CHL Colorado Eagles

Eagles Week In Review

Published on January 28, 2008 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Colorado Eagles News Release


Tuesday, January 22; Nelson's Hat Trick Voted CHL Performance of the Week

The Central Hockey League (CHL) announced that Colorado Eagles center Riley Nelson has been voted as the winner of week 13's Performance of the Week for his hat trick in the Eagles 6-5 win over the Rocky Mountain Rage on January 12th. The win for Colorado, the defending President's Cup champions, ended a three-game losing streak to the Rage who currently lead the Eagles in the Northwest Division. Nelson's effort also helped the Eagles celebrate a win on a night in which the team set a new record for consecutive regular season sellouts in minor pro hockey at 145. It was Nelson's third hat trick as an Eagle. Nelson's outstanding performance received 412 votes (41%) beating out the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs 6-2 win at Laredo (their 13th consecutive victory) which received 241 votes. Close to 1000 fans voted in the poll. Nelson's hat trick will be automatically considered for the 2007-08 CHL Performance of the Year which will be announced in April, 2008.

Tuesday, January 22; Eagles Trade for Wichita's Kris Wiebe

WINDSOR, Colo. - The Colorado Eagles announced the acquisition of right-winger Kris Wiebe from the Wichita Thunder for future considerations. The 6-foot, 206-pounder has recorded 19 points (8-11-19) in 33 games this season for the Thunder. The 26-year-old Lloydminster, Alberta native has also registered 50 PIMs, six power play points (3-3-6) and two game-winning goals. He also has eight points (7-1-8) and 14 PIMs in 11 career playoff games. Weibe - a developmental player - has recorded 38 and 39 points in his last two CHL seasons respectively, and is on a similar pace this season. His best season came in 2005-06 when, as a CHL rookie, he scored a career high 22 goals and 39 points with a +11 plus/minus rating. His career shooting percentage of .123 already places him in a tie for seventh-best on the Eagles' all-time list. Weibe played collegiately at the University of Findlay for three seasons and at Niagara University in 2004-05.

Wednesday, January 23; Six Eagles Score in 7-5 Win Over Killer Bees

LOVELAND, Colo. - The Colorado Eagles scored a season high-tying seven goals on the way to a 7-5 victory over the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees. The Eagles were able to overcome multiple crazy bounces in a wild game that Head Coach Chris Stewart called one of the strangest he's ever been a part of. The Killer Bees struck first when Rob Voltera took advantage of a Greg Pankewicz double-minor just 14 seconds into the first penalty at 8:29. But the Eagles came back, scoring four goals in the second half of the opening period. Dave Iannazzo got the first Colorado goal at 13:25 after a Pankewicz centering pass from below the goal line deflected onto his tape in the low left circle. Iannazzo threw the puck top shelf on the short side for a power play goal. Ed McGrane put the Eagles on top at 15:41 when Seth Leonard burst to a free puck deep along the right-wing boards and centered a pass to McGrane as he was cutting to the crease. Les Borsheim made it 3-1 at 17:51 when he joined with Erik Adams on a quick rush into the Killer Bees' zone. Adams sent a pass from the top of the right circle that Borsheim one-timed low inside the left goal post from the left point. And Riley Nelson closed out the period's scoring with 58 seconds left after he won a faceoff in the left circle and made his way toward the net. A Borsheim rebound popped high in the air and Nelson chopped the puck across the goal line from the doorstep. Bernie Chmiel scored for Rio Grande Valley just 13 seconds into the second period, setting a new record for the fastest goal against to start a period in Eagles' history. But Adams answered when he scored his first goal of the season at 2:58. Steve Haddon won a faceoff in the left circle directly back to Adams whose point shot deflected in front and past AJ Bucchino. But not willing to roll over, the 'Bees scored two power play goals in the next 14 minutes to make it a one goal game. Colorado just kept coming, however, as Mike Lukajic scored 3:15 into the third. Nelson dug the puck out along the right-wing boards, skated into the faceoff circle and passed to Lukajic who one-timed the puck past Bucchino from the opposite circle. Rio Grande Valley got their luckiest bounce of the night a couple minutes later when a clearing pass from the red line wrapped around the end boards and deflected mysteriously back into the low slow. With Emond behind the net anticipating the puck's arrival, Herauf had an easy tap-in. The Eagles got the game's final tally at 8:30 when Nelson got his second goal of the night. Pankewicz back-handed a pass from below the goal line to the right of the 'Bees net that slipped through the crease and to Nelson at the hashes.

Friday, January 25; Eagles Get First Ever Win in Prescott Valley

PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. - The Colorado Eagles defeated the Arizona Sundogs 4-3 to earn their first win in franchise history at the Tim's Toyota Center; coming into the game, Colorado was 0-5-1 in Arizona all-time. The Eagles were also able to gain valuable ground in the division as every other team in the Northwest suffered a loss - including Rocky Mountain, 5-3 to Youngstown. The Eagles escaped the first period tied at one - escaped being the operative word because they allowed the league's top power play unit to have four chances, including some time with a two-man advantage. It was that 5-on-3 chance that led to Arizona's goal when Tyler Redenbach found Alex Leavitt low in the left wing circle on the classic back-door play at 11:01. Colorado answered back at 17:13 when Les Borsheim notched his fifth goal of the year by snapping a shot high on Andrew Gallant from the hash marks. Colorado took the lead in the second with a power play goal by Seth Leonard and a short-handed tally from Dave Iannazzo. The first marker came at 13:20 when Leonard tapped in the rebound of an Ed McGrane point shot, with Iannazzo creating a screen in front of the Sundogs' goaltender. But Arizona answered just over a minute later when Jason Visser got behind the defense and tapped in an Olivier Latendresse rebound that Marco Emond left in the middle of the low slot. The Eagles got the lead back with 56 seconds left in the period just as 4-on-4 play was turning into another Sundogs power play. Just four seconds after Redenbach was released from the box, Brett Thurston sent a pass to McGrane at the hash marks, but the puck deflected off of McGrane's skate right to Iannazzo who was wide open in the slot. The Eagles made it 4-2 less than a minute and a half into the third after Jay Birnie's shot from the high slot hit the post and deflected to Leonard right in front of an essentially empty net. But the Sundogs wouldn't roll over as they answered at 16:44 to make it a one goal game again when Latendresse got his second point of the night by knocking a rebound past Emond. But the rest of the period belonged to the Eagles' goaltender as Emond shut the door on Arizona with two key saves - one at the 10 minute mark and another with four and a half to go - and some solid work on the penalty kill as time winded down.

Saturday, January 26; Penalty Killers Power Eagles Past Sundogs

PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. - Colorado got short-handed goals from Riley Nelson and Greg Pankewicz to help them defeat the Arizona Sundogs 4-2. In one of the Eagles' strongest performances of the season, Colorado won in Arizona for the second night in a row and just the second time in history. Not only did the Eagles penalty killers contribute two goals (after recording another one last night), but they held the Sundogs' top-ranked power play scoreless in nine chances. The Eagles dominated the first half of the opening period, owning an 11-3 edge in shots at one point, but the period turned in the second half if only because Arizona was awarded three power plays. Colorado, though, was able to kill all three man-advantage chances, led by the goaltending of Bryan Bridges. Bridges was strong in net, making a couple big saves - once stacking the pads on Tyler Redenbach and another time moving left to right to snuff a back-door opportunity - as the Eagles were able to hang on and end the period 0-0. Nelson put the Eagles in the lead in dramatic fashion with the team's second short-handed goal in as many nights. At 6:33, the puck squirted into the neutral zone and Ed McGrane, Nelson and Chris Bartolone raced after it. Nelson blew by both before collecting the puck, cutting across the low slot and back-handing a shot past Andrew Gallant. But the Sundogs tied it up with an even strength goal at 16:58 when Jonathan Bernier put in a Redenbach rebound from the side of the crease. Less than two minutes after that, Colorado re-gained the lead with a Dave Iannazzo power play tally off a pass from McGrane. Pankewicz put the Eagles up 3-1 when the puck hit a linesman and caromed right to Nelson who hit the Eagles Captain on a short-handed breakaway at 9:21 of the third. Colorado added an insurance goal at 15:28 when Mike Lukajic beat Gallant with a high shot from the center of the right-wing circle. The Sundogs answered right back however, as Mark Kolanos scored 13 seconds later as Arizona took the ensuing faceoff and skated right through the Eagles defense.

The Week Ahead

Tuesday, January 29; Eagles to Make First Trip to Tulsa This Season

TULSA, Okla. - After beating Arizona in a double-header over the weekend to take the first two games of their season-long, five-game road trip, Colorado will be making their first trip to Tulsa this season. All-time, the Eagles are 9-1-0 in Tulsa, out-scoring the Oilers 46-26.

Friday, February 1; Colorado Will Try to Even Season Series in Oklahoma City

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - Colorado will try and pick up their first win of the season on the road against the Blazers; the Eagles lost the only previous road meeting this season, 3-5. Oklahoma City, however, is one of only two away locations that the Eagles have a loosing record (Amarillo being the other) when playing at least 10 games.

Saturday, February 2; Eagles Look to Finish Road Trip on Positive Note

NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, Texas - The Eagles will be playing their first away game against the Brahmas since December 28, 2005 - when they were the Fort Worth Brahmas. Colorado will be looking to finish their five-game road trip on a positive note and history is in their favor; all-time, the Eagles are 10-1-0 against the Brahmas, but that one loss did happen on the road (11/22/05).

Notable Numbers

GOING STREAKING - Ed McGrane and Dave Iannazzo are both riding extensive point streaks. McGrane has registered a point in 10 straight (3-14-17) and will tie for the fifth longest point streak in franchise history with another point against Tulsa. Iannazzo is riding an eight-game streak (5-7-12) of his own with five power play points (3-2-5), a short-handed goal and a game-winner.

HIGH NELSON RATINGS - Eagles forward Riley Nelson has been producing large numbers recently. In his last five games, the veteran has registered 13 points (6-7-13) - including two 4-point nights, a 3-point night and a 2-point night (he actually went without a point in one of the five contests). In those games, he also has accumulated a +9 rating, two power play assists, one short-handed assist and two short-handed goals. His four shorties tie him for third in the CHL, one off the lead.

STEADY EDDIE - Ed McGrane has had a torrid January. Not only did McGrane have a seven game assist streak (tied for fourth-longest in franchise history), but in his last 10 games (all in January), he's tallied 17 points (3-14-17). He currently leads the team in points (54) and ranks second in goals (18) and is tied for first in assists (36). McGrane is also leading the team in shots (189, 3rd in the CHL) and multi-point games (16 games, 13-27-40).

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 (18-1-5). When scoring three or fewer, however, their record drops to 6-8-0.

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 11-0-1 when taking a lead into the locker room for the first intermission, and 16-0-3 with a lead after two periods of play. All-time, Colorado is 156-4-7 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.

CLOSE CALLS - Exactly 50 percent (19-38) of the Eagles games have been decided by just one goal, with Colorado going 11-3-5 in such contests. Furthermore, 13 of their other 19 games have come down to a two-goal margin (8-5-0). All-in-all, that means that 84.2 percent of all Eagles games this season have been decided by just one or two goals, with the team going 19-8-5 in such cases.

Check out the Colorado Eagles Statistics

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Central Hockey League Stories from January 28, 2008


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