RIO RANCHO, NM – What a difference a week makes in the Central Hockey League.
One week after drubbing the Amarillo Gorillas in a home-and-home series the New Mexico Scorpions set out on a week to prove themselves against their divisional rivals, Arizona and Odessa and out of conference foe, Wichita. As was written previously on Pro Hockey News, the defense has been lacking in the CHL this early season and the Scorpions were suddenly defenseless and oh so offensive in their three games going 0-2-1 on the week.
The week opened with a tough 5-3 loss to the SunDogs in Prescott Valley. The SunDogs broke open a close game early the third when they netted two goals in 9 seconds. The Scorpions never recovered from the quick scores and lost a critical two points in the division.
Those quick scores were a theme the rest of the week with Odessa and Wichita playing in Rio Rancho. Odessa was first up and displayed offensive and defensive skills that bewildered the Scorpions early and often. Before the 7-minute mark of the opening period was seen the Jackalopes held a 4-0 lead and really just toyed with an outmanned Scorpions team. Of concern was a poor performance in net by New Mexico’s Jason Wolfe who only last week pitched the only shutout in the CHL against the Gorillas. In this contest, Wolfe was left hanging by his teammates who seemingly abandoned him when he needed them most.
By the end of the game the Jackalopes were hardly skating with an effort and were still able to pot 3 late scores with the ease of a scrimmage workout. The 9-2 final belied the ease with which the Jacks toyed with the Scorpions.
Head coach Randy Murphy promised that “jobs were on the line” in the next game Saturday night.
Apparently everyone on the Scorpions roster has sufficient financial
Photo by Lou Lafrado
Sometime between the first intermission and the midway point of the second frame someone perhaps told the New Mexico roster their 401k was now a 101k and suggested a more intense effort to save their jobs.
Jason Wolfe replaced starting goaltender Andrew Martin after Martin gave up two of the softest goals of his career. Wolfe was stellar in net for the remaining nearly 40 minutes of regulation. In the meantime, the Scorpions found their shooting touch and lit up the Thunder for 6 unanswered goals to tie the game with less than 4 minutes in regulation.
A give-away by New Mexico’s Christopher Robertson at the blueline led to the game-winner for the Thunder at 0:40 of overtime and saved Wichita the embarrassment of losing after a six goal lead.
Photo by Lou Lafrado
The real issue this week was the total lack of effort from the blue line out on the Scorpions’ roster. Both Wolfe and Martin were left defenseless this week and perhaps Martin was just too tired of dodging shots to care in the second period against Wichita. There is no one who could blame him for his effort and the missed shots.
The losses rest firmly on the shoulders of the New Mexico skaters. Murphy promised changes in the lineup and they need to occur quickly and with enough weight to carry a message as the team moves through the season. Too many fans have too little discretionary funds to waste on a
team that cares little for itself or its fan base. The wheels have come off the Scorpions bus and Randy Murphy needs to be a NASCAR mechanic in pit row to fix this problem and get the team back on the track.Friday night’s disastrous 9-2 loss may have chased away new fans from returning. Saturday’s come-back, albeit thrilling, was a fluke. Uninitiated fans may come back after the last 40-minute effort but true hockey fans will have seen the game for what it was worth; a sad spectacle of two teams failing to play 60 minutes.
Contact the author at lou.lafrado@prohockeynews.com .
Game photos by the author.
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