GLENDALE, Ariz.  – The Central Hockey League today announced the six players voted to start for the CHL team in the 2012 CHL All-Star Game scheduled for Wednesday, January 11, 2012 in Prescott Valley, Arizona at Tim’s Toyota Center.  For the fourth straight season, the game will have a format that will feature the home team (Arizona Sundogs) taking on a team of CHL All-Stars. The starters were selected via voting done by CHL head coaches, CHL Communication’s Departments and select media members from CHL cities. In all, 53 ballots were cast during the voting process. The top vote getter in the balloting process was Wichita defenseman   Andrew Martens   who appeared on 35 ballots, earning one of the two starting defensemen spots. He will be joined on the blue line by Tulsa rookie   Jeff Terminesi . The starting forwards are Rapid City’s   Jesse Schultz   (the top vote-getting forward appearing on 31 ballots),  Allen’s   Bruce Graham   and Quad City’s   Brandon Marino . The starting goaltender is Fort Wayne’s   Nick Boucher .   2012 CHL All-Star Team Starters Position- Player (Team, Appearance)   Forward-Jesse Schultz (Rapid City, 1st)        Forward- Bruce Graham (Allen, 3rd)      Forward- Brandon Marino (Quad City, 1st)       Defenseman- Jeff Terminesi (Tulsa, 1st) Defenseman- Andrew Martens (Wichita, 1st)       Goaltender- Nick Boucher (Fort Wayne, 1st)       Jesse Schultz (F), Rapid City Rush The second-year Rush forward leads the league in points with 43 and is tied for fourth with 14 goals. When the 29-year-old has it going, the Rush win games as he is averaging more than two points a game in his team’s 14 wins (10 goals, 19 assists).   Bruce Graham (F), Allen Americans Graham is the only voted-in starter who has played in a CHL All-Star Game before registering an assist in the 2010 game in Laredo. He was selected as a reserve last season but had to skip the game. This season, the 26-year-old is third in the league in scoring with 36 points (14-22=36) and tied for second in the league with six power play goals. Brandon Marino (F), Quad City Mallards   The 25-year-old Marino is having a breakout season for the Mallards tied for the league lead with 16 goals and sitting tied for fourth with 35 points. The Riverside, California native has already set a career-high with his 16 goals and is just nine points shy of his high point mark.   Andrew Martens (D), Wichita Thunder The reigning CHL Defenseman of the Year is back at the top leading all defensemen in scoring with 23 points (8-15=23) and sitting first among all skaters with an incredible +20 plus/minus rating. Martens has a huge November with 13 points (5-8=13) in 11 games and a +10 rating. Jeff Terminesi (D), Tulsa Oilers The rookie is second among all defensemen in scoring with 22 points (5-17=22) and is leading all blue liners with 11 power play assists. The 24-year-old defenseman also had a huge month of November with 15 points (4-11=15) in 12 games.    Nick Boucher (G), Fort Wayne Komets The veteran goalie has been on his game all season leading the league with 15 wins, a 2.30 goals against average, a .921 save percentage and three shutouts. Boucher is 13-2-1 since early November allowing just 21 total goals in those 13 victories. Contact comments@prohockeynews.com

GLENDALE, Ariz. – The Central Hockey League has announced that Missouri Mavericks’ netminder Charlie Effinger  has been named the Sher-Wood Central Hockey League Goaltender of the Month for October 2011. 

The third year professional was also named the Oakley/CHL Goaltender of the Week on Monday and has been unbeatable this season, winning all four starts.  Effinger’s 4-0 record is accompanied by a 1.50 goals against average (fourth in the CHL) and a .961 save percentage (third in the CHL).    The Belleville, Illinois native has allowed just six goals in four starts and has not allowed more than two goals in any one game this season. His hot start has helped the Mavericks to the early lead in the Turner Conference with a 5-0 record and 10 points. In 29 career decisions in the CHL (playing with Missouri and the Allen Americans), Effinger is 21-6-2 with a 2.37 goals against average and a .924 save percentage. Other goaltenders receiving consideration for the monthly award for October include Allen’s Rejean Beauchemin,  Arizona’s Levente Szuper,  Evansville’s Pier Pelletier , Laredo’s  Torrie Jung,  Rapid City’s Danny Battochio , Tulsa’s Ian Keserich   and Wichita’s Adam Russo .    Sher-Wood Central Hockey League Goaltender of the Month
Charlie Effinger, Missouri Mavericks  
(October Totals)
Games – 4 Record – 4-0-0 Goals Allowed – 6 Saves – 148 GAA – 1.50 Save% – .961
Effinger will receive a Sher-Wood/CHL logoed watch courtesy of Sher-Wood and the Central Hockey League to recognize his accomplishment.
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Image credit: Missouri Mavericks

TEMPE, Ariz. – The Central Hockey League’s 16th annual Summer Conference concluded on Saturday night with the league’s awards banquet honoring the top front office executives and team achievements from the 2010-11 season. The team recognized as the CHL Franchise of the Year was the Missouri Mavericks, playing in their second season as a franchise. On the ice, the Mavs went 37-23-6 (80 points) finishing fourth in the Turner Conference and off the ice, the team finished second in the CHL averaging 5,406 fans per game and was among the top teams in ticket, corporate and merchandise sales.   Missouri led the way capturing six awards. Along with winning the top franchise honor, the Mavs were named the CHL’s Group Ticket Sales Franchise of the Year, Merchandising Franchise of the Year, New Media Franchise of the Year and individually, Ben Gaul was named the Ticketing Executive of the Year and Patrick Armstrong was named the Communications Executive of the Year. The top individual award, the Brad Treliving CHL Executive of the Year, was presented to Rapid City Rush General Manager Tim Hill. The Rush also won the award for the Corporate Partnership Franchise of the Year. Other award winners include veteran broadcaster and media relations worker Steve McCall (Tulsa Oilers) who was given the Soul of Service Award for his outstanding customer service and Travis Huntington (Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs) who was named the Broadcaster of the Year for the second consecutive season. Texas Brahmas owner Stuart Fraser was presented the CHL Leadership Award, accepted by Brahmas General Manager Mike Barack. Fraser has been the owner of the Brahmas for 14 seasons and continues to be a positive leader and influence in the CHL. The league’s Ticket Sales Franchise of the Year was presented to the Fort Wayne Komets who led the league in attendance, averaging 7,415 fans. The Game Operations Franchise of the Year went to the Wichita Thunder and the team recognized for their outstanding community achievement was the Dayton Gems who were named the Community Relations Franchise of the Year.  The 2010-11 Central Hockey League Rick Kozuback Award, named for the former President of the Western Professional Hockey League and current President/CEO of Global Entertainment Corporation (the CHL’s parent company), was presented to Jeff Christian, who finished the 2010-11 season with the Evansville IceMen. The award is ‘presented annually to the Central Hockey League owner, front office staff member, coach or player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, determination and commitment to the game, sport and business of hockey.’ Christian and his family have fought a year-long battle against cancer, diagnosed in his young daughter (nine-year-old Ryan) and on the ice, Jeff has been an ambassador for the game for more than 20 season. Christian was joined by his family, wife Dorie and Ryan, in accepting the award.  The entire list of award winners is below: Rick Kozuback Award – Jeff Christian, Evansville IceMen Ralph Backstrom Soul of Service Award – Steve McCall, Tulsa Oilers CHL Game Operations Franchise of the Year – Wichita Thunder CHL Merchandising Franchise of the Year – Missouri Mavericks CHL Community Relations Franchise of the Year – Dayton Gems CHL New Media Franchise of the Year – Missouri Mavericks CHL Broadcaster of the Year – Travis Huntington, Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs CHL Communications Executive of the Year – Patrick Armstrong, Missouri Mavericks CHL Corporate Partnership Team of the Year – Rapid City Rush CHL Group Sales Franchise of the Year – Missouri Mavericks CHL Ticketing Executive of the Year – Ben Gaul, Missouri Mavericks CHL Ticket Sales Franchise of the Year – Fort Wayne Komets CHL Leadership Award – Stuart Fraser, Texas Brahmas Brad Treliving CHL Executive of the Year – Tim Hill, Rapid City Rush CHL Franchise of the Year – Missouri Mavericks Contact comments@prohockeynews.com

PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. – The Arizona Sundogs, in conjunction with the Central Hockey League, announced on Friday that the Sundogs, Tim’s Toyota Center and the city of Prescott Valley, Arizona will play host to the 2012 CHL All-Star Game. 

Central Hockey League Commissioner Duane Lewis presented team co-owner Brad Fain, team co-owner and Interim President Ed Lepordo and Head Coach and General Manager Marco Pietroniro with a CHL All-Star Game flag during an on-ice ceremony prior to the Sundogs’ game against the Mississippi RiverKings.
“On behalf of the entire League, we are excited to have the Arizona Sundogs host the 2012 CHL All-Star Game,” Lewis said. “The detailed presentation they made to the League Office outlined some exciting plans for the Game and the surrounding events. Next season will be the 6th season of Sundogs hockey in the Northern Arizona community, and we know ownership and the front office will do a great job as hosts to all of those involved in the Game.”
The All-Star Game logo, jerseys and date along with additional information regarding the mid-season showcase will be unveiled at a later date.
“We’re thrilled to be selected as the host of the 2012 Central Hockey League All-Star Game,” Lepordo said. “We’d like to thank Duane Lewis and the entire Central Hockey League staff for the privilege to host such a prominent event. We’re very much looking forward to the opportunity of showcasing the Arizona Sundogs, Tim’s Toyota Center and the Town of Prescott Valley to the rest of the Central Hockey League, its member teams and their fans. Past teams have done a tremendous job hosting the All-Star Game and I’m certain we’re going to continue that tradition.”
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RAPID CITY, S.D. – The stars were out in Rapid City on Wednesday night as a near capacity crowd of 5,009 rocked the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center Arena watching their beloved Rapid City Rush (the defending CHL Champs) fall to a team of CHL All-Stars by a final score of 11-6. Bloomington’s Jason Dale took home the game’s Most Valuable Player honors with two goals and a CHL record-tying five assists (along with a +7 plus/minus rating). The MVP honor for the home team went to Ryan Menei who scored a pair of goals in a 25 second stretch of the second period. The Co-MVP awards featured an Apple ITouch for both players presented by Sher-Wood Hockey Inc. The CHL team showed some great passing in the early going scoring the game’s first goal just 3:17 into the opening period when David Rutherford (Bossier-Shreveport) showed some creativity picking the puck up with his blade and getting the shot away. Dale would clean up the rebound with Rutherford and Sebastien Thinel (Odessa) drawing the assists. Just over a minute later, the Rush would tie the score with Andrew Smale sneaking behind the defense and beating the all-stars goaltender Kyle Jones (Colorado) on the backhand. Wichita’s Matt Robinson would steal the show next scoring three straight goal within a 3:55 span earning the natural hat trick in the first half of the game.  The Surrey, British Columbia native’s theatrics built a 4-1 lead for the CHL team. Rapid City would get one back at the 11:51 mark by Derek LeBlanc who walked in on the left circle with the puck and snapped a shot just under the crossbar for the goal making the game look like it might challenge for the highest scoring affair in CHL All-Star history with six combined goals scored in the first 11 minutes. The defense and goaltenders would answer the bell though settling things down in the final half of the opening frame. Danny Battochio finished the period with 10 saves and looked like the all-star he is when he robbed Arizona’s Joey Sides around the 18-minute mark. Jones finished strong as well robbing Colt King twice on point-blank looks and making several clutch stops down the stretch in the first period. The Eagles netminder finished the first 20 minutes with eight saves.  In the second period, the Rush would treat Missouri goaltender Robby Nolan rudely in the first minute setting an CHL All-Star record with three goals in a 39 second time frame. Menei’s two goals followed by Konrad Reeder grabbed the lead at 5-4. The previous record was set in the 2006 game with Jeff Bes scoring twice and Nolan Graham once for the Southern Conference team who lost the game to the North in a shootout, 10-9. Not to be outdone, the CHL team answered back scoring the game’s next three goals regaining the lead around the midway point of the period. Allen defenseman David Strathman tied the game beating Battochio at the 4:11 mark and Evansville’s Brian Bicek scored the next two with nifty moves both times that created some space and allowed him to beat the Rush goaltender.  Dale had assists on all three goals giving him five points (1-4=5) in the game through two periods. Battochio, also known as ‘the Batman’ showed his superhero form late in the period making an unbelievable save on Strathman that drew the fans from their seats. He later stopped Neil Trimm on a breakaway continuing his solid performance. Rapid City outshot the All-Stars 20-12 in the period and maintained a two period shot lead of 32-27. After allowing the record goal run for the Rush, Nolan settled down stopping 17 shots in the period. The CHL team expanded their lead early in the third period with Bicek netting the hat trick at the 21 second mark of the frame beating Rush goaltender Terry Dunbar who started the third replacing Battochio. Dayton goaltender Jeff Jakaitis made several spectacular saves to start the period keeping the Rush at bay and finished the period with 13 stops. With the score 8-5, Rapid City would try to mount a comeback when Brendon Hodge lit the lamp with a blast from between the circles at the 9:38 mark. The CHL All-Stars would score three times in the final 3and a half minutes putting the game away. The first came from Texas defenseman Jason Krischuk followed by Dale who grabbed hold of the MVP honors by scoring his second of the night and his seventh point. Mississippi defenseman Nathan Lutz finished off the scoring with just six seconds remaining. Other offensive stars in the game included Thinel with five helpers, and Bicek’s and Robinson’s hat tricks. The league will resume regular season play on Friday. Contact comments@prohockeynews.com

TEMPE, Ariz. – The 2011 Central Hockey League All-Star game is scheduled for Wednesday, January 12 at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center Arena in Rapid City, South Dakota and will feature the host Rapid City Rush taking on a team of CHL All-Stars comprised of players from the remaining 17 CHL clubs. The starters were selected via voting done by CHL head coaches, CHL Communication’s Departments and select media members from CHL cities. In all, 60 ballots were cast during the voting process. The top vote getter in the balloting process is Rio Grande Valley defenseman Darcy Campbell who appeared on 35 ballots, earning one of the two starting defensemen spots. He will be joined on the blue line by Mississippi defenseman Nathan Lutz. The starting forwards are Bossier-Shreveport’s David Rutherford (the top vote-getting forward appearing on 34 ballots), Odessa’s Sebastien Thinel and Laredo’s Neil Trimm. The starting goaltender is Colorado’s Kyle Jones. 2011 CHL All-Star Team Starters
Pos.- Player, Team (All-Star Appearance)
F- David Rutherford, Bossier-Shreveport (1st)      F- Sebastien Thinel, Odessa (5th)     F- Neil Trimm, Laredo (1st)     D- Darcy Campbell, Rio Grande Valley (1st) D- Nathan Lutz, Mississippi (1st)     G- Kyle Jones, Colorado (1st)     David Rutherford (F), Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs The second-year Mudbugs leads the CHL with 19 goals, five of which are game winners, and has had six multiple-goal games. Overall, the Ladner, British Columbia native has 33 points (19-14=33) ranking eighth in the league. Sebastien Thinel (F), Odessa Jackalopes This will be the fifth all-star appearance for the Jacks all-time games played leader. The St. Jerome, Quebec native is having his usual stellar season leading the league with 44 points (16-28=44) and ranking fifth with a +14 plus/minus rating. Neil Trimm (F), Laredo Bucks In his two CHL seasons prior to the 2010-11 campaign (103 games), the Westmeath, Ontario native combined to score 74 points but in just 27 games this season he has exploded offensively with 37 points (10-27=37) ranking fourth in the league in scoring. Darcy Campbell (D), Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees The first-year Killer Bee leads all defensemen with nine goals and 28 points. Earlier in the season, the Airdrie, Alberta native went on a stretch that saw him score seven goals over a seven-game stretch. Nathan Lutz (D), Mississippi RiverKings The first-year RiverKing ranks second among defensemen with 23 points (8-15=23). The Mistatim, Saskatchewan native also has five power play goals and two game winning goals on his resume. Kyle Jones (G), Colorado Eagles The first-year Eagle is tied for fifth in the CHL with 10 wins and ranks among the league leaders with his 2.44 goals against average and .927 save percentage. The North Delta, British Columbia native is tied for the league lead with two shutouts. The reserves for the CHL All-Star team will be announced next week. Contact comments@prohockeynews.com