This weekend's Junior Schedule 2/24-26

With the NAHL Top Prospects Tournament now behind the North American Hockey League (NAHL). The league is back to the regular season as the final month of the NAHL Regular season is getting into high gear as the fight for 1st Round Home Ice between the Topeka Roadrunners & Texas Tornado will be getting into high gear as both teams have tough road series' this weekend as the Tornado will travel to Amarillo to face the Bulls; while the Roadrunners head to the Northwest to play the Wenatchee Wild as they are looking to overtake the Alaska Avalanche for 2nd Place in the West Coast Division with both teams having 14 & 15 games left this season.

Texas is in a part of the schedule where they are playing the Bulls 3 out of 4 weekend series as the Bulls were able to win a pair of 1 goal games where the Bulls won 5-4 & 3-2 in OT last weekend going into the Top Prospects Tournament which allowed Topeka to get a series split against the Fairbanks Ice Dogs who are leading the West Coast Division with 13 games left in the regular season. And are looking to defend the NAHL Robertson Cup Championship this year in Frisco coming up in May.

The only break from the Bulls will be on March 2nd & 3rd when the team heads to Kansas to play the Roadrunners for the final time of the regular season and possible 1st Round Playoff Preview which could be the decider to determine home ice advantage in a possible playoff series in Early April.

After this long road trip wraps up, the Tornado will finish the regular season with 4 of their final 6 at home with home series against the New Mexico Mustangs (3/16-17) & the Corpus Christi Icerays (3/30-31) to bring an end to the regular season. The Final Road of the regular season trip after this will be back in Corpus Christi on March 23rd & 24th.

Other important series in the region this weekend includes another #4 VS. #5 Series with the Corpus Christi Icerays & Odessa Jackalopes in a home-and-home this weekend where the IceRays are looking to get out of a bit of a tail spin they have been in recently after having a bit of a let down weekend against the New Mexico Mustangs where despite getting 3 out of 4 points, it didn't look that convincing as the Mustangs were able to control huge portions of both games last weekend.

New Mexico was able to have a rare strong series, it's not only the points back but the number of teams they have to jump over both Wichita Falls & Odessa to have a shot of taking down Corpus Christi for the 4th & Final Playoff spot in the South Division.

Also working against them is how the Mustangs have the fewest games remaining of the chasing pack. While Odessa (14 GR) & Wichita Falls (12 GR) still have chances to get ahead. New Mexico only has 11 games left in the regular season

The IceRays can put themselves in a position where they could be as many as 13 points up on Odessa and looking to put a knockout punch on the chasing pack of Odessa, Wichita Falls & New Mexico to end their playoff hopes as all 3 teams are looking to find a way to stay in the chase.

The WSHL has the Mid-West Division Leading El Paso Rhinos entreating the Dallas Ice Jets this weekend. With El Paso already clinching the Mid-West Division top seed, the Ice Jets are looking to use this as an opportunity to create some distance between themselves and the Texas Jr. Brahmas who are sitting in 3rd Place, just 5 points back of the Ice Jets as the Jr. Brahmas will be playing a home-and-home against the lowly Dallas Snipers who are just going through the motions of wrapping up the season as they have been out of playoff contention for weeks now.

There is also a lot of motivation for the Ice Jets after they got swept by the Rhinos just after New Years, and it wasn't just a bad weekend for the Ice Jets but a series that turned the tide in the Mid-West Division Race where the Rhinos took the Division Lead and haven't looked back ever since. Since then, the Rhinos have won 13 of their last 15 in which most of it has taken down some weak competition like scoring 14 & 10 goals in back-to-back games against the Phoenix Knights for example.

The Ice Jets on the other hand have had some issues since New Years where they are currently on a 5 game losing streak where they got swept by the Idaho Jr. Steelheads.

With the Ice Jets & Rhinos currently #1 & #2 in the Mid-West Division, this could be a possible preview for the Mid-West Division Final & a Round Robin Game in the WSHL Throne Cup as El Paso will be hosting and having an automatic spot in this year's Championship Tournament.

This weeks Junior Schedule

North American Hockey League

2/24

Texas Tornado VS. Amarillo Bulls  7:00 PM

Corpus Christi Icerays VS. Odessa Jackalopes  7:05 PM

New Mexico Mustangs VS. Wichita Falls Wildcats  7:05 PM

2/25

Texas Tornado VS. Amarillo Bulls  7:00 PM

New Mexico Mustangs VS. Wichita Falls Wildcats  7:25 PM

Odessa Jackalopes VS. Corpus Christi Icerays  7:35 PM

Western States Hockey League

2/24

New Mexico Renegades VS. Boulder Bison  8:15 PM

Dallas Ice Jets VS. El Paso Rhinos  8:30 PM

Dallas Snipers VS. Texas Jr. Brahmas  9:00 PM

2/25

Texas Jr. Brahmas VS. Dallas Snipers  7:30 AM

New Mexico Renegades VS. Boulder Bison  8:15 PM

Dallas Ice Jets VS. El Paso Rhinos  8:30 PM

2/26

New Mexico Renegades VS. Boulder Bison  1:00 PM

Dallas Ice Jets VS. El Paso Rhinos  5:30 PM



Ice Jets take 2-of-3 against the San Diego Gulls

The Ice Jets had another strong series by taking 2 of the 3 games this weekend against the San Diego Gulls over the weekend at the Polar Ice House in Grapevine. One of the biggest themes of this series was that was decided with all 3 games having the winner get into a scoring burst with the winning team scoring twice in a minute or less. First on Friday Night it was Jefferson Wright & Austin Rehwinkel scoring on both ends of a 5-on-3 power play in just 17 seconds which was part of a 4 goal 1st period and lead to a 5-1 victory.

1/27: San Diego Gulls 1  Dallas Ice Jets 5  (1-4, 0-0, 0-1)

1/28: San Diego Gulls 2  Dallas Ice Jets 3 (OT) (1-0, 0-0, 1-2, 0-1)

1/29: San Diego Gulls 4 Dallas Ice Jets 2 (1-1, 2-1, 1-0)



Next on Saturday Night, it was a comeback victory after a slow start to where the Gulls were won 1-0 and after a bit of an uneventful 2nd period where Giovannetti scored late in the 1st period on the Power Play with just 1:15 left in the 1st period where Tyler Giovanetti was one of the big standouts for the Gulls this weekend where he scored goals number nine and ten of the regular season this weekend.

After Grant Williams got his 3rd straight multi point game (1G 5A) over that stretch of time where he assisted on Brandon Unser's game winner at the 3:37 mark of the extra frame and the Ice Jets were looking at not only get a rare series sweep, but also leap frog the El Paso Rhinos for the Mid-West Division Lead.

Sunday was San Diego day to advert the sweep and to keep the Ice Jets from getting the Mid-West Division Leading. But it got off to another great start for the Ice Jets thanks to Christian Elsborg who was able to continue a strong scoring run as he was able to get his 6th goal in the last 5 games, including a hat trick on January 22 against the Cheyenne Stampede.

That goal made it 1-0 just 1:14 into the game as they were able to play one of the better overall periods as they were able to smother the Gulls by out shooting San Diego 22-7 through the 1st period. It didn't prevent the Gulls Tyler Giovannetti from scoring his 2nd goal of the weekend with just under 5 minutes on a great feed from Kyle Clements.

This lead to a big time momentum shifter that goal as the Gulls were able to get off to a fast start which included 7 shots on goal and being able to hold the Ice Jets to just 4 shots on goal during the 2nd period.

The Gulls were able to gain the lead at 10:56 of the 2nd period where Justin Lazalde fired a shot from the high slot was deflected by Aaron Peterson just in front of the net to give them a 2-1 Gulls. Just 16 seconds later Tomas Busek got a laser beam sort of a pass from Stoyakn to give the Gulls a 3-1 lead.

After an Aaron Peterson Penalty for boarding at 14:07 to give the Ice Jets a Power Play opportunity when Austin Rehwinkel scored on a great slap shot sent from Dylan Campbell to trim the Gulls lead down to one at 3-2 with less then 5 minutes left in the 3rd period.

It wasn't enough through as the Gulls got the insurance goal from Arseny Stoyakn to put the game at 4-2 with just over 12 minutes left in the 3rd period. But not without some late chances from the Ice Jets to get back in this game and try to force OT like when Austin Rehwinkel almost took advantage of a bad clearing opportunity by Brian Walters.

It was quick strikes in all 3 games that decided this series. Despite the two wins, the Ice Jets still find themselves just 1 point behind the Mid-West Division Leading El Paso Rhinos who sweeped the Park City Moose by a combined score of 28-3 in the 3 games including a 14-1 win back on Friday Night.

Elsewhere in the DFW Area oer the weekend included the Texas Tornado getting a 6-2 win over the Fresno Monsters in their only game of the weekend. The Victory included Frederick Leisner 1st win as a Tornado Goalie since the trade that brought the Garland based Net Minder from the Aberdeen Wings. It also had Ondrej Kopta's 1st multi point game of his Junior Career for the 16 year old of the Czech Republic.

Also the Dallas Snipers continued their winless streak which now sits at 9 games and they haven't won since December 17 when they beat the Phoenix Knights at the WSHL Vegas Showcase. Also the Texas Jr. Brahmas were able to win of 2 of their 3 games against the New Mexico Renegades out in Rio Rancho, New Mexico over the weekend.

As for the current standings in both the WSHL Mid-West Division & NAHL South Division. The Mid-West Division Title will probably be the most exciting race as the Regular Season enters the final month as El Paso leads the Division by a single point. Currently the Jr. Brahmas are 18-11-1 (37 PTS) in 3rd Place, while the New Mexico Renegades are 4th with 30 Points (14-18-2). While the Snipers sit in last with a league worst 6 points (3-33-0) who is already officially eliminated in the WSHL Playoffs.

Texas is still battling with the Topeka Roadrunners for 2nd and that all important 1st Round Home Ice as the two teams are tied with 58 points with Topeka having the current tie breaker with 2 more wins in 1 fewer game (Texas is 43 GP, 26-11-6; Topeka is 42 GP, 28-12-2).

This upcoming weekend will be busy with a 3 game series against the Wichita Falls Wildcats (Thursday & Friday at Home, Saturday at Home). While Topeka is at home for a rare mid-week series on Wednesday and Thursday against the Corpus Christi Icerays.

While the WSHL Teams will be in action, especially the Jr. Brahmas with 4 games in 5 nights this week starting with a late night matchup on Wednesday against the Dallas Ice Jets at NYTEX Sports on Wednesday Night.

Later in the week the Long Beach Bombers come into town for a weekend series with this being the start of a 7 game home stand which will also include against El Paso next weekend.

Also the Dallas Snipers will play in a series that will mean very little where they will play the Park City Moose in a series that will mean next to nothing with both teams having the worst records in the WSHL This season.

New Mexico comes back to win 3-2 in SO

On a night where the Rhinos could have officially tied the Ice Jets for the Mid-West Division Lead following the 3 game sweep, a plucky and aggressive New Mexico Team came back from a 2-0 deficit in the 3rd period to get the game tied and then win in a SO.

Despite the Rhinos SO Loss, this takes the Ice Jets within a single point of the Mid-West Division Leading Ice Jets, and they will have a prime opportunity to take the Division Lead both Tonight & Tomorrow Night with 2 more games against the Renegades this weekend. Both Games Friday & Saturday Night will be taking place at 7:30 PM MST (8:30 PM CST).

They are taking advantage of both the series sweep again the Ice Jets and the fact that the Ice Jets have this weekend off by using their 2 games in hand to great use right now.

Current WSHL Mid-West Division Standings.

1. Dallas Ice Jets  30 GP  20-6-4  44 PTS  125-79

2. El Paso Rhinos 29 GP  21-7-1  43 PTS  162-95

3. Texas Jr. Brahmas  26 GP  15-10-1  31 PTS  111-93

4. New Mexico Renegades  26 GP  13-11-2  28 PTS  93-96

5. Dallas Snipers  32 GP  3-29-0  6 PTS  95-213

New Mexico Renegades 3 El Paso Rhinos 2  (SO) (0-1, 0-1, 2-0, 0-0, 1-0)

El Paso Rhinos Press Release by Duke Keith

Here's the New Mexico Renegades Press Release

From El Paso, Texas: Thirty one seconds.

Leading 2-0 over a scrappy New Mexico Renegades Team in the third period, the El Paso Rhinos went to sleep at the switch for just 31 seconds. That's all it took for the Renegades to tie the game, then beat their hosts in a shootout, 3-2.

New Mexico's Adam Moon deflected a fluke goal in off a draw at 3:41. Out of a fracas right after the goal, El Paso team captain Mike Rivera was whistled for unsportsmanlike conduct.

After going 0-8 with the man advantage through the prior two periods. Renegades forward Matt Uvodich broke into the Rhinos Zone between two defenders and lifted a low wrister just over the pad of El Paso Goalie Trent Casper for the power play goal at 4:12.

Embolden by the tie, New Mexico circled the wagon behind goaltender Eric Messer, not letting in another Rhinos goal through the rest of regulation, all of the five minute overtime, and even the shootout.

Though it won't show up in the stats, Messer also stopped all four Rhinos shooters in the SO, when Michael Pisarevsky rendered the fifth shooter unnecessary by the scoring New Mexico's second shootout goal.

Messer stopped 42 of 44 shots for his 10th win in net and New Mexico improves to 13-11-2. The Renegades 28 points put them just 3 points behind the Texas Brahmas for third place in the Mid-West Conference of the Western States Hockey League.

The loss is El Paso's (21-7-1, 43 Points) first in overtime or shootout this season, thus the Rhinos miss an opportunity to the Ice Jets (20-6-4  44 PTS) atop the Mid-West Conference for the first time this season.

They'll have another opportunity Friday & Saturday Night, as El Paso & New Mexico play twice more, at 7:30 PM MST both nights.

For tickets & Info, contact the Rhinos front office at 915-479-PUCK (7825) or go to www.elpasorhinos.com





Dallas Ice Jets El Paso Rhinos Photos

The Western States Hockey League, as well as both the El Paso Rhinos VS. Dallas Ice Jets WSHL Series over the weekend at Polar Ice House in Grapevine over the weekend.

Dallas Ice Jets VS. El Paso Rhinos Series Photos

El Paso completes sweep with 5-4 SO Victory

El Paso Rhinos 5  Dallas Ice Jets 4  (SO) (2-1, 1-2, 1-1, 0-0, 1-0)

It was a perfect 3-for-3 this weekend for the Rhinos as they came into Sunday Afternoon's Series Finale against the Ice Jets looking to come as close as one point in the race for the WSHL's Mid-West Division Lead. Even though the Ice Jets looked better in this game then on Saturday Night; It was still the Rhinos that got off to a fast start with a strong wrist shot from the right faceoff circle at just 54 seconds into the game, with assists coming from Tobias Pehrson & Matthew Tritsch got the assists off the faceoff which helped Nelson which broke a 5 game scoreless streak which goes back to the WSHL Holiday Showcase in Las Vegas when they played the Boulder Bison.

That quick goal allowed the Rhinos to control the early portions of this game with their speed and most of the Rhinos players hitting everything one and everything in sight, in addition a strong defense that kept the Ice Jets down to 6 shots for the entire 1st period. The Rhinos continued to control the 1st period by playing some strong defense on the Ice Jets 1st 2 PP Chances with a High Sticking Penalty to Gunnar Bjorklund & an Interference Penalty against Craig Hanisch that they were able to take advantage to build momentum, to eventually lead to get the Rhinos 1-0 lead. One of the best chances for the Ice Jets  in the 1st part of the game was a great breakaway that Blake Blaha was able to generate and was almost able to beat Brandon Smolarek on a Breakaway Backhand Chance just past the midway point in the 1st period.

Another folied chance came just a few minutes later when Sam Akins couldn't control what would have been a booming slap shot with traffic in front of the net .

Despite the chances, the SOG were much lower and much more even. Late in the 1st period exploded with activity with the Rhinos Dallas Szustak converting a low wrist shot to make it, 2-0 Rhinos at 16:37, with a great pass from Trey Hughes near the faceoff dot. This was a great example of making the best of their scoring chances that the Rhinos have done a great job of all weekend which was one of the biggest differences to make the Rhinos win all 3 games in this series. Tobias Pehrson also got his 2nd assist of the 1st period who's had one of his better performances of the weekend.

Just a minute later, Blaha & Craig Hanisch dropped the gloves immediately to get a short fight in where both players went to the Box for fighting. It seemed to inspire the Ice Jets who just 24 seconds later, Jefferson Wright scored his 15th of the season on a spin-o-rama shot with 2:05 left in the 1st period to cut the El Paso lead in half. The Rhinos went into the break at 2-1, but the Ice Jets were looking more inspired and into the game following the goal.

That momentum wouldn't last long though as the Rhinos scored at 3:10 as Nicholas Shadow's  went through Scoggin's legs to restore the 2 goal lead on a great orginial shot by Kyle Stephens that the Rhinos were able to crash the net as Basham took the puck and slipped the pass to Shadow to put in the upper corner of the net. Just a minute later, Grant Williams scored his 3rd goal in his debut weekend after coming from the Austin Bruins in the North American Hockey League (NAHL), thanks to Hudson set him up on the 2-on-1 that had Rhinos Goalie Brandon Smolarek scrambling and basically with no chance to stop and to cut it back to a one game at 3-2 early on in the 2nd period.

After that, it was a collection of penalties that mucked up the game with that included a pair of scrums and matching minors when Johnny Henson & Trey Hughes at 5:02, then just a minute later, another scrum had the players bunched up along the boards in the neutral zone which had Tommy Mines & Joesph Matyaszek for the Ice Jets penalized for Roughing, while Rhinos Forward Tyler Basham was penalized for Unsportsmanlike Conduct as well.

Despite the Rhinos PP, the Ice Jets did a good job of being able to prevent the Rhinos PP from getting set up and build their lead. After another Ice Jets Penalty by James Barnett for a Delay of Game penalty, the team took advantage of a great turnover forced by Tommy Mines he was able to pass it to Dan Hudson where he was able to score on a backhanded goal at 16:08 to tie the game for the 1st time at 3-3.

With the SOG tied at 21 & and a 3-3 hockey game, it was felt that it was anyone's hockey game going into the 3rd period.

However, the Rhinos scored in the Opening Minute of the 3rd period with David Nelson scoring his 2nd goal of the game just 46 seconds into the 3rd period when Nelson got a great snap shot off to make it, 4-3, where the Rhinos were once again able to wrestle momentum again in the early parts of the 3rd period.

After a mostly uneventful 3rd period with only 1 penalty and some hits for both teams kept it 4-3. One of the more eventful moments came when Thomas Scoggin was rammed by the Rhinos offense where it looked like the Ice Jets Goalie could have been hurt, but he stayed in the game and helped keep the Rhinos in the game late in the 3rd & into OT where the Ice Jets stayed in the game. With 6:10 left in the 3rd period, a Johnny Henson breakaway set up by Sam Akins tied the game at 4-4 which helped get the game to OT.

In the OT, Ice Jets Goalie Thomas Scoggin helped keep the Ice Jets in this game as the Rhinos were able to out shoot the Ice Jets 7-2 in the extra period to force a SO with the Rhinos completing the OT out shooting the Jets 38-30 during the 65 minutes.

Despite getting to the SO, none of the Ice Jets Shooters were able to get it past Smolarek. While Rhinos shooters Dallas Szustak & Eric Miller helped the Rhinos win the SO 2-0 to earn a 5-4 SO Win for the Rhinos.

Ice Jets Goalie Michael Baldwin stopped just 4 of 6 shots in the 1st period before getting pulled at 16:37 mark of the 1st period. Michael Baldwin was able to make 29-of-31 shots in the SOL. While Smolarek stopped 26 of 30 shots to earn his 3rd win of the weekend.

The Ice Jets will have some time to think about this rough weekend as the Jets have next week off; nd will hit the ice again from January 20-22 in Wyoming to play the Cheyenne Stampede. Their next home series will be from January 27-29 when they host the San Diego Seagulls.

While the Rhinos will host the New Mexico Renegades at the Sierra Providence Events Center in El Paso from January 12-14. For the Rhinos to take over the Ice Jets for the Mid-West Division Lead, they need to get at least 3 out of a possible 6 points; which would have to go 1-1-1 or better next weekend.

Elsewhere across the WSHL on Sunday, the Valencia Flyers used a scoring barrage to beat the Ogden Mustangs, 12-3. This was a game where everybody was getting involved in the offense with 15 players scoring at least a point. Including a 4 Goal Game from Josiah Habighorst.

Also despite having a better performance in Southern California, the Long Beach Bombers were able to still beat the Dallas Snipers 5-4 to earn a 3 game sweep. For the Snipers, they will face the Texas Jr. Brahmas on January 21 at NYTEX Sports Center.

El Paso uses Puck Possession Domination to defeat the Ice Jets 6-4

El Paso Rhinos 6 Dallas Ice Jets 4 (0-1, 3-1, 3-2)

The Rhinos used a dominant puck possession lead by Rhinos lead by Travis Cornwell & Matthew Pietrzkowski with 2 goals each, as well as Dallas Szustak with 1G & 2A which included a critical SH Goal with just under 3 minutes left that iced the game to help the Rhinos win their 2nd straight game at the Polar Ice House in Grapevine and was able to continue to eat in to the Ice Jets Lead in the Mid-West Division Lead from 5 to 3 points as they are getting over a disappointing Showcase in Las Vegas just prior to Christmas.

Unlike the previous game where the Ice Jets came out firing, it was the Rhinos looking to get off a fast start where it was basically a roll reversal as the Rhinos were out-shooting the Ice Jets 10-2 at one point through the 1st 10 minutes of the game. Ice Jets Goaltender Thomas Scoggin wouldn't let it get away as as he made several superb saves to keep the game scoreless; and also got some help from his defense including a moment where the Ice Jets Defense who did a good job to prevent a great wrist shot in a strong position that Michael Riveria was looking to get the game's 1st goal.

Despite the Rhinos Possession domination, it was the Ice Jets Austin Rehwinkel shot on a great screen shot on the Power Play a Holding Penalty against Gunnar Bjorklund at 9:27 of the period. Greg Sauers got the assist on a long width of the ice pass to Rehwinkel to get the shot off to make it a 1-0 Ice Jets Lead.

Despite the lead, the Rhinos continued to dominate possession as the Rhinos continued to dominate the play by hitting everything in set and have done an extremely good job of pinning the Ice Jets Players along the boards forcing them to reduce the number of good passes they could get off, not just tonight, but over the course of the weekend series.

The 1st period with the Ice Jets leading 1-0, but it was clear who was playing better and who was carrying the momentum.

El Paso was looking to use their momentum advantage to finally get back on the board, but the Ice Jets were looking to make the Rhinos pay not being able to take advantage of their dominant possession with a great breakaway that Grant Williams & Christian Elsborg with a great breakaway that almost made it 2-0. Just a couple of minutes later Jefferson Wright made it 2-0 at 4:53 that was set up by David Dzumba on a 2-on-1 where a last minute pass had Trent Casper scrambling as he gave up the goal to put up a 2-0 lead.

A scrum happened at the 10:34 mark of the 2nd period, a scrum took place in center ice where Ice Jets Forwards Alex Deviller went for roughing & Joseph Matyaszek for Unsportsmanlike Conduct. the Ice Jets were put in a role reversal from where they were on Friday Night when they were unable to score on a 2 man advantage, tonight they were able to kill off a 2 Minute Penalty Kill.

Just when they thought they had the penalty killed and were in the clear, the Rhinos defense was able to keep the puck in the Ice Jets zone where Michael Riveria went on a solo breakaway to tie the game at 2-2 at 15:08 mark. That was just 5 seconds after the 2 Man Penalty Kill expired. That Rhinos Goal was where the Possession was finally able to make their Domination pay off.

With just under 30 seconds to go in the 2nd period, Travis Cornwell scored on the PP with just 7 seconds to go on Austin Rehwinkel's penalty for a delay of game. Szustak was the brains on the goal where sent a give and go to Cornwell in the Ice Jets Zone to give the Rhinos their 1st lead of the night at 3-2 just prior to the end of the period.

Early on in the 3rd period, the Ice Jets got off to a great start to the period when Sam Akins sent a shot off the goalpost and bounced off some traffic to make the game tied at 3-3 at the 3:27 mark of the 3rd period. The Goal was given to Dan Hudson, Jefferson Wright also had an assist on the play as he was one that helped set up the play with the initial pass.

The next several minutes made it a back-and-fourth game with both teams looking to push to get the lead in the 3rd period. One of the best opportunities for either side came when Riveria got a steal to get a dangerous shot from the faceoff circle that just missed going in near the right post and kept the game tied at 3-3.

After a Matthew Pietrzkyowski goal that made it 4-3, at 11:57 of the 3rd period. Dallas Szustak scored what turned out to be a critical goal on a shorthanded breakaway to make it 5-3 with 2:58 left in the game. It turned out to be an important goal because Dan Hudson scored his 2nd goal of the period from the edge of the of the faceoff circle near the boards from a very tough angle that went off a couple of Rhinos players to make it a 5-4 game with just under 2 minutes left in the game, just seconds later after the Ice Jets Pulled Casper with 1:15 left in the game where the Ice Jets Offensive Players just barraged Casper's net where it came just short of making it a tie hockey game.

However, the Ice Jets couldn't get another dangerous opportunity going for the final minute of the game. Then El Paso's Matthew Pietrzykowski stole the puck from the Ice Jets to send the an empty netter down the ice to clinch a 6-4 win for the Rhinos, his 2nd goal of the 3rd period. That win again eats into the Ice Jets lead from 5 to 3 points with back-to-back wins this weekend.

Both goalies had some strong showings with Ice Jets Goalie Thomas Scoggin stopped 40 of 45 shots in the loss to send his record to 8-2-1. While Rhinos Goalie Trent Casper won his 2nd game of the weekend stopped 32 of 36 shots in the win to improve his record to 9-5-0 this season.

The Final game of the series this weekend takes place at 1:00 PM tomorrow afternoon at Polar Ice House in Grapevine.

El Paso's 3rd Period Surge beats the Ice Jets 4-3

El Paso Rhinos 4  Dallas Ice Jets 3  (1-1, 1-2, 2-0)

Thanks to 3 unanswered goals sunk the Ice Jets at Polar Ice House in Grapevine 4-3 last night, the Rhinos were able to eat into the Ice Jets lead in the Mid-West Division from 7 to 5 points as the two teams will meet again tonight at 6:00 PM at Polar Ice House.

The game started with the Ice Jets looking to control things early as they were able to get some early shots on goal, but with some so-so scoring chances as they were out-shooting the Rhinos 6-1 in the 1st 5 minutes plus, but the Rhinos defense did a good job of protecting goalie Trent Caspar from the Ice Jets being able to get some dangerous scoring chances in front of the net.

What also hampered the Ice Jets early efforts was that despite the Rhinos committing 6 penalties in the 1st period, but couldn't take advantage on any of their Power Play Chances, including an opportunity where after the Rhinos scored to make it 1-0 thanks to an original shot by a shot from Matthew Tritsch that was saved by Ice Jets Goalie Michael Baldwin, but Riveria crashed the net to make it a 1-0 Rhinos lead with 5:03 left.


However, just after the Riveria goal, a scrum erupted behind the net that lead to Rhinos penalties against Matthew Tritsch for Unsportsmanlike Conduct & a Craig Hanisch for a Facemask Penalty, that lead to a 5-on-3 for two minutes that the Ice Jets couldn't convert. With just 19.4 Seconds left in the 1st period, Grant Williams scores his 1st goal as an Ice Jet which would launch his game where he had a strong debut performance with 3 points (2G 1A) and a minor penalty as well. His 1st goal came from Greg Sauers &  Christian Elsborg to go into the 1st intermission tied at 1-1.

The 2nd period started with the Ice Jets looking sharper & quicker then anytime during the 1st period with Grant Williams scoring his 2nd of the night just 1:06 into the 2nd period from Dan Hudson with his 13th assist of the season which is currently tied for 2nd on the team as well. After that goal, the Ice Jets Physicality took over to ware down the Rhinos for most of the 2nd period and the Ice Jets allowed to control every aspect of the early portion of the 2nd period.

Despite an Ice Jets Penalty against Joseph Matyaszek at 8:33 for boarding, the Penalty Kill did a good job killing off the penalty and it lead to a 2-on-1 lead by Grant Williams & Brandon Unser which became a 3-on-1 that Austin Rehwinkel later joined in to get a pass from Williams to snap the shot past Caspar to make it a 3-1 lead at 9:19 of the 2nd period.

Just 5 minutes later, a fight with Joesph Matyaszek that was involved with seemed to give the Rhinos their life back late in the 2nd period that lead to Michael Riveria's 2nd goal on the power play that was passed by Tobias Pehrson that lead by Riveria's Booming One Timer Slap Shot from the faceoff circle to make it 3-2 with 2 minutes left in the 2nd period. Even though the Ice Jets were up 3-2, Riveria's goal have given the Rhinos new life going into the 2nd intermission 3-2 in favor of the Ice Jets.

Huge chunks of the 3rd period were controlled by the Rhinos as they were looking to build off the late goal by Riveria that had the Ice Jets scrambling early in the 3rd period and the Rhinos at one point were out-shooting the Ice Jets 9-2 early on in the 3rd period.

It eventually lead to Rhinos goals just 1:53 apart in the 3rd period when Matthew Tritsch scored his 12th goal of the season at 7:44 assisted by Michael Riveria who notched his 3rd point of the game as he now leads his team with 37 points (15G 22A) in 25 games played this season. Also Chris Wilhite who started the scoring chance with a great pass cross ice pass to set up Tritsch & Riveria. Then Tyler Basham just before the midway point of the 3rd period gave the Rhinos their 1st lead since Riveria's 1st goal of the night to make it 4-3.

Those goals once again had the Ice Jets scrambling and had a difficult time getting Goaltender Michael Baldwin pulled in the final 90 seconds of regulation, after finally being able to get the extra man with just under 30 seconds to go. The best opportunity came with just 19 seconds to go with a faceoff in the right hand Circle, but couldn't get a strong opportunity built to challenge Caspar to force OT and takes a 4-3 loss in the 1st game of the 3 game series against El Paso.

Rhinos Goaltender ups his record to 8-5-0 by making 31 of 34 shots, while Ice Jets Goalie Michael Baldwin makes 34 of 38 saves on the night to take his record to 12-4-2 so far this season.

The Ice Jets & Rhinos have two more games at Polar Ice this weekend, Saturday's Start Time is at 6:00 PM, while the game on Sunday gets underway at 1:00 PM.

In other action across the WSHL last night, the Dallas Snipers fall to a league worst 3-27-0 with a 10-5 loss. This loss takes them to giving up double digit goals for the 5th time this season. However Snipers forwards Shane Bonds & Justin Becton each had a goal and two assists last night in the loss.

Also the Boulder Bison crushed the Cheyenne Stampede 9-0 with 4 point nights from Chris Guidotti, Ryan Gauthier & Patrick Grace. Finally the Valenica Flyers shutout the Ogden Mustangs 2-0 with a 26 save shutout performance from Stephen Palmer as well as goals coming from Greg Heimann & Hunter Jensen.

I will be reporting from the Dallas Ice Jets VS. El Paso Rhinios Series this weekend

As the Western States Hockey League gets back into action this weekend following the league's Las Vegas Showcase just before Christmas. The League gets back into action tonight with the Dallas Ice Jets VS. El Paso Rhinos series this weekend at Polar Ice House in Grapevine, Texas. I will be at all 3 games this weekend for this very important series which could determine who could rise as the favorite  in the WSHL's Mid-West Division.

Game times are Friday Night at 7:00 PM, Saturday Night at 6:00 PM & Sunday Afternoon at 1:00 PM this weekend for what should be a very exciting series between the Division Leaders.

Look for game stories after each game as the Ice Jets Junior Team plays their 1st Home Game since November 30 when the defeated the Texas Jr. Brahmas 7-4. As for recent streaks for both teams, the Ice Jets have come a great December while they were on the road for basically the entire month, they won 2 of 3 against the Arizona Red Hawks 2-1 & 5-3 wins, they also had a 2-1 SO Loss as well to begin their series as the Renegades currently sit in 4th Place with a 12-12-1 record (25 PTS, 90-94) so far this season. Also against the the New Mexico Renegades where they also went 2-1 as well with dominating wins on December 10 (5-2) & December 11 (6-0).

Then to wrap up the Pre-Holiday Break portion of the schedule, they went 2-2 in their 4 game showcase with wins over lowly Park City (6-1) & Long Beach Bombers (3-0), while their two losses were by a single goal, including a very close loss to the Fresno Monsters (3-2) who currently have the league's best record at an impressive 28-2-1; and has a strong 19 points lead in the West Division. The Monsters are up 5 points over the Idaho Jr. Steelheads who are currently leading the Mountain Division right now.

The Ice Jets will play the Idaho Jr. Steelheads from February 17-19, while the Ice Jets VS. Fresno Monsters Game in the Vegas Showcase will be their only Head-to-Head Matchup of the regular season back on December 17. So the only time they could play each other again would be in the playoffs and possibly could faceoff at the Throne Cup Tournament in late March.

El Paso on the other hand has been up-and-down recently which included a 1-3 Vegas Showcase Record where even the team writer was discouraged about the WSHL Vegas Showcase, read about that here. Despite also losing to the Fresno Monsters & Idaho Jr. SteelHeads like the Ice Jets did as well in Las Vegas, they also barely beat an average Cheyenne Stampede team and let the game against the Boulder Bison team get away in the 2nd Half (They played 25 minute Halves during the Showcase).

What's helping the Rhinos this weekend is that they have 2 games in hand and if they can dominate the series this weekend, they could be as close as 1 point back and would make this a big time fight for the Mid-West Division Title over the rest of the regular season, this is the only regular season series in Dallas between the Division Leaders. Later in regular season, they will play again at the Sierra Providence Event Center from February 24-26 near the end of the regular season as the WSHL Regular Season will wrap up on March 4 this year.

In addition to the important regular season series, this could be a future playoff series as well as the Rhinos are set to host the WSHL Thorne Cup Championship Event from March 28-31. So this could be an important part on the road to the Throne Cup later in March.

This was coming off a great weekend against the Fresno Monsters where El Paso just hammered Fresno 7-3 back on December 10 giving the Monsters only their 2nd loss in regulation of the season. Just a couple of nights later, the Rhinos handed the Monsters their only Overtime loss of the season with a 5-4 Overtime win. This was despite El Paso giving up 2 goals in 3:24 to go from a 4-2 lead, to having the game tied at 4-4 with just under 90 seconds remaining in the 3rd period.

Game Times this weekend at Polar Ice in Grapevine Mills Mall at 7:00 PM on Friday Night, 6:00 PM on Saturday Night and 1:00 PM Sunday Afternoon. If you enter Grapevine Mills Mall in Neighborhood 5, go through the Food Court then you will pass stores like the NIKE Factory Store ; Finish Line and across the hall from Puma Store as well.

Admission is just $5 for everyone, so come out and support the Ice Jets in one of their most important home series of the season up to this point.