CHL NOTES: RiverKings tearing up the ice

By Journal staff | Wednesday, November 12, 2008

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The Mississippi RiverKings (5-4-0 overall) are one of the hottest teams in the Central Hockey League, winning each of their last three games and moving over the .500 mark.

The RiverKings are in a tough division, sitting behind Oklahoma City (8-0-2) and Bossier-Shreveport (7-2-0) in the standings and in the conference Mississippi currently ranks fourth. The RiverKings have been quite impressive in their last three games, defeating Colorado, 6-2, Rocky Mountain, 5-2 and Wichita,

6-2.

Brad Bonello is leading the way over the streak with five goals and two assists, while Louis Dumont and Bobby Chaumont each have six points over the ’Kings streak.  This week, Mississippi will be tested traveling to Bossier-Shreveport on Tuesday night and then hosting Oklahoma City on Friday and Saturday.

Eagles soaring start: The Colorado Eagles (9-1-0) are off to their best start in franchise history, beating their old high mark of 8-2-0 through 10 games back in the 2006-2007 season.  Colorado’s 18 points are tied for the most in the CHL with Oklahoma City (8-0-2) and are three better than the Southern Conference’s best, Odessa (7-2-1), who have 15 points.

Riley Nelson has had a point in each of the Eagles 10 games, totaling 18 points and has goals in each of his last four games. The Eagles have the league’s best power play, connecting for 22 power play goals in 84 chances. Colorado is second in the league averaging 4.40 goals per game.

We’ll take those six points, thank you: The Odessa Jackalopes (7-2-1) are coming off an unbelievable road trip that saw them earn six points in a perfect three-for-three weekend.

On Thursday, the Jacks beat Laredo, 5-2, and then followed with a 5-4 shootout win at Rio Grande Valley and a 5-2 win at Texas on Saturday.

Odessa is six points better than any other team in the Southwest Division and is the top team in the Southern Conference, leading Laredo (6-4-0) by three points.  Odessa will look to home ice to keep the streak rolling hosting Amarillo on Friday and Rocky Mountain on Saturday. The Jacks are 0-1-1 at home this season compared to 7-1-0 on the road.

Inside the numbers: 705—The number of CHL games that Travis Clayton has played in during his career, sitting just three games behind Joe Burton (708) for the most in league history. The ‘Bugs play at home on Tuesday and are on the road Friday and Saturday. Teammate Joe Blaznek is sitting at 599 career games and should hit 600 on Tuesday.

177—The number of goals Riley Nelson has scored in his Eagles career, passing Greg Pankewicz for first place on the team’s all-time goal scoring list. Nelson’s latest in Saturday’s 3-1 win over Rapid City was his 19th game winner for Colorado, which is second on the all-time list for the team.

52—The number of goals that Rob Voltera has scored in his career with the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees. He is two goals shy of Matic Kralj for second on the team’s all-time goal list.

2—The number of penalty shots awarded in the Texas-Bossier-Shreveport game on Sunday. Both shots were missed. 

Tidbits: With his assist on the Bucks first goal of the game Saturday, Jeff Bes recorded his 100th point against RGV. He tacked on his 101st point later in the period.

y Riley Nelson is tied for third on the CHL’s point list with 18 points and is currently on a career best 18-game point streak dating back to last season.

y Oklahoma City’s Andy Franck is without a regulation loss in his last 20 regular season decisions (17-0-3) and currently leads the CHL with a 1.47 goals against average and a .939 save percentage.

y The Corpus Christi IceRays are 2-0-1 on their current four-game road trip that ends on Friday in Rio Grande Valley.