Hello? Is Anybody There?

Hello fellow Jackalope fans.  It is a windy day here in the Permian Basin, and I know many Jackalope fans (including myself) are scratching their heads after the Jacks opened up the season with a record of 1-3-0.  All four games have been road games, and the Jacks are definitely missing a few key players from their roster, but with the talent and depth that this team has, there is no way in hell that they should have lost three out of four regular season games to start the season.  This team is way too good to struggle like they have so far in the young 2010-2011 CHL season.  I know there are quite a few new players on the team that need some time to adjust, and many fans have pointed out that in time this team will work things out, but I really don't buy that excuse.  Let me tell you why I don't buy that assumption.  I don't buy it because there are several other teams in this league that have far more new players on their teams, yet most of them seem to be doing just fine.  Now don't get me wrong, I have all the faith in the world that this team will get their act together and I believe they will eventually start piling up the wins, but I am just stunned at how sloppy and slow the team has looked thus far. With that said, I think we all know that Gillis will light the fire under the guys asses, and hopefully we will see the Jacks take their frustration out on the Bucks on Thursday and Saturday at the ECC.  I know (according to Pointstreak anyway) that Gruenke, Leveille, and Leisenring will all be eligible to play for both games at the ECC as their time on the 10 day IR will have expired by then.  However, whether or not any of them will actually be healthy enough to play is anybodies guess.  I'm hoping that all three guys will be ready to go, as all three guys are key players on this team, and we really need them right now.

  Moving on, lets go ahead and review the games that the Jacks have played so far.  I will give just a brief review of the Jacks first three games, and then I will give a more detailed review for yesterdays game between the Jacks and Gems.  The Jacks season opener was not a pretty one as they fell to the Missouri Mavericks by a final of 5-3.  The goal scorers for the Jacks were Brady Leisenring (1) and Kenny Corupe (2), with Jackalope assists being awarded to Sebastien Thinel (1), Jeff Pierce (1), Darryl Bootland (2), Alex Dunn (1), and Todd Robinson (1).  Marc-Antoine Gelinas would pick up the loss for the Jacks, as he stopped 20 of the 25 shots that he faced in between the pipes.  The Jacks were also 0-4 on the power play, but a perfect 2-2 on the penalty kill.

  Now lets move to the Jacks second game against the Quad City Mallards.  It seemed as if the real Jacks were back as the boys beat the Mallards by a final of 4-1.  The Jacks goal scorers in this game were Mike Ramsay (1), Jeff Pierce (1), and Sebastien Thinel (2).  Jackalope assists went to Sebastien Thinel (1), Phil Plante (1), Todd Robinson (1), Jeff Pierce (1), and P.O. Beaulieu (2).  Gelinas would pick up the win for the Jacks, as he stopped 23 of the 24 shots that he face on net.  Little did we know that this would be Gelinas last game in a Jackalope sweater as he was waived by the Jacks due to rumored off ice issues.  Thankfully, Joel Martin would return to the Jacks as he had been released from the AHL's Sound Tigers.  The Jacks went 1-5 on the power play, and were once again perfect on the penalty kill killing off all eight of the Mallards man advantages.  The Jacks would be 1-1-0 heading to their third game of the regular season, and it looked as if the Jacks would have momentum on their side after the solid game that they had against the Mallards.

  Unfortunately, that would not be the case.  The Jacks would fall to the Bloomington Prairie Thunder by a final of 5-4, even though the score was much more lopsided for the majority of the game.  The Jacks would be trailing by a score of 5-2 midway through the third period, before they finally decided to show up and try to mount a comeback.  They would climb to within one goal of the Thunder with about six minutes left in regulation, but unfortunately the comeback effort would be too little too late.  Instead of showing up to play for a full sixty minutes, the Jacks decided to show up to play for about fifteen minutes, and as all hockey fans know that will never get the job done.  The goal scorers for the Jacks in this contest were Mike Lesperance (1), Michael Schutte (1), Darryl Bootland (1), and Sebastien Thinel (1).  Jackalope assists were earned by Phil Plante (1), Mike Ramsay (1), Todd Robinson (2), Sebastien Thinel (1), Alex Dunn (1), and P.O. Beaulieu (1).  Unfortunately Joel Martin didn't quite look like last years CHL Most Outstanding Goalie as he took the loss stopping 33 of the 38 Bloomington shots.

Finally, lets talk about last night's game between the Jacks and Gems.  Gillis would be behind the bench for the first time this regular season after serving his three game suspension, and based on what was said during his pregame interview with Brien Rea, Coach Gillis was not a very happy person when it came to how his team had been playing.  After yesterdays game, I'm willing to bet that he wasn't any happier.  The Jacks would find themselves in a 3-0 hole before they would finally show some signs of life in the second period.  The Jacks would finally get on the scoreboard with four and a half minutes left in the second period off of a power play goal by Sebastien Thinel, with the assists going to Todd Robinson and Morgan MacLean.  The Jacks had cut the deficit to two goals, but the Gems would answer back with just one minute left in the middle frame when Dayton would score a power play goal to regain the three goal lead heading into the second intermission.  But, the Jacks would decide to show up to play in the third period once again, and they would trim the deficit to two goals yet again when Kenny Bernard would light the lamp less than five minutes into the third period, with the lone assist being awarded to Morgan MacLean.  The Jacks would pull to within one goal just three and a half minutes later when Darryl Bootland would find the back of the net, with the assists going to Todd Robinson and Phil Plante.  The Jacks seemed to have plenty of time to tie the game with a little over twelve minutes left in the final frame, and it appeared as if the Jacks were going to once again try and make a third period comeback, but it just wasn't meant to be.  Joel Martin would be pulled in favor of the extra attacker with less than two minutes to play, but the Gems would tally the dreaded empty netter to seal the fate of the Jacks.  The final score would be 5-3 in favor of the Gems, and Joel Martin would pick up the loss stopping 26 of the 30 shots that he faced in net.  The Jacks went 2-7 on the power play, but their penalty kill (which had been great for the first three games) really struggled killing only one of the Gems four power play opportunities.

Now the Jacks are tied for last place in the Berry Conference with the Mississippi Riverkings, and I think it's safe to say that Jackalope fans are wondering how a team as talented and deep as this team is, is struggling so mightily.  Maybe it's the injuries to several key players?  Maybe the boys still haven't got over the Van Drunen incident? Or maybe the team just needs a little more time to gel to get the team chemistry to where it needs to be?  I'm not sure what it is, but I'm sure Gillis knows exactly what it is, and you better believe that he will work this team hard until the problem is corrected.  What I do know, though, is that our offense has been flat much of the time (although it  finally seems to be clicking a little bit); our defense has been very bad giving up far too many odd man rushes to the opposition; our power play has been horrible; our penalty kill had been great until last night; and finally, Martin has definitely been shaky in between the pipes thus far in the young season.  With that said, it is still a very young season, I know that these problems will be fixed very soon, and in a few weeks (hopefully) the Jacks will be pummeling the opposition while sitting on top of the Berry Conference.  We should be getting the aforementioned key players back from the IR pretty soon, and hopefully in a couple months we will be welcoming back our captain to the ice.

Now that I have updated you all with how the Jacks did during their opening regular season road trip, I will go ahead and wrap things up here.  But before I do, I would like to give ya'll the link to the MacMillan/Van Drunen video, which was finally released a couple of days ago.  The video is very short, yet very disturbing, so viewer discretion is advised.  You all already know how I feel about this "fight", so I won't even comment on it again here.  But, I do encourage you to post your comments on what you thought of the video, or just comment how you feel about the Jacks in general.  Be sure to check The Enforcer throughout the upcoming week for any news pertaining to the Jacks, and please show up loud and proud this Thursday and Saturday to cheer the boys to a couple of victories at the ECC against our rival Laredo Bucks.


Until next time Jackalope fans all I have to say is GO JACKS GO!!! and lets take out our frustrations on the Laredo deer on Thursday and Saturday!