It's Hunting Time!

Hello fellow Jackalope fans!  It is a chilly December day here in the Permian Basin, and the Jacks are gearing up for the Laredo Bucks, as they visit the ECC (aka the Jack Shack) for the fifth meeting between the two teams so far this season.  The season series thus far is tied at 2-2, so the Jacks will be looking to get the upper hand on the Bucks tonight, and more importantly the Jacks will look to earn two points to move out of the cellar of the Berry Conference.  As I have said before, the Berry Conference is packed so tightly in the standings that if the Jacks win in regulation tonight (depending on how the other Berry Conference teams fare tonight) they could move from last place in the conference standings all the way to being tied for fifth place in the conference.  While fifth place is still not where the Jacks want to be in the standings, it would be a lot better than being in last place in the conference standings, so hopefully the boys will come out on fire tonight and get to hunting!  If the Jacks play as well as they did the last time they hosted the Bucks at the ECC earlier this month (a 4-1 Jackalope victory), then I really like the Jacks chances of taking the two points.

That said, inconsistency has been the Jacks number one enemy so far this season, so hopefully the Jacks will start playing some consistent, good hockey starting tonight.  They are coming off a huge 3-2 OT victory over the Colorado Eagles at the BEC (the first victory for the Jacks ever at the BEC), so hopefully they will come into tonight's game with confidence and a bit of a spark, so to speak.  Speaking of the Jacks and Colorado Eagles, this past weekends series between the two teams saw a split for the Jacks, with the Jacks being hammered 8-3 in Friday's game, while playing a much better game on Saturday, stealing two points after the two teams went into OT.  Todd Robinson scored the game winning power play goal with just six seconds left in OT.  Apparently Colorado head coach Chris Stewart wasn't very happy that the Jacks received a whole seventeen second power play in OT, as he received an abuse of officials game misconduct at the end of the game.  I guess he forgot that his team enjoyed two lengthy five on threes in regulation, as well as a thirty-four second power play to start OT.  Mr. Stewart, everything doesn't go your way all the time, and it's about time you learn that.  That being said, it was like a tale of two teams when it came to the Jacks this past weekend.  Hopefully the Jacks that showed up on Saturday show up tonight against Laredo.

  Moving on, according to Pointstreak Ryan Hersey will be tonight's referee, so I'm fully expecting several penalties to be called on both teams.  If that turns out to be true, then the Jacks special teams are going to have to be very good tonight, and our goaltender (Martin I'm assuming) has to be on top of his game as well.  Our defense will also have to play some good hockey tonight, and since Michael Schutte has been activated from the IR, there should be no excuses for our defense playing poorly tonight.  The D will be fully healthy, and with all of the talent on the defense, they better play up to their potential tonight.  As far as our offense goes, I'm not too worried.  Despite currently sitting in the cellar of the Berry Conference, the Jacks have scored the fourth most goals in the Berry Conference, and the fourth most in the entire CHL for that matter.  Our offense seems to be "clicking", and Gillis and Cressman seem to have found line combos that really work for the team, so as I just stated I'm not worried about our offense at all.

  Before I wrap things up here, I would like to say thank you to the Odessa Jackalopes players, Slap Jack, as well as all of the Jackalopes staff that were out and about in the community the other day, spreading the holiday cheer to many people right here in the Permian Basin.  They continue to show that they care for our community, and as I have said many times before, it's about time for the community to return the favor by showing up at the ECC to support the boys.  Our attendance has been pretty bad so far this season (partially due to having so many home games on weekdays), and folks from Odessa, Midland, as well as the rest of the small towns of the Permian Basin need to show that they care for this team as much as this team cares for the community.  With that said, I'm going to go ahead and wrap things up here.  Be sure to check The Enforcer in the coming days for any updates pertaining to the Odessa Jackalopes.  If I'm not able to blog again before Christmas, I would like to say Merry Christmas to all of my readers, as well as wish everybody a happy new year!


Until next time Jackalope fans all I have to say is GO JACKS GO!!! and it's hunting time tonight at the Jack Shack!