Eagles fly high on the road

LOVELAND, Colo. – On the road for the majority of the past month, the Colorado Eagles continued to rack up points and make progress in their battle for the top playoff seed in the Central Hockey League’s Turner Conference.

Between January 18th and February 15th, the Eagles played 13 games on the road and just four games on home ice. Their record during this stretch was a stellar 10 wins (including seven in a row), six regulation losses and one overtime loss for a total of 21 points.
Starting with a trip up the road to Rapid City, South Dakota to notch a 4-1 win against the Rush, the Eagles returned to the Budweiser Events Center the following evening to host the expansion team from Evansville, Indiana. The Eagles battled the Icemen’s stifling defense, but the result was a 3-2 loss.
A three-in-three foray into the heart of the former International Hockey League’s Midwest stronghold included two games against the Quad City Mallards one against the Bloomington PrairieThunder. The Mallards and Eagles split their set with Quad City winning the first game 3-2 and Colorado picking up a 2-1 win the following night.
The PrairieThunder roughed up a tired Eagles squad, winning 5-3 to end the trio of games.
With a travel/rest day between the Bloomington game and the next match up in Tulsa, the Eagles were recharged and pummeled the Oilers 4-1. That win set off a seven-game winning streak, beginning with three consecutive wins in three nights over the Arizona Sundogs and a quick trip back home to beat the Missouri Mavericks 4-2.
A weekend trip to Odessa, Texas, resulting in two wins against the Jackalopes continued the streak and garnered Eagles’ net minder Kyle Jones the CHL Goaltender of the Week award for the first week of February.
Two more road games were on tap for the Eagles before they could head home for a few days, starting with a trip to Moline, Illinois for a Tuesday night tilt with the Mallards and then back down the road to Independence, Missouri on Friday for the start of another tough three-in-three battle, this time with the Mavericks. Only this time the first game was in Missouri while the remaining two were to be played in Colorado.
Quad City lit up the Eagles, ending their winning streak by outscoring the visitors 4-1 and the result of the first of three against the Mavericks was also a loss, albeit a 2-1 overtime loss which gave the Eagles a precious point in the standings.
In the two-game home portion of the series against the Mavericks this past weekend, the Eagles and Mavericks split the two contests with Colorado taking the Saturday night game 3-2 in overtime and Missouri scoring seven goals to the Eagles’ four on Sunday night.
Tuesday night’s game in Rapid City ended in a disastrous 3-0 loss, giving the Rush a three point lead over the second place Eagles, but with 16 games remaining in the 2010-11 regular season, Colorado will keep their focus on achieving the top slot.
On Friday, the Eagles added Slovenian forward Andrej Hebar, a product of professional hockey in Europe including Trinec Ocelari HC in the Czech Republic’s highest pro league and Jesenice, a similar high level program in Austria.
Colorado begins a four-game home stand at 7:05 pm MST on Friday night, when they host the Arizona Sundogs.
Contact the writer/photographer at terry.sanford@prohockeynews.com