Big Weekend Coming Up

Hello fellow Jackalope fans!  It's a gorgeous day here in the Permian Basin, and the Jacks snapped a two game skid by defeating the Allen Americans by a 5-2 final last night at the ECC.  With the win, the Jacks record improves to 25-26-6 (56 Pts.) on the season, and they have jumped the Mississippi Riverkings for fifth place in the Berry Conference standings.  Hopefully last night's win against the team with the best record in the CHL will give the guys an extra boost of confidence when they host the Bloomington Prairie Thunder for the first time ever at the ECC for a pair of games this weekend.  Bloomington is one of the top teams in the Turner Conference, so the Jacks have to bring their "A" game and really limit their stupid turnovers in their own zone.  The good news is that the Jacks have, despite losing a couple in a row recently, been playing pretty good hockey, especially at home, so maybe they will sweep the Prairie Thunder right out of the Permian Basin.  The Jacks definitely need to keep on winning and earning points as both Mississippi and Arizona trail them just by one point for the fifth seed in the Berry, with the Jacks and 'Kings having played the same amount of games, and with the Jacks having two games in hand on the Sundogs.  The boys really need to separate themselves from those two teams as well as Rio Grande Valley, and need to try their best (which will be an extremely difficult task to accomplish) to catch the Mudbugs for the fourth seed in the conference.  If the Jacks can somehow miraculously catch Bossier Shreveport, then that would guarantee the Jacks home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.  Like I said, though, this will be a tall task for the boys, so they need to worry only about themselves and win as many of their remaining games as possible.  It would be nice to see the Jacks heading into the postseason red hot, and who knows, maybe they will be the dark horse to win the Presidents Cup.  We Jackalope fans know they are more than capable of doing this, the guys just have to believe it themselves and play up to their potential.

That said, it has been confirmed that Collin Circelli will be returning to the Jacks soon.  As soon as his team in Sweden finishes up in their playoffs, he should be on his way to the Permian Basin.  Hopefully that will be sooner rather than later, as a player from Europe has to play so many games in order to be eligible for the CHL playoff roster.  From what I've heard, he'll definitely be back in time to qualify, but it would be nice to see him back as soon as possible in order for him to adjust to some of his new teammates as well as help the Jacks finish the regular season on a high note.  Simply put, Collin is a big time goal scorer and has been sorely missed this season.  It will be great to see number sixteen back at the Jack Shack, and I don't think I'm the only one that feels that way.  Now lets move on to Juha Toivonen.  About a week ago General Manager Joe Clark was on the Jacks Power Hour radio show, and he confirmed that it would be extremely difficult and highly unlikely to get Juha back to the Jacks in time for him to qualify for the playoff roster.  He said that they were definitely interested in bringing him back, and he was definitely interested in coming back, but apparently it takes a while to settle immigration issues over in Finland, so it's almost guaranteed that we won't see Juha back in a Jackalopes sweater.  Clark did say their is a very small chance that it could happen, but not to count on it, so who knows?  Crazier things have happened, so I'm still holding on to that little beam of hope that Juha will somehow make his way to the Permian Basin for the playoffs.

Finally, I would like to mention the Jacks impending move to the NAHL next season.  Rumors have been circulating for months now about a possible move, and these rumors have been confirmed as the Jackalopes ownership group has confirmed that the team will be playing junior hockey next season.  While the move is not official yet, as the owners have to deal with the CHL in order to leave the league, it unfortunately looks like pro hockey has officially died in the Permian Basin after fourteen years.  The simple truth of this apparent move is that the Jacks have been bleeding money since the Nyborgs and Gasser took over five years ago, and it seems as if they just can't handle their losses any more.  According to the Odessa American, they have lost over three million dollars since purchasing the team (an average of $600,000 a year), so I fully understand why they are jumping ship as costs are much more manageable in the NAHL.  Of course, this is sad news as we will have to watch players that have been in Odessa for years move on to new cities, leagues, and even countries to continue their careers elsewhere.  I would like to say thank you to those guys, as well as every single player that has wore a Jackalopes sweater, for all of the great memories that you have created for us Jackalope fans to remember for the rest of our lives.  It won't be the same without you guys, and you all will be sorely missed, but I wish you all the best wherever you decide to go from here.

Now, I have personally heard several season ticket holders (some of my family members included) that have flat out stated that they will not renew their tickets if the Jacks move down to the NAHL.  While I'll support the Jackalopes as long as we have a hockey team, apparently many people feel differently, and I truly do hope that our attendance doesn't suffer even further with this move.  We may have small crowds much of the time, but we do have a solid and passionate core of die hards, so I'm really hoping we don't lose our core with this move.  If these fans won't come back to support the team next season, why would the casual fan?  I say junior hockey is better than no hockey (and I really applaud our owners for at least keeping the Jackalopes in some form alive) but some folks just don't feel the same way I do.  Having said that, I will have a separate post once the move is made official, to share even more of my thoughts and opinions about the move to the NAHL.  Now that I've shared the latest Jackalope news with everybody, I'm going to go ahead and wrap things up here.  Hopefully I'll blog again Sunday or sometime next week, depending on how busy I get with school, so be sure to check The Enforcer frequently for any updates pertaining to your Odessa Jackalopes.


 Until next time Jackalope fans all I have to say is GO JACKS GO!!! and lets send the Prairie Thunder back home with a couple of losses this weekend!

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!

I'll Be Back

To quote the former governator of California himself, "I'll be back."  I apologize for not blogging in over a month, but I have really been overloaded with school, not to mention I was battling the flu for pretty much all of February so far.  I'm finally starting to feel better, though, so I plan on blogging either some time this weekend, or some time early next week, so keep checking for updates on The Enforcer.  Hopefully when I do blog again I will be blogging with news that the Jacks swept Allen over the weekend.  They definitely need to get something going in the right direction, especially considering they just snapped a six game losing streak with a shootout victory over Laredo yesterday afternoon.  The Jacks now need to get a good winning streak going, get above the .500 mark again, and pass a few teams in the Berry Conference standings.  Then again, the Jacks seem to be a better road team this season, so maybe a lower seed in the playoffs wouldn't be such a terrible thing.  Who really knows at this point.  That said, I'm going to keep things short and sweet here as I'm going to go ahead and wrap things up here.  As mentioned before, I should be blogging in the very near future, so keep your eyes glued to The Enforcer. ; )

GO JACKS GO!!! and lets take down (to steal a nickname from a fellow Jack fan) those commies this weekend!