CHL Central Hockey League

Shots from the Point for February 24, 2014

February 24, 2014 - Central Hockey League (CHL) News Release


Three Things You Need to Know

1.) Flash Gordon Leading the Way- One really has to step back and marvel at the run that Tulsa Oilers forward Ben Gordon is currently on. The veteran had seven goals and three assists in three games last week, all wins, and earned his second straight and fourth overall Oakley Player of the Week honor. Gordon is third in the CHL in scoring at 73 points and his 34 goals are second only to Denver's Garett Bembridge (35 goals). In the month of February (nine games), the International Falls, Minnesota native has scored 13 goals with a pair of hat tricks and one four-goal performance. More importantly, his team is thriving with their offensive leader red-hot winning eight of the nine games in the month. Tulsa is in seventh place with 57 points (27-23-3) but they are just six points from moving all the way up to second place. The Oilers hot the road for games in Wichita (22-24-4) on Friday and in St . Charles (10-36-6) on Saturday.

2.) We Meet Again- The fourth place Allen Americans (28-18-4) and the first place Missouri Mavericks (33-14-3) meet on Tuesday night in the rescheduled game from a snowed-out affair early in the month. The two teams are increasingly building a rivalry after last season's conference finals match-up that Allen won in seven games. This year, the Mavs have dominated the Americans with four wins in five games and outscoring them 21-12. The games have been much closer when five-on-five with the Mavs a +7 on special teams (seven power play goals to one and one SHG) and Missouri have pitched in three empty-net goals. In the previous five games, the teams have combined for 275 penalty minutes (55 combined per game). On the season, the Americans lead the league averaging 23.3 PIM's per game and the Mavs are eighth with a 15.8 per game average (combined 39 per game). Missouri leads Allen by eight points in the standings and Tuesday's game is the second to last meeting of the season between the two teams (Mar. 7 in Missouri).

3.) Finding a Cure- The Rapid City Rush have struggled through much of the second half of the season but last week they got back to the play that saw them win 20 of their first 23 games of the season (a CHL record). Those key components featured great goaltending and timely goal scoring. Last week, the Rush went 3-0 allowing just one goal in all three games (Tuesday versus St. Charles and Friday and Saturday versus Arizona). Tim Boron made 98 saves on the week and lowered his goals against average to 2.45 (best in the CHL). Forward Konrad Reeder is fourth in the league in scoring with 67 points (32-35=67) and is first overall with a +36 plus/minus rating. The Rush are back up to second place with a 31-18-1 record (63 points) and are now five points behind Missouri for first place. The Rush have a huge weekend ahead of them as they host third place Denver (26-14-10) on Friday and then travel to Denv er for games on Saturday and Sunday.

By the Numbers

8: The number of overtime/shootout games the Rapid City Rush have won this year in nine chances. The Rush are 2-0 in overtime this season with the most recent triumph coming on Saturday night with Matt Larke scoring the GWG against Arizona. They are 6-1 in shootouts with their sixth win coming on Friday night in a 2-1 win, also over the Sundogs. One thing to watch for as the season nears completion, shootout wins do not count when factoring in a tiebreaker in the standings between teams.

One-Timers

-The Arizona Sundogs (24-22-5) may be without a win on their current nine-game road trip but they have earned a point in each game so far going 0-0-2 in Rapid City over the weekend losing both games in extra time by a 2-1 score. The Sundogs have games in Wichita (22-24-4) sandwiched around a pair of games in Allen (28-18-4) this week.

-Allen defenseman Jonathan Zion has been a solid offense addition recording three goals with eight assists in eight games played. Zion has assists in six straight games and seven of the eight he has played so far this season. He joins Tyler Ludwig (15-22=37 in 46 games) giving the defending champs one of the best one, two punches in the CHL.

-The Brampton Beast hit the road for a pair of games in Quad City this weekend before coming home to play nine of their remaining 11 games on home ice (only a trip to Rapid City on Mar. 21-22 remains). The Flock have owned the Beast this season going 7-1-3 in 11 previous meetings. The Beast are coming off a 4-1-1 home stand that saw them when their last three contests.

-The Denver Cutthroats got quite a boost over the weekend with forward A.J. Gale returning from the AHL's Manchester Monarchs. Gale scored a goal with four assists in the Fish's two games this past weekend and on the season has six goals and 16 assists in 22 games with the Cutthroats. He had been up in the AHL since mid-November.

-The Quad City Mallards, winners of just one of their last four games, begin their longest home stand of the season on Wednesday night versus Missouri. The Flock will face Missouri, Brampton and Arizona twice and Denver once on their home stretch that lasts until Mar. 12. Quad City will then play eight of their final 11 away from home.

-The Wichita Thunder are eighth in the league allowing eight shorthanded goals this season, entering the weekend, they were in the top half of the league but they allowed a SHG on both Friday and Saturday to Allen and Quad City, respectively.

-The St. Charles Chill are coming off an 0-5-1 road trip as they return home for five of their next six games. The Chill have not won on the road since Jan. 17 and are 0-10-1 since. A positive from their weekend in Brampton is that they were tied in the third period in all three games.

-The Brampton Beast has relied a lot on Scott Howes this season for goal scoring (18 goals in 24 games) but has been Matt Caruana and Tylor Michel that have been carrying the load lately with four-game goal scoring streaks for both (3-1-0) in those games. Howes has failed to find the back of the net in each of the Beast's last four games.

-CHL-TV, powered by America ONE Sports, is back for a second season with monthly and season packages available as well as all games on a given night available for $8.00. Visit www.americaonesports.com for ordering information.



Central Hockey League Stories from February 24, 2014


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