CHL Central Hockey League

Shots from the Point for Monday, February 2nd

February 2, 2009 - Central Hockey League (CHL) News Release


1- The Oklahoma City Blazers (26-11-5, 57 points) travel to Bossier-Shreveport this week for a pair of games versus the Mudbugs (27-13-3, 57 points). The first showdown between the two teams tied atop the Northeast Division is on Tuesday night and the rematch is scheduled for Friday, both games will be played at the CenturyTel Center. The ‘Bugs are 17-8-1 since December 1st making their way to the top of the division. The Blazers have won six of their last seven games.

On a side note: OKC's Simon Lambert scored a pair of goals for the Blazers in the only meeting thus far between the two teams (Jan. 17)...The Blazers won the game 4-3 in a shootout despite trailing on three separate occasions. 2- January was a month that saw several teams make their move and several others start to slide. The Texas Brahmas led the way in January with a 12-1-1 record posting 25 points. Rounding out the top three in January are Colorado (11-1-1, 23 points) and Rocky Mountain (10-5-2, 22 points). The Mudbugs' win percentage was near the top posting a 10-3-1 record. Teams struggling through the month were Amarillo (3-8-1, seven points), Tulsa (3-9-2, eight points) and New Mexico (4-9-0, eight points). The top point producing players in January were Texas' Scott Sheppard (13-12=25) and Rocky Mountain's Brent Cullaton (7-18=25) and the top netminder, both earning 19 points, are Texas' Brett Jaeger (9-1-1) and Bossier-Shreveport's Ken Carroll (9-2-1).

3- The CHL's trade deadline is less than a week away (Monday, February 9th at 3:00 PM Central Standard Time). So far, the Arizona Sundogs are the lone team to make multiple moves acquiring a pair of defensemen in Matt Hanson from Texas and Jason Lawmaster from Tulsa. Last week, Laredo and New Mexico pulled off a big deal with the Bucks acquiring Mitch Stephens (13-34=47) in exchange for goaltender Ryan Gibb (9-5-2). As a result of the deal, New Mexico released former All-Star goaltender Andrew Martin (9-14-0) who consequently was picked up by the Bucks.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

19-0-2 Colorado's Andrew Penner's record since November 1st, the date of his only regulation loss....Penner leads the league with 23 wins on the season and is fifth with a 2.47 goals against average

8 The number of points the Corpus Christi IceRays have this season in 16 games versus team from their own division, the Southeast...This week, the Rays play Laredo twice and Rio Grande Valley twice

36 The number of times in 44 games that the Odessa Jackalopes have outshot their opponents (82%)...Odessa is second in the CHL averaging close to 37 shots on goal per game...Tulsa is at the other end of the spectrum leading on the shot board just seven times in 42 games (17%)

25 The number of points that Rocky Mountain's Brent Cullaton had during the month of January (seven goals, eight assists)...In all of October, November and December combined, Cullaton had eight goals and 23 assists

8 The number of consecutive victories the Texas Brahmas have earned on home ice...Texas is 17-3-1 at the NYTEX Sports Center this season...Texas is off until Friday night when they host the Colorado

TIDBITS

-Odessa's Dominic Leveille had four goals and four assists in his last four games and has taken over the league lead in points with 66 (20-46=66)

-Arizona's rookie forward Adam Perry is coming off an eight-point week (5-3=8) that saw him earn Oakley CHL Player of the Week honors...His recent hot play has narrowed the gap on Laredo's Darryl Smith, the league's top scoring rookie...Smith has 48 points and Perry has 45 points...Odessa's Jeff Pierce is third among first-year players with 42 points

-Tulsa's Bobby Reed scored a shorthanded goal on Saturday at Texas marking the first time this season that the Brahmas have given up a shorthanded goal...Texas was the last CHL team to give up a SHG

-Corpus Christi's Chris Richards is currently on a nine-game point streak scoring 14 points over that stretch

-With Amarillo's shootout victory on Wednesday at Colorado, the Gorillas became the second to last CHL team to play in a shootout...The lone team now to have not had a game decided in a shootout is New Mexico

-Be sure to check out the new www.centralhockeyleague.com ...the new-look site is full of new features and ways to keep the fans in tune with their favorite CHL teams and players



Central Hockey League Stories from February 2, 2009


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