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Shots from the Point

December 20, 2010 - Central Hockey League (CHL) News Release


CHL Headlines for Monday, December 20

Busy Week

The days leading up to Christmas Day are full of action as there are six games on Tuesday night in the CHL, five on Wednesday and a lone game on Thursday. Rapid City, Rio Grande Valley, Tulsa, Allen, Mississippi and Missouri all host games on Tuesday night and Colorado, Fort Wayne, Laredo, Quad City and Dayton all playing in front of the home fans on Wednesday and Quad City at Missouri serving as the lone match-up on Thursday.

Rio Grande Valley's Traveling Road Show

What a week the RGV Killer Bees (12-12-3) had going a perfect 4-0 on their four-game road trip vaulting them all the way up into a tie for third place in the Berry Conference. The Bees had reason to be down heading into the journey as they had dropped four straight games and won just twice in their previous 12 outings. Tomas Klempa (4-5=9 on trip) and Sean Muncy (5-3=8 on trip) were big reasons for the offensive success the Bees had, while goaltender Juliano Pagliero won all four games improving his season record to 12-9-2. The Killer Bees have a home-and-home with the Laredo Bucks (9-12-4) on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Bucks have lost four straight games (0-3-1). The Bees scored four goals in three of their four wins and are 11-1-0 when scoring four or more times.

One Coach Down, One to Go

The co-coaches for the 2011 CHL All-Star Game in Rapid City will be known this week, actually one-half has already been determined as Allen's Dwight Mullins has earned the berth from the Berry Conference by clinching the conference's highest winning percentage (.771) before Dec.24. His partner could be one of five coaches who all still have a chance. The front runner right now is Bloomington's Jason Christi (.643) followed by Missouri's Scott Hillman (.630), Colorado's Chris Stewart (.609) and Dayton's Brian Gratz (.587). Having an outside chance is Bossier-Shreveport's Scott Muscutt who although he is in the Berry Conference with Mullins could be awarded the spot if Rapid City's Joe Ferras finishes with the highest win percentage in the Turner Conference, currently sits .593. Ferras is already coaching in the game leading the host Rapid City Rush versus a team of CHL All-Stars meaning the pr ocess should he finish on top would be to find the remaining coach in the entire league with the highest win percentage.

Numbers Game

3- The current winless streak for the Colorado Eagles (13-8-2) at the Budweiser Events Center after dropping a pair of games to the Missouri Mavericks (13-7-3) over the weekend. The Eagles streak ties the longest home losing slide in team history with their longest overall losing streak just four games. Colorado hosts the Arizona Sundogs (11-12-3) on Wednesday night.

6- The number of power play goals that the Fort Wayne Komets have allowed in their last two games covering 17 opponent chances. The Komets are stuck in a seven-game losing streak getting outscored 31-13 over that span. On the season, the Komets are tied for 14th in the CHL with a penalty kill percentage of 79.3%.

8- The number of goals that Tulsa defenseman Derek Eastman has scored this season tying him for second among all defensemen trailing just RGV's Darcy Campbell who has nine goals. Eastman's goal have all come via special teams as he leads the entire league with seven power play goals and on Sunday scored a shorthanded goal in overtime helping his team to their 11th win in their last 13 games (a 3-2 OT win over Odessa).

3- The number of penalty shots that Bloomington goaltender Marco Emond has faced this season with Saturday's stop of Wichita's Matt Robinson serving as the lone successful effort for Emond. Previously, Dayton's Brett Lutes and Kyle Bochek have converted versus Emond who is 11-5-0 on the season with a 2.68 goals against average.

400- The number of CHL games that Fort Wayne forward Tab Lardner has skated in reaching that plateau on Saturday night versus Dayton. Lardner has played seven games with the Komets scoring one goal. His best CHL season came with Wichita during the 2005-06 campaign where he scored 25 goals with 55 points and 128 PIM's.

4- The number of goals away from 300 professional scores that Odessa forward Todd Robinson finds himself after scoring twice in Tulsa on Sunday. The first-year Jackalope is second in the CHL with 43 points (14-29=43) trailing only teammate Sebastien Thinel who has 44 points (16-28=44). Robinson has four goals and five assists in his last five games and the Jacks are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games.

Slap Shots

-The two top teams in the CHL meet for the sixth time this season on Tuesday night when the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs (19-9-0) visit the Allen Americans (18-5-1). It will be the third trip for the ‘Bugs to the Allen Event Center. Allen has the Mudbugs number this season winning four of the five games thus far with the lone Bossier-Shreveport win coming in Allen on Oct. 26.

-The Fort Wayne Komets (5-15-1) have lost seven straight games and a big reason for their struggles is the league's worst offense. Fort Wayne is averaging just 2.05 points per game which is on pace to set the team's all-time record for lowest scoring team in the 59-year history of the Komets (2.72 in 1996-97). Fort Wayne will look to end their losing slide on Wednesday when they host the Dayton Gems (13-9-1) who are 4-0-0 versus the Komets this season.

-Wichita's Matt Robinson has been a huge addition for the Thunder scoring 13 goals in just 15 games played after being dealt from the Laredo Bucks. On Dec. 14, Robinson scored a league-high four times in his team's 7-6 win at Tulsa. He has 14 goals and 13 assists on the season combining his time with Laredo and Wichita.

-Evansville is stuck in their largest slump of the season dropping five straight games (0-4-1) and going just 1-7-2 in their last 10 games. The IceMen's offense has cooled scoring one goal eight times this season and scoring only three goals or fewer in each of their last 12 games. Evansville travels to Missouri for a showdown on Tuesday night.

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Central Hockey League Stories from December 20, 2010


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