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CHL Colorado Eagles

Rycroft leads Rage in victory over Eagles

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


Broomfield, Colo. - The Colorado Eagles came into tonight's game eyeing the top spot in the Northwest Division. The current leader, Rocky Mountain Rage would not have it. In the natural rivals' second of 12 matchups this season, the Rage defeated the Eagles 4-2 tonight at the Broomfield Event Center to stay atop the division leader-board. Rage center, Daymen Rycroft scored two goals to lead the team. Rocky Mountain outshot the Eagles 46-35 for a season high.

The Rage improves to 5-0-1 (11 points) for first place in the Northwest Division, while the Eagles fall to 3-2-1 (7 points) for second place in the Northwest Division. Only the Youngstown SteelHounds (6-0-0, 12 points in Northeast Division) and the Laredo Bucks (7-0-0, 14 points in Southeast Division) currently best the Rage in the Central Hockey League.

Fans may not have seen any scoring in the first period, but it sure did not lack excitement. Fans saw plenty of end-to-end action that continued throughout the period, just adding to the natural rivalry between the teams. The Eagles came out with more speed and momentum in the first few minutes, keeping the puck in the Rage defensive zone, but the Rage quickly took the momentum. The period was riddled with penalties starting with a 5-on-3 advantage for the Rage. Colorado's Fraser Filipic and Rocky Mountain's Jeff Hansen fought with 1:16 left in the period marking one of the most heated battles of the night. The Rage went 0-3 and the Eagles went 0-4 on the power-play in the period. Rocky Mountain outshot the Eagles 15-3, but Eagles goaltender Clayton Pool stopped all shots to keep the Rage scoreless going into the second.

The Eagles started the second period on the power-play. With nine seconds to go in the man advantage at 1:15, Colorado's Aaron Schneekloth scored the first goal of the night.

Later in the period on the rebound, Eagles center Ed McGrane stuffed the puck in net at 10:22 to give Colorado a 2-0 lead.

Rocky Mountain answered back in the second half when David Morelli pulled the puck off the boards behind the net and wristed the puck just over the left pad of Eagles goaltender Clayton Pool.

Rage goaltender Scott Reid arguably made one of his best saves of the night at 7:37 when he stopped a one-on-one breakaway shot by Eagles standout Greg Pankewicz who attempted to give the Eagles a two goal lead once again, but was denied.

The Rage continued to rally back just over three minutes later when Trevor Weisgerber skated in with the puck on a partial breakaway. He waited for Daymen Rycroft to catch up with him and passed it off to Rycroft who scored from the stick side of Pool tying the game at 15:54.

Rycroft added his second goal of the night in the last minute of the period to give the Rage a 3-2 lead and the eventual game-winning goal.

Rocky Mountain's Scott Wray added an assurance goal in the third period at 17:07 to close out the game. It marked his 14th point of the season in six games. He is currently in second place in the league in scoring behind Jeff Bes of Laredo.

The Rage travels to play the New Mexico Scorpions tomorrow. Game time is set for 7:15 p.m. Fans can listen locally on the new ESPN Radio 1600 or watch a live webcast via CHL Network that can be accessed at www.RockyMountainRage.com.

The Rage returns to home ice next Friday and Saturday when they host the Texas Brahmas (Nov. 9) and Amarillo Gorillas (Nov. 10). Game time for both nights is 7:05 p.m. Single-game tickets are still on sale and range in price from $18-$43 per seat (parking included), and may be purchased through Ticketmaster. Log-on to www.Ticketmaster.com, call (303) 830-TIXS, or visit any Ticketmaster retail outlet.

Season tickets, mini-packs, and group plans are also available for the 2007-08 season by calling 303-439-RAGE. For more information, visit www.RockyMountainRage.com.

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Central Hockey League Stories from November 2, 2007


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