Central Hockey League Week Ahead for 2/22-26

Despite seeing both the Allen Americans going to the Shootout for the 4th time in the last 6 games. It was the Brahmas who the shootout and the game for the 2nd time in 11 days and the 3rd straight time as the Brahmas have owned the Americans as of late by pulling off their 3rd straight victory over the Rivals from Colin County in a 2-1 game where Mark Guggenberger had another outstanding performance by making 26 of 27 saves to earn his 7th straight win including giving up a goal or less in 6 of those games that earned him the CHL Goalie of the Week for the week of February 13-19.

Tulsa also had their game go to Overtime that saw them lost 2-1 to Ft. Wayne that saw their gap between them and 5th Place Rio Grande Valley grow to 5 points with 2 games in hand (Tulsa with 17 GR, RGV with 15 GR) this season.

As for the rest of the week, the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees has a chance to climb back in the race as they sit 5 points back with 15 games left in the regular season as they will face South Texas Rival Laredo Bucks and then a pair of games against the Turner Conference Bottom Feeder Bloomington Blaze on Friday & Saturday and hope that Guggenberger and the Rock Hard Defense will be playing the Brahmas for a 3 game weekend starting in Tulsa on Friday.

Then coming back to Dallas to play on Saturday & Sunday as the Killer Bees have one of their better chances to close the gap with Tulsa for the fourth & final playoff spot in the Berry Conference.

With the entire league coming down to the final 15 games. We could have a battle possibly brewing for the 2nd spot as many thought the Americans & Thunder would comfortably have 1st Round Home Ice while battling for home ice advantage in the Southern Conference & taking on the Evansville Ice Men & Ft. Wayne Komets for home ice throughout the entire playoffs.

However, with the Brahmas winning 7 in a row and Mark Guggenberger starting to heat up in goal, it could have the Americans sweating (Not heavily yet) about a possible battle between the DFW Rivals for 1st Round Home Ice. One big advantage for the Americans is that Allen has 2 games in hand where they can easily extend & protect their lead.

Texas will be looking to bank on a 6 game homestand that will begin Saturday Night with a pair of games against the Tulsa Oilers on Saturday & Sunday. They will also play a pair of games against Rio Grande Valley as well as Missouri & Laredo to finish their final extended homestand of the regular season.

2/21

Ft. Wayne Komets 2  Tulsa Oilers 1  (OT) (1-0, 0-1, 0-0, 1-0)

Texas Brahmas 2  Allen Americans 1  (SO) (0-1, 1-0, 0-0, 0-0, 1-0)

2/22

RGV Killer Bees 8  Laredo Bucks 2  (1-0, 4-2, 3-0)

2/24

Laredo Bucks VS. Allen Americans  7:05 PM

Bloomington Blaze VS. RGV Killer Bees  7:30 PM

Texas Brahmas VS. Tulsa Oilers  7:35 PM

2/25

Allen Americans VS. Laredo Bucks  7:30 PM

Bloomington Blaze VS. RGV Killer Bees  7:30 PM

Tulsa Oilers VS. Texas Brahmas  7:45 PM

2/26

Bloomington Blaze VS. Laredo Bucks  4:00 PM

Tulsa Oilers VS. Texas Brahmas  5:30 PM



Dallas Stars Week Ahead 2/22-26

Since battling a bit of a head cold the last few days, so I'm looking to catch up despite the Stars VS. Canadians Game last night where the Stars won 3-0 against a Montreal team that is falling in the Eastern Conference as last night's loss takes them to 14th Place with a 24-27-10 record (58 PTS) and 7 points back of 8th Place Toronto with just 21 games left in the regular season. It last night's win for the Stars last night included just the 3rd shutout of the season and Ryan Garbutt who scored his 1st career NHL Goal in just his 3rd game.

The Stars on the other hand are at 30-26-4 with 64 points and are now just 2 points back of the 8th Place Los Angeles Kings for the 8th & Final Playoff Spot in the Western Conference with 22 games left. Overall the gap from 7th Place Phoenix to 13th Place Anaheim is just 9 points right now. However, they left some valuable points on the table with 3 straight losses last week with OT Losses to Phoenix & Calgary as well as a 3-2 loss to Nashville as all 3 games had opportunities to not only close the gap in the West but be able to make it easier to jump over teams without needing help from opposing teams.

The Stars have another opportunity to play some critical opponents as the Stars will finish their quick 2 game road trip in Chicago tomorrow night, then it's back home for a 3 game home stand with Minnesota on 2/24, Vancouver for the first time this season Sunday Night & then a Nationally Televised Game in both the USA & Canada on February 29 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

It's been an up-and-down month of February as the team is nearing the end of a very hectic February where they were playing 16 games in 29 days this month as they currently sit 6-4-2 this month, which sounds good. Until you look at some of the victories which included the likes of the Columbus Blue Jackets who's the absolute worst team in the league, as well as some critical losses in the Pacific Division where 3 of the 4 regulation losses have come from which could have helped in the Pacific Division Race.

Despite those losses, the Stars are just 5 points back of Division Leading San Jose but they would have to get on a run to leap frog past the LA Kings & Phoenix Coyotes are tied with 66 points right now. Anaheim on the other hand is sitting in 13th Place in the West and just 4 points back of the Stars, that's how tight the Race for the final 2 playoff spots in the West with most teams having just over 20 games left in the season.

Here's the Schedule for the rest of the Week

2/21: Dallas Stars 3  Montreal Canadians 0  (1-0, 0-0, 2-0)

2/23: Dallas Stars VS. Chicago Blackhawks  7:30 PM (FSN Southwest)

2/24: Minnesota Wild VS. Dallas Stars  7:30 PM (FSN Southwest)

2/26: Vancouver Canucks VS. Dallas Stars  2:00 PM (FSN Southwest)