Eagles Lose Two But Get Good News

The Colorado Eagles received some good news over the weekend

after dropping two straight games in south Texas against the Corpus

Christi Ice Rayz and the Laredo Bucks.

Colorado Eagles right winger Greg Pankewicz was named the

Sherwood Central Hockey League player of the month for

November.

The announcement helped spark a spirited 2-0 victory against the

other expansion CHL team, the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees.

“Receiving this honor is a direct reflection of the ability of

this team as a whole,” Pankewicz said.

Pankewicz had a tremendous month. In13 games he had 13 goals and

20 assists. In addition, his plus-18 rating proved his worth to an

expansion Colorado team.

Pankewicz also leads the league in points (42) and plus-minus

rating (+21). He credited his big production totals to team play,

however.

“Good linemates are the reason behind my success so far,”

Pankewicz said.

The linemates he refers to are left winger Ryan Tobler and

center Riley Nelson.

Tobler was named the CHL Metal Blade Power Players for the

second time this season for his recent hat trick against the New

Mexico Scorpions on Dec. 3.

On Friday the Eagles hit the road after a six-game homestand and

ended up in Corpus Christi, Texas. Despite Colorado’s 3-0 lead in

the first period, Ice Rayz forward Jay Woodcroft exploded for four

goals, two in the third period, to cap a 6-4 comeback victory for

the Ice Rayz.

Saturday was another setback for the Eagles in Laredo. The

Laredo Bucks showed the Eagles the importance of an opportunistic

power play as they scored on all three of their power-play

chances.

The Eagles lost another lead in that loss, as Nelson scored two

early goals in the third and sixth minutes of the first period. The

Eagles have now lost four times when leading by more than one.

Nevertheless, the Eagles stepped into Rio Grande and Nelson

scored another first period goal. This time, Eagles goalie Ryan

Bach made the lead stand by making 40 saves.

“It was important to us to not only get the win but show we

could hold onto our lead,” Bach said. “We finally played 60 minutes

of solid hockey and I mostly credit my defensemen, they played

great.”

At 15-7-1, the Eagles still sit atop the Northwest Division.

They are second in the league behind Laredo, who is 18-3-1 and

9-1-1 at home. The Eagles are 9-2 at home.

The Eagles’ next home game is Friday night against the Wichita

Thunder at the Budweiser Events Center. The team returns again

Saturday afternoon against the New Mexico Scorpions.