CHL Central Hockey League

Shots from the Point for November 21, 2011

Published on November 21, 2011 under Central Hockey League (CHL) News Release


Top Three

1.) Oilers on Fire- The Tulsa Oilers (8-4-1) are the hottest team in the CHL winning four straight games, three of those against rival Wichita. Tulsa sits in second place in the Berry Conference just two points behind Allen for the top spot in the conference. The Oilers are at home (4-1-1 on home ice this season) for the next three games facing Arizona (3-7-3), Laredo (3-8-0) and Wichita (8-4-0) before traveling to Wichita for a tilt on Saturday night. Boating the league's top three scoring rookies in Dylan Clarke (15 points), Mike Ullrich (13 points) and Jeff Terminesi (13 points), the Oilers are fourth in the league averaging 3.62 goals per game. On Thursday, Tulsa will host Laredo in one of two CHL games on Thanksgiving (Bloomington at Fort Wayne is the other).

2.) Back in the Driver's Seat- The Allen Americans (8-2-3) are coming off an impressive two-game home weekend series against the Rapid City Rush (6-5-1) where they defeated the Rush 5-4 on Friday night and 6-1 on Saturday night taking control of first place in the Berry Conference. Allen started the season dropping four of their first five games (1-2-2) but have rebounded putting up an eight-game point streak posting a 7-0-1 mark over that stretch. Forward Bruce Graham has five goals and nine points in his last five games and is second in the league with 19 points (9-10=19). Goaltender Marco Cousineau has been near unbeatable since being assigned by Anaheim (NHL) posting a 4-0-1 record with a 2.38 goals against average (second in the CHL) and a .931 save percentage (third in the CHL). Allen travels north to play at Missouri (7-3-2) on Friday night and at Bloomington (1-8-2) on Saturday and are 5-0-3 on t he road this season.

3.) Turner Conference Battle in South Dakota- The Turner Conference's top team, the Evansville IceMen (8-1-1) travel west to play three games against the Rapid City Rush (6-5-1) over the Thanksgiving holiday. The IceMen are 5-0-1 on the road this season and dating back to the end of last season is 13-2-4 away from home in their last 19 contests. Last year, the Rush won three of the four meetings against the IceMen and in three home games this season are 3-1-0. Rapid City begins a five-game home stand on Wednesday and will play seven of their next eight games at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center.

Inside the Numbers

.673: The win percentage on home ice for the Fort Wayne Komets (6-5-0) on Thanksgiving Day. The Komets will host their 50th consecutive Turkey Day game on Thursday when they host the Bloomington Blaze (1-8-2). The Komets are 31-14-4 at home on Thanksgiving and are riding a three-game win streak on Thanksgiving Thursday. The Komets and Blaze will meet 11 times this season, six of those in Fort Wayne.

On the Fly

-Fort Wayne's Brett Smith is currently riddling the league's longest active point streak, 10 games. The veteran forward has scored six goals with 11 assists over his 10-game streak.

-Dayton (5-4-3) has erased the effects of a four-game losing streak by earning victories in each of their last three games. Dayton's goaltending duo of Bryan Hogan and Larry Sterling have combined to allow just five goals in those three victories. Dayton will look to extend their winning way on Wednesday when they host Quad City (5-6-0).

-Arizona leads the league with nine one-goal games and are 3-3-3 in those contests. Each of their last three games were decided by one goal.

-A pair of Allen forwards enjoyed hat tricks over the weekend with Jarret Lukin netting his first pro three-goal game in Friday's win over Rapid City and his teammate Bruce Graham followed that up with a hat trick in Saturday's win over the Rush marking the first time in Americans' history that they had players record hat tricks in consecutive games.

-Quad City forward Justin Chwedoruk has been red-hot after returning to the line-up after an injury scoring two goals with four assists in his three games since his return (+3) over that stretch.

-Despite taking the loss on Friday night in Allen, the Rapid City Rush joined a collection of teams in the CHL record book by scoring three shorthanded goals in one game. Les Reaney and Shawn Limpright scored back-to-back SHG's just 22 seconds apart and Jesse Schultz was awarded a penalty shot while his team was a man down and he was successful.

-Tulsa goalie Ian Keserich has won three straight games over his former team, the Wichita Thunder, and is 9-2-0 all-time versus the Thunder. During the 2009-10 season, Keserich was 1-19-1 while playing with the Thunder. Keserich is 8-3-1 this season leading the league in wins (8), minutes played (759:32) and saves (373).

-After 10 regular season games and two pre-season games, the Evansville IceMen (8-1-1) have yet to trail after 20 minutes of play. They are the lone CHL team with that distinction and through two periods have trailed just twice (0-1-1 in those games).

-The Brahmas took two of three games in Arizona from the Sundogs last week with all three games decided by one goal. Six of Texas' last eight games have been decided by one score with the Brahmas posting a 4-2-0 mark in those games.

-Missouri's Sebastien Thinel continues to lead the league with 23 points (6-17=23) and last week passed Hardy Sauter into seventh on the league's all-time points list with 670 CHL points.

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Central Hockey League Stories from November 21, 2011


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