Friday, March 3, 2010

CENTRAL HOCKEY LEAGUE HEADLINES

Big Weekend for Bucks
The Laredo Bucks are in a huge fight for the third spot in the Southern Conference currently leading the Texas Brahmas by two points and the Corpus Christi IceRays by six points.  Laredo is coming off an impressive 6-1 win last night at home versus Allen and now faces Texas, the team they are just in front of, and Odessa in back-to-back games this weekend.  Laredo is 9-3-1 over their last 13 games and by finishing third they would avoid the best-of-three Opening Round series.

Race for the Governors’ Cup
A few weeks ago it appeared that the Odessa Jackalopes were on cruise control heading towards their second Governors’ Cup (regular season championship) in franchise history.  Lately however, the Rapid City Rush has closed the gap making the final two weeks of the season an all out alley fight.  The Rush have won five straight games and are 13-1-2 in their last 16 games pulling them to within one point of the Jacks for the highest overall point total.  Odessa is just 5-5-0 in their last 10 games and in their most recent contest, a 6-3 loss to Colorado, all-star goaltender Joel Martin was forced to leave the game early in the third period with an undisclosed injury.  Rapid City plays at Odessa two times as the season winds down including on the final day of the regular season (Mar. 20).

Next to 200
Several CHL players are vying to become the next to reach 200 CHL goals.  Only 18 players have reached that level in the league’s history with Corpus Christi’s Chad Woollard (206 goals) reaching that milestone a couple weeks ago.  Next in line is Bossier-Shreveport’s Joe Blaznek who has 199 goals followed by Laredo’s Jeff Bes (198 goals), Odessa’s Sebastien Thinel (197 goals) and Tulsa’s Marty Standish (195 goals).  Other active CHL players who have scored 200+ goals are Bossier-Shreveport’s Travis Clayton (363 goals), Wichita’s Jason Duda (339 goals), Corpus Christi’s Chris Richards (249 goals) and Colorado’s Riley Nelson (245 goals).

Mudbugs on The Brink
The Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs could be the next CHL team to clinch a spot in the post-season joining Rapid City, Colorado, Odessa and Allen.  The ‘Bugs magic number is four points meaning that any combination of earning points and the Tulsa Oilers not getting available points could get the Mudbugs closer to their seventh straight playoff appearance.  A win tonight for Bossier-Shreveport versus Rio Grande Valley, coupled with a Tulsa regulation loss at home to Rapid City, would be enough to allow the Mudbugs to punch their playoff ticket.  Bossier-Shreveport is 4-1-0 in their last five home games and with six remaining at the CenturyTel Center, they have the most home contests left on the schedule of any CHL club.
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BY THE NUMBERS

5- The number of third period goals the Colorado Eagles scored in Wednesday’s 6-3 win over the Odessa Jackalopes at the Budweiser Events Center.  Ryan Tobler tied the game at the 14:33 mark and Aaron Schneekloth gave the Eagles their first lead just 17 seconds later.  Schneekloth and Ed McGrane each scored two goals and Riley Nelson had a season-high four assists.      

1.000- The current save percentage of goaltender Brad Best who played the final minute of Mississippi’s loss at Tulsa on Wednesday night marking his first pro experience despite being signed as an emergency back-up more than 10 times in the past (nine of those with Tulsa).  Best faced one shot and turned it away giving him his perfect save percentage.  Best was waived as the RiverKings emergency back-up on Thursday as they claimed Kyle McNulty off waivers from Arizona. 

6-3-1- The record of the Arizona Sundogs over their last 10 games.  The Sundogs have allowed three goals or fewer in seven of the 10 games and will be looking for their first three-game home winning streak on Friday night when they host Amarillo.

249- The number of points that Corpus Christi’s Justin Quenneville has in his IceRays career tying him with Kurt Wickenheiser for the most in franchise history.  Quenneville had two assists in the Rays 5-2 win over Texas on Thursday night and has six helpers in his last five games.
 
SLAP SHOTS

-Laredo Head Coach Terry Ruskowski will coach in his 500th CHL game tonight in Texas.  Ruskowski is 315-139-45 in his seven-plus seasons with the Bucks.

-Colorado’s Riley Nelson recorded four assists in Wednesday’s win over Odessa giving him 625 career CHL points moving him past Brian Shantz for ninth and Brett Seguin for eighth on the league’s all-time points list.  The next player for Nelson to leapfrog is Paul Jackson (658 points).  Nelson has 245 goals and 380 assists in his CHL career.

-One of the hottest players as of late is Wichita forward Tomas Klempa who has six goals, three assists and a +6 plus/minus rating over his last four games.  The newly signed forward has piled up 14 points (8-6=14) in 18 games with Wichita.

-After winning eight straight from Jan. 31 to Feb. 20, the Texas Brahmas have now dropped five of their last six games scoring just seven goals over those five losses.