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Shots from the Point for March 11, 2011

March 11, 2011 - Central Hockey League (CHL) News Release


CHL Headlines for Friday, March 11

Finally, the Eagles and Komets Clash

In what was one of the most anticipated games of the 2010-11 season when the schedule was first unveiled, the Fort Wayne Komets travel west to face the Colorado Eagles on Friday night at the Budweiser Events Center. It marks the first ever match-up between the two teams and the first of three meetings between the clubs in the final two weeks of the season (Mar. 25/26 in Fort Wayne). The two teams are both highly decorated with Championships and accolades and have arguably the top fan bases in minor pro hockey. The Eagles have sold out ever game in their seven year history and the Komets are third among all minor league teams in attendance this season averaging 7,400 fans per game. The Eagles are tied for first place in the Turner Conference and the Komets are in eighth place, just one point behind Dayton for seventh place. A win by Fort Wayne (or some help from Evansville) will clinch a playoff berth for the Komets.

Berry Conference Champs

The Allen Americans have a chance this weekend to clinch their first regular season conference championship as their magic number is five points to clinch the Berry Conference. The Americans have a 15-point lead over the Texas Brahmas and go head-to-head with their rivals on Friday night at the NYTEX Sports Centre. Allen leads the season series seven wins to two but the pair of Brahmas wins have come in the last three match-ups. Three of the last four head-to-head showdowns between the two clubs have been decided by one goal. Bruce Graham has scored seven goals with four assists versus Texas and Greg Hogeboom has 12 points (6-6=12) versus Allen. Colton Yellow Horn had his 16-game point streak come to an end on Tuesday night in Odessa but in the contests versus Texas has set-up nine Allen goals.

Hitting Stride when it Counts

The Arizona Sundogs have been racking up the points lately and steadily climbing the rankings in the Berry Conference currently sitting in seventh place but just one point behind Odessa and two points behind Mississippi. Arizona entered their final road trip of the season on a 12-game road winless streak going 0-7-5 over that stretch but in their first two games on their journey they have came away with a pair of wins. The Sundogs are 5-2-4 in their last 11 games moving from the eighth playoff spot sitting on the edge of being out of the picture to a more comfortable seven-point gap over ninth place Laredo. The Sundogs final three road games of the season are at Rio Grande Valley on Friday, at Laredo on Saturday and at Odessa on Tuesday. Arizona ‚¬â„¢s defense is last in the league allowing 3.81 goals per game but has turned it around lately allowing just one goal in three of their last five contests.

By the Numbers

26- The number of goals that Texas ‚¬â„¢ Chad Woollard has scored in his 28 games in 2011. The veteran sniper leads the CHL with 40 goals and has been on a tear scoring goals in 21 of his 28 games since Jan. 1. Four of his 26 scores in 2011 have been game winners with three of them coming as overtime game winners. Woollard is just one goal away from becoming the 11th player to record 250 goals in the CHL.

2/20/07- The last time that Bossier-Shreveport forward Travis Clayton recorded a hat trick prior to Tuesday ‚¬â„¢s 5-4 win over the Dayton Gems. Clayton has scored 14 goals with 25 assists this season with the Mudbugs and has 379 career CHL goals ranking second on the league ‚¬â„¢s all-time goals scored list (Joe Burton-565). With eight games remaining in the regular season, Clayton is 10 points behind Burton on the league ‚¬â„¢s all-time points list. Clayton has 975 points, Burton finished with 985 points.

566- The number of CHL games that Laredo coach Terry Ruskowski has coached needing just three games to pass Garry Unger (568 games) for fifth on the league ‚¬â„¢s all-time games coached list. The Bucks host Missouri and Arizona this weekend which will allow Ruskowski to tie Unger and he ‚¬â„¢ll pass the legendary coach next Wednesday when Laredo visits Colorado.

2- The number of games Mississippi ‚¬â„¢s Chris Richards needs to reach 700 CHL games in his storied career. The veteran forward will become just the fourth player to play in 700 CHL games joining Travis Clayton, Jason Duda and Joe Burton. Richards is fifth on the league ‚¬â„¢s all-time points list with 818 points (272-546=818). Richards is scheduled to hit the mark on Saturday when the RiverKings visit Quad City. Last night in Mississippi ‚¬â„¢s 3-2 shootout win over Dayton, Richards scored the game-tying goal in the third period helping the ‚¬ËœKings earn the much needed two points.

One-Timers

-A CHL coach reached a milestone this past week as Bossier-Shreveport ‚¬â„¢s Scott Muscutt joined Doug Sauter (918 games coached) as the only CHL coaches to reach 700 games coached. Muscutt ‚¬â„¢s historic day came in a 6-0 win over Texas last Sunday. Muscutt ‚¬â„¢s 426 CHL wins are second only to Sauter ‚¬â„¢s 544 wins on the league ‚¬â„¢s all-time wins list.

-Quad City forward Joe Blaznek enters the weekend sitting at 697 career points (485 of those coming in the CHL including 100 points during the 2005-06 season while with Wichita). This season, Blaznek has 15 goals and 16 assists splitting time between Bossier-Shreveport and the Mallards.

-The Bloomington PrairieThunder are still hanging on to the highest win percentage in the Turner Conference but are trailing both Colorado and Rapid City by two points in the standings. The PThunder have a tough three-in-three in front of them this weekend with games in Odessa on Friday and Saturday and in Allen, the Berry Conference leaders, on Sunday. Bloomington is 14-9-4 on the road this season and are currently on an eight-game road point streak (4-0-4). On Wednesday, the PThunder ‚¬â„¢s leading scorer, Jason Dale, was called up to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL.

-The league ‚¬â„¢s two top offenses will fight it out on Saturday night when Wichita visits Allen. The Thunder are second in the league scoring 3.75 goals per game, while the Americans lead the league scoring 4.11 goals per game.

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Central Hockey League Stories from March 11, 2011


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