CHL Central Hockey League

Shots From The Point

Published on December 14, 2009 under Central Hockey League (CHL) News Release


Rush and Brahmas Streaking

The Rapid City Rush (15-6-1) and the Texas Brahmas (13-9-3) have both caught fire and are steadily climbing the standings with the Rush sitting in second place in the North just two points behind Colorado and the Brahmas sitting in third place in the South still within reach of both Odessa and Allen ahead of them. Rapid City has won nine straight games, the longest win streak in the CHL this season, and Texas has won six straight games. Rapid City will look for double-digits on Tuesday in Missouri (they won 9-2 versus the Mavericks on Dec. 8) and Texas next plays on Friday in Arizona.

Classic in Colorado

The CHL was treated to a instant classic on Saturday night with the two conference leaders meeting in Colorado. In the end, the Eagles (16-4-1) topped the Odessa Jackalopes (17-4-3) 2-1 in a shootout. The teams exchanged power play goals with Mike Ramsay scoring for the Jacks in the first period and Jim Jackson scoring for the Eagles in the second period. Ed McGrane scored the eventual game winner in the third round of the shootout giving the Eagles the win. The teams will meet again on February 5th and 6th in Odessa.

Sundogs Find New Life

After starting a season-long six-game road trip with back-to-back losses getting outscored 12-1, the Arizona Sundogs rebounded nicely going 3-0-1 over the remained of their trip winning in Rio Grande Valley, Amarillo and Tulsa and falling 2-1 in overtime in Texas. The 3-2-1 road trip gives the 'Dogs a 6-5-2 road record. The team returns home for three straight games (vs. Odessa and two vs. Texas) and will play seven of their next nine games at Tim's Toyota Center. Arizona goaltender J.F. Perras left played just over 11 minutes on Sunday stopping all three shots he faced before leaving the game with an undisclosed ailment.

Looking for a Little Luck

Several CHL teams are struggling through December looking to turn things around in the midst of long losing streaks. The Wichita Thunder have dropped 10 in a row (0-8-2), the Tulsa Oilers have lost seven straight and both Corpus Christi (0-3-2) and Amarillo (0-4-1) are in the jaws of five-game slides. The Thunder will play next on Wednesday in Colorado while the Oilers are at it again on Friday versus Amarillo and Corpus Christi hosts Laredo on Thursday night.

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BY THE NUMBERS

3- The number of games that featured Teddy Bear Tosses that also included the Arizona Sundogs this past week. Arizona watched as the visitors as fans rained stuffed animals on the ice on Friday in Texas, Saturday in Amarillo and Sunday in Tulsa. The good news for the 'Dogs is that they earned a point in all three games going 2-0-1 and will have their own Teddy Bear Toss on Saturday night at Tim's Toyota Center when they host Texas.

2.31- The league-leading goals against average for Laredo goaltender Jean-Philippe Levasseur who was called-up to the Springfield Falcons of the AHL on Monday. Levasseur is 10-3-3 on the season with a.919 save percentage (tied for third in the league).

21- The number of points that Justin Bowers has totaled in his last 10 games scoring eight goals with 13 assists. His strong recent play has him tied for second in the CHL in scoring with 36 points (11-25=36). Over his last 10 games, Bowers is a +10 with four PP goals, two SH goal and two game winning goals.

87- The number of points that the Rapid City trio of Les Reaney (12-20=32), Scott Wray (10-19=29) and Brendan Cook (12-14=26) have combined to score this season. Colorado's trio of Riley Nelson (14-23=37), Kevin Ulanski (13-23=36) and Ed McGrane (8-19=27) are the top scoring threesome with 100 combined points.

SLAP SHOTS

-The Oilers are 10-5-1 versus teams of the Northern Conference this season and just 2-5-0 versus the Southern Conference. On Saturday, Tulsa will face-off versus Rapid City marking the first game versus a team from the North since December 5.

-Arizona will recognize defenseman Chris Bartolone on Wednesday night versus Odessa for reaching his 1,000th professional game on Sunday in Tulsa.

-The Odessa Jackalopes have been special team stars this season leading the league with a 29.8% power play and sitting second on the penalty kill at 87.6%. The Jacks lead the league with 45 power play goals scored and have allowed just 17 power play goals. Alex Dunn and Kenny Bernard are tied for second in the CHL with seven power play goals on the season.

-Although stuck in a drought, the Wichita Thunder has played well recently dropping their last four games to the two top teams in the Northern Conference (Colorado and Rapid City) by just a combined six goals. Even strength, the Thunder have outscored their opponents 8-3 in their last three games. In the two games at Rapid City, Wichita was a +19.

-Texas defenseman Kevin McLeod leads all defensemen with 10 goals on the season. On Friday, he reached a personal milestone by notching his 100th point with an assist and then hitting 101 points with the game winner in overtime of the Brahmas 2-1 decision versus Arizona.

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Central Hockey League Stories from December 14, 2009


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