CHL Central Hockey League

Shots From The Point

Published on February 26, 2010 under Central Hockey League (CHL) News Release


Rush and Eagles Go Head-to-Head This Weekend

The Northern Conference standings could be greatly affected by weekend's end as the conference-leading Rapid City Rush (35-11-5, 75 points) battle the second place Colorado Eagles (33-12-6, 72 points) in a home-and-home series on Saturday and Sunday. It will mark the final two regular season meetings between the two teams that could be on a collision course for a post-season battle. Each team has won four of the eight games in the season series with the teams alternating victories all the way through. The last meeting was a 1-0 overtime win by the Rush on Feb. 16. Looking past this weekend, the Eagles have a bit of an easier route the rest of the way with their opponents carrying a combined.419 winning percentage, while the Rush's opponents for the remainder of the season have a.554 winning percentage. Following this weekend's games, Rapid City still has three games with Texas, two games with Allen and two games with Odessa remaining on the schedule, while the Eagles have three games with Wichita (8-39-4) and three games with Arizona (19-28-6) remaining in the regular season.

Jacks Welcome Back Legends

The Odessa Jackalopes will welcome back six legends this weekend when they host the Amarillo Gorillas on both Friday and Saturday nights. 'Legends Weekend' will see John Bossio, Don Margettie, Mike Rutter, Michael Tornquist, Joe Harris and Rob Lukacs on hand. The Jacks will wear special throwback uniforms that will be auctioned off and they will be partnering with the American Cancer Society to help raise money with many events throughout the weekend. Odessa (80 points) is in the driver's seat for the Governors' Cup (regular season champs) with a four point lead over the second highest point total, the Allen Americans (76 points).

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BY THE NUMBERS

32- The number of seconds between power play goals for the Tulsa Oilers in Wednesday's 5-1 win at Wichita in front of a weekday crowd of 9,357 fans at the INTRUST Bank Arena. Dan Riedel and Tyler Butler scored the PP goals for the visiting Oilers who finfish 7-3-0 on the season versus their rivals.

12- The number of skaters the Colorado Eagles played with in Wednesday's 3-0 win over Amarillo. The shutout was the first of the season for the Eagles and goaltender Andrew Penner who made 23 saves improving to 16-7-3 on the season. The Eagles were short four players for various reasons including both Fraser Filipic and Alex Penner being suspended.

28%- The league leading power play percentage of the Odessa Jackalopes who have scored 90 power play goals this season. The league record for best percentage in a single season is 27.5%, set in 1996-97 season by Columbus. Odessa has scored a PP goal in 13 straight games and are an amazing 32 for 82 (39%) over that stretch. The Jacks have scored three or more power play goals in six of those 13 contests.

6- The current home win streak of the Texas Brahmas who host the Corpus Christi IceRays Friday at the NYTEX Sports Centre, the last team to beat the Brahmas in North Richland Hills (Jan. 22). The busy weekend for the defending champs also includes a trip to Laredo on Saturday and then back home for a tilt with Missouri on Sunday.

49- The combined average penalty minutes of the Missouri Mavericks and the Tulsa Oilers, the two most penalized teams in the CHL, who play on Friday night in Missouri. The teams are fighting it out for a playoff spot as Tulsa sits one point ahead of the expansion Mavericks with 12 games remaining for each club.

1-2-1- The home record of the Mississippi RiverKings over their last four at the DeSoto Civic Center. The 'Kings host the Wichita Thunder and the Allen Americans this weekend in two huge games as Mississippi is in the fourth spot in the North with a two point lead over Tulsa and a three point advantage over Missouri. Mississippi returns home after a successful 2-1-1 four-game road trip.

SLAP SHOTS

-Colorado Eagles defenseman Aaron Schneekloth scored his 22nd goal of the season, most among all d-men and a new career-high, in Colorado's win over Amarillo on Wednesday. Schneekloth scored 18 goals last season when he was named the CHL's Most Outstanding Defenseman and 21 two seasons ago when he finished runner-up for the award to New Mexico's Vladimir Hartinger.

-The Arizona Sundogs had their string of 13 straight one-goal contests and their five-game road winning streak snapped on Wednesday in Rapid City, a 4-1 loss. Arizona still is one of just eight clubs with a better than.500 record on the road at 13-11-3 and they will put that record to the test on Friday night in Colorado and Sunday afternoon in Wichita.

-RGV's Aaron Lee had his four-game goal scoring streak end last night in the Bees 6-1 loss at Corpus Christi. Lee is fourth on the team with 19 on the season, already besting last year's total of 14, his rookie season. The Bees are at Laredo on Friday and home to Corpus Christi on Saturday.

-Missouri goaltender Charlie Effinger is 4-1 with the Mavs allowing 13 goals over those five games (2.52 GAA) and boasting a.916 save percentage. The rookie leads the CHL with a 2.39 GAA overall (combined with his time in Allen) and is tied for fourth with an overall.919 save percentage. The Mavs host Tulsa on Friday and Wichita on Saturday before finishing the weekend in Texas versus the Brahmas on Sunday.

-The Mudbugs put their five-game win streak on the line at Allen on Friday night and then head to Tulsa for back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday. The Americans have won all three meetings with the 'Bugs so far and have the best home record in the CHL at 20-3-3. Allen is coming off a 6-4 win at home last night versus Laredo.

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Central Hockey League Stories from February 26, 2010


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