CHL Central Hockey League

Shots from the Point

December 10, 2007 - Central Hockey League (CHL) News Release


DEFENDING CHAMPS ALIVE AND WELL

As difficult as it is to believe that a defending champion team can "fly under the radar", the Colorado Eagles have done just that. The Eagles enter the week with a 11-6-3 record and as winners of three straight games but with the stellar play by other Northern Conference teams like the Rocky Mountain Rage (15-2-2) and the Youngstown SteelHounds (15-5-1) the reigning President's Cup owners have not been talked about very much.

The Eagles started the season a little slow going 3-4-2 in their first nine game but since have played steady hockey going 8-2-1 in their last 11 games. Home ice has always been an advantage for Colorado and this season has been no different with the Eagles boasting a 9-2-0 record in the Budweiser Events Center. A big part of the Eagles early season struggles was injuries. Ryan Tobler and Chris Hartsburg are each still on the injured reserve and others such as Fraser Filipic, Marco Emond, Les Borsheim and Paul Esdale have each spent some time on the I.R. with various injuries.

The recent hot stretch has been fueled by the strong play of annual scoring leaders Riley Nelson and Greg Pankewicz and the play in net of Emond. Nelson has points in each of his last seven games scoring three goals with 10 assists over that stretch. Pankewicz has points in 11 straight games scoring five goals and 16 assists. Emond is the reigning Oakley CHL Goaltender of the Week after his 2-0 week and 48 save performance against Bossier-Shreveport on Saturday night.

The Eagles hit the road for two straight games versus teams from the Northeast Division as they face Bossier-Shreveport on Friday and Mississippi on Saturday.

HOUNDS HOME STAND STARTS, KIND OF!

The SteelHounds don't play all of their remaining games at home, but pretty close. Youngstown currently sits in first place in the Northeast Division with 31 points and a 15-5-1 record. The eye-opening number is that they are 14-4-1 on the road. Of the Hounds remaining 43 games, 30 will be played at the Chevrolet Centre leaving just 13 road games on the schedule. The SteelHounds host the Texas Brahmas this week in games on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Youngstown is 10-1 all-time versus the Brahmas including 3-0 lifetime in the Chevy Centre.

CORPUS CHRISTI STARTING TO MAKE THEIR MOVE

The Corpus Christi Rayz have started playing much steadier hockey as of late and of note have found a way to beat the seemingly unbeatable Laredo Bucks. In each of the last two match-ups between the Bucks and the Rayz, Corpus Christi has come out on top including Saturday's 4-2 victory. The Rayz are 4-1-1 in their last six games and have crept back into the playoff picture sitting five points out of a playoff spot. Justin Quenneville has a goal and seven assists in his last five games and Jason Tapp has played well in net with a .923 save percentage and a 3-1-1 record in his last five decisions. Corpus Christi hosts Arizona and Laredo this week before traveling to Austin for a game on Saturday

THUNDER CHANGES COACHES; NAMES ROB WEINGARTNER HEAD COACH

Off to their slowest start in franchise history, the Wichita Thunder dismissed third-year head coach Mark French and named former Thunder star Rob Weingartner interim head coach. French compiled a record of 70-59-16 as the Thunder's head coach and had the team at 4-13-0 this season. Weingartner becomes the ninth head coach in franchise history and as a player was a key component to Wichita's back-to-back championships (1994 & 1995). He had 36 goals, 30 assists and 424 penalty minutes in his time with the Thunder. Wichita is at Mississippi on Tuesday in Weingartner's coaching debut.

IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING:

Laredo has dropped three straight games for the first time this season and has just eight goals over their last five games...The Bucks Jeff Bes is without a point in his last five games but still remains in the CHL's top five with 35 points (14-21=35)...Odessa's Dominic Leveille leads the league with 17 goals, five in his last four games...Arizona's Tyler Redenbach owns the CHL's longest point streak this season at 18 games, he has nine goals and 28 assists over that stretch ranking second in the CHL's point race...After dropping their first home game of the season to Youngstown, the OKC Blazers have earned a point in each of their next eight home games (7-0-1)...Blazer's goaltender Sean Connors tied a team record with two assists in one game on Dec. 7 versus Amarillo...The Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees collected over 1500 stuffed toys in their Teddy Bear Toss to benefit Toys for Tots game on Friday...The Bee's Rob Voltera needs eight PIM's for 1500 in his career...Wichita's Travis Clayton is one goal shy of second place on the league's all-time goal scoring list with 312 goals (tied with Paul Jackson), the all-time leader is Joe Burton with 565 goals...Clayton is third on the league's point list with 793 points...With his 27 points this season, Youngstown's Chris Richards has moved into the CHL's top 10 in points with 584 points, he is third on the active list to Travis Clayton and Jason Duda of Wichita...For the first time this season for the Amarillo Gorillas, a goaltender has won back-to-back starts (Dan Bauer on Dec. 1 & 8)...Nate Fornatero has six assists for the Gorillas in his last two games...After winning seven straight games, Bossier-Shreveport goaltender John DeCaro lost in a shootout to Rocky Mountain on Friday night and in regulation to Colorado on Saturday night...Even with the loss, the Mudbugs are the only team with a winning record in Colorado, 5-4-0...Both the Wichita Thunder and the Tulsa Oilers will play in their 1000th CHL regular season game on Saturday night, Wichita versus Rocky Mountain and Tulsa versus Bossier-Shreveport.



Central Hockey League Stories from December 10, 2007


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