CHL Central Hockey League

Shots from the Point for January 21, 2011

January 21, 2011 - Central Hockey League (CHL) News Release


CHL Headlines for Friday, January 21

How Close Can It Get in the Turner

The races in both conferences are remarkable considering it is nearly the end of January. In the Turner Conference, the Missouri Mavericks are the latest team to claim the lead with 43 points marking the fifth team in the last three weeks to claim at least a share of first place in the conference. The Mavs have a home and home with Wichita who are in seventh place but amazingly just five points behind Missouri. Tied for second is Colorado and Quad City with 42 points apiece and they go head-to-head in a pair of games this weekend. Bloomington is in fourth place just two points out of first and Rapid City is in sixth place just three points away from the top spot. The PThunder have a home-and-home with Fort Wayne this weekend and then finish a long weekend by hosting Colorado in the third game for both clubs. Rapid City host Evansville on Both Friday and Saturday. Dayton is tied for fourth place with 41 points and they are in Mississippi for a pair of games this weekend.

Berry Tight Standings

The Berry Conference is not much different than the Turner with the close proximity of the teams with the lone exception being the Allen Americans at the top with a 12 point lead over the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs. But starting at number two, the race gets quite a bit tighter. The difference between #2 and #7 is just seven points with three teams log-jammed at 39 points tied for fourth place (Texas, Mississippi and Tulsa). Odessa sits just one point ahead of the trio of 39-point clubs. Arizona has won three straight at home where they are playing game two of a nine-game home stand Friday versus Odessa. Rio Grande Valley and Laredo are currently fighting it out for the eighth spot with the Bees holding a narrow one-point lead. Laredo begins a four-game road trip Friday, while the Killer Bees host the league ‚¬â„¢s top team, Allen, on Saturday night (Friday ‚¬â„¢s previously scheduled game between the Bees and Americans has be en postponed due to ice problems at the State Farm Arena).

A Look Back

Thursday at the CenturyTel Center, the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs dropped their fifth straight game losing 5-3 to the visiting Dayton Gems. The ‚¬ËœBugs jumped out to a 2-0 lead but the Gems came roaring back behind a goal and two assists from defenseman Greg Labenski and a goal and a helper from rookie forward Erik Boisvert. Jeff Jakaitis improved to 15-12-3 making 24 saves in the game. For Bossier-Shreveport, Shawn Limpright scored a pair of goals giving him three goals and an assist in his last three contests.

Numbers Game

6- The number of consecutive games that Chad Woollard has scored a goal marking the second longest goal streak in the league this season. Dayton ‚¬â„¢s Brandon Naurato scored goals in seven straight games earlier in the season. Woollard has 20 goals on the season and has scored goals in nine of the last 10 games for the Brahmas.

12/3/10- The date of the last home win for the Evansville IceMen whose last four wins have all come on the road. Evansville is coming off a 3-2 win in Colorado on Wednesday and now faces the Rapid City Rush for a pair of games this weekend. The IceMen are 7-11-3 away from home this season.

6- The number of combined overtime and shootout wins the Bloomington PrairieThunder have this season leading all CHL teams. The PThunder are 3-0 in games decided in OT and 3-1 in shootouts. Bloomington has a home-and-home this weekend with Fort Wayne playing in Bloomington on Friday and then traveling to Indiana for a showdown Saturday night. The Komets are near the bottom of the league with a 1-5 combined mark in games decided in OT/SO.

11- The number of games the Colorado Eagles will play on the road over their next 12 contests. Between Jan. 21 and Feb. 12, the Eagles will play just once at the BEC (Feb. 2 vs. Missouri). Their journey will see them play in Quad City three times, in Bloomington, in Tulsa, three in Arizona, two in Odessa and finally in Missouri. Colorado is 9-5-0 on the road this season.

21- The number of points that Arizona ‚¬â„¢s Cam Keith has scored over his current league-best 12-game point streak. Over his hot stretch, the forward has netted six goals with 15 assists. Arizona and Keith host the Odessa Jackalopes on Friday and Saturday.

599- The number of CHL games that Mississippi defenseman Derek Landmesser has played in his career. On Friday when the RiverKings host Dayton, Landmesser will become just the sixth player to play in that many CHL games joining teammate Chris Richards who sits at 678 CHL games.

Slap Shots

-Odessa ‚¬â„¢s Sebastien Thinel continues to lead the league with 64 points (18-46=64) and is currently on a 10-game point streak that has seen him amass 20 total points over that stretch. Recently, the 2009 CHL Most Valuable Player recorded his 600th CHL point and now stands with 218 career CHL goals and 383 career CHL assists. His 601 total points rank 13th on the league ‚¬â„¢s all-time list.

-Colorado ‚¬â„¢s Riley Nelson notched assist in both Tuesday ‚¬â„¢s win at Rapid City and Wednesday ‚¬â„¢s loss to Evansville moving the veteran past CHL legend Joe Burton (420 assists) into the CHL ‚¬â„¢s all-time top 10 in assists with 421 helpers. Next on the chart for Nelson is Brian Shantz and his 429 career CHL assists. Nelson is sixth on the league ‚¬â„¢s all-time points list with 688 points (267-421=688) and should be there for a while with more than 100 points separating him from number five on the list (the still active Chris Richards who has 804 CHL points).

-Allen ‚¬â„¢s Chris Whitley is 3-0 since his return from the injured list allowing six goals over that stretch. The reigning Oakley CHL Goalie of the Week is 11-3-0 on the season with a 2.91 GAA and a .906 save percentage.

-RGV ‚¬â„¢s Aaron Lewicki continues to pace all rookies in scoring with 31 points (13-18=31). Although he has not scored a goal in his last five games, his production has not dropped off with eight points (1-7=8) in his last eight games.



Central Hockey League Stories from January 21, 2011


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