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CHL Colorado Eagles

Rebuilt Rage Beat Eagles 4-2

November 2, 2007 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Colorado Eagles News Release


BROOMFIELD, Colo. - The Rocky Mountain Rage looked like a new-and-improved team Friday night as they beat the defending President's Cup champions 4-2. The combination of a physical game and a better Rage team added to the natural rivalry between the two teams, and the Eagles -- already skating without Ryan Tobler (14-day IR) -- also lost All-Star Chris Hartsburg for at least the second half of the game. Les Borsheim saw his first action of the season in Tobler's place.

The first period saw plenty of special teams play (seven power plays total, three for the Eagles, four for the Rage) and mostly back-and-forth action during the little time the two teams spent 5-on-5. Despite all of that, the opening frame ended without a goal. Clayton Pool, starting his sixth game for Colorado, made some great saves on the penalty kill to keep the Rage off the scoreboard; most notably, he made a dazzling glove save on Rage Captain Brent Cullaton from the slot hash-marks while the Eagles were down two men. His counterpart, Rocky Mountain goaltender Scott Reid, was barely tested as the Rage out-shot the Eagles 15-5.

The physical play and the scoring both picked up in the middle frame when Aaron Schneekloth put the Eagles up 1-0, 1:15 in with a shot from the right point on the power play. Hartsburg (who might get credit for the goal after official review) parked his big frame in front of Reid to screen the goaltender on the play. Ed McGrane then made it 2-0 later in the period. After his initial shot from the right point clanged off the post (he was so sure it was going in that he raised his arms), McGrane crashed the net and picked up a "garbage" goal from the right side of the crease; Scott Polaski and Hartsburg got the assists on the power play goal. Jay Birnie and Justin Schmit then dropped the gloves in what turned out to be a momentum-changing fight -- as many of them are intended to be.

The Rage answered back in the second half of the period when David Morelli put Rocky Mountain on the board by backhanding a rebound on the doorstep behind Pool. Just under 16 minutes in, Trevor Weisgerber took a Colorado turnover at center ice and rushed into the offensive zone for a two-on-one. He then slid a pass backward, across the slot, to a trailing Daymen Rycroft who made the score 2-2. Moments later, Hartsburg was hit along the boards in the Rage zone and stayed prone on the ice before being taken to the locker room for the remainder of the game with a lower body injury. With just under a minute left in the period, the Rage went ahead for the first time in the game after Rycroft broke into the Eagles' zone all alone and his shot fluttered off of Pool's jersey and into the net for his second goal of the period.

Rocky Mountain's leading scorer, Scott Wray (second in the league with 14 points), tallied the only goal of the third period with just under three minutes left to put the game away. The game ended with the Eagles getting out-shot 46-35, going 2-8 on the power play and 7-7 on the penalty kill.

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Central Hockey League Stories from November 2, 2007


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