NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, Texas – The 2010 Central Hockey League playoffs begin tonight with the opening round consisting of a best of three series between the fourth and fifth seeds in the Northern and Southern Conferences.
In the North, the Mississippi RiverKings are in Independence, Missouri to take on the upstart Mavericks, one of this season’s two expansion franchises.
The Ray Miron President%27s Cup
Games two and three (if necessary) will take place on Wednesday and Thursday at the DeSoto Civic Center, where Mississippi went 5-1-0 versus Missouri. Statistically, the two teams are well matched with the RiverKings having a slight edge, having finished their final 10 games with a 7-3-0 record versus 4-4-2 for the Mavericks.
Ryan Held and Bobby Chaumont are the RiverKings to watch; each has scored six goals in games versus Missouri while Jeff Christian leads the Mavericks in scoring on the season and against Mississippi with 13 points (5 G, 13 A). Held has scored goals in nine straight games and is fourth in the CHL with 36 scores. The question is, can he solve Mavericks net minder Charlie Effinger, who finished the regular season second in the league with a 2.51 GAA?
In the South, the defending league champion Texas Brahmas have traveled to Corpus Christi, Texas to meet the Ice Rays, a team who has had just two wins (both this season) against the Brahmas since 2006.
During the regular season, the teams split wins at the American Bank Center while the Brahmas won four of six meetings on their home ice at the NYTEX Sports Centre.
The Brahmas have struggled on the road this season going 9-19-4 while finding success at home with a 23-6-3 record. They’ve also gone 14-2 in the last two playoff years. Post-season experience may also be key for Texas, who has 10 players from last season’s championship squad on the current roster and 30 playoff games played in the past two years. Corpus Christi on the other hand, has only played three post-season contests in the past two years.
Chris Richards leads the Ice Rays in scoring against the Brahmas with four goals in six games. Richards has tallied 10 points (5 G, 5 A) in his last six games. The Ice Rays also have the threat of sniper Chad Woollard, a former Brahma who was second in the league with 40 goals this season. Their challenge will be finding a way past Texas net minder Brett Jaeger who went 4-1-0 with a 1.97 GAA against Corpus Christi this season.
Overall, scoring the first goal has been a major factor in the success of both teams – The Brahmas are 23-6-2 when scoring first while the Ice Rays are 25-9-4 when striking first.
Stay tuned to Pro Hockey News for full coverage of the chase for the 2010 Ray Miron President’s Cup Championship.
Contact the author/photographer at robert.keith@prohockeynews.com
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