For the fourth time in their six year history in the Central Hockey League the Loveland-based Colorado Eagles, will be advancing to the finals of the Ray Miron President’s Cup. Beginning on Wednesday April 29th the opponent this year will be the Texas Brahmas who were last year’s opponent in the Northern Conference finals.
The Brahmas were switched to the Southern Conference during the league realignment to start the 2008-09 season with only one meeting between these two teams in the regular season resulting in a 4 to 1 win for the Brahmas in their home rink back in February.
The Texas Brahmas went on a scoring rampage in their 8-1 victory over the Odessa Jackalopes to win Game 7 in the Southern Conference Finals on Saturday night. The win matches the largest margin of victory in a Game 7 in Central Hockey League history. Tyler Skworchinski scored three consecutive goals and finished the game with a CHL record-tying six points.
Now the Brahmas will take on the Colorado Eagles for the Central Hockey League’s Ray Miron President’s Cup Championship, which begins on Wednesday, April 29th.
As the Fort Worth Brahmas, the team made their only trip to a finals series in 1998, their inaugural season in the Western Professional Hockey League. They were swept in four games by the El Paso Buzzards. This is their first trip to the CHL Finals.
The Brahmas won the Southern Conference and Southeast Division Championships during the regular season posting a 42-16-6 record with 90 points, third in the CHL. They earned their way to the finals by sweeping the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees in the conference semifinals and then by beating Odessa in a seven game conference finals series.
The championship series is a rematch of last years’ Northern Conference Finals in which the Brahmas, after losing the first two games at the Budweiser Events Center, came back to force a Game Seven showdown in which the Eagles emerged victorious. Colorado was then swept by the Arizona Sundogs in the finals.
Both teams have potent offenses with the Brahmas relying more on their top scoring lines and the Eagles able to spread their scoring strength through two and three lines.
Colorado’s top playoff scorers through the first ten games are Ed McGrane and Riley Nelson with 12 points each. Kevin Ulanski has 10 points with offensive defenseman Aaron Scneekloth and speedster Konrad Reeder tallying nine points. Right behind this group is team captain, Greg Pankewicz with eight points.
Secondary scoring will be gotten from forwards Steve Haddon, Adam Hogg and Brett Hammond the “Triple H” line was a very effective checking line during the regular season but they are seeing some bounces going their way in the playoffs and have been potting a few goals as well.
There is no word on the return of power forward Ryan Tobler whose four goals and one assist through the first seven playoff games will be hard to replace. However big defenseman, Jay Birnie, has been refining his scoring skills and practicing to perfect his passes in order to fill-in for Tobler in his absence.
Defensively the Colorado Eagles have some real scoring threats as well a lot of speed. Scott Polaski, who until this season was a forward, and the league’s best defensman, Aaron Schneekloth can beat most any opposing forward to the net and both have deadly shots. Their speed and skating ability also comes to the fore with their defensive responsibilities.
Jason Beatty and Erik Adams also have deceptive speed and incredible toughness and will check their opponents hard when the need arises. Adams will also chip in a goal or make that perfect pass for a timely assist.
A nice late season addition on defense was the re-acquisition of former Eagle, Aaron Grosul, to help on the blue line. His calm demeanor and CHL experience are a huge plus. Another late addition to the Eagles defensive line-up is amateur Justin DaCosta. In the five games he has played in the playoffs he has shown grittiness and determination as well as a willingness to stand up for his team mates that is very welcomed.
The number one goalie for the Colorado Eagles is Andrew Penner. Penner has been exceptional this playoff season with a record of eight and two with a .931 save percentage. Penner’s vision and athleticism combined with flawless work ethic and a stubborn determination give the Eagles a chance to win every night.
The Brahmas have the top three active scorers in the post-season. Jason Deitsch leads all skaters with 16 points (5-11-16,+7). He has the most assists (11) and power play assists (six) of any active player. Tyler Skworchinski is next with 13 points (9-4-13, +7). He has the most goals of any active player and his five game-winners in the post-season are tied for the CHL record with Laredo’s Jeff Bes and the Fort Worth Fire’s Stephane Larocque. Scott Sheppard has 12 points (7-5-12, +2). He has the most power play goals at four and has scored a hat trick in Game 5 of the Conference Finals two years in a row.
Defense
Led by veteran team captain Craig Minard, the Texas defensive corps has been a solid unit all season long. All-star Justin Kinnunen leads all active defensemen in the post-season with nine points (4-5-9, +5), including a power play goal, four power play assists, a short-handed goal and a game-winner. Kevin McLeod, who had 50 points (20-30-50, +19) in the regular season, has tallied eight points (2-6-8, +4) in post-season play.
“We just have a fantastic “D” corps, said head coach Dan Wildfong. “They’re all buying in…I could go down the list and name every guy and their attributes and how well they’re doing…they’re very smart with the puck. It’s hard to push them off the puck, hard to get around them. We have a lot of leaders that really want it.”
Special Teams
The Brahmas have struggled with consistency on the power play but went three for seven in Game 7 against Odessa. They have the number one penalty kill at 88.31%.
Goaltending
Brett Jaeger leads all goaltenders in the post-season with a 1.85 GAA and a .941 save percentage. He is tied with Penner with eight post-season wins and has the most playing time (648:19). He finished third in the league in the regular season with a 2.36 GAA and second with a .924 save percentage.
“He is the best goalie in the league in my eyes,” said Wildfong. “He’s so calm and such a professional. He continually wants to win, he continually works at his game and he continually is so focused. If you want to be in the position we’re at, you have to have good goaltending. If you want to have a chance to win a cup and you want to win the cup, you have to have good goaltending.”
There was a surprising press conference called last summer to announce the Eagles first and only coach, Chris Stewart, was relinquishing his coaching responsibilities to focus on the General Manager and team President jobs. In his place the club hired Stanley Cup winner and former coach of the Mississippi RiverKings, Kevin MacClelland to replace Stewart. Coach “Mac” has done an admirable job in shaping and guiding this team to a 44-15-4 regular season record and and their winning playoff record.
Terry’s prediction
Intangibles can cause a less talented team to dominate a greater talent but they can also propel a very talented team to even greater heights. The intangibles surrounding this Colorado team including the home-ice advantage, the remarkable sellout crowds, combined with the all-for-one and one-for-all attitude in the locker room. All of these bode well for the 2008-2009 Colorado Eagles to capture a third Ray Miron President’s Cup.
Robert’s Prediction
Texas will host Games 3, 4 and 5 (if necessary) in the best-of-seven series at the NYTEX Sports Centre in North Richland Hills. The Brahmas led the league in the regular season with a 26-5-1 home record. The home team is now 16-6 all-time in Game 7s in CHL/WPHL history. That advantage, along with the “Fourth Line”, some of the loudest, rowdiest fans in the league, will surely be an asset to the Brahmas.
Many expected these two teams to play each other in the Finals since the early part of the season. Both teams finished with the best records and earned the first seed in the playoffs in their respected conferences. They are well-matched but the Brahmas remain the underdog, fighting for respect in the league. That doesn’t faze Wildfong.
“If we play the best that we can, we are the best team in the league, Wildfong said. “You’ve got to have that heart and you’ve got to have that swagger. But, if we try and do too much, we’re like the worst team in the league. It just has to be simple hockey for us with our game. That’s Brahmas hockey.”
Wildfong, who has won the President’s Cup as a player with the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, wants to make sure that his team isn’t satisfied with just making it to the Finals.
“The only thing that we’ll be happy with is winning a cup,” he said. “This team is too good to let each other down and for me to let them down. Like not pushing them to get there, because we have what it takes. We’ve got the goaltending, we’ve got the D, we’ve got the forwards and you know we’ve got our fourth line. It’s exciting. It’s a lot of fun.”
Prediction: The Brahmas win it all in six games.
Contact terry.sanford@prohockeynews.com
Contact robert.keith@prohockeynews.com
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