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Shots from the Point for March 19, 2012

March 19, 2012 - Central Hockey League (CHL) News Release


Top Three

1.) Wichita Closing In on Govs' Cup- The Wichita Thunder (43-16-3) are just one point away from clinching not only the Berry Conference but the Bud Poile Governors' Cup as well. Wichita has 89 points and should Allen win out they could possibly catch the Thunder and win the Berry Conference. As for the Govs' Cup, the Thunder could close out the chances for the Americans and the Fort Wayne Komets with just one more point as both Allen and Fort Wayne can earn no more than 89 points. The Thunder play in Texas against the Brahmas on Tuesday night and then host Allen on Friday night, Evansville on Saturday night and then finish the season in Allen on Sunday.

2.) Rapid City Flexes Their Muscle- The Rapid City Rush (36-20-6) are coming off an incredible week that saw them take on the top two teams in the Berry Conference and the then Turner Conference leading Evansville IceMen in a pair of games. All the Rush did is win all four games outscoring the opposition 17-9 in the process. Rapid City's four-game win streak has them just two points out of second place in the Turner and just three points out of first place with two games against Bloomington and two games against Arizona remaining, the two bottom teams in the CHL. Goalie Tim Boron won all four games for the Rush allowing nine goals in the process and on the season has improved his mark to 22-10-2 with a 2.45 GAA and a .924 save percentage (second in the CHL). The Rush have yet to clinch a playoff spot but are just points away from doing so and could finish anywhere from the top seed in the Turner to the fourth seed. The Rush are strong finishers with a 24-12-3 all-time record in the month of March.

3.) League Leaders Races Heating Up- The league's scoring championship (Joe Burton Scoring Championship) comes down to the final week looking like a two horse race. Evansville's Todd Robinson leads the way with 90 points (23-67=90) with Quad City's Brandon Marino (39-47=86) looking like the only player that has a chance of catching him. Each team has four games remaining in the regular season. Marino leads the goal scoring race with 39 goals, two better than Rapid City's Konrad Reeder and three better than Rio Grande Valley's Aaron Lee. In the goaltending arena, both Fort Wayne's Nick Boucher and Missouri's Charlie Effinger have 29 wins and Evansville's Matt Gens leads Fort Wayne's Frankie DeAngelis by four points in the scoring department among defensemen.

Inside the Numbers

19 - The number of goals the Dayton Gems have scored in their last three games (scored just 27 goals in their previous 12 games). The Gems blasted the Laredo Bucks on Sunday, 9-1, and preceded that with a 6-1 win over the Bloomington Blaze on Saturday night. Although Dayton is no longer in playoff contention, they could play a big role in the shape the post-season will take in the Turner Conference as they host Quad City on Tuesday night and then play three straight against the Fort Wayne Komets to finish out the season. The Mallards are fighting for the final playoff spot (trail by four points with four games to play) and the Komets are trying to win the Turner Conference (lead by one point) meaning the Gems could play the role of spoiler in the final week. Dayton goalie Larry Sterling is 2-0-2 in his last four decisions and leads the league with a .927 save percentage.

On the Fly

-The CHL's All-Rookie Team was announced on Monday with Quad City's Jared Brown, Missouri's Andrew Courtney and Tulsa's Mike Ullrich making up the forwards and Allen's Dylan King and Tulsa's Jeff Terminesi making up the defensemen. Texas goalie Mark Guggenberger wins the spot in net for the rookie team.

-The All-CHL Team was announced on Monday with Rapid City's Shawn Limpright, Quad City's Brandon Marino and Evansville's Todd Robinson earning the nods at forward and Fort Wayne's Frankie DeAngelis and Rapid City's Riley Weselowski making up the defense along with Texas' Mark Guggenberger in goal.

-The Tulsa Oilers are not done yet as they trail the RGV Killer Bees by six points for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Berry Conference but have two games this week before the Bees take the ice again. Should Tulsa win their two games in hand (Tuesday vs. Laredo and Friday vs. Texas), they would enter play on Saturday just two points behind the Bees with each team having two games remaining (at this point, Tulsa owns the tiebreaker against Rio Grande Valley).

-The Arizona Sundogs return home this week after finishing their road schedule on an 11-game road slide (seven straight losses overall). Arizona is out of playoff contention but with a game Wednesday versus Allen and a pair of games this weekend versus the Rapid City Rush, could play a big role in determining playoff positioning for those two clubs.

-Rio Grande Valley forward Aaron Lee has scored goals in six straight games tying the league's longest goal scoring streak of the season. With his goal in Saturday's loss at Quad City, Lee set the single-season record for the Killer Bees with 36 goals (broke Jesse Bennefield's mark). Lee is third in the league in goals with his 36 strikes. The Killer Bees host the Laredo Bucks on Saturday and Sunday this week in their final two regular season games.

-Wichita enters the final week of the regular season on a three-game win streak and on Saturday night showed their resiliency once again by winning for the eighth time in 17 games when trailing after two periods. The Thunder's are 8-9-0 record when trailing after 40 minutes which is followed by Allen who is 5-10-2.

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Central Hockey League Stories from March 19, 2012


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