CHL Wichita Thunder

Thunder stays hot, shuts down CHL's best

Published on January 29, 2007 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Wichita Thunder News Release


BLAZERS FLY PAST THUNDER- The Blazers broke open a 1-1 game with three second period goals, en route to a 4-2 win over the Thunder on Friday at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City. Scott Rozendal and Joe Blaznek scored the Thunder goals.

THUNDER SHOOTS DOWN EAGLES- The Thunder jumped out to a 2-0 lead and never looked back, rolling to a 4-2 win over the Colorado Eagles, in front of 8,714 fans at the Coliseum on Saturday. Joe Blaznek gave the Thunder a 1-0 lead with a shorthanded goal and Jason Duda made it 2-0, before Ed McGrane cut the lead in half. George Halkidis and Tyler Hanchuck added goals for Wichita to put the game away. Goaltender Sebastien Laplante was stellar again, stopping 47 of 49 shots. Wichita, who played with a full 18-man lineup for just the seventh time this season, moved their record to 14-14-1 all-time versus Colorado, by far the best record of any team in CHL history.

THUNDER KNOCKS OF RIVERKINGS- Joe Blaznek continued his stellar play, recording his second hat trick of the season in a 3-2 home win over Memphis on Sunday. Six different Thunder players picked up an assist, while goaltender Andrew Martin stopped 32 shots to move his record to 3-3-0 on the season. Blaznek now ranks sixth in Thunder history with six hat tricks. Sunday's win moved Wichita above .500 for the first time since December 8th, also a home win over Memphis.

THUNDER BESTS THE BEST- Wichita's last three victories have come against the CHL's top three teams. Last Saturday, the Thunder knocked off the Southern Conference's best team, using a big third period comeback for a 4-3 shootout victory at the Laredo Bucks. This past Saturday, the Thunder knocked off the CHL's best team in Colorado, sending the Eagles to just their seventh loss in 37 games. The Thunder held the CHL's highest scoring team to just two goals and the CHL's best power play unit to 1-6. On Sunday, it was Memphis' high-powered offense held to just two goals. The RiverKings' second ranked power play unit also went scoreless on all eight tries. The Thunder penalty killing unit now ranks fourth in the CHL, tied with Colorado at 85.7%.

FIRST GOAL + LESS PENALTIES = WINS- Wichita has gone 7-2-1 the last 10 games for a couple of reasons "" scoring early and staying out of the box. In that span Wichita is 7-0-1 when scoring first, 0-2-0 when allowing the first goal. On the season, Wichita is 14-4-2 when scoring the first goal of the game. Even more impressive, has been Wichita's ability to stay out of the box. Near the end of December, no CHL team was shorthanded more times than the Thunder. Now, just a month later, Wichita has been shorthanded a total of 252 times. Only Lubbock (251), Laredo (251) and Corpus Christi (247) have been shorthanded less.

MILESTONES- With 296, veteran Travis Clayton needs four goals to become the third player in CHL history to reach 300. With 290, veteran Jason Duda needs one goal to pass Don Parsons for fifth on the CHL goal-scoring list. With 122, Joe Blaznek needs four assists to pass Cam Plante for sixth place in Thunder history. Ryan McLean, who is one point shy of 100 for his career, needs 24 penalty minutes to pass Jeff Leiter for the all-time Thunder lead. Defenseman Daniel Tetrault played in his 400th career pro game on Sunday.

ROSTER UPDATE- Forward Ryan Lauzon missed the last two games with an arm injury. Lauzon will be evaluated today to determine when he can return to the lineup.

THUNDERBOLTS- Sebastien Laplante ranks third among CHL goaltenders with a .926 save percentage...Wichita ranks second in the CHL, averaging 6,176 fans per game...Joe Blaznek is tied for the CHL-lead with six game-winning goals...Daniel Tetrault ranks third among CHL defensemen with six power play goals...With 12, only Colorado (19), Memphis (18), Bossier-Shreveport (15) and Laredo (14) have more home wins than the Thunder...Friday is Fantastic Sams "D" Magnet Night and the fourth annual T-95 Mass Wedding...Saturday is NASCAR Night, sponsored by KFDI, Case and Associates and the Kansas Army National Guard.

LAST WEEK'S GAMES:

Friday, January 26- Wichita 2 at Oklahoma City 4 Loss

Saturday, January 27- Colorado 2 at Wichita 4 Win

Sunday, January 28- Memphis2 at Wichita 3 Win

THIS WEEK'S GAMES:

Thursday, February 1- Wichita at Memphis 7:05 PM 1410 AM

Friday, February 2- Rocky Mountain at Wichita 7:05 PM

Saturday, Febtuary 3- Colorado at Wichita 7:05 PM 1410 AM

PRACTICE SCHEDULE:

Tuesday Kansas Coliseum 10:00 AM

METAL BLADE RECORDS PLAYER OF THE WEEK-

Right Wing Joe Blaznek 3 GP, 5 Goals, Hat Trick

Check out the Wichita Thunder Statistics

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Central Hockey League Stories from January 29, 2007


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