CHL Colorado Eagles

Eagles Week In Review

January 5, 2009 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Colorado Eagles News Release


Week In Review

Monday, December 29; Help Make The Eagles The Top Sports Story of 2008

Eagles Fans,

Help us make the Colorado Eagles the top Sports Story of 2008! Every year the Fort Collins Coloradoan conducts an end-of-the-year poll to determine what the readers think was the top sports story of that calendar year. Below you can find a downloadable ballot along with instructions for submission. Results will be published on Thursday, so DON'T DELAY!

Tuesday, December 30; Eagles, CHL Release 100 More All-Star Game Tickets

WINDSOR, Colo. -- The Colorado Eagles, in conjunction with the Central Hockey League, have released an additional 100 tickets to the 2009 CHL All-Star Game, presented by Poudre Valley Health System. The game -- featuring the Colorado Eagles vs. a team of CHL All-Stars -- will be played at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, Colo. on January 14.

"We are very happy to offer additional tickets to the great fans of Northern Colorado," said CHL Commissioner Duane Lewis. "The tickets for the game are at such a premium and the Budweiser Events Center will truly be the place to be on January 14."

All-Star Game tickets may be purchased through the Budweiser Events Center box office, www.ComcastTix.com, 1-877-544-TIXX (8499) or through any ComcastTix outlet.

In addition, only about 100 tickets to the All-Star Banquet -- held on the eve of the All-Star Game at the Fort Collins Marriott -- still remain. The banquet will include a chance to meet and mingle with the Colorado Eagles, the CHL All-Star team and other league personnel, a plated dinner, live comedic entertainment, a silent auction with incredible hockey items and more! Tickets for the banquet may be purchased by calling the Colorado Eagles office at (970) 686-7468.

Tuesday, December 30; CHL All-Star Starters Announced

(LEAGUE RELEASE) - The 2009 Central Hockey League (CHL) All-Star game is scheduled for Wednesday, January 14th at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, Colorado and today the CHL announced the starting line-up for the CHL All-Star Team that is scheduled to play the host team, Colorado Eagles. The starters were selected following completion of balloting among all CHL Head Coaches, Communications Departments and selected media members in each market. There were 50 total ballots cast in the voting process.

The top vote getter was Oklahoma City goaltender Andy Franck who received 37 of the 50 goaltender votes. As a result, he will start between the pipes for the second consecutive season. Last year, the Reminderville, Ohio native was voted the starter for the Northern Conference while a member of the Youngstown SteelHounds. Franck is 10-4-3 this season with a 2.06 goals against average.

The starting forwards are Arizona's Joel Irving, Rapid City's Rich Hansen and Laredo's Darryl Smith. Irving appeared on 26 of the ballots representing the top vote-getting forward. He is among the league leaders with 41 points and 21 goals for the defending Ray Miron President's Cup champions. Hansen leads the expansion Rush in scoring with 39 points (13-26=39) and was named the Sher-Wood/CHL Player of the Month for October. Smith (called up to the AHL's Houston Aeros earlier today) leads all rookies in scoring with 38 points and is tops among first-year players with 19 goals.

The starting defensemen are Amarillo's Sam Ftorek who led all blueliners with 21 votes. He is tied among all defensemen with 30 points (11-19=30) on the season. Joining Ftorek on defense will be Texas' Justin Kinnunen who has five goals and 10 assists on the season and is tied for the Brahmas team lead with a +10 plus/minus rating.

2009 CHL All-Star Starters

Position Player Team Appearance

Forward Joel Irving Arizona 1st

Forward Rich Hansen Rapid City 2nd

Forward Darryl Smith Laredo 1st

Defenseman Justin Kinnunen Texas 2nd

Defenseman Sam Ftorek Amarillo 1st

Goaltender Andy Franck Oklahoma City 2nd

Tuesday, December 30; Eagles Beat Odds, Blazers to Cap Off 2008

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - In what's shaping into a classic series this season, the Colorado Eagles defeated the Oklahoma City Blazers, 4-3, in another close contest that took more than 60 minutes to decide. This one took overtime to finish, while both previous meetings this season between the two Northern Conference powers ended in shootouts.

Colorado avoided losing back-to-back games for the first time all season by battling back with three unanswered goals in just over the final eight minutes of play. Andrew Penner, meanwhile, improved his league-leading win total to 15 and hasn't lost a game in regulation since Nov. 1 -- the team's first loss of the season. The Eagles not only overcame the Northeast Conference leaders, but they overcame a sluggish first period and a power-play discrepancy of 2:7, with none in the final half of the game.

The ice was tilted heavily in the Blazers' favor in the first -- as almost all of the period's pressure was applied to Penner and the Eagles -- and the 15-5 edge in shots could have been much worse if not for the solid job done by Colorado's defensemen of clearing bodies and loose pucks from around the net. But it was one of those rare instances that led to Oklahoma City's lone goal in the opening period when DJ Jelitto took a shot from between the circles and Chad Hinz put home the rebound on one of the Blazers first two power plays.

The Eagles evened the play in the second period, and evened the score at 4:39 with a power-play goal of their own. It took just six seconds of their first man-advantage chance of the game for Riley Nelson to win the faceoff in the right circle back to Erik Adams who passed it back to Nelson for a blast from the top of the circle that got by Doug Groenestege.

The Blazers didn't back down, however, and nearly made it 2-1 at the 13:30 mark, but Jay Birnie stopped the puck and swept it down ice from the middle of the crease with Penner out of position. Then with just 61 seconds left in the period, Ted Vandermeer did convert with a great individual play as he beat an Eagles defenseman at the point and snapped a shot past Penner from the left circle.

Leslie Reagan made it 3-1 for the home team at 2:05 in the third when he scored from the inside portion of the left circle for the Blazers' second power-play goal of the night. But at 12:43, Ryan Tobler started the Eagles' improbable comeback with the first of three unanswered goals as the veteran power forward slapped an Aaron Schneekloth rebound past Groenestege from the left circle. And Brett Hammond forced overtime at 16:07 when he beat the Blazers' goalie with a wraparound score just moments after Jason Murfitt almost scored at the other end of the ice.

In the extra frame, Kevin Ulanski notched his second overtime winner in a row at 2:11 after picking up a Nelson rebound and scoring from the inside right hash mark. Colorado ends the calendar year with a CHL-leading record of 23-5-1 (47 points).

Wednesday, December 31; CHL All-Star Reserves Announced

(LEAGUE RELEASE) - One day after announcing the starters for the 2009 Central Hockey League (CHL) All-Star game, scheduled for Wednesday, January 14th at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, Colorado, the Central Hockey League (CHL) has named the 12 reserves for the game that will feature a CHL All-Star Team facing the host team, Colorado Eagles. The reserves were selected by the two co-coaches (Doug Sauter of Oklahoma City and Paul Gillis of Odessa).

Making his seventh appearance, most among any player on the team, is Bossier-Shreveport's Travis Clayton who recently set the CHL record for career games played. Joining Clayton as a reserve for the team is former long-time teammate Jason Duda of Wichita who played alongside Clayton for 11 seasons with the Thunder.

Another reunion among the reserves features Tulsa's Jeff Christian and Corpus Christi's Chris Richards who played together for two seasons with the Youngstown SteelHounds (2005-07). During the 2006-07 season both Christian and Richards eclipsed the 100-point mark and both were finalists for the league Most Valuable Player award eventually won by Christian and both were named to the All-CHL Team.

A pair of Odessa Jackalopes (the top team in the Southern Conference) were named as reserves, forward Dominic Leveille (the CHL's leading scorer with 47 points) and defenseman Russ Moyer (tied for the league lead among defensemen with 30 points).

Also named as reserves for the team are forwards Louis Dumont of Mississippi, Daymen Rycroft of Rocky Mountain along with defensemen Aaron MacInnis of New Mexico, Nicolas Dumoulin (the lone rookie reserve on the team) of Rio Grande Valley and Tyler Fleck of Oklahoma City.

The back-up goaltender in the game will be Laredo's Sebastien Centomo who is 11-7-1 with a 2.46 goals against average.

The starters for the game were announced on Tuesday with forwards Joel Irving (Arizona), Rich Hansen (Rapid City) and Darryl Smith (Laredo) joining defensemen Justin Kinnunen (Texas) and Sam Ftorek (Amarillo) and goaltender Andy Franck (Oklahoma City) comprising the voted-in starting crew.

2009 CHL All-Star Reserves

Position Player Team Appearance

Forward Travis Clayton Bossier-Shreveport 7th

Forward Daymen Rycroft Rocky Mountain 2nd

Forward Chris Richards Corpus Christi 6th

Forward Jeff Christian Tulsa 3rd

Forward Dominic Leveille Odessa 3rd

Forward Jason Duda Wichita 4th

Forward Louis Dumont Mississippi 1st

Defenseman Aaron MacInnis New Mexico 1st

Defenseman Russ Moyer Odessa 1st

Defenseman Tyler Fleck Oklahoma City 2nd

Defenseman Nicolas Dumoulin Rio Grande Valley 1st

Goaltender Sebastien Centomo Laredo 3rd

Friday, January 2; Penner Named CHL Goaltender of the Month for Dec.

(LEAGUE RELEASE) - The Central Hockey League announced today that Andrew Penner of the Colorado Eagles has been named the Sher-Wood/Central Hockey League Goaltender of the Month for the month of December/2008. Penner will receive a Sher-Wood/CHL logoed portable DVD player, courtesy of Sher-Wood, to recognize his accomplishment.

Penner went without a regulation loss in December posting a 7-0-1 record allowing 22 goals. He finished the month with a 2.57 goals against average and a .919 save percentage. The first-year Eagle helped push the Northwest Division leaders past Laredo and Oklahoma City in big games during the final month of 2008. The lone blemish on his record was a shootout loss to the Northeast Division leading Blazers. For the season, the Simcoe, Ontario native leads the CHL with 15 wins and ranks eighth in the league with a 2.55 goals against average and third with a .922 save percentage. The 6-2, 223-pound goaltender's only regulation loss came all the way back on November 1st at Mississippi.

The Eagles have the highest winning percentage in the CHL at .810 reflecting a 23-5-1 record. They are currently 19 points clear of Rocky Mountain in the Northwest Division and are leading the Northern Conference by five points over the Blazers.

Other players receiving consideration for the Sher-Wood/CHL Goaltender of the Month for December include Arizona's Marco Emond, Bossier-Shreveport's Jon Horrell, Corpus Christi's Kris Tebbs, Laredo's Ryan Gibbs, Mississippi's Tyler Sims, Odessa's Alexandre Vincent, Oklahoma City's Doug Groenestege, Rapid City's Miguel Beaudry, Rio Grande Valley's Christian Boucher, Rocky Mountain's Scott Reid, Texas' David Cacciola and Wichita's Tim Boron.

Sher-Wood CHL Player of the Month

Andrew Penner, Colorado Eagles

Position: Goaltender

(December Totals)

Games - 9

Record - 7-0-1

GAA - 2.57

Save % - .919

Sher-Wood CHL Player of the Month Winners

October - Wylie Rogers, Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees

November - Doug Groenestege, Oklahoma City Blazers

December - Andrew Penner, Colorado Eagles

Friday, January 2; Eagles Silence Thunder; Penner Gets First Shutout

WICHITA, Kan. - The Colorado Eagles defeated the Wichita Thunder, 4-0, tonight as Andrew Penner earned his first shutout of the season. The Eagles netminder -- who was named the CHL's Goaltender of the Month for December earlier in the day -- stopped all 32 Thunder shots he faced. Konrad Reeder (1-2-3) and Greg Pankewicz (0-3-3) each had three points in the victory.

Colorado built a two-goal lead after the first period, getting goals by Adam Hogg and Reeder. Hogg got a rare road point to open the scoring -- just two of his 11 points coming into the game had come away from the Budweiser Events Center -- when he was able to put home his own rebound on a backhand shot at 7:51. And at 13:13, Reeder chipped a backhand shot of his own over former Eagles netminder Tim Boron who stopped 13 of 15 shots in the first.

The Eagles failed to capitalize on several prime opportunities to expand their lead in the second, going 0-4 on the power-play (including a full double-minor chance). But Steve Haddon was able to make it 3-0 with his 6th point in the past five games when he turned a Thunder turnover behind the net into a 5-hole goal at 13:08.

The Thunder stormed out for the third period -- their 16 shots in the final frame equaling their total from the first 40 minutes of play -- but couldn't solve Penner. And at 3:46, Ed McGrane made it 4-0 as Colorado finally converted on the power play. McGrane's goal from the right circle came off a nice cross-ice feed from Pankewicz for the captain's third helper of the night.

Saturday, January 3; Thunder Explodes in 7-2 Win; Ofukany Scores Hat Trick

WICHITA, Kan. - The Colorado Eagles fell, 7-2, to the Wichita Thunder tonight, splitting the weekend series at the Kansas Coliseum. A night after being shutout, the Thunder exploded for seven goals, including a second period hat trick by Troy Ofukany.

The Eagles and Thunder skated to an entertaining first period that saw both teams register a goal and two fights as the period wound down. The first bit of excitement came 4:19 in when Tim Boron stopped Brett Hammond on a penalty shot with a nice right pad save. Morgan Cey then made a great save of his own moments later on the penalty kill when he reached across the goal to stop a shot with his stick.

Erik Adams got the scoring started at 10:23 with a power-play goal on assists from Ed McGrane and Greg Pankewicz; five of the defenseman's six goals this season have come on the power play. But at 13:44, the Thunder struck back when Curtiss Patrick's shot deflected up and over Cey before Jason Duda tapped it into the net. Then at 17:45, Fraser Filipic dropped the gloves for the first time this season in a great fight against Connor MacDonald, and Ryan Tobler and Jonathan Bernier followed suit just under a minute later.

The Thunder exploded for five goals in the second period -- three by Ofukany -- marking the first time this season (and just the fourth time all-time) the Eagles have allowed more than four goals in a frame. Ofukany's first goal came three minutes in when he scored on a Jordan Hack rebound, making it 2-1 Wichita. Adam Hogg answered at 5:15 when he knocked in a garbage goal from the crease, but it wasn't enough to counter the onslaught on the horizon.

At 7:06, Matt Byrnes put the Thunder back on top when he converted an odd-man rush after a Colorado turnover at center ice, and just 32 seconds later Duda scored his second of the night off another Eagles turnover. Then at 13:13, Ofukany notched his second goal of the period off another rebound and capped off his hat trick with a power-play marker at 19:32 to make it 6-2 for the Thunder.

Andrew Penner came out in net for Colorado in the third, but couldn't keep Wichita off the scoreboard either as Joel Hanson made it 7-2 with a man-advantage score at 4:24. Boron -- the former Eagle -- made some strong saves as the game wound down, finishing with 35 saves on the night.

The Week Ahead

Wednesday, January 7; Eagles Renew Acquaintances with Rush

Colorado and Rapid City will play for the eighth time this season, but just the first time since Dec. 10. This will be the Eagles' third game in Rapid City where they're 1-1-0 so far despite an overall record of 6-1-0 against the Rush. Colorado won the last meeting, 3-2, in a shootout.

Friday, January 9; Colorado Looks to Avoid Another Upset Loss to Amarillo

The Eagles will play their first home game since Dec. 27 when the Amarillo Gorillas come to Loveland for the second time this season. Colorado lost the previous meeting 5-3 on Dec. 12 to the last-place Gorillas, and will look to avoid a repeat performance. All-time the Eagles are 10-1-1 at home against Amarillo.

Saturday, January 10; Red Hot Rage Come to BEC Before All-Star Game

Front-Range rival Rocky Mountain comes to town as one of the hottest teams in the league despite their 15-14-3 record overall entering the week. The Rage are 7-2-1 in their past 10 games and have posted a GAA of just 2.70 in those contests. Moreover, five of those games have taken overtime or a shootout to decide.

Notable Numbers

BOTH SIDES OF THE COIN - The Eagles played like two different teams in their weekend series in Wichita, defeating the Thunder in a 4-0 shutout on January, 2 and losing 7-2 the following night. The shutout was a defensive high mark for the season (the first Colorado shutout since Feb. 17 of 2008), while the loss was a defensive low mark; Colorado allowed 7 goals for the first time all year and more goals in the second period (5) than in any other frame.

ROAD TO VICTORY - Saturday night's loss ended a six-game road winning streak that tied the third-longest road streak in franchise history. After finishing December a perfect 5-0-0 away from the Budweiser Events Center, Colorado now has an overall record of 12-3-0 on the road, a nearly identical record to their home results (12-3-1). Their three road losses are the fewest of any team in the CHL.

POWERED UP - Five of defenseman Erik Adams' six goals this season have come on the power play, already matching his career high for man-advantage markers in a season. Moreover, he's only scored 12 power-play goals in his career, meaning that 41.7% of them have come in the first half of this season.

HOGGING THE ROAD - Adam Hogg doubled his scoring production on the road over the weekend with a goal in back-to-back games against the Thunder. He now has a total of four points away from the Budweiser Events Center (3-1-4) after registering nine at home (4-5-9) in the first half of the season.

BETCHA CAN'T SCORE JUST ONE - Greg Pankewicz leads the Eagles with 45 points - tied for fourth overall in the CHL. More impressively however, is the fact that 40 of his 45 points have come via multi-point games (88.9%), and many times, he's getting more than just a pair. In fact, in his 15 multi-point games, the Eagles captain has notched at least three points seven times.

Check out the Colorado Eagles Statistics



Central Hockey League Stories from January 5, 2009


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