Gorillas fall in pre-season opener

October 10, 2009 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Amarillo Gorillas News Release


Rapid City, SD 10/9/09 - (Rapid City Rush Release courtesy of Daniel Nieves) Tonight, the Rapid City Rush began their preseason with a bang by defeating the Amarillo Gorillas by a score of 7-3. Leading the way for Rapid City were Brendan Cook and R.G. Flath who had two goals each.

As projected, things were competitive from the start and both Rapid City's Will Bodine and Amarillo's Neil Smith got the party started with a fight at 3:46. Shortly thereafter, second-year pro Jon Pelle started the scoring with a tally at 5:28 of the first with the assists going to Rich Hansen and newcomer Brendon Hodge. Then Jamie VanderVeeken joined in with a shot from point that caromed off of a body in front, fooling Gorilla netminder Keith Longo. Amarillo was able to get onto the scoreboard just under ten minutes with a goal from Joe Guenther that cut the lead in half. Rapid City then regained their 2-goal lead as player-assistant Brendan Cook attacked the net from a tough angle and squeezed a shot through the five-hole. The Rush kept it going as Derek Campbell deflected a shot from VanderVeeken for Rapid City's fourth goal of the game, all of them coming on the powerplay. The period ended with the Rush up by a score of 4 to 1 and shots at 17 to 7 advantage. Starting the game in net for Rapid City was Mike Brown with Keith Longo in between the pipes for Amarillo.

In the second period, the pace slowed down tremendously with neither team finding the back of the net until late. Midway through the period, both teams replaced their goaltenders with Danny Battochio manning the crease for Rapid City and DJ Delbuono stepping in for Amarillo. It took until the 17:31 mark when Cook notched his second of the game on a sweeping shot that found the back of the net with the assist coming from Brendon Hodge. The intensity picked up once again as Bodine dropped the gloves once again for the Rush, this time against Dan McNeill.

The Rush started the third period with a 5-1 lead and added to it with a tally from R.G. Flath who snapped a shot past DJ Delbuono on a 2-on-1 break with Gio Flamminio. The Gorillas then answered back with a pair of goals. The first was a tally from Austin Sutter who took advantage of a turnover in the neutral zone by the Rush. Amarillo struck again when David Nimmo fired a shot past Battochio to make it a 6-3 contest. Flath scored his second of the period with a second effort while on 2-on-1 with Jason Hill. The game looked to be over but Jamie VanderVeeken and Dan McNeill had other plans as the two scrapped with only 19 seconds left in the game.

After the final buzzer, the Rush came away with a convincing 7-3 victory, nearly doubling the Gorillas in shots 40-21. The two teams combined for 50 penalty minutes in a game that saw 3 fights.

"It's obvious that we can score goals and that's always nice to see," said Assistant Coach Mark DeSantis. "I would have liked to see a little better play in our own end. It was sloppy at times, but that's understandable since guys are fighting for jobs, nerves take over a bit. All in all though, it was a good effort by our team and it was definitely an experience me. I now understand what it was like for Joe all of those years behind the bench."

The two teams face off again tomorrow at 7:05pm (MST) at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. The game will not be broadcasted on CHL-TV.

Single-game tickets on the front row may be purchased for $24 each, row two and up will be sold for $16 a piece, while children ages 15 and under will cost only $8. Fans may log on to amarillogorillas.com and receive an exclusive web-only "$2-OFF" coupon to be presented when purchasing an individual "adult" ticket only.

The Gorillas open the regular season Friday, October 16th in Wichita, followed by a return to the Amarillo Civic Center for Amarillo's home opener Saturday, October 17th against the Odessa Jackalopes. For more information on season and group show tickets, visit amarillogorillas.com or call 806-242-PUCK (7825).

The AMARILLO GORILLAS are offering unthinkable season seat deals for the 2009-10 season in 'The Jungle'! Purchase your show tickets today by calling (806) 242-PUCK (7825) and receive all the benefits of being a season seat holder.



Central Hockey League Stories from October 10, 2009


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