Pietroniro Leads South All-Stars to 11-6 Win; Leavitt Named Southern Conference MVP
January 16, 2008 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Arizona Sundogs News Release
PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. - The Central Hockey League showcased their top players Wednesday night at the Broomfield Event Center in Broomfield, Colo. as Arizona Sundogs Head Coach and General Manager and the Southern Conference faced off against Rocky Mountain Rage Head Coach Tracy Egeland and the Northern Conference in the 2008 CHL All-Star Game. Since the 2001 merger of the Western and Central Hockey Leagues, the Northern Conference holds a 4-1 advantage over the Southern Conference in the mid-season classic, having won four-straight coming into Wednesday night's contest. The Sundogs' Tyler Redenbach, Alex Leavitt and David Schlemko combined for 12 points on the night, helping Head Coach Marco Pietroniro lead the Southern Conference to its first win in five tries. With three goals and two assists on the night, Leavitt would be named the All-Star Game's Southern Conference MVP.
Sundogs forwards Alex Leavitt and Tyler Redenbach combined for four points in the opening 20 minutes, helping lead the Southern Conference to a 3-1 first period lead. Leavitt opened scoring in the game at 8:28 of the first period on passes from Redenbach and Konrad Reeder of the New Mexico Scorpions. The trio teamed up to give their conference a 2-1 lead with less than three minutes to play in the opening frame as Leavitt fed Reeder on the far post. Reeder slid a pass through the defense to an open Redenbach who lifted the puck over Northern Conference starting goaltender Andy Franck. The Amarillo Gorillas' Nate Fornataro tallied with 2.4 seconds to play in the first on passes from Rio Grande Valley's Travis Banga and Corpus Christi's Brent Howarth for a 3-1 lead. The Rocky Mountain Rage's Scott Wray scored the Northern Conference's lone goal in the opening period from regular-season teammate Brent Cullaton.
The Northern Conference outscored the Southern Conference 3-2 in the second period, but the South held a 6-5 lead through two periods of play. Leavitt collected his second goal of the game from Redenbach and Reeder at 4:05 of the middle period to give the South a two-goal lead. Defenseman David Schlemko grabbed his first all-star point at the 7:15 mark, assisting on a marker by the Scorpions' Vladimir Hartinger for the South's only other tally in the second. Cullaton, the Tulsa Oilers' Warren McCutcheon and Oklahoma City's Mike Burgoyne all converted for the North in the second period.
Redenbach grabbed his third assist and fourth point of the night 2:38 into the third period, working with Reeder to set up the Austin Ice Bats' Jason Tessier for the South's seventh tally of the night. At the 13:36 mark, Leavitt gathered his third goal and fourth point to give his conference a 10-6 advantage. Redenbach notched his fifth point and fourth assist on the Leavitt marker along with Amarillo's Shaun Arvai. Less than a minute later, Redenbach and Leavitt paired up to assist Reeder to secure the South's 11-6 win, its first in five tries. The Colorado Eagles' Greg Pankewicz tallied the North's only goal in the third period on passes from the Rage's Wray and Cullaton.
The two conferences combined for 106 shots in the game, with the North edging the South 56-50 in 60 minutes of play.
Pietroniro and the rest of the Arizona Sundogs travel back to Arizona to prepare for Friday night's matchup against the visiting Wichita Thunder. Game time is set for 7:05pm at Tim's Toyota Center in Prescott Valley. Tickets are available by phone at 1-866-4-GET-TIX (1-866-443-8849), on the internet at www.gettix.net and in person at the Tim's Toyota Center Box Office.
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Central Hockey League Stories from January 16, 2008
- Southern Conference breaks streak with 11-6 win - CHL
- Pietroniro Leads South All-Stars to 11-6 Win; Leavitt Named Southern Conference MVP - Arizona Sundogs
- Brahmas' Kinnunen And Northern All-Stars Lose - Fort Worth Brahmas
- Bucks All-Stars Key In South's 11-6 Win - Laredo Bucks
- Two Mudbugs Suiting Up in Tonight's All-Star Game - Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs
- Three Scorpions Are All-Stars Tonight - New Mexico Scorpions
- Scorpions Announce Ticket Winner and Roster Move - New Mexico Scorpions
- Blazers giving away the Farm on Friday - Oklahoma City Blazers
- Donate To Second Harvest Food Bank And Salute Our Troops This Weekend - Youngstown SteelHounds
- Pankewicz, Schneekloth To Play in All-Star Game Tonight - Colorado Eagles
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