CHL Central Hockey League

Shots from the Point for February 13, 2012

Published on February 13, 2012 under Central Hockey League (CHL) News Release


Top Three

1.) Love is in the Air- There will be no love-lost and little affection shown on Tuesday night when six games are played on Valentine's Day. Action slated includes Texas at Allen, Dayton at Tulsa, Evansville at Rio Grande Valley, Rapid City at Quad City, Laredo at Wichita and Fort Wayne at Bloomington. Only Missouri and Arizona will not be in action on Valentine's Day. The top of the Berry and the Turner Conferences could alter after Tuesday's action as Wichita leads Allen by two points in the Berry and Fort Wayne and Evansville are tied for first place in the Turner.

2.) Mavs Keep on Winning- The Missouri Mavericks win streak has hit five games after a clean sweep of the Rapid City Rush last week in three games. Missouri was most impressive with their back-to-back wins in Rapid City where the Rush were 15-5-1 entering play last Thursday. The Mavs are 15-3-1 since December 30 and goaltender Charlie Effinger has been in net for 18 of those 19 games going 14-3-1 with a 2.47 goals against average and a.923 save percentage. Ed McGrane has picked up the pace in the scoring department with eight goals and nine assists over his last nine games. Defenseman David Pszenyczny has also been a big contributor with four goals (two game winners) and three assists over his last five games. The Mavs host Arizona on Friday and then play a home-and-home with Wichita on Saturday and Sunday.

3.) Five Down; Six to Go- The Arizona Sundogs are nearly halfway through their season-long 11-game road trip and so far are 2-3. The positive part is that the two wins came this past weekend with a victory at Bloomington on Friday and at Quad City on Sunday. The Sundogs travel to Missouri on Friday night and then back to Quad City for a rematch on Saturday (the three-game weekend concludes at Evansville on Sunday). Forward Craig Macdonald has been on fire for the Sundogs with five goals in his last three games and Olivier Proulx has nine points (3-6=9) in the seven games he has played since joining the Arizona roster. Mike Spillane earned each of their last two wins stopping 65 of 71 shots.

Inside the Numbers

15: The number of combined goals scored in Sunday's 9-6 Tulsa win over Rio Grande Valley. The 15 combined goals were the most in a single game since last season (March 25 - Missouri beat RGV 10-5). Dylan Clarke had a hat trick for the Oilers whose nine goals matched the most in a single game this season (Quad City).

On the Fly

-Rapid City Head Coach Joe Ferras is already sitting seventh on the league's all-time wins list but with two more victories, he will tie Garry Unger for sixth on the list with 292 victories. The Rush play at Quad City on Tuesday and then are home to Laredo on Friday and Saturday.

-The Texas Brahmas capped an amazing comeback on Friday night in their 4-3 shootout win over the Allen Americans. The game ended in the 14th round of the shootout with Chris Moran scoring the winning goal. Allen led in the game 3-0 before Texas battled back to tie the game and send it to overtime and then a shootout. In the shootout, Allen scored six times on 14 shots and Texas struck seven times in the 14 rounds. The 14 round shootout was the longest in the CHL this season.

-Wichita welcomed the largest crowd in the CHL this season on Saturday (13,168) in a 3-1 loss to Rapid City. The loss put an end to the Thunder's six-game win streak but they still maintain a two point lead in the Berry Conference over the Allen Americans. The Thunder hosts Laredo on Tuesday, Quad City on Friday and then play a home-and-home with Missouri (WIC has won four straight over the Mavs).

-The Tulsa Oilers are 1-1 on their current six-game home stand but the next three opponents may worry them as Dayton, Evansville and Fort Wayne represent the next foes. Tulsa is just 3-8-3 against the teams from the Turner Conference. Conversely, against the teams of the Berry Conference, the Oilers are 19-11-2.

-Fort Wayne forward Brett Smith had a goal and an assist in Wednesday's win over Bloomington giving him 400 points in his professional career. Named an all-star for the first time in CHL career, Smith leads the Komets with 49 points (17-32=49).

-Evansville forward Todd Robinson has goals in four straight games and his nine points in four games last week earned him the Oakley CHL Player of the Week honor for the third time this season (first time since 2006-07 that a player has won the weekly honor three times in a season - Jeff Christian). Robinson has jumped into the league lead with 65 points (15-50=65).

-After missing 14 games with an injury, Bloomington's Jon Booras returned to the line-up last week and had an assist in each of the two games he played. Booras has 32 games (15-18=33) in 32 games this season. The Blaze have points in five straight games (2-0-3) and this week will host Fort Wayne on Tuesday and Sunday and travel to play at Fort Wayne on Friday and at Dayton on Saturday.

-The Quad City Mallards had their three-game home win streak snapped on Sunday in a 5-2 loss to the Arizona Sundogs but this week have a huge game hosting Rapid City on Tuesday night. The Flock are just one point behind the Rush for the fourth and final Turner Conference playoff spot. The Mallards will look to kick the power play into gear as they still lead the league with a 22.2% success rate but are just 8 for their last 53 (15%) with the man advantage.

-Dayton's Larry Sterling had a night to remember on Saturday in a 5-0 win over the Fort Wayne Komets. The 50 saves were the third most in a CHL game this season and the most in a shutout effort. The win ended a five-game slide for the Gems (0-3-2).

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Central Hockey League Stories from February 13, 2012


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