CHL Central Hockey League

Sundogs Capture Ray Miron President's Cup

Published on May 12, 2008 under Central Hockey League (CHL) News Release


The Arizona Sundogs finished off their sweep of the Colorado Eagles on Friday night with a 6-3 victory winning their best-of-seven series four games to none. The win for Arizona caps off a tremendous run to the cup that saw them win their final nine games of the regular season and then go 12-5 in the post-season winning seven of their last eight games. In the series versus Colorado, the Sundogs outscored the defending champs 22-10.

Arizona goaltender Rob McVicar won the 2008 CHL Playoff Most Valuable Player posting an 11-1 record with a 3.26 goals against average and a .913 save percentage. His only loss came in game 6 versus Laredo in the Southern Conference Finals where he allowed seven goals in 40 minutes of their 9-2 loss. In his 11 wins, he posted a 2.91 goals against average and a .922 save percentage. McVicar made 146 saves on 156 shots in the finals (.936).

Colorado vs. Arizona (best of seven)

Game 1 - Thursday, May 1 - Colorado 4 @ Arizona 6

Game 2 - Saturday, May 3 - Colorado 1 @ Arizona 5

Game 3 - Wednesday, May 7 - Arizona 5 @ Colorado 2

Game 4 - Friday, May 9 - Arizona 6 @ Colorado 3

(Sundogs win series 4-0)

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URQUHART SHOOTS WAY INTO RECORD BOOK

In any other playoff season, Arizona's Cory Urquhart would have easily earned the Playoff MVP honors but with Rob McVicar's heroics, the Halifax, Nova Scotia native will have to settle for just breaking a couple goal-scoring records in anonymity. The forward finished the post-season with 17 goals tying the CHL single playoff season record (Colorado's Greg Pankewicz and Columbus' Mike Martens). Martens scored his 17 goals in 13 games in 1998, while Pankewicz scored his in 25 games during the 2007 post-season (Urquhart did it in 17 games). Urquhart also set the CHL playoff record with nine power play goals. Urquhart scored goals in 12 of the Sundogs 17 games.

SPECIAL TEAMS MAKES THE DIFFERENCE

The Sundogs power play was a big difference in the finals outscoring the Eagles 8-2, while also chipping in with two shorthanded goals. Arizona went 8 for 26 (31%) and Colorado went just 2 for 22 (9%). In the post-season, the Sundogs scored 28 power play goals breaking the record set by Memphis in 2002. Arizona connected at a success rate of 22% (28 for 127) in the playoffs.

EAGLES IN ELITE STATUS

The Colorado Eagles' efforts throughout the 2007-08 season may go overlooked with the difficulty they had in the finals versus the Sundogs but the accomplishments of the defending champs are nearly unmatched. Only two CHL teams have successfully defended their crown (Wichita and Memphis). Laredo leads the way with four consecutive finals appearances and only Columbus and Colorado have gone to the finals three times in a four year stretch. The WPHL's Shreveport Mudbugs won three consecutive championships.

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Central Hockey League Stories from May 12, 2008


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