CHL Central Hockey League

Shots from the Point for December 31, 2012

Published on December 31, 2012 under Central Hockey League (CHL) News Release


Three Things You Need to Know

1.) Happy New Year!- The CHL winds down 2012 with the puck falling in five cities and all 10 CHL teams going to battle. The Denver Cutthroats (18-11-2) play in Rapid City against the Rush (14-12-5) ending their four-game series that has gone on since the day after Christmas. Bloomington (16-12-1) plays their third and final game of their series in Arizona against the Sundogs (12-15-4) with each team owning a win thus far in the series. The Tulsa Oilers (9-19-3) play in Missouri against the Mavericks (15-11-4) and there are two games in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex with the Americans (20-5-2) hosting the Quad City Mallards (13-13-3) and the Brahmas (14-12-4) hosting the Wichita Thunder (19-9-3).

2.) December to Remember- Entering the final game for the month of December, Missouri Mavericks forward Sebastien Thinel is having an unbelievable offensive month posting nine goals and 20 assists in 14 games (has also posted a +9 plus/minus rating). The Mavs have gone 9-3-2 in December and have climbed from last place to right into the thick of the conference hunt sitting in fourth place with a 15-11-4 record. Thinel, the league's leading scorer in 2009 and 2011, recorded points in 13 of the 14 games he played in December nothing multiple-point efforts in eight of those games and three-point games or higher in five of them. His 50 points (15-35=50) on the season lead all skaters with the closest being Bloomington's Jon Booras (42 points). Thinel will look to add to his total for December on Monday night when the Mavs host Tulsa.

3.) Howes Continues Hot Stretch- Allen forward Scotty Howes continue to rack up goals at an incredible pace scoring six times in his last four games and 11 times in his last eight games. His 21 goals on the season lead the league and amazingly have been scored in just 21 games played. The Toronto native also leads the league with 10 power play goals and his 35 points (21-14=35) are tied for fifth in the league. A few stints on the injured reserve are the only things that have seemingly slowed the sniper whose career-high in goals scored is 22 done in the 2010-11 season when he played with Alaska (ECHL). Howes and the Americans host the Quad City Mallards on Monday night.

By the Numbers

8: The number of consecutive one-goal games the Allen Americans played in before Saturday's 4-1 win at home over the Fort Worth Brahmas. Allen was 6-1-1 during their stretch of one-goal contests and have played in a league-high 18 one-goal games going 12-4-2 in those games. Rapid City has played in the second most one-goal games in the CHL going 8-3-5 in their 16 games decided by a single goal.

One-Timers

-The Wichita Thunder can close out 2012 as the top team in the CHL with a single point or a loss by Allen on New Year's Eve. The Thunder enters Monday's game with a 43-20-5 record and 91 points while the Americans are 42-17-5 with 89 points. Wichita plays in Fort Worth on Monday and the Americans host Quad City.

-The Missouri Mavericks host the Tulsa Oilers on Monday night marking the first time this season the Oilers have visited the Independence Events Center. Last season, the Mavs went 5-0 against Tulsa in Missouri. So far this year, the Mavs have won two of the three head-to-head match-ups against the Oilers, all in Tulsa.

-After losing six times in a seven-game stretch over late November and early December, the Quad City Mallards have rebounded to win six times in their last eight games including in four of their last five. Rookie goalie Neil Conway has been dynamite since signing the Flock going 3-0 with only four goals allowed in his three starts. The Mallards will be tested this week as they wrap up their road trip tonight in Allen and then host Denver on Friday.

-Allen defenseman Tyler Ludwig has been setting his teammates up with regularity over the last seven games recording 10 helpers in those seven games. Ludwig is tied for second among all blue liners with 26 points (3-23&) on the season and his 23 helpers are the most among all defensemen.

-Denver forward Chris Greene did not score a point in his first 10 games with the Cutthroats after signing as a free agent but in now has points in four straight games scoring three goals with an assist and a +4 rating over that stretch.

-Be sure to catch all of the action on CHL-TV all season long.

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



Central Hockey League Stories from December 31, 2012


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.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central