Jacks Make Statement in Amarillo!

Hello fellow Jackalope fans! I know I said in my last post that I probably would not blog in a couple of days, but after tonights performance by the Jacks, I just couldn't resist. The Jacks made a huge statement tonight by absolutely pounding the Amarillo Gorillas by a final of 8-1 at the Amarillo Civic Center. That's right, the Jacks appeared to be back in earlier season form, putting up eight goals against a very unpredictable Amarillo team. The Jacks record now improves to 38-9-4 on the season, and they are now leading the Allen Americans by eight points in the Southern Conference, having played one more game than the Americans. Now lets go ahead and break down this incredible performance by the Jacks, shall we?

Things started off pretty slowly in the first period, as the only goal of the period was scored by the Jacks on the power play. Kory Karlander picked up a power play goal at the 18:10 mark of the opening frame, with the assists being awarded to Dominic Leveille and Mike Ramsay. Juha Toivonen stopped all eight of the Amarillo shots that he faced in the first period. The score heading into the first intermission was 1-0 in favor of the Jacks.

The second period is actually a period that the Jacks would probably like to forget. Yes they scored two goals, and only allowed Amarillo to score one, but they were badly outplayed in the second, having been outshot 21-7. The Jacks opened up the scoring in the middle frame, when Phile Plante scored a shorthanded goal at the 9:04 mark, with the assists going to Kory Karlander and Garrett Gruenke. The Gorillas would answer back just a couple of minutes later, when MacRae scored a power play goal to cut the Jacks lead to just one goal. It looked like the game might go down to the wire, but the Jacks were able to add another goal at the 18:11 mark of the second when Troy Ofukany scored his first goal in a Jackalope sweater. The assists went to James Sanford and Mike Lesperance. Juha Toivonen also stopped an incredible 20 of the 21 shots that he faced in the second period, as the Jacks took the 3-1 lead into the second intermission.

The third period is a period that was simple dominated by the Jacks, as they scored an incredible five goals in the final period of play. The Jacks scored at the 0:44 mark, when Collin Circelli scored a power play goal for the Jacks, with the assists awarded to Sebastien Thinel and Phil Plante. The Jacks would then add yet another power play goal at the 5:43 mark of the final frame, when Kory Karlander lit the lamp, with the assists going to Sebastien Thinel and Mike Lesperance. The Jacks led by a score 5-1 at this point of the game. Less than two minutes later, the Jacks would make the score 6-1 when Brian Swiniarski scored at the 7:02 mark of the third, with the assist going to Kenny Bernard. The boys were not done lighting the lamp, as just 18 seconds later at the 7:20 mark, Circelli netted his second goal of the game with the assist given to Sebastien Thinel. The Jacks would then go on to score their last goal of the game at the 9:16 mark of the final period, once again on the power play. Jeff Pierce scored this goal, with the assists going to Sebastien Thinel and Brian Swiniarski. Juha Toivonen also stopped all ten of the Amarillo shots that he faced, as the Jacks won the game by a final of 8-1.

All in all, this was a very solid effort by the boys tonight. The Jacks won by a final of 8-1; the Jacks went 4-4 on the power play; Thinel stayed red hot as he had four assists on the night; Karlander and Circelli both netted a pair of goals; Juha Toivonen stopped 38 of the 39 shots that he faced in net; Plante scored a shorthanded goal; and finally Troy Ofukany scored his first goal as an Odessa Jackalope. What a statement made by the boys tonight! With all of this said, I am going to go ahead and wrap things up and hit the hay.

Elsewhere in the CHL:

• The Ice Rays also made a huge statement tonight, as they pounded the Laredo Bucks by a final of 9-4. If this Corpus team makes the playoffs, then they could be a very dangerous team.


• The Texas Brahmas defeated the Wichita Thunder by a final of 4-1 at the NYTEX Sports Centre. I wouldn't call this a huge win by the bulls, but they will be riding a seven game winning streak heading into tomorrow night's game against the Jacks. I still say the Jacks handle the cows rather easily tomorrow.


• The Mudbugs hold off the Oilers by a final of 5-4, as the 'Bugs needed OT to finally earn the win. Bossier led by a score of 4-1 heading into the final frame, but the Oilers scored three unanswered third period goals to force overtime.


• The Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees are able to upset the Rapid City Rush by a final of 4-3, with the game being decided in a shootout. This means the Jacks now have a seven point lead over the Rush in the league standings, with the Rush having a couple of games in hand.


• And finally, the Riverkings are able to double up the Eagles by a final of 4-2 at the BEC. The Jacks are now 12 points ahead of the Eagles in the league standings, with the birds having three games in hand.

Until next time Jack fans all I have to say is GO JACKS GO!!! and lets whip those purple cows tomorrow night!

Jacks First to Clinch Playoff Berth!

Hello fellow Jackalope fans. It is a pleasantly warm day in Odessa, and the Jacks have received very good news as they are the first team in the Central Hockey League to clinch a playoff berth. This is great news for the team, and everybody that supports the team, but we must remember that the playoffs are basically the start to a brand new season. We must not get too far ahead of ourselves. After all, the regular season is still going on, and the Jacks definitely want to secure home ice throughout the playoffs as well. With that said, I will try and keep this post somewhat short, while I discuss a couple of things that have happened over the last couple of days pertaining to the Jacks, including a couple of transactions.

First, lets discuss the breaking news that the Jacks will for sure be in the playoffs. Some of you may be asking yourselves: How could the Jacks clinch a playoff spot if they haven't even played a game since Tuesday night? The answer is rather simple. With the Killer Bees losing to the Bucks last night, this means that the Jacks can finish no worse than fifth place in the Southern Conference. Since there are five playoff seeds in each conference, this obviously means that the Jacks will be in the postseason. Of course, the Jacks still have some work to do, as they are hoping to not only secure a playoff spot, but take the Southern Conference and Governor's Cup as well. The Governor's Cup would seal home ice for the Jacks throughout the entire playoffs, and the race is very close for a few teams. The teams that I would say are in contention for the Governor's Cup would be our very own Jackalopes, the Allen Americans, Rapid City Rush, and Colorado Eagles. It is still statistically possible for a couple of other teams to make a run for the Governor's cup as well, but the aforementioned teams are the teams that are neck-and-neck in the standings. With all of this said, I would like to say congratulations to the entire Jackalopes organization for being the first team in the CHL to secure a playoff spot.

The only other real news to mention is a few transactions that have taken place over the last couple of days for the Jacks. Two of these transactions are not very good news for the Jackalopes, as both Dave Van Drunen and Jean Bourbeau have been placed on the 14-day IR. Both of these guys are key players for the Jacks, and I wish both of them a speedy recovery. Hopefully we will be seeing them back on the ice in the very, very near future. The last transaction that we are going to discuss is that the Jacks have signed former Rapid City Rush defenseman, Will Bodine to a contract. The guy brings size to our team, and appears to be an enforcer type of player. Hopefully he will be a good fit for the Jacks, and hopefully he will help re-energize not only our defense, but our entire team as well. Rumours are swirling of another good d-man possibly returning to the Jacks for the playoffs, but that is purely speculation right now, so we won't discuss that... yet.

Finally, I will go ahead and talk about this weekend's contests for the Jackalopes. The Jacks will take on the unpredictable Gorillas tonight up in Amarillo. The reason I say they are unpredictable is because you never know how that team will play. One game you might beat them 9-3, and another game you might lose to them in a great game. Hopefully the team that I mentioned first will show up for tonight's contest. But, if the latter Gorilla team shows up tonight, I think the Jacks will still take care of them as well. After tonight's game, the Jacks will then head to North Richland Hills to take on the always tough Texas Brahmas. Hopefully the Jacks will put a beating on the bulls, because I have noticed a lot of smack coming from several of their fans. I think it is about time to shut them up for good, and I think an absolute beat down on their home ice would be just the thing to do that. With all of this said, I am going to go ahead and wrap things up and go run a few errands. I should blog again in the next few days, hopefully with news that the Jacks had a very good weekend.

Elsewhere in the CHL:

• The Sundogs defeated the Allen Americans yesterday by a final of 3-2. It is good to see the 'Dogs get a rare win on home ice... and yes it was their thirteenth straight one goal game. Also, I would like to say thank you to the 'Dogs for keeping the Americans six points behind the Jacks in the Southern Conference standings, with both teams now having played 50 games.


• The Laredo Bucks defeated the Killer Bees last night at the LEC by a final of 6-5. Thanks to the Bees losing, as we all now know, the Jacks have now clinched a playoff berth.


• And finally, the Missouri Mavericks defeated the Tulsa Oilers yesterday by a final of 4-1. The Mavs are heating up at the right time, and don't be surprised if you end up seeing them in the playoffs. Of course, the Jacks will see them twice before then in Missouri, and for some reason I don't think these games will be as much of a cakewalk for the Jacks as the blowout that we saw at the ECC back in October. Good luck to Hillman and his team for the rest of the season, except for when they play the Jacks, of course.

Until next time Jacks fans all I have to say is GO JACKS GO!!! and lets slap around a few apes tonight!

Deja Vu in the Black Hills

Hello fellow Jackalope fans on a cool and windy day in the Permian Basin. The Jacks are coming off a bad weekend, filled with its fair share of blown leads and controversy by the referee, Dan Dreger. First lets get to the obvious bad news: The Jacks were swept by the Rapid City Rush over the weekend, losing back-to-back games in regulation for the first time this season. Friday's final was by a score of 7-5 after the Jacks game-tying goal was waved off with two minutes left in regulation, while Saturday's final was by a score of 6-4 after the Rush were given the goal that gave them their first lead of the game in the second period after Juha had control over the puck. Not only that, but the puck never crossed the goal line, meaning that the goal should not have counted in the first place. With that said, the Jacks should have never given up the big leads that they had in both games, and I think it is safe to say that the Jacks need another quality d-man to help bring relief to our fatigued defense. Now lets go ahead and move on to Saturday's contest in the Black Hills between the Jacks and Rush.

In a game that the Jacks really wanted, and actually really needed, they were not able to get the win after blowing a two goal lead yet again. Of course, controversy tainted the contest for the second consecutive night with the very same referee, as Dan Dreger awarded the Rush a goal that was stopped by Juha Toivonen, and never crossed the goal line. Talk about deja vu! Or as some of the Rush fans are claiming... karma! How funny is that!?!? Oh well, the Jacks will be seeing this same team two more times this season, only they will be in our house, and hopefully the ref will be a little more fair when these games happen.

Now lets go ahead and break down the scoring and play in net for Saturday's game. The first period was a pretty good period of play for the Jacks, as they trailed the Rush by one goal, only to come back and score three unanswered of their own to take the two goal lead in to the first intermission. Congrats to Collin Circelli who picked up the Jacks first goal on the powerplay at the 3:07 mark, with the assists going to Mike Lesperance and Jeff Pierce; congrats to Kenny Bernard who tallied the Jacks second goal at even strength, which was also unassisted at the 16:10 mark of the first period; and finally, congrats to Sebastien Thinel who picked up an unassisted, even strength goal at the 18:32 mark of the first period. Juha Toivonen looked good in net as well, as he stopped 11 of the 12 shots that he faced in the opening period.

The second period is where things began to change for the worse for the Jacks, as they blew their lead after more controversial officiating from referee, Dan Dreger. The Rush cut the Jacks lead to only one goal at the midway point of the second period, as Rich Hansen scored a powerplay goal after a questionable elbowing call was made against Patrick Mbaraga. The sad thing about this is that just a few minutes earlier, Kory Karlander was cross checked repeatedly from Colt King as the ref looked straight at them with no call made. The Rush then went on to tie the score less than three minutes later after Scott Wray was able to find the back of the net for the Rush. Things got "interesting" just three minutes later when Rapid City was awarded a powerplay goal on a play that saw Juha Toivonen cover the puck, only to be repeatedly jabbed at, and not to mention that the puck never crossed the goal line. A couple of Rush fans have even stated that they did not think that the puck ever crossed the goal line, so I guess this is not just me being a homer. Oh, and by the way, the Rush did not show a replay of this goal, even though they showed a replay of every other goal that they scored over the weekend. Something to hide? I guess you can be the judge of that. The Jacks were not able to score during the second period, and Juha stopped 11 of the 14 shots that he faced in the middle frame.

Now on to the third period, which believe it or not, was not filled with controversy. The Jacks were able to tie the game at the 10:31 mark, when Dominic Leveille found the back of the net, with the assist being handed out to Phil Plante. I fully expected the Jacks to either force OT or take the game in regulation, but it was just not meant to be. At the 19:06 mark of the third period, Brendan Cook was able to put a rebound past Juha Toivonen to seal the fate of the Jacks. The Rush then went on to add an empty netter to make the final of the game 6-4 in favor of the Goons, er I mean Rush.

After an entertaining, yet controversial weekend for the Odessa Jackalopes, I think a couple of things can be taken away from the contests with Rapid City. First, the Jacks need to figure out how to hold on to big leads. When you are leading by two or more goals pretty late in the game, an elite team should be able to seal the deal, and get the win. Second, the Jacks need some help defensively. If the Jacks are able to add one more quality d-man in the near future, then I truly believe that we will be unstoppable. If we could only get Russ Moyer or Sylvain Dufresne back, that would be fantastic for the Jacks. Hey, I guess I can dream can't I? Finally, I think we learned that the Jacks are not perfect, and are not invincible. Yes, both of this weekends games were very controversial, and yes the Jacks played a great team in the Rush. However, you can't win them all, and I'm sure that the Jacks will be just fine for the remainder of the regular season, and I still have faith that we will be hoisting the cup when all is said and done. With that said, I am going to go ahead and wrap things up here, and hope that the Jacks will take out their frustration on the Arizona Sundogs on Tuesday, when the Jacks make their way to Prescott Valley.

Until next time Jack fans all I have to say is GO JACKS GO!!! and lets beat those puppies on Tuesday night!

Jacks Robbed in Rapid City!

Well, hello fellow Jackalope fans on a Friday night in the Permian Basin. Wish I could be blogging with better news, but unfortunately the Jacks fell to the Rush tonight after an incredible comeback by the Rush, and some controversial calls by referee Dan Dreger. Before I break down the game, I will go on a little rant about the moron known as Dan Dreger.

So, as I said, lets start with the officiating. Dan Dreger decided the outcome of a back-and-forth battle by waving off the tying goal with two minutes left in regulation. The reason... goaltender interference. There is only one problem: there was not a penalty handed out for goalie interference, nor did the net come loose. If not enough contact was made to not hand out a penalty, then I think you have to allow a goal when it is that late in regulation, period. Dreger also made several key ticky tacky penalty calls late in the second period, as well as in the third period. Ramsay was called for tripping on a hip check... are you kidding? Mbaraga was called for cross checking when there was absolutely no cross checking at all... once again, are you kidding me? Then midway through the third period, Ramsay absolutely gets nailed and is down on the ice injured for a moment with no call. Dunn then loses his cool and goes after Wray, resulting in the Rush ending up with a three minute powerplay. Wray is not called for the vicious hit on Rammer, which should have been either a double minor for boarding or charging, and was only given a two minute unsportsmanlike minor after Dunn has to go after the goon for the nasty hit on Ramsay. Incredible! The Rush then go on to get a powerplay goal, but the Jacks do not give up. With approximately two minutes in regulation, Dave Van Drunen scores a goal off of a wrist shot only to have it waved off for interference. Only no penalty was given to the Jacks, so I think it is safe to say that Dreger wanted to feel special and decide the outcome of a hard fought game. I just found it hilarious that the Rush staff didn't want to show a replay on their huge video board after this very controversial goal. Hopefully the league will review this game, although we all know that they probably won't, and discipline Dreger for his stupidity. I never have liked this ref, although he is Rajan's favorite, but I find him to be a moron with an agenda.

Now that I have blown off a little steam, I will break down the game. First let me say, shame on the Jacks for giving up not one, but two three goal leads. There is no reason for this, and an elite team does not play like this. I still think we need one more quality d-man and cut Ofukany, because it is becoming very evident that our defense has been fatigued recently, and they need some help. The Jacks also gave up two shorthanded goals, which has also been a problem for the boys this season. This needs to be fixed, and fixed fast.

Now on to the first period of play in Rapid City, South Dakota. Things were looking great for the Jacks in the opening frame as they took a two to nothing lead heading into the first intermission. Congrats to Bourbeau who scored the Jack's first goal at the 17:50 mark, with the assists going to Pierce and Gruenke. Congrats to Sebastien Thinel for tallying the Jacks second goal at the 19:04 mark, on the powerplay, with the assists going to Lesperance and Bernard. Martin also played well in the first period, stopping all thirteen Rush shots that he faced in net. I was feeling pretty good about the Jacks chances going into the second period.

The second period also started off great for the Jacks as Leveille scored a powerplay goal at the 2:56 mark, with the assists going to Karlander and Bernard. The Jacks now led the game by a 3-0 score, and I was feeling that the Jacks were going to continue pounding the Rush. However, a couple of minutes later the Rush score a shorthanded goal to cut the Jack's lead to two goals. The Jacks answered back not even a minute later to take back the three goal lead, when Circelli scored a powerplay goal at the 6:02 mark, with the assist going to Sebastien Thinel. Things seemed to be going the Jacks way once again. But, a little over a minute later, the Rush score yet another shorthanded goal to cut the Jack's lead to two goals yet again. Get this one, though: the Jacks then go on to score another powerplay goal not even one minute later as Jeff Pierce scored at the 7:56 mark to once again regain the three goal lead, with the assists going to Plante and Circelli. Sounds like an absolute slug fest at this point, doesn't it? Both teams trading numerous goals in a very short amount of time. The last goal of the second period went to Rapid City, though, as they once again cut the Jack's lead to two goals heading into the second intermission. Martin did not play well at all in this period, giving up three goals on seven shots.

So now lets move on to the oh so controversial third period, shall we? I was pretty confident that the Jacks would pull off the victory, considering they were leading by two goals heading into the final frame. Boy, was I ever wrong. The Rush scored an early goal in the third to cut the Jacks lead to one goal. The Rush then eventually went on to tie the game later on in the third, before taking the lead at the midway point of the period after scoring a powerplay goal. Credit must be given to the Rush for never giving up, and coming back to take the lead. I will give them all the credit in the world for that. However, the Jacks tie the game in dramatic fashion with about two minutes left in regulation, only to have Dan Dreger wave off the goal for phantom interference. No penalty was handed out, nor was the net knocked loose, yet Dan Dreger decides to hand the game on a silver platter to the Rapid City Rush. Now, I'm not saying that the Jacks would have necessarily won the game, but they would have forced OT, and at least earned a well deserved point. Instead, they got robbed, and have to put this behind them to focus on this same team tomorrow night. Hopefully we will not have Dreger as ref, but I have a feeling that we will.

There are several things that I took away from this game. The Jacks need some help defensively as they have been looking very tired as of late; the Jacks need to learn how to hold on to leads. Earlier I stated that the Jacks blew two three goal leads, but I was actually wrong. The Jacks actually had three, three goal leads that they let slip away; referee Dan Dreger is an absolute moron; and finally, Martin did not look good at all in net tonight. He definitely had an off night, and unfortunately his play was a big reason that the Jacks lost tonight. With that said, the Jacks must put this game behind them, move on, and take care of the Rush tomorrow night. All I know is that I can't wait for March when the Jacks get the Rush on their home ice, when Rapid City visits the ECC. I am going to go ahead and wrap things up, and hopefully things will go better for the Jacks tomorrow night!

Elsewhere around the CHL:

• The Brahmas shutout the Bucks at the NYTEX Sports Centre by a final of 4-0. The Brahmas move back into the third spot in the South, while Laredo is bumped back down to the fourth spot.


• The Mavs take care of the Thunder in Wichita by a final of 4-1. Kelly has been very good for the Thunder, though, and I am really beginning to question the trade that was made to acquire Ofukany.


• The IceRays get a huge win after defeating the Bees by a final of 5-3 at the Dodge Arena in McAllen.


• The Gorillas choke late in the third period to allow the Americans to tie the game. Allen went on to win in OT, and now trail the Jacks by only seven points in the Southern Conference standings.


• And finally, the 'Dogs hold on for a huge win over the Colorado Eagles in Loveland. I wonder what type of reception Reeder was given after jumping ship to Arizona?

Until next time Jack fans all I have to say is GO JACKS GO!!! and lets get some revenge on the Rush tomorrow night!