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Shots From The Point

March 15, 2010 - Central Hockey League (CHL) News Release


Odessa Closes in on Governors' Cup

The Odessa Jackalopes are just one win away from clinching the Governors' Cup for the second time in team history (2002). It would also mark the first time a Southern Conference team won the Govs' Cup since the Laredo Bucks did so in 2004. The Colorado Eagles have won the award three times in the last five years and the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs earned the recognition in the other two seasons. Odessa plays at Laredo on Wednesday night but could have the crown prior to that as Rapid City hosts Texas on Tuesday night and the Rush must win out and get some help in order to pass the Jacks. A loss tomorrow night by Rapid City would clinch the regular season championship and home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs for Odessa.

Nine Down, One to Go

This past weekend saw the Laredo Bucks, Texas Brahmas, Mississippi RiverKings and Missouri Mavericks punch their tickets to the Ray Miron President's Cup Playoffs and now nine of the 10 teams are set. The lone remaining spot is in the Southern Conference and it is between the Corpus Christi IceRays and the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees. The Rays lead the Bees by four points with three games remaining for each team. RGV still has some hope as they go head-to-head with the IceRays on both Tuesday and Saturday nights. Should RGV win both head-to-head meetings with Corpus Christi then all they would need is a win over Wichita on Friday night and an IceRays loss at Allen on the same night. Conversely, the Rays just need to win one of their final three games to clinch the berth.

Eagles Offense Making North Race Interesting

The Colorado Eagles have turned the offense up a notch heading down the stretch drive and now find themselves just one point behind the Rapid City Rush for the lead in the Northern Conference. Colorado heads South to Arizona for three straight games to finish the season and the Rush host Texas on Tuesday and Wednesday and then head out to Amarillo on Friday and finish the regular season in Odessa on Saturday. Should Colorado, currently on a five-game win streak, win out then Rapid City would be forced to earn six points in their final four games to win the conference crown. Colorado's offense has been nothing short of amazing over their win streak scoring 33 goals in those five games. The Eagles have passed Odessa as the highest scoring team in the CHL averaging 4.33 goals/game. The highlight of the red-lights came on Friday night when the Eagles beat Tulsa 11-6. The Eagles scored five times in the first period and went 4 for 5 on the power play. Aaron Schneekloth had a goal and five assists matching a franchise record with six points in a game. Eight skaters had multiple point efforts and Kevin Ulanski (2-3=5) became the first CHL player to eclipse the 100-point mark since the 2007-08 season. He now has 105 points (33-72=105) on the season which is 12 more than any other player on the quest to win the Joe Burton Scoring Championship.

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BY THE NUMBERS

41- The league-leading goal total of Colorado forward Ed McGrane who took over the CHL lead on Saturday night with two goals in the Eagles 5-1 win over the Tulsa Oilers. McGrane has scored nine goals in his last five games and 12 goals in his last eight. He has scored in five straight contests and 12 of 15. Corpus Christi's Chad Woollard is in second place with 39 goals but he has scored just three goals in his last eight games.

16- The number of sellouts the expansion Missouri Mavericks have had this season after selling out their home finale versus Odessa on Saturday, a 4-3 shootout win. The Mavs finished third in the CHL in average attendance with just under 5,000 fans per game and went 18-11-3 at the Independence Events Center this season.

11- The number of power play goals the Mississippi RiverKings have scored in their last three games, all wins. The 'Kings are 11 for 26 (42.3%) over that stretch while allowing just 2 PPG's in 16 chances for their opponents. Mississippi is sixth in the CHL overall at 16.9%.

9-0-1- Laredo goaltender Pier-Olivier Pelletier's record in his last 10 decisions after starting the season 0-4-1 in his first five decisions. Pelletier stopped 97 of 104 shots last week winning three times, twice in shootouts, and has been named the Oakley CHL Goaltender of the Week. The rookie is 9-4-2 on the season and has the Bucks on the verge of clinching the number three spot in the Southern Conference.

87- The number of points the Allen Americans have this season sitting just four points behind the CHL's all-time record for points by an expansion team, Colorado had 91 points in the 2003-04 season. Allen has three games remaining and need four points to tie the mark and five points to set a new record. Allen is home for all three of their remaining games playing Missouri on Wednesday, Corpus Christi on Friday and Amarillo on Saturday.

SLAP SHOTS

-The Colorado Eagles scored eight goals in the combined second periods of their two games versus Tulsa this past weekend. The Eagles scored a total of 16 goals in the two games winning Friday night 11-6. Aaron Schneekloth tied a franchise record with his six points (1-5=6).

-Missouri finished the season 10-0 versus the Wichita Thunder outscoring them 42-14. Jeff Christian finished the season series with six goals and nine assists in the 10 games.

-Odessa failed to score a power play goal on March 12 in Missouri, going 0 for 4, seeing their 19-game streak of games with a PP goal come to an end. The Jacks lead the league with a 27.4% success rate and are just behind the all-time record for power play percentage in a single season (27.5% by Columbus in 1996-97). Odessa has 104 PP goals this season which is 33 more than any other CHL team (Laredo, 71).

-Mississippi's goaltender Kyle McNulty had won three straight starts since being signed by the RiverKings but was forced to leave Saturday's game versus Bossier-Shreveport after the first period. He was replaced by Tim Boron who made 24 saves earning his first win since February 27. The RiverKings have won four straight games and clinched a playoff berth this past weekend.

-The CHL All Rookie Team will be announced on March 16 and the All-CHL Team will be announced on March 17. The remainder of the CHL Awards will be announced throughout the week with the CHL Most Valuable Player being announced on Monday, March 22.

-Both Sebastien Thinel (ODE) and Joe Blaznek (BOS) reached 200 CHL goals this past weekend. Blaznek has 22 goals on the season and 201 in his CHL career and Thinel has 22 on the season and 200 in his CHL career. Laredo's Jeff Bes is sitting with 199 career CHL goals.

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Central Hockey League Stories from March 15, 2010


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