Gorillas Weekly Notes
January 27, 2009 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Amarillo Gorillas News Release
LAST WEEK: Amarillo earned a point last week in a pair of close matches with the Texas Brahmas. The first game (Friday) saw a dramatic late goal by the Gorillas' Mike Handza to send the contest to overtime-Amarillo would lose in the extra frame, 4-3. The Gorillas held a 3-1 third-period lead on Saturday against the Brahmas, but the visitors came back to clinch a 4-3 victory.
THIS WEEK: The Gorillas will skate against the Colorado Eagles on Wednesday in Loveland before returning to the Amarillo Civic Center to face the Tulsa Oilers on Friday. Saturday night, the Gorillas will host another Oklahoma rival as they face off against the Oklahoma City Blazers.
THIS SEASON: On the season, Amarillo is 10-26-1. They begin the week as the fourth-place team in the Southwest Division, 11 points behind New Mexico for third. Beginning the week, the Gorillas are 17 points back of Corpus Christi for the fifth and final playoff spot in the South.
AGAINST THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS: Amarillo has a record of 1-3-0 against the Eagles this year, dropping their last matchup against Colorado 9-2 in early January. They are 1-1-0 at the Budweiser Events Center this season. Against Tulsa, Amarillo is 0-1-0 after losing a match at the BOK Center in November, while the Gorillas have managed an 0-2-0 record against the Blazers (both games played at the Ford Center in OKC).
ATTRITION: The Gorillas have lost 63 man-games to injury this year. Injuries have been spread throughout the team-only three Gorillas have played all 37 games with the team this year (Austin Sutter, Sam Ftorek, and Stuart MacRae).
KILLER GORILLAS: Amarillo has killed off 39 of the last 43 opposition power plays, dating back to January 10. Against the league's second-ranked road power play (Texas) last weekend, Amarillo killed off 14 of 16 penalties.
FORMER BLAZERS: The Gorillas boast two former Blazers on their roster-both forwards. Gordon Bell played two seasons in Oklahoma City before joining Amarillo, while Jason Weitzel spent part of 2007-08 with the Blazers. Both have been key assets for the Gorillas this season, combining to play in 59 games, scoring 12 goals and 16 assists.
'MO'MENTUM: Over the Gorillas' last ten games, rookie Jake Morissette leads the team in scoring with eight points. Morissette has scored three goals over that span, with all three goals coming on the power play. The R.P.I. product enters the week 11th in league rookie scoring, yet is last among all Gorillas with just eight penalty minutes in 36 games played.
CLOSE CALLS: Though the Gorillas find themselves in the midst of an eight-game losing streak, they have experienced a number of close finishes since Brian Pellerin took over the head coaching reins. Each of their last three games has been decided by one goal, with the team holding third-period leads in the last two contests.
CLEARING THE ZONE: Amarillo is the fourth-least penalized team in the league with just 19.7 penalty minutes taken per game...Amarillo has won just one weekday game in 2008-09, going 1-5-0 in six contests...the Gorillas have won just once in their last nine home games...Sam Ftorek leads all CHL defensemen in goals (12) and is second in points (34) through 37 games...
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