Rocky Mountain Rage Weekly

Published on February 2, 2009 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Rocky Mountain Rage News Release


LAST WEEK'S RECORD: 1-2-0 OVERALL RECORD: 23-19-4, 50 pts. 2nd Place Northwest Division

Jan. 28 @ Arizona Sundogs, 4-2 Loss - Tied at one mid-way through the second period, the Sundogs scored twice late in the frame to take a 3-1 lead. A power play goal from Simon Watson moved the Rage within one at 4:06 of the third, but the club never found the equalizer. Arizona then scored an empty-netter in the final minute to seal the victory and take the first of a three-game set.

Jan. 30 @ Arizona Sundogs, 6-3 Win - Rocky Mountain rode two goals apiece from Colt King and Watson to its first victory in eight tries on the Sundogs' home ice over three seasons. Superior special teams also led the way as the Rage scored four power play goals and added a short-handed goal from David Morelli early in the second that stood up as the eventual game-winner.

Jan. 31 @ Arizona Sundogs, 5-4 Loss - Arizona turned a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes into a 5-2 edge by 12:59 of the third period. Rocky Mountain wouldn't go away, though, scoring twice on the power play 55 seconds apart to pull within one with just more than four minutes remaining in regulation. But for the second time in three games, the team failed to strike for that elusive game-tying goal and lost the rubber match of the series.

THIS WEEK'S UPCOMING GAMES

Friday, Feb. 6, @ Wichita Thunder, Kansas Coliseum, 6:05 p.m. MST Radio: ESPN Radio 1600, LIVE at 5:55 p.m. Live Audio & Video Webcast: None available from the Coliseum

Sunday, Feb. 8, @ Mississippi RiverKings, DeSoto Civic Center, 4:05 p.m. MST Radio: ESPN Radio 1600, Joined in progress at approximately 4:30 p.m. Live Audio & Video Webcast: CHL Network on www.rockymountainrage.com

STANDINGS UPDATE Despite losing two of three last week in Arizona, the second-place Rage retained their 15-point lead over the third-place Rapid City Rush in the Northwest Division. But, they did lose ground to the three teams they are chasing in the Northern Conference standings that determine playoff position. Rocky Mountain begins this week still with a firm hold on the fifth and final playoff spot in the conference, four points behind the Mississippi RiverKings and seven points back of both the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs and Oklahoma City Blazers.

FIRST LEG OF THE ROAD TRIP IN THE BOOKS Last week's trip to face the Sundogs began a season-long seven-game road trip for the Rage. After this week's games on the road against the Thunder and RiverKings, the club remains in Mississippi for a tilt on Feb. 10 followed by another swing through Wichita on Feb. 13. Rocky Mountain then plays its only home game during the entire month of February when the team faces off against the RiverKings for the third time in four games on Sunday, Feb. 15, at 3:05 p.m. at Broomfield Event Center.

POWER SURGE As recently as Jan. 19 the Rage were ranked 11th in the CHL on the power play. But during the past two weeks over the team's last seven games, Rocky Mountain has converted on 15 of 44 chances (34.1%) and ascended to fourth in the league rankings (19.3%). Daymen Rycroft and Scott Wray lead the way with eight power play goals apiece.

20-GOAL CLUB With his pair of goals on Friday, Colt King became the first Rage player to reach 20 goals this season just ahead of Rycroft and David Morelli, who each have 19. King has already set new career highs for assists (25) and points (45) this season and is just one tally away from tying the personal-best 21 goals he scored in 2005-06 while playing in the ECHL with the Augusta Lynx and Utah Grizzlies.

JANUARY STATS The Rage posted a record of 10-5-2 over the 17 games they played in January, completing the busiest month in their history. After going a combined 5-10-1 through October and November, Rocky Mountain is 18-9-3 since the start of December. Brent Cullaton led the way in January with 25 points (7g-18a), followed by Morelli (11g-12a) and Rycroft (8g-15a) with 23 points apiece. The schedule slows down considerably in February when the team plays a total of just 10 games and is faced with back-to-back contests on only two different occasions.

RAGE SNAPSHOTS Cullaton begins the week as the league's eighth leading scorer with 56 points and ranked third with 41 assists...Rob Chappell is fifth in the CHL with 161 penalty minutes and tied for fourth with 15 fighting majors...Simon Watson snapped a 10-game goal drought with four power play goals over three consecutive games from Jan. 25-30 and rides a five-game point streak (4g-4a) into this week...Morelli scored his third short-handed goal of the season on Friday, one fewer than Cullaton's four, which is tied for the league lead...On Saturday the Rage missed out on an opportunity to get back to .500 on the road this year. Three games into a stretch of 12 of 13 away from Broomfield, Rocky Mountain is now 8-10-2 on opponents' home ice.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Central Hockey League Stories from February 2, 2009


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central