
Shots from the Point for March 11, 2013
Published on March 11, 2013 under Central Hockey League (CHL) News Release
Three Things You Need to Know
1.) Playoff Bound- The Fort Worth Brahmas (34-19-7) and the Wichita Thunder (35-17-8) have joined the Allen Americans (35-14-9) as teams that have clinched playoff spots. The Brahmas punched their ticket on Friday night when they defeated the Arizona Sundogs in a shootout and the Thunder earned a post-season berth with their win over Denver on Friday. The next team in line appears to be the Rapid City Rush (32-23-6) who needs just one point in Friday's game against Tulsa or they could earn their spot before then with a loss of any kind by Bloomington on Tuesday when they host Quad City.
2.) Mickey and the Mallards- The Quad City Mallards (28-24-6) are peaking at just the right time winning five straight games and currently sitting in a tie for seventh place in the conference with the Arizona Sundogs (28-26-6). The Flock have outscored the opposition 23-9 during their hot stretch and their goaltending due of John Murray and Neil Conway (has a personal five-game win streak and is 8-3 in his last 11 decisions) have allowed no more than two goals in a single game during the five-game spell. MVP finalist Mickey Lang has been providing the offense with six goals and two assists over the last five games. Quad City has eight games remaining with five of those against Bloomington, a pair against Missouri and one left versus Denver.
3.) Turning Things Around- The Arizona Sundogs (28-26-6) have turned their season around with their final road trip of the season that has them going 3-0-1 thus far with a date in Allen on Tuesday night still remaining. The Sundogs have scored 17 goals on their current trip and have gotten outstanding production from newly signed forward Kevin Baker, named Oakley Player of the Week on Monday, who netted six goals with four helpers in the four games so far. Rookie defenseman Matt McCready has also found the touch lately with two goals and four assists over his last five games. In goal, Adam Russo has been in net for all four games on their current trip and he has allowed just six goals while earning seven of a possible eight points. Russo is 16-11-5 on the season with a 2.52 GAA and a .912 save percentage. Arizona returns home for their final five games of the season (two vs. Wichita and three vs. Fort Wo rth) after Tuesday's game in Allen.
By the Numbers
601: The number of CHL points that forward Scott Wray has in his career after scoring a pair of goals in Sunday's 4-3 shootout win in Denver. Wray becomes just the 14th player to reach the 600-point plateau. This season, the veteran has 22 goals and 12 assists in 61 games played and he is just two goals away from becoming the fifth CHL player to score 300 goals in his career (298).
One-Timers
-With just under two weeks remaining in the regular season, Denver's A.J. Gale continues to lead the league in goals with 38. The forward has seven scores during his current five-game goal scoring streak (one away from tying the longest goal streak of the season). Gale leads Quad City's Mickey Lang (35) by three goals and Wichita's Neil Trimm (33) by five goals.
-Missouri's Sebastien Thinel is closing in on becoming the first player to win the Joe Burton Scoring Championship three times as the veteran currently leads the league with 83 points (25-58=83), seven more than Tulsa's Ryan Menei (76). Thinel is one of just three players to win the league's scoring championship twice taking home the honor in 2009 and 2011 (Brian Schantz did so in 1995 & 1996 and Carl Boudreau won the scoring title in 1998 & 1999).
-The Fort Worth Brahmas have won a league-high 10 games this season in either overtime or a shootout. On Friday, the Brahmas won their seventh shootout of the season (7-5). Overall, Fort Worth is 10-7 in games that have gone to extra sessions.
-Despite being just 1 for their last 25 on the power play on the road, the Allen Americans are still the top team in the CHL with a 23.5% PP percentage away from home. Conversely, they are eighth in the league at home converting 16.8% of the time.
-With their shootout loss to Wichita on Sunday, the Missouri Mavericks are now 3-3 in SO's this season with all six of them going beyond five rounds. The Mavs have had two six-rounders, two seven-rounders and two eight-rounders.
-The Bloomington Blaze sit eight points behind both Arizona and Quad City for the eighth and final playoff spot. The Blaze do have hope with five games remaining still with the Mallards. Bloomington hosts Quad City on Tuesday night where they will look to end their current five-game slide.
-Be sure to catch all of the action on CHL-TV all season long.
Central Hockey League Stories from March 11, 2013
- Shots from the Point for March 11, 2013 - CHL
- Allen Americans Weekly - Allen Americans
- Mallards Weekly Update - Quad City Mallards
- Bloomington Blaze Weekly - Bloomington Blaze
- Arizona's Kevin Baker Named Oakley CHL Player of the Week - CHL
- Fantasy Hockey Camp, and Steve Cruickshank on Puska on Pucks - OSC Original by Denis Puska
- Tulsa Oilers Weekly News and Notes - Tulsa Oilers
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