CHL Colorado Eagles

Eagles Week In Review

Published on November 24, 2008 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Colorado Eagles News Release


RIO RANCHO, N.M. - The Colorado Eagles improved to 11-2 on the season with a 3-1 victory over the New Mexico Scorpions tonight in a game that saw Konrad Reeder and Seth Leonard faceoff against their former teams for the first time this season. The game was tightly contested throughout, with Colorado finally breaking through in the final frame and aided by their perfect penalty-killing (8-8).

The Eagles jumped out to an early lead with Greg Pankewicz scoring his league-leading 11th goal at 4:41 on the power play; Reeder drew an interference penalty in the right corner to set up the Eagles' top-rated power play. The score remained 1-0 until New Mexico scored a goal 4-on-4 with just 29 seconds left in the period when Torren Delforte sent a pass from the goal line to the right of the net to Christopher Robertson who was crashing in on Andrew Penner in the crease.

The two teams skated to a scoreless second period, but each had their fair share of quality chances turned away by the opposing netminder. Jason Wolfe was the first to come up large when he stopped Pankewicz on a short-handed breakaway five and a half minutes in, getting enough of the Eagles' captain's shot with his glove to knock it into the protective netting. Penner's best save likely came near the 12 minute mark when, moving left to right, he kicked aside a Leonard shot from low in the left circle on a 3-on-2 New Mexico rush.

Colorado finally broke through in the third with a 15-6 edge in shots and a pair of goals. The first tally came at 5:39 after Leonard was stopped between the hashes in the Eagles' zone, and the play went the other way. Steve Haddon was then able to slip a pass to Brett Hammond between the circles, and his weak shot somehow snuck through Wolfe's pads. Reeder was able to get the last laugh as well -- in front of a crowd that booed him whenever he touched the puck -- by knocking in a Pankewicz rebound from the doorstep with under a minute left in the game.

Thursday, November 20; ProHockeyNews.com Features Article on Eagles

Eagles Fans,

For the second time this month, a major secondary media outlet has had complimentary things to say about your team. This time it was ProHockeyNews.com, where CHL editor, Mitch Cooper took in his first Eagles game at the Budweiser Events Center and was so moved by the experience he wrote about it. The article can be found by following this link.

The Eagles were also given a great compliment in this month's issue of Mile High Sports Magazine, where the publication called the Eagles the "model nationwide" for minor league teams.

The Eagles would like to thank both news outlets for their kind words.

Thursday, November 20; Nov. 28: Huge Sale on Jerseys, All-Star Jersey Released

The Colorado Eagles' Holiday Store in the Foothills Mall in Fort Collins is now open through the end of the calendar year (located a few doors down from Hallmark and across from Payless). Stop by to give your loved ones the gift of hockey and take advantage of several special sales and deals throughout the holiday season. Check out our new line of hoodies, jerseys, hats, game-used hockey gear, gift certificates and more!

**HUGE SALE ON JERSEYS - ONE DAY ONLY - FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 28th**

*Exclusive Release of the 2009 CHL All-Star Jerseys!*

Eagles players, Slapshot and the Pioneer Press Eagles Chicks will also be making scheduled appearances on site throughout the holidays. A full list of scheduled appearances can be found below*:

- Friday, November 28; 12-1 p.m. (Filipic, Reimann, Eagles Chicks and Slapshot)

- Sunday, December 7; 12-1 p.m. (Reeder, Ulanski and Slapshot)

- Saturday, December 13; 1-2 p.m. (Eagles Chicks and Players TBD)

- Friday, December 19; All Day (Fanboni)

- Saturday, December 20; 1-2 p.m. (Filipic, Eagles Chicks and Slapshot)

* - Players and times subject to change without notice.

Friday, November 21; Be The Next Loveland Reporter-Herald SUPERFAN

Calling all Eaglemaniacs!

You now have a chance to show your stuff in front of the whole sold-out Budweiser Events Center crowd. If you've never made it on the "Kiss Cam," or never been noticed doing your best "Cotton-Eyed Joe," now's your chance to shine!

The Loveland Reporter-Herald's SUPERFAN promotion is an opportunity for Eagles fans to get their faces on the Big Screens at the north end of the arena. Simply email your best fan photo to promotions@reporter-herald.com and watch for your super-sized mug to appear on the big projection screens.

All submitted photos will be published in the SUPERFAN gallery on the ReporterHerald.com Photo Store, and the best submissions during the week will appear on the large screens at the Budweiser Events Center during the next home game. Each and every photo will be eligible for a monthly prize drawing, based on the "Super-ness" of the shot. Please be sure to include your name and contact information (phone number and email address).

*All photos become the property of the Loveland Reporter-Herald and the Colorado Eagles for promotional purposes. Your image may be used on screen and/or in print.

Friday, November 21; Another Panks Hat Trick Ignites Eagles Offense

LOVELAND, Colo. - The Colorado Eagles defeated the Rapid City Rush, 8-2, tonight on Greg Pankewicz's third hat trick of the season and the most explosive period in franchise history. Only four Eagles -- one of them being goaltender Morgan Cey -- went without a point on the night as the home team rung up seven goals in the middle frame.

Colorado got the first goal of the game -- the seventh time they've done so this season -- when Konrad Reeder scored just 1:51 in. The goal was the Eagles' 25th scored in the first period this season, more than any other team in the league. The tally developed when Tom Reimann banked a shot off the neutral zone boards to Ryan Tobler entering the Rush zone along the left wing. Tobler then quickly threw a pass diagonally through the zone to Reeder breaking toward the net wide open, and he easily directed the puck into the empty half of the net. Rapid City countered at 4:12 after Adam Hogg overskated a drop pass just inside the offensive zone and the play moved the other way with Brady Olsen snapping his first professional shot into the top left corner with a beautiful shot from the top of the right circle.

The Eagles erupted in the second with the best period in their history. They scored seven goals (the most ever in a period) on just 16 shots -- bolstered by Greg Pankewicz's third hat trick of the early season. His three markers improved his league-leading goal total to 14, with nine of them coming via hat tricks (64.3 percent). The first marker came just 37 seconds into the period when the Eagles' captain, streaking down the left wing, took a pass from Ed McGrane and cut across the front of the crease before getting Miguel Beaudry to go down and beat him with a sharp-angled shot from the right side of the net.

At 2:31, Reeder sent a pass the length of the neutral zone to spring Pankewicz again on a huge breakaway; this time he beat the Rush netminder with a forehand move. Under two minutes later, Riley Nelson took the puck down the left wing and passed it through the crease where Scott Polaski wiffed on the tap-in, but Kevin Ulanski was right behind him to toss it into the empty half of the cage. At that point, Rapid City called a timeout, trying to regroup, but just 10 seconds after the ensuing faceoff, Ulanski struck again when he sent a pass from the right mid-boards to a pinching Aaron Schneekloth on the back door, but the puck deflected in before it got to the Eagles defenseman (the 10 seconds between scores was one second off the franchise record of nine seconds).

The Eagles kept coming. About a minute and a half later, while on the man advantage, Pankewicz had a golden opportunity to notch his third goal of the period from between the circles, but Beaudry came out to challenge and stacked his pads to rob the veteran forward. But at 9:53, he wouldn't be denied when he scored on yet another breakaway after a turnover at the Eagles' blue line. Two and a half minutes later, Polaski set up Adam Hogg for Colorado's sixth goal of the period. And just 18 seconds later, Hogg set up Steve Haddon for the team's seventh -- setting a new team record for goals in a period. The crowd gave the club a standing ovation as the second intermission horn sounded.

As if the game didn't have enough excitement for the home crowd already, Tobler was awarded a penalty shot four and a half minutes into the final frame, but shot just wide of a leaning Beaudry. Kyle Sheen got the game's only power-play goal at 5:11, but it was inconsequential at that point.

Saturday, November 22; Penner Beats Bugs Again, Eagles Move to 13-2

LOVELAND, Colo. - The Colorado Eagles defeated the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs tonight, 5-1, on the strength of Andrew Penner in net and a stingy defense all around. The Eagles out-shot the Mudbugs 52-25 and seemed to beat them to most loose pucks all night long. The game was plenty feisty, with the teams combining for 106 penalty minutes and six fights.

Colorado jumped out to a two goal lead 13 minutes into the first period before fisticuffs took over. Ed McGrane got the scoring started with a great individual play when he went coast-to-coast before beating Ken Carroll with a shot from the top of the circles that was deflected by a Mudbug defenseman. McGrane then assisted on an Aaron Schneekloth power-play goal as the defenseman knocked home a rebound from the doorstep.

Just forty-four seconds later, heavyweights Ryan Tobler (6-foot-3-inches, 225 pounds) and Brett Angel (6-foot-6-inches, 248 pounds) dropped the gloves at center ice. And less than a minute later, Jay Birnie and Neil Clark started swinging haymakers next to the benches. Then just nine seconds later, Adam Knight and Quade Lightbody got into it after Knight and Carroll collided at the left side of the net.

It got really chippy at 16:45 when David Pszenyczny kneed McGrane just inside the Eagles zone. Jason Beatty sought retribution immediately when Pszenyczny came out of the penalty box by skating toward the Bossier-Shreveport bench to intercept his path and the two proceeded to drop the gloves for the period's fourth fight. In the meantime, the Mudbugs were going 10 minutes between shots, on the way to being out-shot 16-4 in the period; Carroll kept the game close by stopping near-certain goals with everything from his right toe to his head.

The second period didn't see any fights, but it involved plenty of power play action. The Mudbugs spent most of the first half of the period in the box, and the Eagles spent a good part of the final half there as well.

Penner did his part to better his counterpart at the other end of the ice by coming up with his own share of huge saves in the second, starting with a shorthanded breakaway stop on Brett Smith at 14:50, and continuing as he was the Eagles' best penalty killer throughout the frame. And with just 53 seconds left in the period Penner received a 3-0 lead to work with after Scott Polaski made a great play defensively to diffuse a 2-on-1 Bossier-Shreveport breakaway and then assisted on Tobler's power-play goal at the other end.

The Mudbugs finally broke Penner's shutout at 8:34 of the third when Clay Thoring sent a pass from the left boards to Angel wide open in the slot. But the Eagles got that one back at 12:20 off a faceoff win when Greg Pankewicz's rebound from the left point was deposited in the net by Konrad Reeder (celebrating his 27th birthday). And Tobler scored his second goal of the game with 45 seconds remaining when Kevin Ulanski lobbed a pass high in the air the length of the neutral zone to send the veteran forward in on a breakaway.

With the win, Colorado now owns the best record in the CHL at 13-2 (26 points) and will take on their in-state rival, the Rocky Mountain Rage, at the Budweiser Events Center on Wednesday night. The Rage are currently tied for last place in the Northwest Division with a record of 4-8-1 after picking up a shootout win against the Rapid City Rush tonight.

The Week Ahead

Wednesday, November 26; Eagles Take on Rival Rage on Thanksgiving Eve

Colorado won the only previous meeting with their Front Range rival this season, 5-1, on October 22. Six different Eagles had multi-point games in that contest, and Andrew Penner stopped 39-40 shots. The Eagles are currently tied for first place in the league with 26 points (13-2-0), while the Rage are one point from the bottom with 9 (4-10-1).

Friday, November 21 & Saturday, November 22; Colorado Plays Back-to-Back Games Against Rush, Including First Home Game in Rapid City

The Eagles are 4-0 against the expansion Rush, and are coming off an 8-2 victory against them last Friday - a game in which they scored a franchise record seven goals in the second period alone. Those stats are misleading however, because except for that period, the games have been tightly contested. Colorado will then travel to Rapid City on Saturday for the first home game in Rapid City history, and the Rush will surely be glad to end their season-starting 14 game road trip (tied for a CHL record).

Notable Numbers

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS - With 27 first period goals, Colorado has scored more in the first frame than any other team...by a wide margin; Laredo and Rapid City are ties in second with 18. And their 25 second period goals are just one off of Arizona's CHL-leading 26. Combine that with the Eagle's perfect 10-0-0 record when leading after two periods, and you've got a good recipe for success.

CHART-TOPPERS - The Eagles have four of the league's top 10 scorers, while no other team has more than two (Odessa and Rapid City). Kevin Ulanski and Riley Nelson are tied for fourth with 22 points and Greg Pankewicz and Ryan Tobler are right on their heels with 21, tied for sixth.

POSITIVE INFLUENCE - Defensemen Aaron Schneekloth and Scott Polaski are 1-2 in the CHL in plus/minus with a +18 and +11 rating respectively. Schneekloth's numbers were boosted with a franchise record +6 outing against Tulsa on Veterans Day.

JUST SHY - Defenseman Aaron Schneekloth is just two points away from leapfrogging both Seth Leonard and Chris Hartsburg on the team's all-time scoring list. Schneekloth is currently in 10th place on the list with 119 points (36-83-118).

FEELING RIGHT AT HOME - Colorado Springs native Scott Polaski has scored 15 of his 19 points this season at the Budweiser Events Center, and is second off the team lead in scoring at home. The forward-turned-defenseman leads all CHL d-men in points (19), assists (17) and power-play assists (9).

SPECIAL STATS - After having the top power play in the league all season long, Colorado fell just behind Texas over the weekend and now owns the second-bet power play in the league at 23.6%. Their penalty-killing units are heading in the opposite direction, however, recently surging to 4th in the league at 84.4%. Not counting their hiccup on 11/14, the Eagles have gone a combined 81-87 (93.1%) in their past 11 games, including five perfect games.

POWER-play-FORWARD - Veteran Ryan Tobler, annually among the top power forwards in the league, is tied for first in the CHL with eight power play goals, and leads the Eagles in special teams points (8-5-13). Those man-advantage markers have helped him on the way to having the best shooting percentage among players with 40 or more shots (.262).

Check out the Colorado Eagles Statistics

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Central Hockey League Stories from November 24, 2008


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