Texas’ Scott Sheppard Wins January’s Oakley Three Star Award

The Central Hockey League announced today that Scott Sheppard of the Texas Brahmas has won the Oakley Three Stars Award for the month of January/2009. Sheppard will receive a pair of Oakley THUMP sunglasses which feature blue tooth technology and a built in MP3 player. Learn more about the wide range of Oakley products at www.oakley.com.

Sheppard scored a league-high 13 goals during the month and also had four game winning goals. All four of his game winners came in either overtime or a shootout. The Brahmas leading scorer with 52 points finished with one First Star nod and five Second Star recognitions. On Tuesday, Sheppard was named the Sher-Wood/CHL Player of the Month for January.

The regular season Oakley Three Star standings show Odessa’s Sebastien Thinel and Colorado’s Andrew Penner tied for the lead with 44 points. Sheppard’s year-long total has him at 36 points.

Oakley CHL Three Star Player of the Month
Scott Sheppard, Texas Brahmas
Position: Forward
(January Totals)
Games – 14
Points – 25
Goals – 13
Assists – 12
+/- – +9
First Star – 1 time (5 points)
Second Star – 5 times (15 points)
Third Star – 0 times (0 points)
Total Points – 20

Oakley CHL Three Star Player of the Month Winners
October – Travis Clayton, Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs
November – Bobby Chaumont, Mississippi RiverKings
December – Marco Emond, Arizona Sundogs
January – Scott Sheppard, Texas Brahmas

Brahma's Jaeger Winner of Weekly CHL Award

The Central Hockey League announced today that the recipients for the Oakley CHL Player and Goaltender of the Week for the period ending January 18th, 2009 are forward David Morelli of the Rocky Mountain Rage and Brett Jaeger of the Texas Brahmas.

Morelli has been one of the hottest players in the league over the past two months scoring 22 points (10-12=22) over his past 23 games. Last week, the Burnaby, British Columbia native scored four goals with an assist and was a +5. In Friday’s 7-1 Rage win over Wichita, Morelli notched his first multi-goal game of the season scoring a hat trick (had game winning goal). In Sunday’s 3-1 win over the Thunder, he scored the game’s first goal and added an assist. The 5-10, 175-pound forward has already eclipsed last year’s season totals with his 15 goals and 29 points. He is just one goal shy of his career high set in the 2006-07 season.

Jaeger has been on quite a roll lately along with the Brahmas. The Peace River, Alberta native went 2-0 last week and has won nine of his last 10 games. Friday night, Jaeger stopped all 37 Arizona shots he faced earning his second shutout of the season. The 5-10, 190-pound goaltender followed that up with a 27 save performance in the Brahmas 6-2 win over Laredo on Saturday night. On the season, Jaeger is tied for second in the league with 18 wins, tied for first with a .924 save percentage and is third with a 2.36 goals against average.

In recognition of their achievement, both Morelli and Jaeger will receive a special gift from Oakley.

Oakley CHL Player of the Week
David Morelli, Rocky Mountain Rage
Position: F
(Weekly Totals)
Games Played: 3
Goals: 4
Assists: 1
Points: 5
Plus/Minus: +5

Oakley CHL Goaltender of the Week
Brett Jaeger, Texas Brahmas
Position: G
(Weekly Totals)
Games Played: 2
Record: 2-0-0
GAA: 1.00
Save %: 0.970
Saves: 64 of 66

Texas Brahmas Strong Play is Drawing Attention

In Friday's Shots From the Point, the CHL talked about DFW's very own Texas Brahmas a little:

The Texas Brahmas (22-9-3) have been on fire going 11-3-2 since early December and have firmly claimed their spot atop the Southeast Division with a six point lead over the second place Laredo Bucks. Texas has won six straight games overall and six straight road games (just one shy of the longest CHL road win streak this season). The Brahmas went 24-7-1 during the second half of the season a year ago and are already 2-0 during their second half this season. Jordan Cameron’s 19 points (7-12=19) is pacing the Brahmas over the last two games followed by Grant Jacobsen’s 14 points (7-7=14). Goaltender Brett Jaeger has won seven straight games allowing just 13 goals over that stretch. Texas should get only better when Friday night forward Travis Banga is in the line-up after being acquired from Rio Grande Valley. Banga, a two-time all-star, has scored 269 points (116-153=269) in 246 career CHL games.

The Brahmas have been strong all year, and have really ramped it up over the last month. It looks like they're starting another 2nd-half rampage a little early this year.

Texas’ Kinnunen and Arizona’s Emond Earn Weekly Award

The Central Hockey League announced today that the recipients for the Oakley CHL Player and Goaltender of the Week for the period ending January 4th, 2009 are defenseman Justin Kinnunen of the Texas Brahmas and for the second consecutive week, goaltender Marco Emond of the Arizona Sundogs.

Kinnunen returned to the Brahmas line-up on New Year’s Eve after missing five games with an injury. The recently named starter for the 2009 CHL All-Star Game finished the week with three goals and two assists in three games, all Texas wins. On Saturday, the Negaunee, Michigan native recorded just the second hat trick by a defenseman in Brahmas history in the team’s 4-1 victory over Laredo. The win moved Texas past the Bucks into first place in the Southeast Division. On the season, Kinnunen has eight goals (two shorthanded) and 11 assists ranking just outside the top 10 among defensemen in scoring. His +12 plus/minus rating is fourth among defensemen and sixth among all CHL players.

Emond wins the goaltending award for the consecutive week marking the first time the same goaltender has won in consecutive weeks since Shawn Degagne (Amarillo) during the 2003-04 season. Last week, the Valleyfield, Quebec native went 3-0 stopping 110 of 113 shots (.973 save percentage) allowing just one goal in each game he played. His victories came at home versus New Mexico and on the road versus Bossier-Shreveport and Oklahoma City. The 5-10, 195-pound goaltender has won five straight games allowing just four goals over that stretch and is 12-9-1 on the season with a 3.30 goals against average.

In recognition of their achievement, both Kinnunen and Emond will receive a special gift from Oakley.

Oakley CHL Player of the Week
Justin Kinnunen, Texas Brahmas
Position: D
(Weekly Totals)
Games Played: 3
Goals: 3
Assists: 2
Points: 5
Plus/Minus: +2

Oakley CHL Goaltender of the Week
Marco Emond, Arizona Sundogs
Position: G
(Weekly Totals)
Games Played: 3
Record: 3-0-0
GAA: 1.00
Save %: 0.973
Saves: 110 of 113

Texas’ Cameron Named Player of the Month

The Central Hockey League announced today that Jordan Cameron of the Texas Brahmas has been named the Sher-Wood/Central Hockey League Player of the Month for the month of December/2008. Cameron will receive a Sher-Wood/CHL logoed portable DVD player, courtesy of Sher-Wood, to recognize his accomplishment.

Cameron had points in 10 of the 13 games he played in the month and was a plus or even in every contest. He finished with nine goals and 10 assists for 19 points, while also registering a game winning goal and two shorthanded goals. The Drayton Valley, Alberta native was very strong in the second half of the month recording six multiple-point games in his last eight played. For the season, the 6-1, 227-pound forward has 28 points (12-16=28) in 21 games and is tied for the team lead with a +10 plus/minus rating.

The Brahmas are in second place in the Southeast Division trailing Laredo by two points and boasting an 18-9-3 record.

Other players receiving consideration for the Sher-Wood/CHL Player of the Month for December include Amarillo’s Joe Guenther, Arizona’s Joel Irving, Colorado’s Greg Pankewicz, Corpus Christi’s Chris Richards and Ryan Bennett, Laredo’s Jeff Bes and Darryl Smith, Mississippi’s Garrett Larson, Odessa’s Sebastien Thinel, Russ Moyer and Dominic Leveille, Oklahoma City’s Brian Passmore, Rio Grande Valley’s Jesse Bennefield and Tulsa’s Jeff Christian.

Sher-Wood CHL Player of the Month
Jordan Cameron, Texas Brahmas
Position: Forward
(December Totals)
Games – 13
Points – 19
Goals – 9
Assists – 10
Plus/Minus – +8

Sher-Wood CHL Player of the Month Winners
October – Rich Hansen, Rapid City Rush
November – Michel Beausoleil, Tulsa Oilers
December – Jordan Cameron, Texas Brahmas

Rapid City Goaltender Wins CHL Performance of the Week

The Central Hockey League (CHL) announced today that Rapid City’s Miguel Beaudry has been voted the winner of the CHL Performance of the Week for Week Seven after shutting out the Northwest Division leading Colorado Eagles, 4-0, in the Rush’s home opener on November 29th. Beaudry made 27 saves in the game.

Beaudry’s memorable first impression to Rapid City hockey fans earned 699 votes (41%). Coming in second place was Texas’ David Cacciola who made 41 saves in a shootout win over his old team, the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs (619 votes). The total votes cast in the weekly poll were 1,704.

Beaudry was one of the key signings for the expansion team in the off-season and is 4-4-3 on the season with a 3.72 goals against average. In his CHL career, the Rush are his fourth team also seeing action with New Mexico, Memphis and Austin. He has a career 94-91-24 record with 11 shutouts.

The nominees for the CHL Performance of the Week for week eight of the season (Dec. 1-7) are as follows:

-Bossier-Shreveport’s Jon Horrell making 31 saves in shutout win over Wichita on December 4th
-Texas’ David Cacciola making 36 saves in shootout win versus Bossier-Shreveport on December 5th
-Odessa holding Corpus Christi to 13 shots on goal in 2-1 win on December 6th
-Tulsa’s three-goal third period in 3-1 win versus Oklahoma City on December 6th
-RGV erasing two three-goal deficits in 5-4 OT win versus Corpus Christi on December 5th

Fans can vote for the winner through Monday, December 15th with the winner being announced on Tuesday, December 16th.