 p.m..

Friday, January 11; Eagles Tie Sellout Streak Record, Beat Odessa 4-3

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. 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.

Saturday, January 12; Eagles Fans Celebrate History, Critical Win Vs. Rage

LOVELAND, Colo. - The Colorado Eagles set a new record for consecutive regular season sellouts in minor pro hockey and picked up a key win in the meantime, overcoming the Rocky Mountain Rage, 6-5, in a marquee CHL match-up. The Eagles packed the Budweiser Events Center for the 145th consecutive time in the regular season and treated their fans to an incredible game in which they fell behind early to their division-leading, in-state rival before storming back in the second period to earn the win. Rocky Mountain was all over Colorado in the first 10 minutes of play, using a dangerous transition game to capitalize on numerous odd-man rushes. Erik Adams helped energize the crowd with a great individual effort halfway through the period. After breaking up another potential Rocky Mountain rush, Adams skated the puck into the offensive zone and coasted into the left-wing circle. He turned toward Reid to draw the goaltender toward him and then snapped a pass to Riley Nelson who beat Reid from the hashes. The Rage quickly countered, however, catching the Eagles pressing with four players below the hash marks in the offensive zone. The puck squirted into the high slot and Brent Cullaton and Rycroft converted a 2-on-1chance to end any momentum switch. It was Reid, however, that would take over the second half of the period, making two key saves to keep the Eagles from tying the game. The Eagles would battle back to take the lead in the second, out-shooting the Rage 24-5; the 24 shots in a period tied the second-most in a period in franchise history. Reid, however, carried his outstanding play into the second, stopping an Eagles' short-handed chance just minutes into the second period, but Colorado kept pressuring and before the puck made it out of the zone, the Eagles scored. Pankewicz got off a shot from between the circles and Nelson picked up the rebound in front before flipping a back-hander behind Reid at 3:39. The Eagles twosome would hook up again to tie it at 10:36. Pankewicz sent a pass from the top of the left circle to Nelson at the top of the right circle and hats began to rain over the glass at the Budweiser Events Center as Nelson recorded his third hat trick as an Eagle. The Eagles kept coming - even when down a man - but Reid stopped two odd-man rushes as the period was winding down. But on the same Rage power play, Rycroft threw the puck into the slot from below the goal line and it deflected of Erik Adams' skate and in, giving Rycroft his own hat trick. Colorado took the hard-fought lead right back though, scoring with just 20 seconds left in the period when Pankewicz took a Seth Leonard pass at the bottom of the left-wing circle and snapped the puck over Reid's right shoulder. The Eagles out-shot the Rage 24-5 in the second. The Rage came back in the third with a solid effort and tied the game on the power play at 7:16. The Eagles countered at 9:51 to take the lead one final time. Ed McGrane skated the puck into the offensive zone - almost drawing his teammates offsides by puling up - and back-handed a saucer pass to Seth Leonard in the high slot. Leonard threw the puck on net and it beat Reid up high; Aaron Schneekloth provided a screen on the play. The Rage kept coming, eventually out-shooting Colorado 10-5 in the period, but couldn't get another puck past Emond as the Eagles and their fans celebrated a dramatic win and a historic accomplishment.

The Week Ahead

Wednesday, January 16; CHL Gathers in Broomfield for All-Star Game

BROOMFIELD, Colo. - Greg Pankewicz and Aaron Schneekloth will represent the Eagles at this year's All-Star game at the Broomfield Event Center; both players were named starters for the Northern Conference. Joining them from the Eagles' staff will be play-by-play broadcaster, Tori Holt. Holt has been selected to broadcast the game on a special live internet feed over the CHL Network. Puck-drop is scheduled for 7:05.

Saturday, January 19; Eagles Look for Two in a Row Against Rage

BROOMFIELD, Colo. - The Eagles will look to even the season series against Rocky Mountain when CHL play resumes this weekend. Colorado is currently 2-3-0 against the Rage this season, with a 1-1 record on the road. The Eagles won the first meeting of the year in Broomfield, 4-3 in overtime.

Notable Numbers

HOCKEY HISTORY - Last Saturday night, the Eagles set a new record for consecutive sellouts in minor pro hockey at 145. The former record was held by the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL, set from 12/22/00-10/30/04.

FLYING HIGH - Colorado's offense is off to a good start through the first half of the season. Through 34 games, the Eagles have scored the third-highest amount of goals in the CHL at 136, their goals-for average of 4 is second-best in the league and their 40.06 shots-per-game puts them above every other team.

MAC ATTACK - After being the team's co-leader in points for December (6-9-15 in 12 games), Ed McGrane has been even more productive this month, scoring at a two-points-per-game clip. In just six games so far, McGrane has 12 points (2-10-12), four of which have come on the power play (1-3-4). His surge has moved him into the team lead in points (49) tied him for first in goals (17) and places him just one assists off the team lead at (32).

TOP-FLIGHT SCORING - Colorado is the only team in the league with four players in the top 20 in scoring...in fact, all four are in the top 15. They are: Ed McGrane (17-32-49), Greg Pankewicz (11-33-44), Seth Leonard (14-28-42) and Riley Nelson (17-24-41).

FOUR SCORE- The number four seems to be the magic number for the Eagles this season. When Colorado scores at least four goals, they have lost only one game in regulation (15-1-4). When scoring three or fewer, however, their record drops to 6-8-0.

CLOSE CALLS - Exactly 50 percent of the Eagles' games this season (17 of 34) have been decided by just one goal. Colorado is 10-3-4 in those contests. Of the remaining 17 games they've played, 11 have been decided by two goals, with the Eagles going 6-5-0. That's 82.4 percent of the team's games coming down to one or two goals.

LOCKER ROOM LEADS- The Eagles have failed to lose a game in regulation this season anytime they are leading at the end of a period. Colorado is a perfect 10-0-0 when taking a lead into the locker room for the first intermission, and 13-0-2 with a lead after two periods of play. All-time, Colorado is 153-4-6 when heading into the third period on top. On the other hand, when trailing at the end of the second they are 3-8-1 this season.

Check out the Colorado Eagles Statistics

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Central Hockey League Stories from January 14, 2008


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