Eagles seeking return to top of Turner Conference standings

LOVELAND, Colo. – With an 18-11-2 record at the All-Star break, the Colorado Eagles have an opportunity to take a look back at the first half of their 2010-11 Central Hockey League season. Currently in fourth place in the Turner Conference but only two points out of first, head coach Chris Stewart and his staff have kept their eyes and ears open for available talent to enhance the team . Following their “Recharged” theme, personnel changes continue as the Eagles make their run for a third President’s Cup Championship.

Since the end of the pre-season, seven players have been traded or placed on waivers and replaced with five new players.
Brad Macmillan chose to leave the team after serving more than half of his 22-game suspension resulting from his actions during a pre-season skirmish in a game with the Odessa Jackalopes. He was waived by the Eagles after it was determined he no longer wanted to play in the CHL.
Defenseman Mario Joly, another player who served a suspension associated with the same altercation, involving Odessa was also waived before he played in a regular season game.
Defenseman George Bradley, the third suspended Eagles player from the October 9th melee, was traded to Evansville along with forward Braden Desmet in return for defenseman Joe Grimaldi.
Goalie Tim Boron was waived after his return from injured reserve without having played in a regular season game.
Mike Sgroi was signed to fill out the roster but his tenure was cut short as he was waived after just nine games with the Eagles.
Forwards Adam Chomeyko, Dan Sullivan and defenseman Matt Hanson were added to the roster in December and defenseman Chris Hau was sent to the waiver wire late in the month.
Another addition to the Colorado Eagles likely to happen this week is the return of tough guy Alex Penner from a stint with the United Kingdom’s Nottingham Panthers (EIHL).
Despite the regular upheavals of assimilating new players and seeking to create team chemistry, the Eagles have battled to earn a record of 18 wins, 11 losses and 2 overtime losses for 38 points, two points behind the defending President’s Cup champions, the Rapid City Rush, with three games in hand.
Not surprisingly, the forward corps of Kevin Ulanski, Riley Nelson and Daymen Rycroft have carried the bulk of the scoring in the first 31 games of the season. Ulanski has 46 points (19 G, 27 A, +16) to lead the team, Nelson is right behind him with 45 points (15 G, 30 A, +20) and Rycroft has contributed 38 points (19 G, 19 A, +13).
Defensemen Kyle Peto with his 30 points (5 G, 25 A, =14) leads all blue line scoring in the league. Another defenseman, Jason Beatty, leads the team in penalty minutes with 79.
Goaltending has been up and down as Kyle Jones’ inspired play took the net from veteran Andrew Penner early in the season. Jones has a record of 11-5-2, which was good enough to be named the starting goalie in the All-Star Game.
After an early struggle to recover his previous season form, Penner has won his last four starts to bring his record to 7-6-0.
With a great deal of speed and skill on this Eagles team, Coach Stewart has addressed their lack of size with the recent additions of Dan Sullivan, Adam Chomeyko and the impending signing of Alex Penner. All are big bodies who can take up space in front of the net and discourage liberties against the smaller players.
The second half of the season looks positive, but rest assured if Stewart sees a lack anywhere he will make every effort to address it.
Contact the author/photographer at terry.sanford@prohockeynews.com