Friday, February 5, 2010

CENTRAL HOCKEY LEAGUE HEADLINES

Big Weekend in West Texas
In what could be a Ray Miron President’s Cup Finals preview, the Colorado Eagles (27-9-5) face-off against the Odessa Jackalopes (35-6-4) in a pair of games this weekend at the Ector County Coliseum.  The two teams played a classic on December 12 in Colorado, a game the Eagles won in a shootout.  Odessa is comfortably in front of the entire league with 74 points and are trying to cruise to the Governors’ Cup (regular season championship).  They currently lead both Allen and Rapid City by 13 points.  The Jacks have had very few down points this season and are enjoying a nice run presently going 10-0-1 in their last 11 decisions.  Colorado has struggled in their last few games going 7-5-4 in their last 16 games.  However, the defending Governors’ Cup champs are just two points behind Rapid City for first place in the North. 

Tulsa and Missouri Fight for Final Playoff Spot
The two teams that are currently in the fifth and sixth spots in the North meet in a pair of games this weekend with the Tulsa Oilers (42 points) playing at Missouri versus the Mavericks (43 points).  Tulsa does have two games in hand on the Mavs but Missouri leads the season series with two wins in three games.  The Mavs have beaten two of the league’s top teams, Allen and Colorado, in their last two outings and are 4-2-1 in their last seven home games.  The Oilers have lost four of their last five games giving up 22 goals in those contests.  Veterans Aaron Davis (TUL) and Jeff Christian (MIZ) are the two to watch in the brief series with Davis piling up 15 points (3-12=15) in his last 10 games and Christian recording 17 points (8-9=17) over that same stretch.  Tulsa and Missouri have combined for more than 2,000 penalty minutes and are ranked first and second in the league in average PIM’s per game. 

Trade Activity on the Horizon?
The CHL’s trade deadline is on Monday at 3:00 PM (CST) and already teams are starting to make some noise jockeying for position in what looks like it is going to be an unbelievable sprint to the finish.  On Thursday, the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees and the Missouri Mavericks swapped defensemen with Mike Harr going to the Mavs and Andrew Davis heading to South Texas.  There should be more through the weekend and on Monday so keep up-to-date on at www.centralhockeyleague.com and the ‘Trade Tracker’.  

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BY THE NUMBERS

799- The number of CHL games the league’s all-time games played leader, Travis Clayton, has dressed in his CHL career.  If he dresses, the Mudbugs forward will become the first player to reach 800 games on Friday night versus the team he played the first 11 years of his CHL career with, the Wichita Thunder.  Clayton also ranks second on the league’s all-time points list with 920 points trailing the all-time leader, Joe Burton, by 65 points.  

382- The number of games that Laredo’s Serge Dube has played in his Bucks career.  The former team Captain re-signed with the team on Thursday coming out of retirement.  In his seven years with the team, Dube has 326 points.

43- The number of victories that Colorado goaltender Andrew Penner has in his two seasons with the team sitting just one win shy of setting the franchise’s all-time wins mark.  Penner was re-assigned to the Eagles earlier in the week after playing in Springfield (AHL) for the past few weeks.  This season, Penner is 13-4-2 with a 2.95 goals against average.  His next win will move him past Paulo Colaiacovo for the most in team history.

62-15-9- The combined records of the Odessa Jackalopes and the Colorado Eagles who play a pair of games at the Jack Shack this weekend. 

0-6-1- The Texas Brahmas record in their last seven road games.  The last victory on foreign ice came on December 19 in Arizona.  The seven-game road slide is tied for the second longest in the CHL this season.  The next chance for Texas will be Friday in Corpus Christi.

50- The number of saves that RGV’s Andy Franck made on Thursday night in the Bees 3-2 shootout win over Laredo.  The all-star stopped 26 of 27 shots in the second period alone and his 50 saves are the second most in a game this season (54 for Marty Magers – Tulsa).

SLAP SHOTS

-Newly signed Missouri goaltender Gerry Festa has won three decisions with a .920 save percentage and a 2.40 goals against average over that stretch.

-Rapid City and Arizona meet on Friday and Saturday in what, by any indication from their first three meetings this season, should be a tight affair.  The Rush lead the season series with two wins but each of the three contests have been decided by a goal and both Rapid City wins have come in overtime.  Les Reaney scored his 22nd goal of the season (7th in his last 10 games) on Wednesday night in Rapid City’s 6-5 OT win at Tim’s Toyota Center.  The Sundogs are 2-0-2 in their last four games and the Rush have gone 9-2-2 in 2010.

-Corpus Christi’s Chad Woollard continues to lead the CHL in goals with 27 sitting and is coming off his second hat trick in the last two weeks on Thursday in the Rays 6-2 win over Amarillo.