The Kings of the South?

Hello fellow Jackalope fans! It has been a while hasn't it? I apologize for not blogging in a while but I have been tied up with school for the last couple of weeks and have not had time to do much blogging. Anyways, lets get right to the point. I don't usually start a whole new post for a team other than the Jacks, but I believe there is one team that deserves some recognition after the incredible weekend that they had. That team would be none other than the surprisingly undefeated Amarillo Gorillas. I will be the first to admit that prior to the regular season starting I, like many other CHL fans, had the Gorillas at the bottom of the Southern Conference. From the players that Amarillo signed I was not too impressed. However, the CHL world is probably still in total shock as the Apes ended their opening weekend with a 3-0 record. Is this a sign that the Gorillas are going to be a contender in the South this season? Only time will tell, but I will stick to my guns and say that reality will return to Amarillo in the next couple of weeks and they will no longer be one of the top four teams in the South. I will say, however, that the Gorillas have earned my respect and it would not surprise me if the 'Rillas end up barely clinching a spot in the playoffs come March. I know many of you are thinking "Is this guy crazy? We are only a couple of games into the new season and he is already predicting playoff teams?" I know, I know. The season is still very, very early but the Gorillas are already turning heads with their strong play. With all of this being said, lets go ahead and break down the Gorilla's weekend, shall we? Game one for Amarillo was against the usual cellar dwellers of the Northern Conference, the Wichita Thunder. In many people's eyes it would not matter who won this game because both of these teams are supposed to be the "losers" of their respective conferences. The Gorillas displayed pure domination as they pummeled Wichita by a final score of 5-0. Amarillo held the Thunder to only eighteen shots on goal as Mike Brown picked up the shutout. The Apes also killed off all seven of Wichita's powerplay chances. After getting home from watching the Jacks pull off a thriller against the IceRays and seeing this final score on Pointstreak I didn't think too much about it for the simple fact that the Gorillas beat the Wichita Thunder. Then Saturday rolls around and I am feeling pretty good because I am thinking that the Jacks are going to put an absolute beating on Amarillo when the final score ends up being 2-1 in favor of the Gorillas. I was in shock for several minutes after this game, but then I began to break down this game as well. The Jacks absolutely bombarded Mike Brown with shots on goal, but he ended up stopping an impressive 42 out of 43 shots on goal, while Amarillo managed to get two goals on 26 shots on net. This tells me two things: The Jacks ran into a very hot goaltender in Mike Brown, and the Jacks have nothing to worry about as they technically outplayed the Gorillas in just about every area, except for goaltending. The Jacks were also playing their backup goalie (who actually did very well by the way) while the Gorillas were starting their starter. Another thing to note from this game is that the Jacks went 0-10 on the powerplay, which is definitely something that Gilly and the boys are going to have to fix very quickly. Now lets move on to game three for the Gorillas which was against the usually always tough Mississippi River Kings. I thought the Kings would take this game because Mike Brown would not be in net that game for Amarillo, and I felt it was time for the Gorillas to be brought back to reality. Once again I was wrong as goaltender Lohtander for the Apes played very well in net while the Gorillas once again displayed their offensive power putting up five goals on 31 shots. The final ended up being 5-2 and the Gorillas were able to kill off 4 out of 5 of the King's powerplay chances. Wow! What a weekend for Amarillo! Not only do they end the weekend with a 3-0 record but they also beat one of the South's best teams as well as one of the North's best teams. Like I already stated, only time will tell if the Gorillas truly mean business, but after this weekend I would tell everybody to not be surprised by anything. As of right now the Gorillas (I can't believe I am about to say this) are the Kings of the South.

Until next time Jack fans all I have to say is GO JACKS GO!!! and the Bumble Bees are going to get crushed come Tuesday night!