CHL Central Hockey League

Wichita Thunder Only CHL Team Still Unbeaten

Published on November 2, 2004 under Central Hockey League (CHL) News Release


Through 35 games, only one Central Hockey League club, the Wichita Thunder, remains perfect this season. With a 2-1 home win over Topeka Friday evening and a 3-1 road win at Lubbock Saturday, Wichita extended their perfect mark to 4-0-0 on the young season. The improved Thunder are looking to build on the momentum of last season, when they made their first playoff appearance since the 1999/2000 season and advanced to the Northern Conference Finals. Leading the Thunder offensively once again are veteran snipers Travis Clayton and Jason Duda (10th and 11th respectively in all-time CHL scoring), while former NHL first round draft selection Scott Allison has quickly made an impact with six goals and two assists in four contests. In goal, off-season acquisition Jamie Vandespyker has enjoyed a fine start as the Thunder's top netminder, earning three wins behind a 1.67 goals against average and a .947 save percentage. In four total games, Wichita has allowed just six goals against to lead the CHL. The Thunder will have their unblemished mark tested this week with three contests against strong rivals; a home contest against Oklahoma City on November 5th sandwiched by road games at Bossier- Shreveport and Tulsa.

Through two weeks of action, CHL attendance has surged atop the "AA" rankings with a 4,926 average. Bolstered by sold out or near capacity crowds in six home openers this weekend (5,427 in Rio Grande Valley, 6,123 in New Mexico, 4,935 in Odessa, 5,151 in Lubbock, 5,289 in Colorado on October 29th and 6,112 in Fort Worth on October 30th), attendance has climbed from 4,807 after the first week of play. The Oklahoma City Blazers continue to pace the CHL with an average attendance of 8,384, followed closely by the Laredo Bucks (7,511) and Bossier- Shreveport Mudbugs (6,229).

This Friday, the Corpus Christi Rayz will become the last CHL club to appear on home ice, welcoming Laredo on November 5th in the grand opening of the 7,495 seat AmericanBank Center. The Rayz had played all home games since their inception in 1998 at the 3,800 seat capacity Corpus Christi Memorial Coliseum.

Central Hockey League Standings Through games of 11/01/04

Northwest Division GP W L OTL PTS

Wichita 04 04 00 00 08

Colorado 04 03 01 00 06

New Mexico 04 03 01 00 06

Topeka 05 01 04 00 02

Northeast Division GP W L OTL PTS

Fort Worth 04 02 01 01 05

Tulsa 05 02 03 00 04

Memphis 05 02 03 00 04

Oklahoma City 04 01 02 01 03

Bossier-Shreveport 04 01 02 01 03

Southwest Division GP W L OTL PTS

Odessa 04 03 01 00 06

San Angelo 04 03 01 00 06

Amarillo 04 02 02 00 04

Lubbock 03 01 02 00 02

Southeast Division GP W L OTL PTS

Rio Grande Valley 03 02 01 00 04

Austin 04 02 02 00 04

Laredo 05 02 03 00 04

Corpus Christi 04 01 02 01 03

Central Hockey League Performance of the Week

San Angelo netminder Scott Reid shut down the defending champion Laredo Bucks October 30th with a dazzling 39-save shutout performance at the Laredo Entertainment Center. Reid, a native of Grande Prairie, Alberta, bounced back from a poor outing the night before in a 7-3 loss at Odessa to help the Saints post their first road win of the year. Reid was selected as the CHL's Most Outstanding Goaltender following the 2003/2004 season, posting a sparkling 32-9-4 record coupled with a goals against average of 2.27 and a CHL all-time record save percentage of .938.

Central Hockey League Results – 10-22-04 through 10-25-04

10/26/2004
Topeka 2 @ Memphis 6 - Keith Aucoin (MEM), 2 Goals, 2 Assists

10/28/2004
Topeka 3 @ Bossier-Shreveport 2 - Dallas Flaman (TOP), GW Goal

10/29/2004
San Angelo 3 @ Odessa 7 - BJ Adams (ODE), 2 Goals, 2 Assists
Amarillo 1 @ Lubbock 3 - Paul Fioroni (LUB), Goal, Assist
Memphis 1 @ Colorado 3 - Kevin Marsh (COL), 2 Goals, Assist
Corpus Christi 1 @ New Mexico 2 - Mike Oliveira (NMX), 2 Goals
Topeka 1 @ Wichita 2 - Scott Allison (WIC), GW Goal
Bossier-Shreveport 1 @ Oklahoma City 2 - Mike Beausoleil (OKC), 2 Goals
Laredo 3 @ Rio Grande Valley 5 - Jason Tessier (RGV), 2 Goals, Assist
Fort Worth 7 @ Tulsa 6 - Bryan Lundbohm (FTW), 2 Goals, 2 Assists

10/30/2004
Oklahoma City 2 @ Odessa 3 SO - Matt Cressman (ODE), SO GW Goal
Wichita 3 @ Lubbock 1 - Travis Clayton (WIC), GW Goal
Corpus Christi 6 @ Colorado 2 - Josh Blackburn (CRP), 51 Saves
Memphis 3 @ New Mexico 6 - New Mexico: 4 for 6 on Power Play
Tulsa 3 @ Amarillo 4 - Henry Kuster (AMA), Goal, 2 Assists
Bossier-Shreveport 1 @ Fort Worth 2 SO - Brad Lukowich (FTW), SO GW Goal
San Angelo 1 @ Laredo 0 - Scott Reid (SNG), 39 Saves, Shutout
Austin 1 @ Rio Grande Valley 5 - Bill Newson (RGV), Goal, 2 Assists
Central Hockey League Leaders

Points Team GP PTS

Thinel, Sebastien ODE 4 9
Aucoin, Keith MEM 5 9
Genesse, Benoit AUS 4 8
Allison, Scott WIC 4 8
Parsons, Don MEM 5 8
Gravelle, Dan TUL 5 8
Clayton, Travis WIC 4 8
Duda, Jason WIC 4 8

Goals Team GP G
Thinel, Sebastien ODE 4 6
Genesse, Benoit AUS 4 6
Allison, Scott WIC 4 6
Woollard, Chad FTW 4 5
Bes, Jeff LAR 5 5
Oliveira, Mike NMX 4 5
Several Players Tied At 4

Assists Team GP A

Duda, Jason WIC 4 6
Hahn, Derek AMA 4 6
Landmesser, Derek MEM 5 6
Several Players Tied At 5


Plus/Minus Team GP +/-

Allison, Scott WIC 4 +6
Clayton, Travis WIC 4 +6
Several Players Tied At +5



Penalty Minutes Team GP PIM
Anderson, Dallas AUS 4 59
Mallette, Kris COL 4 36
Norris, Cory MEM 5 36
Goetz, Ken MEM 5 35
Parker, Derek WIC 4 33
Joly, Mario TUL 5 31
Olynyk, Mike AUS 4 31
Makway, Steve LAR 5 29

Power Play Goals Team GP PPG
Oliveira, Mike NMX 4 4
Genesse, Benoit AUS 4 3
Several Players Tied At 2



Goaltender Wins TEAM GP W
Vandespyker, Jamie WIC 3 3
Reid, Scott SNG 4 3
Beaudry, Miguel NMX 4 3
Gorman, Mike ODE 4 3
Several Players Tied At 2



Goals Against Team GP G.A.A
Weiman, Tyler COL 2 0.50
Blair, Jeff BOS 2 1.45
Connors, Sean OKC 2 1.50
Vandespyker, Jamie WIC 3 1.67
Levy, Jeff RGV 2 2.00
Bateman, Dwayne TOP 2 2.11
Reid, Scott SNG 4 2.35
Leslie, Lance LUB 3 2.36

Shutouts Team GP SO
Vandespyker, Jamie WIC 3 1
Reid, Scott SNG 4 1
Weiman, Tyler COL 2 1
Several Players Tied At 0


Save % Team GP %
Weiman, Tyler COL 2 .981
Blair, Jeff BOS 2 .955
Connors, Sean OKC 2 .954
Vandespyker, Jamie WIC 3 .947
Bateman, Dwayne TOP 2 .941
Levy, Jeff RGV 2 .938
Reid, Scott SNG 4 .937
Ballard, Boyd OKC 2 .932


CHL Attendance Report

TEAM TOTAL # AVG

Oklahoma City 16,768 2 8,384
Laredo 15,022 2 7,511
Bossier-Shreveport 12,458 2 6,229
Fort Worth 6,112 1 6,112
Wichita 11,545 2 5,772
New Mexico 11,532 2 5,766
Lubbock 10,698 2 5,349
Colorado 10,578 2 5,289
Rio Grande Valley 10,213 2 5,106
Tulsa 15,303 3 5,101
Topeka 8,542 2 4,271
Odessa 8,057 2 4,028
Austin 10,855 3 3,618
San Angelo 6,781 2 3,390
Memphis 9,648 3 3,216
Amarillo 8,666 3 2,888
CHL TOTALS: 172,778 35 4,936

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Central Hockey League Stories from November 2, 2004


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central