CHL Colorado Eagles

Eagles Week In Review

Published on May 5, 2008 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Colorado Eagles News Release


Week In Review

Monday, April 28; Arizona's Hotel Rooms Few, Far Between This Weekend

Fans,

If you're planning on heading down to Arizona for Games One and Two of the President's Cup Finals this Thursday and Saturday, you should look into booking a room as soon as possible. We've been informed that, due to several events (graduations, festivals, etc.) going on this weekend, available rooms in the Prescott Valley area are hard to find at this point.

Wednesday, April 30; Altitude to Air Games Three and Five (if necessary)

WINDSOR, Colo. - Altitude Sports & Entertainment announced today that they will air Games Three and Five (if necessary) of the Central Hockey League's Ray Miron President's Cup Finals between the Arizona Sundogs and the defending champion Colorado Eagles. Game Three will be played on Wednesday May 7 and Game Five (if necessary) will be played on Sunday, May 11. Both games are scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Tori Holt, The Voice of the Eagles, will do color commentary and Altitude's Peter Ruttgaizer will handle the play-by-play with Lauren Gardner doing ice-side reporting. In addition, the May episode of the Colorado Eagles NoCo Hockey Show will debut on Sunday, May 11 at 10:30 p.m. or immediately following Game Five (if necessary).

Thursday, May 1; Urquhart's Hat Trick Leads Sundogs to Game One Win PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. - The Arizona Sundogs rode a Cory Urquhart hat trick and seven power plays to a 6-4 win over the Colorado Eagles in Game One of the Ray Miron President's Cup Finals. Offense ruled in the first playoff meeting between the two teams, as three players (Riley Nelson, Urquhart and Alex Leavitt) had at least three points on the night. Both teams exchanged unsuccessful power plays in first four minutes of a fairly even first period of play with plenty of pressure from both sides. Nelson got the Eagles on the scoreboard first when he snapped a Scott Polaski pass by Robert McVicar from between the left circle and the crease at 7:26. But the Sundogs answered right back, just over a minute later, when Dan Laperriere knocked home a Mark Kolanos blast to tie the game back up. But at 12:14, Nelson helped put Colorado on top again when he worked a quick 2-on-1 with Jason Beatty before the defenseman scored his first professional playoff goal from the low slot. The Sundogs came out blazing in the second period, scoring two goals in the first 1:11. On a delayed penalty, Steve Rymsha swooped in on the backdoor to tap the puck into a half-empty net and knot the game up at 2. Then just 29 seconds later, Urquhart got his CHL-leading 14th goal of the playoffs when he blew a shot past Sebastien Laplante from the left circle, giving Arizona two goals on their first two shots of the period. Momentum began to level and then swing in the Eagles' favor midway through the frame and at 15:18, Brad Williamson evened the score again when he skated down into the right-wing circle and beat the Sundogs' netminder with a sweeping shot. Arizona got their lone man-advantage marker of the game at 7:15 of the third (it was their fourth power play in a row) when Leavitt knocked in a rebound from right in front of Laplante. Urquhart then got his second of the night at 10:56 when he sent a shot through traffic from the right circle following a faceoff win. He then notched his third of the game at 17:10 when he skated the puck up the right-wing boards and into the offensive zone before snapping a shot high on the Eagles' netminder. Williamson notched his second goal of the game with just over a minute left - with Colorado on the power play for the first time since early in the second period - when he snapped a shot home from the high slot. But it was too little, too late for a short-benched Eagles squad tormented by Arizona power-plays all night long. The Eagles will look to rebound in Game Two on Saturday, May 3, before returning to the Budweiser Events Center on Wednesday, May 7.

Friday, May 2; CHL, Arizona Announce Game Seven Time Change

PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. - The Central Hockey League and the Arizona Sundogs announced today that the start time for Game Seven of the President's Cup Finals (if necessary) has been changed from 7:05 PST to 6:05 PST (7:05 MST). The game - if played - will determine the winner of this year's Ray Miron President's Cup and will take place at Tim's Toyota Center on Wednesday, May 14.

Friday, May 2; Colorado Eagles Coach's Show at Lucky Joe's on Monday

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Come join the Colorado Eagles at Lucky Joe's in Old Town Fort Collins for the "weekly" Coach's Show. The hour-long show takes place on most Mondays throughout the hockey season (schedule depends on availability of coach and team's schedule), beginning at 6 p.m.. Lucky Joe's returns as the show's host site, and just as last season, each show can be heard on 107.9 The Bear, the Eagle's radio home. The first portion of the show will air live on the radio, however, the entire hour can only be heard streaming via 1079thebear.com.

Saturday, May 3; Special Teams, McVicar Put Arizona up 2-0

PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. - The Arizona Sundogs won Game Two of the President's Cup Finals, 5-1, over the Colorado Eagles. In a game where the score wasn't indicative of the action, Arizona got four goals from their special teams and exceptional goaltending, despite the Eagles carrying play for most of the final two periods. For Colorado, Dave Iannazzo took Kris Wiebe's spot in lineup, seeing just his second game action in the playoffs, and Brad Williamson left the game after the opening period, leaving the defending league champs three men down (Greg Pankewicz and Jay Birnie were serving the final game of their three-game suspensions). Colorado had plenty of chances in the first period but couldn't convert on any of them, and it was the Sundogs who jumped out to a 3-0 lead - with all three tallies coming via special teams. Just 2:20 in, Steve Rymsha got his second goal in as many games with an early power-play strike when he was left all alone to the left of Sebastien Laplante. Laplante gave up the second Arizona goal just before an Eagles' power play was about to expire when the puck got away from him in the corner and rolled right to Tyler Liebel in the slot for an easy score into the vacated net at 10:23. Tyler Redenbach made it 3-0 with the Sundogs' second man-advantage goal of the period at 13:40 when he poked in another rebound while uncovered at the side of the crease; Bryan Bridges then replaced Laplante after the starting goaltender gave up three goals on seven shots. Special teams continued to play a part in the second period as both teams got power-play goals. Colorado absolutely dominated the second 20 minutes of play, but Rob McVicar withstood the barrage, letting only a fluky Erik Adams goal in at 4:46. Adams' shot from the left circle deflected in front and fluttered up and over the Sundogs' netminder to get the Eagles on the scoreboard. Colorado continued to play in the Arizona zone for the majority of the period - out-shooting the Sundogs 10-3 at one point - and Bridges made two key stops on Alex Leavitt breakaways to keep the score 3-1. But the Sundogs struck again with their third power-play goal of the game at 18:22 when Mark Kolanos scored from the left circle on a pass from Redenbach along the goal line. At the six minute mark of the third, Leavitt scored the only even-strength goal of the contest after Dan Laperriere drove to the left of the net, drawing Bridges out, and threw the puck back into the low slot for an easy tap into the open net. Colorado will look to rebound with the next three games at the Budweiser Events Center, starting with Game Three on Wednesday night. The Eagles' roster will be bolstered by the return of both Pankewicz and Birnie.

The Week Ahead

Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, May 7, 9 and 11 (if necessary); Eagles Look to Take Advantage of Home Ice

Down two games to none, Colorado will look to take advantage of their three home games in the President's Cup Finals against the Arizona Sundogs. This is the first time in their history that the Eagles have not had home ice advantage in the playoffs, as they look to win their second consecutive CHL championship - and third in four years. Games Six and Seven are scheduled for May 13 and 14 in Prescott Valley, Arizona.

Notable Numbers

BACK-TO-BACK - The Eagles are looking to win the President's Cup for the second year in a row and the third time in four seasons. The last CHL team to win the league title in consecutive seasons was the Memphis RiverKings in '02 and '03. The Wichita Thunder are the only other Central Hockey League team to win the league championship back-to-back ('94 & '95) since the "Original" Central Hockey League folded after the 1984 season. No team has won the current league's championship three times in four years.

HOME ICE ADVANTAGE - For the first time in their history (13 series), the Eagles are without home ice advantage in the playoffs. It could be pivotal in this series as Colorado and Arizona have had a history of home-ice domination in the regular season. All-time, the Eagles are 7-1-0 at the Budweiser Events Center and 2-5-1 at Tim's Toyota Center in Prescott Valley. Neither team had won in the other's building until this season, each going 4-0 at home in 2006-07.

SERVING TIME - Both Greg Pankewicz and Jay Birnie will be eligible to return to the lineup after sitting out the first two games of the Finals as part of their three-game suspensions resulting from the Game Six post-game melee in the Conference Finals. The Eagles' captain is alone or tied for the team lead in points (13), goals (6), PIMs (72) and special teams points (3-4-7) despite missing the three games.

FOLLOW THE LEADER - The Eagles are facing a tough task in coming back from an 0-2 deficit in the series - something uncommon to them since they've never been without home ice advantage before - but they've got the right guy behind the bench to lead them to victory. In league history, only one team has ever won the Cup after losing Game One of the Finals, the Huntsville Channel Cats in 1999 - led by...Head Coach Chris Stewart.

EA SPORTS...HE'S IN THE GAME - Defenseman Erik Adams' power-play goal in Game Two moved the hard-hitter into a tie for first place in power-play points this postseason. Adams now ranks tops on the team with Greg Pankewicz and Riley Nelson - all with two goals and three assists apiece. Adams has just two goals (none on them man-advantage) in 38 regular season games.

Check out the Colorado Eagles Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Central Hockey League Stories from May 5, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central