CHL Central Hockey League

Shots from the Point for March 12, 2012

March 12, 2012 - Central Hockey League (CHL) News Release


Top Three

1.) Three Teams Clinch Playoff Spots- A total of three teams, all in the Berry Conference, have officially secured their spot in the Ray Miron Presidents' Cup Playoffs. The Wichita Thunder was the first to clinch their berth followed this past weekend by the Allen Americans and the Texas Brahmas. Next on the doorstep is a pair of Tuner Conference teams in the Evansville IceMen and Fort Wayne Komets who each could clinch a spot this week. The final three post-season spots may take a bit longer. The Missouri Mavericks, Rapid City Rush and Quad City Mallards are battling for two Turner Conference spots with the Mavs sitting in third place with 72 points and the Rush and Flock tied for fourth with 70 points (Rapid City has two games in hand on the Mallards). In the Berry, Rio Grande Valley has won four straight games and has stretch their lead over Tulsa to six points for the fourth and final spot in their conference.

2.) IceMen Back on Track- The Evansville IceMen (38-18-4) had an unreal weekend in Fort Wayne where they defeated the Komets (36-18-6) twice in shootouts to reclaim sole possession of first place in the Turner Conference. On Friday, the IceMen won a see-saw battle 5-4 in the shootout. Evansville jumped out to a 3-0 lead before watching the Komets come back with three second period goals to tie the game. Matt Gens and Colin Chaulk exchanged third period goals sending the game to extra time where Nicklas Lindberg scored the game winner in the SO. On Saturday, the IceMen trailed 3-1 with less than four minutes to play before Gens made it 3-2 and Philippe Plante tied the game with 21 seconds remaining. Former Komets forward Sean O'Connor scored the shootout game winner. Evansville now leads the Komets by two points for the conference lead. The IceMen travel to Rapid City (32-20-6) for a pair of g ames this weekend and Fort Wayne hosts the Laredo Bucks (24-33-3) on Friday and Saturday nights.

3.) Hot Heading to Showdown- Rivals Allen (33-16-9) and Texas (32-19-8) are set on a collision course for a three-game series this weekend (in Allen on Friday and Saturday and in Texas on Sunday) and it's looking more and more likely that the two arch-enemies will meet in an opening round best-of-7 playoff series. A key to that series could stem from this weekend's series as home-ice could be critical. The Brahmas are 21-5-4 on the season at the NYTEX Sports Centre and the Americans are 16-9-3 at home. The Americans are currently in second place with a three point lead over the Brahmas but with the three games this weekend, things could change in a hurry. Both teams come in on hot stretches with wins in three straight games but Allen has to get by Rapid City on Tuesday night to continue their streak (Texas is off until Friday).

Inside the Numbers

4 - The current win streak of the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees who have distanced themselves from the Tulsa Oilers in the chase for the final playoff spot in the Berry Conference. The Bees have outscored the opposition 18-5 during their four-game win streak and have pushed their offense to an average of three goals per game on the season. Aaron Lee has 10 goals and nine assists over the Bees last 10 games and has 31 goals on the season. RGV heads north this week to play Bloomington on Wednesday, in Dayton on Friday and in Quad City on Saturday.

On the Fly

-The race for the Joe Burton Scoring Championship looks like it will go down to the wire with Evansville's Todd Robinson (88 points) maintaining a four-point lead over Quad City's Brandon Marino (84 points). Marino is comfortably ahead in the goal scoring department with 33 scores. Both teams have six games remaining.

-The Bloomington Blaze are piecing together a nice finish to the season and could be real trouble for any playoff contender they meet in the last two weeks of the season. Bloomington has won four straight games and dating back to the beginning of February have earned points in 13 of 18 games (8-5-5). The Blaze are 22-19-5 since their 1-10-2 start to the season.

-Tulsa defenseman Tyler Fleck played in his 707th career CHL game on Sunday in the Oilers loss in Missouri. Fleck moved past Chris Richards for fourth on the league's all-time games played list and is now just one game behind Joe Burton for third place on the list. Jason Duda is second at 745 games and Travis Clayton is the all-time leader with 880 games.-Rapid City defenseman Andrew Smale had quite a week scoring both game winning goal for the Rush in their 2-1 week. Smale finished with three goals and two assists in three games earning the Oakley CHL Player of the Week award. His three goals matched the output from his first 42 games.

-The Dayton Gems have had their games decided in overtime or a shootout six times in their last 10 games and on the season have lost 13 times in extra time. The Gems are 0-6 in overtime games and 4-7 in shootout games with 13 OT/SO losses sitting one behind the all-time CHL record of 14 overtime/shootout losses in a single season (done twice previously).

-The Tulsa Oilers picked the worse time to fall into a slump as they are just 2-8-2 in their last 12 games and are now six points in back of the RGV Killer Bees for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Berry Conference. The Oilers have lost four straight and have scored just 19 goals over their 12 game slump. This week, the Oilers are back in action on Friday night when they host the Arizona Sundogs.

-The Laredo Bucks finished their home schedule on Sunday with a thrilling 4-3 win over the Arizona Sundogs. The Bucks finish the year with a 15-17-1 mark at the Laredo Energy Arena and now hit the road for their final six games of the season.

-The Arizona Sundogs enter play this week on a four-game losing streak getting outscored 20-9 over that stretch. The Sundogs are just 1-9-2 in their last 12 games and are sitting with the fewest points in the CHL (43). This week, the Sundogs play at Tulsa on Friday and then head to Wichita for a pair of games on Saturday and Sunday.

-The offense for the Quad City Mallards is clicking at the right time as they have scored 35 goals over their last nine games going 6-2-1 over that stretch. Picking up the pace is rookie Mickey Lang who has 15 points (6-9=15) and a +13 in his last 10 games. He had 17 points in his first 45 games as a pro this season.



Central Hockey League Stories from March 12, 2012


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