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CHL Colorado Eagles

Eagles Weekly

March 17, 2008 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Colorado Eagles News Release


Week In Review

Monday, March 10; Schneekloth a "Most Outstanding Defenseman" Finalist

WINDSOR, Colo., - For the second consecutive year, the Eagles could have the Central Hockey League's Most Outstanding Defenseman. The league announced today that Aaron Schneekloth is one of four finalists for the annual award. Colorado's Brad Williamson won the award last season. The rest of this year's finalists include: Oklahoma City's Mike Burgoyne, New Mexico's Vladimir Hartinger, Laredo's Adam Rivet and Arizona's Chris Bartolone. Schneekloth has ranked among the league's top blue-liners all season long, and currently ranks among the top 10 in points (2nd, 54), goals (1st, 21), assists (7th, 33), plus/minus (6th, +22), power-play goals (3rd, 10), game-winning goals (3rd, 3) and shooting percentage (2nd, .150). He leads all Eagles defensemen in points, goals, assists, plus/minus, power-play goals, short-handed assists, game-winning goals, shots and shooting percentage. The winners of each of the league's yearly awards will be announced one-per-day starting next week. Voting for the Most Valuable Player, Most Outstanding Goaltender, Most Outstanding Defenseman and Rookie of the Year awards will take place among coaches, team media departments and select media members from across the league. Other awards to be announced include: Coach of the Year, Equipment Manager of the Year and Athletic Trainer of the Year (as voted on by their peers). The Joe Burton Scoring Champion Award (regular season point leader) is also to be awarded, along with The Man of the Year Award (for outstanding leadership and contributions to the community) and the Rick Kozuback Award (perseverance, determination and commitment to hockey) - both voted on by the league itself, based on nominations and supporting material. The All-CHL and All-Rookie teams will also be announced.

Tuesday, March 11; League Releases New "CHL-Digest" E-Magazine

Fans,

Check out the new electronic magazine produced by the CHL. Inside you'll find articles about your Colorado Eagles as well as the rest of the teams around the league. A new issue of CHL Digest will come out every two months until next season, at which point it will become a monthly E-Magazine. Click Here to View

Tuesday, March 11; Eagles Lead in Division Cut to One in Shootout Loss

BROOMFIELD, Colo. - For the second game in a row, the Eagles were involved in a 4-3 shootout, but this time they came out on the wrong side as the Rocky Mountain Rage closed their lead in the Northwest Division to just one point (76-75). Sebastien Laplante stopped 40 of 43 shots in regulation, but Scott Reid stoned all four Eagles shooters in the shootout to solidify the second point for Rocky Mountain. The rivals will end their season series in the second game of their home-and-home series Wednesday night at the Budweiser Events Center. The Eagles jumped out to an early 2-0 lead just over seven minutes in, both on assists from Les Borsheim. The first came just 55 seconds into the game when Steve Haddon dug a Borsheim rebound out of Reid's pads and easily knocked the puck into the net as the Eagles' third line registered their 43rd point on the road this season. Riley Nelson almost made it 2-0 before the seven minute mark when he got behind the Rage defense for a mini-breakaway and got Reid leaning before missing blocker-side. But moments later, Ed McGrane got behind the defense on an almost identical play before beating the Rage goaltender with a forehand-backhand move at 7:12. The opening period's momentum seemed to switch about halfway through when Brent Cullaton just missed his own chance at a goal, sending a shot over the crossbar of a wide open net. But Rob Chappell was able to cut the Colorado lead in half at 12:01 after Matt Frick stuffed a shot on Laplante against the right post and Frick poked home the un-covered rebound. Rocky Mountain knotted the score up at 2 just over four minutes later on a lucky bounce as Nick Harloff sent a pass from below the goal line that hit the bottom of Kris Wiebe's skate blade as he was falling to the ice and bounced behind Laplante. A Tyler Butler rocket and some fantastic saves from Reid gave the Rage a 3-2 lead heading into the second intermission. At the 2:56 mark, Butler unleashed a slapshot from the high point that beat Laplante on the stick side and deflected off the post and in to give the Rage their first lead of the game. Halfway through the game Rocky Mountain held a 23-11 edge in shots, but just like the first period, momentum seemed to sway after that. Reid stoned Greg Pankewicz on a back-door play at the 13 minute mark and made two more key saves at the 5:30 and five minute mark - the first on Erik Adams uncontested in the high slot and the second on Riley Nelson from the same spot. The Eagles battled back to tie the game at 3 in the third period with a 5-on-3 power play goal. Already on the power play, Pankewicz hit Ryan Tobler behind the Rage defense, but Tobler was hauled down to put Colorado up by two men. Nelson made it count at 14:30 when his shot from high in the right circle deflected on the way to Reid and beat the netminder top-shelf. Neither team could score the remainder of the period and the game went into overtime. Both teams again failed to score in the overtime frame and the Eagles headed to a shootout for the second game in a row. Reid stopped all four of the Eagles shooters (Scott Polaski, Erik Adams, Seth Leonard and Nelson), making Cullaton's forehand-backhand goal as the first Rocky Mountain shooter count as the Rage won. The two teams will faceoff again for the final time this season on Wednesday night in the second game of back-to-back games.

Wednesday, March 12; Pankewicz's Hat Trick Voted Performance of Week

(Central Hockey League Release) - The Central Hockey League (CHL) announced today that Colorado forward Greg Pankewicz's effort on Saturday, March 1st in a 5-2 win over New Mexico has been voted by the fans of the CHL the Performance of the Week. The Eagles veteran right wing netted a hat trick in the game along with an assist. The win marks the fourth time this season the Eagles have won the weekly performance award. Pankewicz's victory received 5,322 votes accounting for 61% of the total votes cast. Earning second place with 2,853 votes was Odessa's Nathan Ward who scored a hat trick in the Jackalopes win versus Colorado on February 29th. In all, 8,638 fanes voted in Week 20's poll. Pankewicz's hat trick will be automatically considered as a finalist for the 2007-08 CHL Performance of the Year which will be announced in April, 2008. Pankewicz is in his fifth season with the Eagles recording 369 points (166-203=369) during his 239 career games with Colorado. This season, the Drayton Valley, Alberta native has scored 21 goals with 45 assists.

Wednesday, March 12; Beatty's Game-Winner Improves Eagles' Lead to Three

LOVELAND, Colo. - The Colorado Eagles, with a record of 4-13-2 when trailing after two periods coming into the game, overcame a third-period deficit for a 4-2 victory over the Rocky Mountain Rage in a game with playoff atmosphere and implications. The victory increased the Eagles division lead over the Rage to three points with five games remaining for each squad. The power play made all the difference in the first as the Rage took advantage of their only chance to take a 1-0 lead into the locker rooms. The Eagles dominated play in the first, spending most of the first 10 minutes in the Rage zone; Rocky Mountain didn't register their first shot until 11:15 of the opening period. But the Eagles couldn't take advantage of their two power plays and the Rage did a good job bottling up their scoring chances, limiting the Eagles to just 10 shots despite the decided edge in play. Daymen Rycroft got his league-leading 47th goal of the season at 14:15 when he lunged to poke home a rebound between the right circle and the crease for the period's lone goal. Colorado went 0-4 with the man-advantage in the second, but got on the board when Ed McGrane scored his team-leading 32nd goal of the year (and team co-leading 82nd point) at 5:16 on a give-and-go play with Kris Wiebe. The Rage almost went ahead again at the six minute mark on the power play when the puck bounced off the left goalpost and fell into the crease where Sebastien Laplante fell backward to freeze it with a snow angel. However, Rocky Mountain eventually went up 2-1 when Rob Chappell got his second goal of the season - and second in two nights against the Eagles - at 14:56 when his shot from the slot snuck between Laplante's arm and body and into the goal. The Eagles tied it up at two with a Ryan Tobler goal at 7:22 of the third when Scott Polaski sent a pass from behind the net for the power forward's one-timer in the left circle. With the score knotted, Laplante got stronger, making several key saves as the period went along. And at 14:39, the Eagles got the go-ahead goal on a spectacular individual play from an unlikely source. Jason Beatty, who came into the game with just five points on the year (3-2-5), stole the puck at center ice, skated through three Rage players and then beat Dunbar with a shot from low in the right circle. Colorado sat on the lead and added an empty-netter by Greg Pankewicz for some insurance. The Eagles will play two more games at the Budweiser Events Center this weekend (New Mexico on Friday and Tulsa on Saturday) before their regular season comes to a close with three games on the road against the SteelHounds next week.

Friday, March 14; Eagles Pad Lead With Physical, 4-2 Win Against 'Scorps

LOVELAND, Colo. - Colorado expanded their lead in the Northwest Division to five points over the idle Rocky Mountain Rage with a 4-2 win against the New Mexico Scorpions. In a game in which it seemed the Eagles finished every check, both teams got some spectacular saves from their goaltender, but Colorado's offense and physical play were just too much for the 'Scorps. As is the case in this series, sometimes one team just has another's number and Sebastien Laplante showed it yet again when he made arguably one of the greatest saves in Eagles history just over three minutes into the first. Laplante kicked out a rebound to his left and Konrad Reeder - the league's third-leading scorer - was crashing the net and smacked the puck out of mid-air from the right lip of the crease. But Laplante had other ideas and was able to reach back and snare the puck with his glove to stymie the bang-bang play and keep New Mexico from getting an early burst of momentum. Instead, Colorado made it 1-0 at 7:19 with a power play goal when Ryan Tobler deflected a Greg Pankewicz shot past Mike Minard. Pankewicz stood at the point with the puck on edge before throwing a knuckler on net, where Tobler deflected it from right in front. Scott Polaski and Riley Nelson teamed up to make it 2-0 at 11:17 of the opening frame when Polaski picked up a Scorpions turnover in the neutral zone and blazed into the offensive zone where he curled up along the right-wing boards. Polaski then sent the puck across the slot to Nelson who snapped it past Minard. New Mexico got a power-play goal of their own at 14:29 to trim the Eagles' lead to 2-1 when Ross McCain sent a pass from low in the left circle to Dylan Row who was wide open between the right circle and the goal line. The Eagles out-shot the Scorpions 19-11 in the second, but Minard made several big saves to keep them from adding to their lead. In fact, Row took it upon himself to tie the game at two when he picked up the puck at the right point in the Eagles zone and walked it into the low slot before beating Laplante with a forehand-backhand move at 15:49; Row had only one goal in 18 games played coming into the contest. Colorado pulled away with a pair of goals in the third to account for the final margin. The first goal came 2:49 in after Ed McGrane caused a turnover behind the net and the puck found its way into the low slot. Seth Leonard collected the disc low in the right circle and hit Pankewicz in the slot where the veteran converted the chance. Laplante again made several strong saves in the third, shutting the door on any chance New Mexico had of coming back. Nelson added the fourth goal at 8:32 when he intercepted a pass in the high slot, and in one fluid motion, sent a laser top-shelf on Minard. The Eagles have a chance to match their franchise-best record at home (28-4-0) with a win Saturday night against the Tulsa Oilers; the game will be aired on Altitude Sports & Entertainment. It will be their final home game of the regular season before playing three games next week in Youngstown.

Saturday, March 15; Tonight is Fan Appreciation Night

Fans,

The Colorado Eagles would like to thank you for another outstanding year with special promotions before, during and after the final home game of the regular season on Saturday against the Tulsa Oilers. Thanks to you, the Best Fans in the CHL (as voted by the league for the fourth consecutive year), we've made hockey history by setting a new record for consecutive sellouts in minor pro hockey (158 and counting). You've also made the Budweiser Events Center the hardest building to win in for yet another year, and that's backed up by the Eagles league-best record at home this season. With a win tonight, the Eagles will match their best home record of all time, set last season when they went 28-4-0. In honor of Fan Appreciation Night, the Eagles will be handing out their annual trading cards to every fan in attendance. There will also be special merchandise prices, and Slapshot will be handing out Ovations Food Tokens for select concessions. In addition, there will be a regularly-scheduled autograph session and Player of the Month ceremony after the game. Thanks again to you, the Best Fans in the CHL!

Saturday, March 15; Eagles Drop Home Finale to spOilers

LOVELAND, Colo. - The Colorado Eagles dropped their final home game of the season 4-3 to the Tulsa Oilers, but remained five points ahead of the Rocky Mountain Rage (80-75) who also defeated Saturday night. The loss left the Eagles will a home record of 27-5-0, one win short of tying their best all-time home record set last season. The Oilers and Eagles skated to a fairly even, 1-1 first period. Tulsa scored the first tally at 5:23 when David Beauregard left a drop pass on a three-on-two break for Kai Magnussen who beat Bryan Bridges high on the glove side from the right hashes. Greg Pankewicz tied it up for Colorado with a 4-on-3 power play goal at 9:55 when he unleashed a rocket from the left faceoff circle. And at 17:31, Fraser Filipic proved why he was voted the CHL's Best Fighter (Pound for Pound) when he got the best of Robin Richards who has six inches and 30 pounds on the Eagles pugilist. The Oilers scored three goals in the second - two on the power play - to head into the third with a one-goal lead as Colorado got goals from Riley Nelson and Ed McGrane (the latter also on the man-advantage). The Eagles got out to a 2-1 lead just 40 seconds in after Scott Polaski's wrap-around attempt made its way through the crease to Nelson on the opposite side. Tulsa tied it up at 5:08 when Brendon Hodge banked his own rebound off of Bridges' skate from the right of the net after Warren McCutcheon drove the net and tried to stuff it past the Eagles goalie. Paul Kelly put Tulsa up a goal at 7:20 on a 5-on-3 power play when he one-timed a Jeff Christian pass past Bridges from low in the right circle. And Arthur Kiyaga made it a two-goal lead for the Oilers when he registered his first professional goal with a shot from the point through a screen for another Tulsa power play goal. Bridges was pulled after Kiyaga's tally after stopping 11 of 15 shots in 34:48 of action. McGrane answered Kiyaga's goal with a point-shot of his own just 30 seconds later when he one-timed a Pankewicz pass past Guy St. Vincent. Colorado spent the final three minutes of the period short-handed, and ended the period with an 8-2 disadvantage in power play chances. Sebastien Laplante stopped both shots he faced in the second half of the middle frame and all five in the third to finish the game a perfect seven-for-seven, but his strong play wasn't enough as the offense couldn't solve St. Vincent the rest of the way. Colorado will finish the regular season with three games in Youngstown (March 26, 28 and 29).

The Week Ahead

Wednesday, Friday and Saturday March 19, 21 & 22; Eagles Try to Lock Down Playoff Spot in Youngstown

Colorado will look to solidify a spot in the playoffs and a win in any of the three games against the SteelHounds would guarantee them the second seed as the top team in the Northwest Division (a loss by Rocky Mountain in any of their remaining three games would do the same).

Notable Numbers

TWO FOR ONE - The Colorado Eagles are just two points away from securing their fifth Northwest Division championship in five years, and the second seed in the Northern Conference that will come with it. The Eagles can claim the two points with a win against the SteelHounds in any of their three meetings this week or with a Rocky Mountain loss in any of their remaining games (at ARZ, TUL and BOS). Of course, the two points could also come from any combination of overtime games between the Eagles and Rage.

ON THE ROAD - The Eagles will finish the season with three games in Youngstown, where they have gone 4-1-0 all-time. Colorado will hope that trend continues as they try and improve their road record of 10-13-6 this season. This final road swing comes on the heels of closing out their home schedule with their second-best record all-time (27-5-0, just one win off the pace set last season).

WILL THE EAGLES SCORING CHAMP PLEASE STAND UP - In the past few weeks, both Riley Nelson and Ed McGrane have been vying for the Eagles' regular season scoring lead and with three games to go, it's about as close as it can get. Heading into the week, Nelson leads McGrane by just one in points (86-85) and goals (34-33) while the two players are tied with 52 assists apiece.

PUTTING LEADS ON ICE - When the Eagles take a lead into an intermission break, they're almost guaranteed a win. Colorado is 17-1-1 when taking a lead into the locker room for the first intermission, and is 25-1-3 with a lead after two periods of play. All-time, Colorado's is 165-5-7 when heading into the third period on top. On the other hand, when trailing at the end of the second they are 5-14-2 this season.

FOUR THE WIN - The number four seems to be the magic number for the Eagles offense this season. When Colorado scores at least four goals, their record climbs to 30-4-5. When scoring three or fewer, however, their record drops to just 7-14-1.

FINISHING STRONG - In their last eight games, the Eagles have allowed a total of just three goals in the third period.

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Central Hockey League Stories from March 17, 2008


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