CHL Colorado Eagles

Eagles Week In Review

February 11, 2008 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Colorado Eagles News Release


Monday, February 4; Upgrade Your Version of CHL Network

Network Foundation Technologies (NiFTy), the provider of the CHL Network, has upgraded their servers in an effort to further improve the free broadcasts of CHL games. In order to view future games, you'll need to update your software by going to this site or by simply opening your existing version and following the quick and easy on-screen instructions. Be sure to update your CHL Network software before the next Eagles game.

Tuesday, February 5; Water Valley Donates $5,000 to Chuck-a-Puck Pot

The Colorado Eagles announced today that Water Valley has donated $5,000 to the Chuck-a-Puck pot for the game Friday, February 8. The generous donation increases the current pot value to $6,250. If nobody lands a puck in the bucket on Friday, the pot will continue to increase $250 a night as usual. Once somebody wins the money, the pot will drop back down to the regular starting value of $500. Chuck-a-Pucks will remain $1 each, with a portion of the proceeds going to the individual charity selling them at each game.

Friday, February 8; Laplante, Special Teams Lead Eagles Over Odessa

LOVELAND, Colo. - Sebastien Laplante stopped 43 of 45 shots in his first home game as an Eagle to help lead Colorado over the Odessa Jackalopes 5-2. Colorado's special teams contributed three goals as the Eagles scored two short-handed goals on the way to a 3-0 first period lead and added a power play tally in the third to help put the game away. Greg Pankewicz ratcheted up the intensity right off the faceoff when he stormed through the neutral zone in pursuit of the puck and then went right after Jackalopes' defenseman Mario Joly; Joly wanted no part of Pankewicz because the Jackalopes were short-benched (earning the defenseman just two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct), giving Odessa a power play just 10 seconds into the game. That power play, however, put the red hot Eagles penalty killers on the ice and Steve Haddon made it 1-0 just two seconds after Joly's penalty expired. Haddon threw an innocent-looking shot on net from high along the left-wing boards, but Mike Gorman nonchalantly gloved it and it fluttered off the tip of his glove before falling behind him and sliding over the goal line. Colorado got their second shortie of the period - and sixth in five games - at 13:12 when Pankewicz broke in on Gorman. The Jackalopes' goalie made the first save, but Ed McGrane was trailing the play and cleaned up the rebound at the lip of the crease. Colorado made it 3-0 at 15:49 when McGrane kept the puck in the offensive zone where Seth Leonard passed it from low along the right-wing boards to Brad Williamson at the point. Williamson skated in uncontested before shooting from the high slot (using the defenseman as a screen) and beating Gorman. Each team scored a goal in the second period. The Eagles made it 4-0 at 12:12 when Riley Nelson dropped a pass to Dave Iannazzo in the high slot and then headed toward the net. Iannazzo's shot was chipped by Kris Wiebe in front and then touched again by Nelson before getting by Gorman. The Jackalopes answered two minutes later when Olivier Proulx passed the puck from near the goal line to the left of Laplante, back across the crease to Nathan Ward, who threw the puck into the empty half of the net. Odessa cut the Eagles lead in half, making it 4-2 at 12:31, when Sebastien Thinel - from his knees - swept a pass from below the goal line to Alex Dunn who beat Laplante from just inside the top of the right circle. But the Eagles countered just 22 seconds later on their only power play opportunity of the night (the second consecutive game in which they've only been awarded one power play) when McGrane skated through the offensive zone and beat Gorman from in close for his second goal of the game and 22nd of the year.

Saturday, February 9; Colorado Beats Arizona in OT, Gains Ground on Rage

LOVELAND, Colo. - True to the history of Colorado and Arizona match-ups, the Eagles squeaked out a 3-2 overtime win in another close contest. Every game except one between the two teams this year has now been decided by just one goal, and that lone outlier was decided by a whole two tallies. Eagles defenseman Erik Adams played a part in all three Colorado goals (with a goal and two assists) and Sebastien Laplante was strong in net to help the Eagles come away on top. Arizona used their second-ranked power play to jump out to a 2-0 first period lead. The first goal came at 3:18 when Alex Leavitt - stationed along the left-wing boards - passed to Daniel Laperriere at the point. Laperriere one-timed a shot through traffic in front and past Laplante. The Sundogs' second power play goal came at 11:11 and was almost identical to the first. The Eagles clawed back with two goals and some key saves in the second to even up the contest. The first goal came 6:14 in when Dave Iannazzo took a shot that was deflected by Riley Nelson down low and bounced back between the circles. Adams skated through the slot, picked up the puck and threw it past Robert McVicar. Laplante did his part to keep the Sundogs off the scoreboard when he stopped Tyler Liebel, not once, but twice on breakaways midway through. The Eagles had a chance to even the period on the power play as the period came to a close but they were unable to convert. But with just 22 seconds left, Seth Leonard dug the puck out of the low right-wing boards and passed it to Iannazzo high in the right circle. Iannazzo sent a rising shot toward the Arizona net and it deflected off a defenseman's stick and down past McVicar. Laplante stepped up in the third to keep the game tied and force overtime as the Sundogs out-shot the Eagles 16-8, but failed to beat the Eagles new netminder. Laplante bailed out Adams after the defenseman tried to take the puck on his own into the Sundogs' zone, resulting in his man breaking in free the other way. And with just over seven minutes left in the period, Laplante stopped a back-door chance on the penalty kill. Then, with the Eagles on the power play, he stopped a short-handed rush late in the period. Just 38 seconds into the overtime period, Jon Landry was called for tripping, giving the Eagles a 4-on-3 advantage. At 1:29, Brad Williamson threw the puck on net from the top of the left circle and it deflected over McVicar's shoulder where Ed McGrane swept it into the net on his back-hand for the game-winner. With the combination of Colorado winning both of their games over the weekend and Rocky Mountain losing their two, the Eagles trail the Rage by just five points with a home-and-home series coming up midweek.

Sunday, February 10; New NoCo Hockey Show Episode Airs This Weekend

WINDSOR, Colo. - The Colorado Eagles have announced that the February episode of their Colorado Eagles NoCo Hockey Show will debut on Altitude Sports & Entertainment on Sunday. This month's show will feature: Colorado Eagles president, general manager and head coach, Chris Stewart, talking about his return to the bench, a look at hockey history as the Eagles set a new record for most consecutive sellouts in minor pro hockey, Chris Hartsburg talks about his retirement, Captain Greg Pankewicz mic'd up for the CHL All-Star game and Phil Crowe takes viewers inside a hockey fight in another installment of Hockey 101. The first airing of the new episode will take place on Sunday, February 10 at 10 p.m..

The Week Ahead

Tuesday, February 12 and Wednesday, February 13; Eagles Try Some Anger Management Against Rage

The in-state rivals will face-off in a big division match-up as the top two teams in the Northwest play a home-and-home series starting in Broomfield on Tuesday. So far this season, the Eagles are 2-3-1 against the division-leading Rage, but the Eagles are coming off two wins over the weekend while Rocky Mountain suffered two losses to the same opponents. Colorado and Rocky Mountain will go at it four more times (after this week) before the regular season ends.

Friday, February 15; Colorado Looks for Season Sweep of Thunder

WICHITA, Kan. - With a 4-0 record against the Thunder so far this season, the Eagles will try and win their second game in Wichita. Colorado won the previous meeting 2-1 on New Years Eve. Riley Nelson is the Eagle's all-time leading scorer against the Thunder with 44 points in 36 games, including 31 assists.

Notable Numbers

SHORT-HANDED, FULLY-ARMED- The Eagles penalty killers have contributed six short-handed goals in the past six games, scoring two per game against Arizona on January 26 and versus Odessa on February 8. Their 11 total shorties tie them for fourth most in the league after setting a CHL record with 30 last season. This season, they didn't score a short-handed goal until December.

McGRANE HEADACHE - The Eagles Ed McGrane has taken over the team lead in almost every offensive category, and ranks seventh in the league overall in points (62). McGrane leads Colorado in points, goals (23), assists (39) and shots (210); he's also tied for first with 13 power play assists. McGrane also leads the team in multi-point games (18) and special teams points (23, 19 on the power play and four on the penalty kill). Despite all of that, the Eagles forward picked up just his first game-winning goal of the season with a man-advantage marker in overtime on Saturday.

EA SPORTS - Colorado defenseman Erik Adams had a big weekend - registering five points (1-4-5) in two games - and had a hand in all three Eagles goals in Saturday night's overtime win against the Sundogs. Since his return to the lineup on December 26, Adams has also been solid in his own zone, posting a negative plus/minus rating in just four games. Not only that, but in the six games this season that he has scored a point, five have been multi-point games.

INTER-MISSIONS - When the Eagles take a lead into an intermission break, they're almost guaranteed a win. Colorado is 12-1-1 when taking a lead into the locker room for the first intermission, and is 17-1-3 with a lead after two periods of play. All-time, Colorado's is 157-5-7 when heading into the third period on top. On the other hand, when trailing at the end of the second they are 3-9-1 this season.

CLOSE CONTESTS - Over 50 percent (22-43) of the Eagles games have been decided by just one goal, with Colorado going 12-5-5 in such contests. Furthermore, 14 of their other 21 games have come down to a two-goal margin (8-6-0). All-in-all, that means that 83.7 percent of all Eagles games this season have been decided by just one or two goals, with the team going 20-11-5 in such cases.

Check out the Colorado Eagles Statistics



Central Hockey League Stories from February 11, 2008


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