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CHL Colorado Eagles

Eagles Weekly

March 31, 2008 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Colorado Eagles News Release


Week In Review

Monday, March 24; Playoff Coach's Show at Lucky Joe's Schedule

Due to the team's travel schedule, there will be no Coach's Show at Lucky Joe's this week. There will, however, be an interview with Coach Stewart from 6-6:10 on 107.9 The Bear. Check the Colorado Eagles web site each week during the playoffs for an up-to-date status of the Coach's Show.

Friday, March 28; CHL Playoff Hockey Begins Tonight at The BEC

Playoff Hockey begins tonight at the Budweiser Events Center when the third-seeded Youngstown SteelHounds take on the second-seeded, defending champion Colorado Eagles. Puck-drop for the first game in the best-of-seven Northern Conference Semi-Finals is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Also, be sure to come early to see the Eagles new Playoff Intro Video done to Jon Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead of Alive." A limited number of copies of the video will be on sale at the Merchandise Stand for $5.

Season Ticket Holders

Colorado Eagles tickets for the 2008 CHL Playoffs are in your season ticket books. Since the Eagles secured the second seed, the first two home dates will be as follows:

Friday, March 28th at 7:05pm - Please use your Blue Round 2 Game A ticket

Saturday, March 29th at 7:05pm - Please use your Blue Round 2 Game B ticket

Tuesday, April 8th at 7:05pm - (If necessary) Please use your Blue Round 2 Game C ticket

Wednesday, April 9th at 7:05pm - (If necessary) Please use your Blue Round 2 Game D ticket

Friday, March 28; Eagles to Host Block Party Before Saturday's Game

Fans,

Come out early to the Budweiser Events Center for this Saturday's playoff game against the Youngstown SteelHounds. Weather permitting, the Eagles will be throwing a Block Party from 5-6 p.m. There will be 16 oz. beers for only $2.50, $1 hotdogs, FREE ice cream from Meadow Gold, FREE Eagles prizes, ticket giveaways to upcoming events at The Ranch, other food and drink specials from Ovations Food Services and much, much more. Come early for the Block Party and stay late to help cheer your Eagles past the SteelHounds as they defend the President's Cup.

Friday, March 28; Eagles Begin Defense of Cup with 6-4 Playoff Win

LOVELAND, Colo. - The Colorado Eagles defeated the Youngstown SteelHounds 6-4 in Game One of the Northern Conference Semi-Finals. The Eagles are now 4-0 against the 'Hounds in the playoffs at home after going 3-0 against them in last season's opening playoff round. Despite a 12-7 disadvantage in power-play opportunities, the Eagles got contributions from the entire roster - something so important in playoff hockey - on the way to their first victory of the 2008 playoffs. With the win, Colorado is now 7-4 all-time in opening games of playoff series. Colorado doubled up Youngstown in shots and on the scoreboard after one as the Eagles entered the locker room with a 2-1 lead on 16 shots. Captain Greg Pankewicz got Colorado on the board first with a power play goal 5:12 in. Ed McGrane was stopped by the right pad of Andy Franck, but picked up his own rebound in stride and wrapped around the net before feeding Pankewicz at the right lip of the crease. Youngstown answered with a power-play tally of their own just over a minute later on a tic-tac-toe play. Bryan Lachapelle sent a Chris Richards' rebound from the left corner to Steve Birnstill just inside the left circle near the hashes. But at 13:34, Pankewicz and McGrane hooked up again to put Colorado back in the lead. Pankewicz sent a pass from deep along the right-wing boards across the ice to McGrane who was streaking to the far side of the net for a pretty tap-in goal. The SteelHounds came back with three goals in the second period before a pivotal time out called by Chris Stewart turned the momentum in favor of the Eagles. Brad Patterson made it 2-2 at 11:20 when he beat Sebastien Laplante high on the glove side off of an odd-man rush. Eric Przepiorka then put the 'Hounds in front with a power play goal at 13:49. The puck was lying just outside the reach of Laplante to the right of the crease before Przepiorka battled through the scrum and chipped it in. Then 15 and a half in, Franck stoned Pankewicz on a breakaway and after the play went the other way, Lachapelle scored through a screen from the left circle. Eagles Head Coach Chris Stewart then called a timeout to calm down his team. It took only 42 seconds for Colorado to respond with a goal. Riley Nelson sent a pass from below the goal line to the left of the Youngstown net to Ryan Tobler skating through the slot for a one-timer, power-play goal. Then just 39 seconds after that, the Eagles tied it up at 4 after Seth Leonard skated the puck up the right-wing boards, stopped abruptly inside the offensive zone and sent a pass to McGrane skating down the middle of the ice. McGrane snapped the disc past Franck for his second goal of the game. The Eagles carried the post-timeout momentum into the third, scoring two goals to take the win. Leonard got the game-winner at 12:36 when his shot from in low deflected off of Nathan Schwartzbauer and fluttered past the All-Star goalie. Colorado scored again to put the game away at 16:01 when Les Borsheim fought through a check at the Youngstown blue line, and got behind the SteelHounds defender before sweeping a shot by Franck from the right circle while being hauled to the ice. Colorado will look to take a 2-0 series lead when the teams meet again Saturday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05, but the Eagles will host a block party at the Budweiser Events Center (weather permitting) from 5:00-6 p.m. Check the Eagles web site for details of special deals and prizes scheduled for the block party.

Saturday, March 29; Laplante Leads Eagles to 2-0 Series Lead

LOVELAND, Colo. - Sebastien Laplante pitched a shutout and the Colorado Eagles specialty teams continued their hot streak against the Youngstown SteelHounds in a 5-0 victory of Game Two of the Northern Conference Semi-Finals. The Eagles will now head to Youngstown with a 2-0 series lead and games on April 1, 3 and possibly the 4th (if necessary). The night got off to a good start before the puck was even dropped as Head Coach Chris Stewart was presented with the Rick Kozuback Award by Duane Lewis, Vice President of Operations for the Central Hockey League. The annual award is handed out to the "owner, front office staff member, coach or player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, determination and commitment to the game, sport and business of hockey." As is typical between these two physical teams, the first period had plenty of chippiness, culminating in David Simoes and Brett Thurston dropping the gloves at 18:34. Neither team was able to score in the first 20 minutes, but both carried momentum for stretches. The Eagles came out strong, generating multiple scoring opportunities, but never totally clicking, while Youngstown controlled the middle part of the period before power-plays took hold for one team or the other as the period wound down. All-in-all, Youngstown went 0-2 on the man-advantage and Colorado was 0-1. Colorado took control of the game with a superb second period. Laplante and the Eagles' penalty-killers shrugged off multiple close calls in the period's first few minutes, with shots being 18-4 in favor of the SteelHounds at the 17 minute mark. The Eagles' offense made that defensive effort all the more important by taking control of the middle part of the period and scoring three goals (two on the power play). The game's opening goal came at 6:35 when Ryan Tobler controlled the puck just inside the offensive zone before hitting the breaks and sending a pass to Erik Adams who unleashed a rocket past Andy Franck from high in the left circle on the power play; it was Colorado's first shot of the period and just their 5th of the game. The power-play struck again at 9:04 when Brad Williamson's shot from between the circles hit the post to the left of Franck and the rebound dropped into the crease where Seth Leonard tapped it home. The goal was Leonard's second in as many nights after registering the game-winner in Game One. Greg Pankewicz made it 3-0 less than two minutes later when he knocked in a Steve Haddon rebound that was sliding through the crease. The Eagles were so dominant during the period's middle 10 minutes that Youngstown registered just a single shot on goal. Both teams exchanged unsuccessful 5-on-3 opportunities before the Eagles added two more tallies for the final margin in the third. Colorado added their 3rd power-play goal of the game at 13:34 when Les Borsheim threw a shot at Franck from the left faceoff dot. The SteelHounds goaltender kicked the rebound out between the circles where Borsheim put his own rebound into the net for his second goal in as many nights. Laplante wasn't done either, making his most spectacular save with 1:31 left to keep his shutout in tact. Laplante stacked the pads and slid to his left as he snared a shot from close in with his glove. Ed McGrane added the final goal with 46.9 seconds left by pitch-forking the puck from center on his backhand into an empty net. Colorado converted three of seven power plays on the night and killed all nine Youngstown man-advantage chances as well. In the first two games of the series, the Eagles are 5-14 (35.7%) on the power play and 19-21(90.5%) on the penalty kill. If necessary, Games Six and Seven will be back at the Budweiser Events Center on Tuesday, April 8 and Wednesday, April 9.

The Week Ahead

Tuesday, Thursday and (if necessary) Friday April 1, 3 & 4; Colorado Travels to Youngstown in Attempt to Close Out Playoff Series

The Eagles will take their 2-0 series lead on the road in search of two more wins to close out their Northern Conference Semi-Final series against the SteelHounds; Colorado has never lost a playoff series after building a 2-0 lead. If Youngstown wins either one of the games on Tuesday or Thursday, Game Five will be held on Friday. All three games begin at 7:05 EST (5:05 MST).

Notable Numbers

TRULY SPECIAL TEAMS - Colorado's special teams ended the year on a hot streak against the SteelHounds and have gotten even hotter in the playoffs. Their power play is clicking at an incredible success rate of 35.71%, while their PK unit is stifling a just-as-impressive 90.48% of Youngstown's chances.

BALANCING ACT - The Eagles are getting contributions from their whole lineup as their top three lines have tallied points in both wins so far in the Conference Semi-Finals. Most notable, their third line of Les Borsheim, Steve Haddon and Fraser Filipic - so dangerous on the road all regular season - has contributed a total of six points (2-4-6) in the first two games at home against Youngstown. Ed McGrane's line has tallied 11 points and Riley Nelson's line has been good for five so far.

FRANCK CONTRAST - All-Star goalie Andy Franck will undoubtedly be glad to play a game somewhere other than the Budweiser Events Center. Against the Eagles in Loveland this season, Franck has allowed 20 goals in four meetings (including the regular season) for a GAA of 4.96 and a SV% of .863 at the BEC - well off his regular season stats of 2.85 and .906.

2-0 IS GOOD TO GO - The Eagles have never lost a playoff series after building a 2-0 lead - going 5-0 all-time - showing that home ice advantage clearly matters. Even more daunting for the SteelHounds is that Colorado's .750 playoff winning percentage against Youngstown is their second highest against any opponent.

MUZZLING THE 'HOUNDS - Sebastian Laplante finished the 2007 playoffs with 2.36 goals against average and a save percentage of .929, second in the league behind former Eagles goaltender Tim Boron. With his shutout in Game Two against the SteelHounds, Laplante has a GAA of 2.00 and a SV% of .938 so far this year. The shutout was the sixth in Eagles playoff history.

CENTERS OF ATTENTION - Colorado centers Ed McGrane and Riley Nelson scored a combined 19 points (7-12-19) in just 5 games vs. Youngstown during the regular season - nearly 4 points per game. During last season's playoff series vs. Youngstown, the tandem combined for 21 points (8-13-21) including a pair of hat tricks and two other 3 point performances. Furthermore, Nelson is the all-time point getter against the Youngstown SteelHounds with 23 points in 14 regular season contests, while McGrane leads in points during the postseason with 18 in eight.

PLAYOFF POINTS - In eight career playoff games against Youngstown, Ed McGrane has registered 18 points (7-11-18), bolstered by his 5-points so far in this series (3-2-5). McGrane has now scored in 13 consecutive games counting the last 11 of the regular season (10-10-20).

QUICK STRIKES - The Eagles are making a habit of scoring multiple goals in a short amount of time against the SteelHounds in the playoffs. Their all-time fastest time for scoring consecutive playoff goals is ten seconds, set in Game One of last year's opening round series against Youngstown. In Game One of this year's Conference Semi-Finals, Ryan Tobler and Ed McGrane scored back-to-back in just 39 seconds late in the second period in a momentum-swinging burst that helped the Eagles win the game.

RECORD SETTING MATCH-UP - When playing the SteelHounds in the playoffs, the Eagles hold six playoff franchise records. Those records include: most goals in a game- 7(3/31/07), most goals in a period- 4 (3/31/07), largest margin of victory- 5 (4/10/07 & 3/29/08), most goals by a player- 3 McGrane (4/4/07), fastest two goals- :10 (3/30/07) and fastest goal allowed to start a game- :50 Jeff Christian (3/30/07).

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