Rush Crushed!

Hello fellow Jackalope fans!  It is a very windy day in the Permian Basin, and the Jacks are gearing up for the Colorado Eagles (who visit the ECC tomorrow evening) after sweeping the defending Ray Miron President Cup Champs Rapid City Rush this past weekend.  While the Rush were far from crushed in the game on Saturday night (with the Jacks winning 3-2 after a seven round shootout) the Rush were absolutely crushed on Fridays contest where the Jacks pummeled the defending champs by an 8-0 final.  The Jacks made a huge statement this weekend in the Black Hills, and lets hope the Jacks continue to play good hockey tomorrow night when they take on the Turner Conference leading Colorado Eagles.

  By the way, this will be the first meeting between the Jacks and Eagles since the Van Drunen/'MacMillan incident that left Van Drunen with a mangled face and broken jaw.  It should be an emotional, interesting, exciting night, and lets just hope that the Jacks put an absolute beatdown on the Eagles on the scoreboard.  I'm hoping for a huge crowd at the Jack Shack for tomorrow's contest since the Van Drunen/MacMillan incident received quite a bit of publicity throughout the Permian Basin.  I know it's a weekday game, and very few teams have good weekday game crowds, but I'm hoping for a huge exception tomorrow.  I hope people from Odessa, Midland, and the surrounding cities and towns come out to support the boys and let the Eagles know how we feel about them.  But, more importantly I hope all these folks show up tomorrow to let Dave Van Drunen know how we feel about him.  He is our captain, our leader, our best defenseman, and the backbone of this Odessa Jackalope team.  We are extremely happy that he has been back in the lineup for the past few games, and I am very pleased that he will be in the lineup tomorrow when the Jacks take on the Eagles.  It can't be said enough how vital Dave Van Drunen is to this team.  It's time for this community to get behind the Jackalopes, and come out to support them like the Jacks support the community.

  Now that I've hyped up tomorrow's game, lets go ahead and take a look back at this past weekends games that featured the Jacks taking on the Rush.  We will start with Fridays contest where the Jacks absolutely crushed the Rush by an 8-0 final, which was the worst defeat the Rush have suffered in their franchises history.  Several Jackalopes registered multiple points in the game, with eleven different Jackalope players registering at least one point in the game.  Todd Robinson finished the night with four assists; Sebastien Thinel had two goals and one assist; Kenny Corupe and Kenny Bernard also had two goals and one assist a piece; Mike Lesperance tallied one goal and one assist; Jeff Pierce, Mike Ramsay, and Alex Dunn all finished the game with two assist a piece; Dominic Leveille had one goal; and finally Patrick Mbaraga and Phil Plante each had one assist in the game.  Man, that was a lot to type.  Congrats to all those guys on registering points in the blowout against Rapid City, and congrats to the team as a whole for picking up two big points against a very good Rapid City team.  Now lets move to the play of Michel Robinson, who picked up his as well as the teams first shutout of the season.  Simply put, Robinson was fantastic in net for the Jacks stopping all thirty of the Rapid City shots.  Congrats to Robinson on the shutout, and if I were a betting men I would say that Robinson gets the start in net tomorrow night when the Jacks host Colorado.  The Jacks special teams were also (for a change) great in the game, with the power play going 4-11, while the penalty kill killed off all five of the Rush man advantages.  All in all, it was a great win for the Jacks, and the largest margin of victory the Jacks have had against any opponent so far this season.

With that said, I think everybody was shocked that the Jacks beat the Rush so badly on Friday on Rapid City's home ice, and nobody was surprised to see a much more competitive game on Saturday night.  The Jacks completed the sweep of Rapid City on Saturday night by defeating the Rush by a final of 3-2 after a seven round shootout.  This was a great game to listen to on the radio, so I can only imagine how exciting it was for the home crowd to watch it live.  Sebastien Thinel continues to be red hot as he tallied both of the Jackalope regulation goals in the second game.  Corupe, Plante, and Robinson all finished the night with one assist a piece, and Alex Dunn scored the game winner in the shootout.  Congrats to all the guys on an exciting win, and an even bigger congrats to the boys for skating away from Rapid City with four HUGE points.  Michel Robinson was in net for this game as well, and once again he was simply amazing.  He stopped 32 of the 34 Rapid City shots on goal, as well as six of the seven Rush shooters in the shootout.  His record now sits at 2-2-1 with a 2.15 goals against average and a 93.3% save percentage.  He is quickly becoming a favorite of mine, and he is definitely proving that he is not a backup to anybody.  Finally, the Jacks power play was terrible in this game going 0-6, where they were unable to convert on two lengthy five on threes as well as three minutes of a five minute major against Rapid City's Les Reaney after he was called for slew footing.  It is still very perplexing how the CHL's best power play from a season ago is now one of the worst power plays in the CHL the very next season with multiple returning players.  I just don't get it.  With that said, the Jacks penalty kill was pretty good once again killing off six of seven Rush man advantages.

  Now that I have covered both games against Rapid City this past weekend, I'm going to go ahead and wrap things up here.  Remember to show up tomorrow for what is sure to be an exciting game between your Odessa Jackalopes and the Turner Conference leading Colorado Eagles at the ECC.  Be sure to check The Enforcer frequently as I will hopefully have a recap of tomorrow's game some time later in the week.


Until next time Jackalope fans all I have to say is GO JACKS GO!!! and lets make chickens out of those Eagles tomorrow night at the Jack Shack!

Weekend in the Black Hills

Hello fellow Jackalope fans!  As promised, I will give a preview of this weekends games where the Jacks take on the Rapid City Rush of the Turner Conference.  Lets start with where both teams currently stand in their respective conferences.  The Rush currently sit in second place in the Turner Conference, trailing only Colorado by three points in the standings.  There current record sits at 8-5-2 (18 Pts.), with with a 5-2-0 home record thus far.  They will surely be a huge test for the Jacks this weekend, but I'm liking the Jacks chances based on their recent performances (for the most part).  Now lets check to see where the Jacks currently stand in the Berry Conference.  The Jacks are currently tied for last place in the Berry Conference with Tulsa, and have a record of 5-10-1 (11 Pts.).  They definitely need to improve their play on the road as their road record currently sits at an unacceptable 2-6-1.  The Jacks also recently had their three game winning streak snapped by the Texas Brahmas, but hopefully they will get another one started this weekend against the Rush.  As bad as it sounds that the Jacks are currently tied for last in the Berry Conference, the conference is currently so tight that the Jacks are only five points away from being in third place.  Therefore, if the Jacks offense continues to be explosive like it has been over the last several games, if the Jacks defense wakes up (which it hopefully will with the return of Dave Van Drunen), and if the Jacks can get some consistent goaltending, then I feel the Jacks will start winning more and more in the very, very near future, and hopefully start to climb their way to the top of the Berry Conference. 

Now that we had addressed where both the Rush and Jacks currently sit in their respective conferences, lets go ahead and talk about both teams special teams.  The Rush currently have the CHL's second best power play unit with a 24% power play conversion percentage.  On the other side of things, the Rush penalty kill is currently ranked 17th in the CHL with a PK percentage of 77.78%.  The Jacks special teams have been flat out horrible this season, with their power play ranking 17th in the CHL with a 13.41 success rate, while their penalty kill is currently the worst in the league as the team has only been able to kill off 74.44% of the oppositions power plays.  This is one of the main areas that has been killing the Jacks all season long, and it is simply stunning how a team that has so many returning players from last season that had the league's best power play and penalty kill to have one of the league's worst special teams play the very next season.  It just doesn't make much sense, but hopefully the Jacks will correct this problem very soon.

Finally lets go ahead and address both teams leading scorers as well as goaltender play.  The Jacks currently have the CHL's top and third highest scorers in Sebastien Thinel and Todd Robinson respectively.  Thinel leads the league with 28 points (10G/18A), while Robinson is currently third in scoring in the CHL with 24 points (9G/15A).  Jackalopes goaltending has been a bit inconsistent this season with Joel Martin sporting a record of 4-7-0 with a 3.86 goals against average and an 88.6% save percentage.  Michel Robinson, despite not winning a game for the Jacks yet has actually played very well in net.  His current record is 0-2-1 with a 2.97 goals against average and a 91% save percentage.  I say Robinson gets both starts in net for the Jacks this weekend, although that is purely a guess on my part.  Not lets move on to Rapid City's leading scorers and goaltenders.  The top two scorers for the Rush are Ryan Menei and Derek LeBlanc respectively.  Menei currently has 20 points (11G/9A) while LeBlanc has 16 points (8G/8A).  Scott Wray also has 16 points (7G/9A).  Goaltending for the Rush has been decent as well this season, with Danny Battochio sporting a record of 7-3-2 with a 2.85 goals against average and a 91% save percentage.  His backup, however, has been less than stellar with a 1-2-0 record with a 4.23 goals against average and an 87% save percentage.

  Now that I have given a preview for tonight's game against the Rush, I'm going to go ahead and get off of here.  I have been swamped recently with a ton of schoolwork, and finally had a day to get back to blogging.  I hope to blog again either on Sunday or Monday hopefully with good news about the Jacks weekend in the Black Hills, so be sure to check up on The Enforcer regularly.


Until next time Jackalope fans all I have to say is GO JACKS GO!!! and crush the Rush this weekend!

Be Back Soon!

Hello fellow Jackalope fans!  It has been a while since I last blogged, and quite a bit has happened since my last post.  I have been absolutely swamped with school as of late, and I plan on blogging hopefully on Friday to preview the Jacks/Rush games this weekend in Rapid City.  I just wanted to drop in here and let everybody know that I have not given up on the blog, and will be blogging again very soon.  So, be sure to check The Enforcer in the coming days, and as always GO JACKS GO!!!


Until next time Jackalope fans all I have to say is GO JACKS GO!!! and welcome back Dave Van Drunen!

Jacks Continue to Struggle Early in Season

Hello fellow Jackalope fans!  It's been a while since I last blogged, and to be completely honest with all of you, you haven't missed much when it comes to the Jacks.  The Jackalopes continue to struggle, as they lost both games to the RGV Killer Bees this past weekend, one game in a shootout, and the other game in regulation.  Their record now sits at an embarrassing 2-6-1 as they are currently tied for seventh place in the Berry Conference with five total points.  Normally I would give a recap of this past weekends games, but I really don't feel like reliving a couple of losses, so if you are interested in getting a recap of the games, please visit the Odessa Jackalopes website.  What I will address in this post, however, is what I personally think is wrong with this team that is stacked with talent, and perhaps what can be done to fix it.  Now, I'm definitely not claiming to be any kind of hockey expert (because I'm far from it) but I will give a fans perspective of what I feel is wrong with the team.  I'm also not questioning Coach Gillis in any way, so please don't take what I'm posting as an insult towards Gillis.  I would never question the decisions made by a former NHLer that also has championship experience as a minor league hockey head coach.  With that said, lets go ahead and dive right into the mess of a team the Jackalopes are so far.

  Lets start by talking about goaltending.  I don't think anybody would deny that Martin got off to a very shaky start when returning to the Jacks from Bridgeport.  He has, however, rebounded nicely, and he is definitely not the problem with the Jacks right now.  The Jacks also signed Michel Robinson to a five game contract, and I do believe that he will be signed to a full contract as I have been impressed with his play (so far) in between the pipes for the Jacks.  I think he will be a solid backup for Martin, and I also think he will keep Martin on his toes, so to speak, by making sure that Martin doesn't get too comfortable know that he is the Jacks number one goalie.  As I already said, though, I don't think goaltending is the Jacks problem right now, and I'm more than confident that Joel and Michel will be able to hold their own in net for the Jacks throughout the season.

  Now that we have discussed goaltending, lets move on to the Jacks offense.  The Jackalopes first line of Thinel/Robinson/Leveille has been great so far, but the second and third lines need to start scoring more, especially considering the talent that is on these lines.  As I have said before in previous posts, our third line should be more productive than many teams first lines based on talent alone, but that definitely has not been the case so far this season.  Guys like Jeff Pierce, Mike Ramsay, and Kenny Corupe need to live up to their potential, and start finding ways to get the puck in the back of the net.  The reason I am singling out these three guys is because I know what they can do, and they (at least so far) have not played like they are capable of playing.  This brings me to another point when it comes to the offense.  The Jacks are lacking a gritty forward this season (with Bootland being an exception) and I honestly believe the Jacks need another tough, gritty forward or two to get this offense rolling.  You never know how vital guys like Swiniarski and Bourbeau are to your team until you lose them, and it is very obvious that this team needs to toughen up and toughen up fast.  If the Jacks do end up getting Bourbeau back from Bridgeport some time this season, I truly believe that that would help our team our tremendously.  But, apparently Bourbs has really been impressing the coaching staff of the Sound Tigers, and we wish him all the best in the AHL.

  Now that we have addressed the Jacks offense, lets finally move to what I feel has been the Jacks main problem this season... the defense.  To be totally blunt, the Jackalope defense has been very bad so far in this young season.  What appeared to be one of the top defenses in the offseason on paper turned out to be a major problem so far for the Jacks.  Now I know the Jacks are missing their best defenseman and captain in Dave Van Drunen, but the team is still too talented to be playing how they have been so far.  However, it will be a huge relief once Van Drunen is able to return to the team as he is our best defenseman, leader, and is also very tough on the opposition.  He is greatly missed, and we wish him a speedy recovery.  Now lets move on to the rest of our defense.  Before I go any further, I was very tempted to name every single defenseman and give my opinion on how I feel they have performed so far this season.  In fact, I just had to delete a lot of what I already typed, but after really thinking about it, I decided a true fan would not single out every defenseman on the team and basically bash them on a blog.  While I may be disappointed with how many of them have performed this season, I have ultimately decided not to single out specific players.  What I will say is that our defense has been slow, has let the opposing team skate right by them on odd man rushes and even breakaways, and has been the Jacks main problem this season.  That's as far as I will go on that subject, and finally I will address the Jacks special teams.  The Jacks have went from having the leagues top power play unit and one of the top penalty kill units last season, to having the third worst power play and second worst penalty unit so far this season.  It is just perplexing how poorly our special teams have performed this season, and hopefully they will begin to turn things around in the very near future.

  Now that I have vented and let everybody know how I feel about the Jackalopes as of now, I will close in saying that I will support this team when they are winning as well as when they are losing.  I consider myself a die-hard fan, and I don't know what I would do without Odessa Jackalopes hockey.  I would also like to add that I still have faith in the team, coaches, GM, etc.  This team will start moving in the right direction eventually (hopefully very soon), and that is something that I am very confident about.  I am going to go ahead and wrap things up here, and hopefully I will blog again some time this upcoming weekend with news that the Jacks have got back to their winning ways.


Until next time Jackalope fans all I have to say is GO JACKS GO!!! and lets get a winning streak started this weekend when we take on the Brahmas and Americans!