When Will This Madness End?

Hello fellow Jackalope fans!  I know it's been well over a month since I last truly blogged about Odessa Jackalope hockey, but as I said in my last post, school has really kept me busy as of late, and I was also battling the flu for most of this month, and finally started to feel better a few days ago.  I rarely get sick, but boy when I do, it hits me like a ton of bricks.  Anyway, moving on, lets talk some Jackalope hockey shall we?  Unfortunately the Jacks roller coaster of a season continues to be unpredictable as the Jacks have really struggled recently.  After a semi-successful rodeo road trip, where the team went 3-1-3, the Jacks ended up going 0-6-0 on the ensuing six game homestand which saw the return of Jean Bourbeau to the Odessa Jackalopes from their AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.  I must say that it was great to see Bourbs back on the ice at the ECC, but what was really strange about his return was that the horrible six game losing streak started with his return to the team, and ended once he was recalled by Bridgeport.  It was almost like some kind of curse or something (for all those superstitious hockey fans out there).  It would be silly to claim that Bourbeau is what caused the Jackalopes six game losing streak, but that was just an interesting fact that I thought I would share with everybody. 

As I stated a few moments ago, the Jacks snapped their losing streak the next game after Bourbs was recalled by Bridgeport, which saw the Jacks defeat the Laredo Bucks at the Laredo Energy Arena during a rare 11:00 AM hockey game by a final of 4-3 after the teams ended up deciding the outcome via shootout.  Then came a huge weekend set against the CHL leading Allen Americans.  To cut to the chase, the Jacks lost both games (one in regulation and the other in OT) but both games were one goal games that easily could have ended in favor of the Jacks.  That said, in both games the Jacks blew third period leads, which is something that has bitten the Jacks time and time again this season.  Now, granted these were just one goal leads in the third period on the home ice of the best team in the league, but still the Jacks need to find a way to keep their foot on the gas, and really put away their opposition instead of allowing them to make late comebacks.   Usually it was the Jacks last season that were the ones that made the frequent comeback, but unfortunately this season it appears the tables have turned as time and time again it seems teams are able to come back late in games to either tie the game against Odessa, or even take the lead for good.  That is unacceptable, and the Jacks really need to find a way to fix this problem, preferably before the playoffs begin.

  That said, I will say that the Jacks really played Allen hard this past weekend, and if they play like that for the remainder of the season, then they should definitely have plenty of success, and hopefully move up a few spots in the standing before all is said and done.  In order for this to happen, though, the Jacks are going to have to find a way to stay healthy (with Leveille, Van Drunen, and now Bernard all on the IR), play good consistent hockey, watch stupid defensive turnovers in their own zone, and finally have solid goaltending.  While McKee has been fairly solid for the most part since joining the team, Robinson really seems to be struggling as of late.  If he doesn't get back on the right track in the very near future, then in my personal opinion I would use McKee exclusively as my starter with Robinson being the occasional backup.  But, that's just my two cents.  I'm sure Gillis knows exactly what he is doing, but that's just this fans perspective when it comes to Odessa Jackalope goaltending.

  Moving on, there has been a rumor flying amongst Jackalope fans that Collin Circelli may be returning to the Odessa Jackalopes in the very, very near future.  Now, at this point this is just a rumor, but there is more than one fan that seems pretty confident that number sixteen will be wearing a Jackalope sweater again very soon.  Let me just say that if this rumor does indeed come to fruition, then I will be a very happy Jackalope fan.  I have been a huge fan of Circelli's since he became a Jackalope, and I was pretty disappointed when it was announced that he would be playing hockey in Sweden this season.  Collin is a very solid two-way forward, that is a major scoring threat every time he hits the ice.  He also hustles every time he is on the ice, and I think him being added to the team would help out tremendously as the Jacks have really lacked depth at the center position this season.  I honestly believe that he may be that much needed spark the Jacks need in order to really get rolling again, and it's easy to see that the Jacks need as much momentum as possible before the postseason begins in a little over a month.

  Lets hope that momentum shift begins tomorrow evening when the Jacks travel to Prescott Valley, Arizona to take on the Sundogs who are just five points behind the Jacks for the sixth spot in the Berry Conference standings.  The Jacks need to really find a way to separate themselves from Arizona, Laredo, and especially Rio Grande Valley in the conference standings, as well as find a way to move up a spot or two in order to be in as best a position as possible for the playoffs.  They can begin to work towards that goal starting tomorrow against the 'Dogs, then it's off to North Richland Hills for a Friday night contest against their rival, the Texas Brahmas.  Once they conclude their current road trip, it's back to the Jack Shack for a five game homestand, as well as a month of March that features ten of the fourteen games in that month being played at the Ector County Coliseum.  Lets just hope that the Jacks have a lot more success in their many coming home games than they had during their last homestand.

  I definitely have faith that they will get back on the right track very soon (hopefully starting tomorrow evening), as I believe there is just too much talent on this team for them to continue to struggle like they have the last several games.  I also firmly believe that once this team is fully healthy, especially when Dave Van Drunen returns, then the team will be unstoppable when they're playing their best hockey.  We all know what they are capable of, and I'm dying to see some Jackalope hockey that we  know the team is more than capable of displaying.  Having said all of this, I'm going to go ahead and wrap things up here, and enjoy the rest of Valentines Day (by the way happy Valentines Day to all).


Until next time Jackalope fans all I have to say is GO JACKS GO!!! and lets take care of those sun puppies tomorrow night!