CHL Colorado Eagles

Eagles Week In Review

Published on January 25, 2010 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Colorado Eagles News Release


Monday, January 18; Eagles Waive Rookie Forward Foster

WINDSOR, Colo. - The Colorado Eagles announced today that they've waived rookie forward Shane Foster. Foster played in just 14 games for Colorado, registering two assists, five penalty minutes and a minus-three plus/minus rating.

Wednesday, January 20; Old Chicago Player of The Month

The Colorado Eagles and Old Chicago would like to congratulate Aaron Schneekloth for being selected as the latest Old Chicago Player of the Month. Throughout the season, one Eagles player is chosen per month for his outstanding performance on and off the ice.

In December, Schneekloth registered 13 points (6-7-13) along with a +7 rating and two game-winning goals. The blueliner was also named the CHL/Oakley Player of the Week for December 14-20. Schneekloth registered a point in 10 of the team's 12 games in December. In addition, he was named to the CHL's All-Decade 2nd Team along with being voted a 2010 All-Star starter and selected as an assistant captain for the squad.

Previous winners of the Old Chicago Player of the Month award this season include:

October - Riley Nelson November - Ed McGrane December - Aaron Schneekloth

Wednesday, January 20; Colorado's Comeback Falls Short, 4-2

LOVELAND, Colo. - The Colorado Eagles fell to the Laredo Bucks, 4-2, on the strength of three first period goals and a 39-save effort from Kevin Desfosses. It took the Eagles nearly two and a half periods to get a puck past the Bucks' goalie before they nearly tied the game in the final minutes.

The Bucks stormed out to a 3-0 lead in the first period despite being out-shot 14-11. Darryl Smith got the game's opening goal at 2:53 when he backhanded a loose puck from the doorstep for his team-leading 17th goal of the season.

Smith made it 2-0 with a power-play score at 14:49 when the Eagles' clearing attempt was picked off at the point by Adam Rivet. Rivet made a quick pass to Smith, who skated down the slot and snapped the puck past Mike Mole.

Veteran Brent Cullaton -- who came out of retirement earlier in the day -- then put the Bucks up by three with a goal at 18:45 when he threw home a shot from below the left circle; Jay Holladay and Jeff Bes picked up assists on the play.

Neither team was able to score in the second period, sending the game into the third period with the Bucks up 3-0.

The Eagles were finally able to break through 14:23 into the final frame when Steve Haddon threw the puck toward the crease from below the left faceoff circle and it went in off the body of a crashing Ryan McLeod.

Haddon helped Colorado close the gap to 3-2 at 17:33 when his big hit in the right corner of the offensive zone sent the puck free up the wall. Brett Lutes picked it up along the midboards, skated it toward the net and sent a midair pass to Riley Nelson on the other side of the crease where the Eagles' captain knocked it into the net.

Colorado kept coming hard and nearly tied the game in the following frantic moments. But Igor Agarunov picked up his second goal of the year just 59 seconds later to restore Laredo's two-goal cushion with a rebound tally from low in the left circle.

Friday, January 22; Eagles to Donate Ticket Proceeds to Haitian Relief

LOVELAND, Colo. - The Colorado Eagles announced today that they have teamed up with the American Red Cross and its Haitian relief cause. In an effort to provide aid in a timely manner -- and with the team having just one home game in the next three weeks -- the Eagles will donate 100 percent of the net proceeds from the remaining tickets sold for their game Wednesday, Jan. 27 to the American Red Cross' Haiti relief efforts.

Tickets can be purchased at the Budweiser Events Center box office (5290 Arena Circle, Loveland, Colo.), by phone (1-877-544-TIXX (8499)) or online at www.ComcastTix.com.

In addition, for those who want to help but have already purchased tickets to the game on Jan. 27, donation drop-offs will be available inside the Budweiser Events Center that evening.

Friday, January 22; Eagles Power Past Bucks on Schneekloth's Hat Trick

LOVELAND, Colo. - The Colorado Eagles used a 4-for-10 night on the power play and a hat trick from defenseman Aaron Schneekloth in winning 6-4 over the Laredo Bucks. With the win, Colorado trails Rapid City by just two points in the Northern Conference with a game in hand.

The first period saw plenty of back-and-forth action, big hits and big saves as the two teams skated to a 1-1 tie. Curtis Billsten got the Bucks on the board first at 7:53 when he carried the puck down the right wing and cut across the doorstep before putting his own rebound past Mike Mole.

But with Billsten in the penalty box about six minutes later, Brett Lutes found Steve Haddon for a tying power-play tally. Lutes sent a pass from below the goal line from the right side of the net to Haddon low in the left faceoff circle for the forward's third goal against Laredo this season.

Colorado took a 2-1 lead at 5:26 of the second period when Ryan McLeod carried the puck down the left wing and left a drop pass for Lutes at the outside hash marks. The biscuit eventually ended up on Schneekloth's stick in the low slot and the All-Star defenseman beat Piere-Olivier Pelletier for his first of the night.

The hard hits and fisticuffs continued in the second frame as well, as the teams combined for a total of 122 penalty minutes and 12 fighting majors after 40 minutes of play -- 82 and six of them coming in the middle period alone.

The teams traded late goals to send the game into the third period with Colorado up 3-2. Schneekloth made it 3-1 with a 4-on-3 power-play goal at 19:28 when his blast from the point made it through a Ryan Tobler screen in front. But Jeff Bes got it right back 14 seconds later when he was able to deflect a Jarred Mohr shot while standing all alone in front of Mole.

Darryl Smith got his third goal in two games with a shot top shelf from the left circle on a rush 8:44 into the third period to tie the game at 3. But Colorado struck back with a pair of power-play goals within the next six minutes.

The first power-play tally came on a 5-on-3 advantage when Tobler sent a tap-pass from the doorstep to Ed McGrane at the left side of the paint. The Eagles then took advantage of a four-minute high-sticking double-minor when Schneekloth sent a blast from the left circle top shelf for his third hat trick as an Eagle (he's the only defenseman in team history to record one) -- the 25th in the franchise's six and a half seasons.

The Bucks kept coming and cut Colorado's lead to 1 once more with a power-play goal of their own at 18:02. The goal came with Laredo on a two-man advantage with an extra attacker when Smith picked up his second score of the game. But just 62 seconds later, Tobler put the game on ice by tossing the puck into Laredo's empty net.

Saturday, January 23; Too Little Too Late Again For Eagles

AMARILLO, Texas - The Colorado Eagles fell, 5-4, to the Amarillo Gorillas in the first of their back-to-back games this weekend. Tuomas Lohtander stopped 45 shots in net for the Gorillas, who used a strong second period to build a lead the Eagles couldn't overcome.

Colorado got on the board first when their power play capitalized on its only chance in the opening period. At 6:18, Ed McGrane got the puck from Aaron Schneekloth at the right point and snapped a shot past Lohtander from inside the right circle.

But just 66 seconds later, Amarillo countered when Joe Guenther got his fourth goal of the season against the Eagles as he knocked home an Erik Felde rebound from the low slot to tie the game. Colorado's penalty-killing units stood strong the rest of the period, stopping all three of the Gorillas' chances to keep the game tied heading into the first intermission.

Amarillo out-scored Colorado 3-0 in the second period to take a 4-1 lead into the third. Shaun Arvai made it 2-1 just 56 seconds into the period when he threw the puck on net from the left point and it was deflected down low and past the Eagles' netminder.

The home team's lead grew again at 15:13 after Guenther created a turnover in front of the benches and found Jason Beeman alone at the point. Beeman then skated down the slot and beat Mole to make it 3-1. And exactly 60 seconds later, Gordon Bell dug the puck out of the right corner and swooped through the slot untouched before backhanding the biscuit into the net.

But the Eagles would not go quietly as they attempted a comeback in the final period. They failed to score on over a minute's worth of 5-on-3 play, as Lohtander gloved save after save early on in the third. But midway through -- moments after the power-plays expired -- Steve Haddon picked up a goal from the doorstep to cut Amarillo's lead in half at 4-2.

The Gorillas, however, tallied again at 11:55 when Stuart MacRae scored from in close on the power play after Mole had been knocked down in the crease. The Eagles proved resilient though as Fraser Filipic scored just over a minute and a half later by putting home an Adam Hogg rebound.

And with just under three minutes left in the period, McGrane got his second power-play goal of the game to trim Amarillo's lead to just 1. That was all, however, as Colorado couldn't get another goal despite pulling Mole for an extra attacker as time expired.

Sunday, January 24; Eagles Get Monkey Off Back, Beat Gorillas

AMARILLO, Texas - The Colorado Eagles defeated the Amarillo Gorillas, 6-2, less than 24 hours after a 5-4 loss to the same team the previous night. The win not only put Colorado into a tie with Rapid City atop the Northern Conference, but it ended a franchise-long tying winless streak on the road. The Eagles had not picked up a win away from the Budweiser Events Center in 2010, going 0-3-2 in their previous five away games.

For the second game in a row, the Gorillas scored on their first shot of the game, this time coming nearly six minutes in after the Eagles dominated much of the play in the opening period. At 5:57, Neil Smith sent the puck toward the net from the right point where Jason Chafe deflected it past Mike Mole.

But Colorado answered right back with the first of three first period scores. Just 32 seconds later, Jim Jackson followed up a three-assist game on Saturday with another helper when he found Adam Hogg on back-door play to tie the score.

Then, midway through the first frame, Riley Nelson and Kevin Ulanski each assisted on a pair of goals just nine seconds apart to make it 3-1. The first goal came when Nelson, stationed in the right circle of the offensive zone, hit Jackson cruising down the slot. The defenseman then snapped a shot past Mike Brown at 9:48. The Eagles scored again off the ensuing faceoff when Nelson and Ulanski teamed up with Ryan Tobler for a rush into the Gorillas' zone before Tobler blasted the puck past Brown from the left dot.

The quick strikes -- just nine seconds apart -- tied a franchise record for fastest pair of goals, done two other times. Mole then held his ground, making two spectacular saves on odd-man rushes in the later portion of the period to preserve the two-goal lead after one period of play.

Brett Lutes picked up his second point of the night (to go along with his assist on Hogg's goal) at 5:56 of the second period when he sent a rocket of a shot top shelf from just inside the left circle. That tally chased Brown from the Amarillo net as Saturday night's star, Tuomas Lohtander, replaced him between the pipes; Brown stopped 13 of 17 shots in just under 26 minutes of play.

Jay Birnie made it 5-1 for the Eagles at 8:43 of the third period when he laid into a one-timer off a Ryan McLeod rebound and blew it into the net from atop the right circle. But just 21 seconds later, Joe Guenther picked up another goal against Colorado this season when he was able to poke home a rebound from the right side of the net.

That was as close as the Gorillas would get, however, and with just 44 seconds left in the contest, Hogg picked up his second score by putting home a Fraser Filipic rebound from the left circle.

The two teams will meet for the third time in a row when the Gorillas travel to Loveland, Colo. on Wednesday, Jan. 27. The Eagles will donate 100 percent of the remaining ticket proceeds from that game to the American Red Cross' Haiti relief efforts.

The Week Ahead

Wednesday, January 27; Round 3: Eagles vs. Gorillas The Eagles will play the Gorillas for the third straight game after splitting a weekend set in Amarillo. This will be the second-to-last meeting between the two teams this season; Colorado is 5-1-0 so far and 2-0 at home (including a record-setting 10-4 win Nov. 25). The Eagles have a history of piling up the points in home games against the Gorillas, going 14-1-2 all-time with a goal margin of 99-46.

Friday, January 29; Colorado Begins Long Road Trip Colorado will take to the road for a seven-game road trip (matching their season long) with a game in Tulsa. The Eagles won the only previous matchup this season against the Oilers, 7-6. After starting out strong, Tulsa suffered a seven-game losing skid before getting their feet back under them and playing.500 hockey since. Their offense -- a major strength early on -- has suffered with Rob Hisey's recall to the AHL (Springfield), averaging only 2.3 goals-per-game since.

Saturday, January 30; Eagles Look to Beat Bugs Again The Eagles will look for another win against the Mudbugs, a team they've beaten nine straight times (including a sweep in last year's playoffs). They should not get a false sense of security, however, as eight of those nine games have been decided by just one goal. Ryan McLeod picked up both game-winners when the 'Bugs visited the BEC for a pair of games following the All-Star break on Jan. 15&16. Bossier-Shreveport enters the week in third place in the Northern Conference, nine points behind the Eagles and Rush.

Notable Numbers

IRONIC INFRACTIONS - Sunday afternoon's game against the Gorillas had a total of just eight penalty minutes combined between the two teams (four each), tying it for the second-fewest in franchise history. The irony involved is that the two Eagles called for penalties were the two least-penalized players on the roster: Kevin Ulanski (with the exception of his 19 PIMs last Friday) and Ed McGrane.

QUICK STRIKE - When Jim Jackson and Ryan Tobler scored nine seconds apart on Sunday afternoon it did more than put the Eagles in the lead and account for the game-winner. It also tied the team record for fastest back-to-back goals, done two other times (Tobler was also involved in the last occurrence, Nov. 28, 2008).

MILESTONES - Several Eagles have recently reached, or are about to reach, statistical milestones with the team. Some of the more notable ones include: Riley Nelson is sitting at 550 points, Ryan Tobler is eight points shy of 400, Ed McGrane just passed 300 points (305), Aaron Schneekloth is nearly at 200 points (199) and Kevin Ulanski and Jason Lundmark have played in 100 games.

CLOSING IN ON 10 - Forwards Steve Haddon (119) and Fraser Filipic (117) are both closing in on the team's top-10 list in career points. Chris Hartsburg and Seth Leonard are currently tied for 10th with 120 points.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN - After the Eagles play the Gorillas at home Wednesday night, they will embark on another seven-game road trip (visiting Tulsa, Bossier-Shreveport, Missouri, Odessa and Wichita). They'll be sitting pretty if this one goes as well as their previous one this season. From Nov. 27-Dec. 11, Colorado went 6-1-0 on a trip through Arizona, Tulsa, Mississippi, Wichita and Amarillo. After this trip, the Eagles will have just seven road games left in the regular season, compared to 12 at home.

Check out the Colorado Eagles Statistics

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Central Hockey League Stories from January 25, 2010


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