Odessa Jackalopes' Gillis Earns Second Coaching Slot in CHL All-Star Game

The Central Hockey League (CHL) announced today that Odessa Jackalopes Head Coach Paul Gillis will represent the Southern Conference as one of two co-coaches for the 2009 CHL All-Star Team. Gillis joins Oklahoma City’s Doug Sauter as the tandem that will lead the CHL All-Star team in the 2009 CHL All-Star Game.

This year’s game features a unique format with the host Colorado Eagles (coached by Kevin McClelland) playing a team of CHL All-Stars. This year’s All-Star Game, presented by Poudre Valley Health System, will be played on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at the Budweiser Events Center and will be broadcast LIVE on Altitude Sports and Entertainment.

Gillis, in his second season with the Jackalopes, clinched the berth thanks to the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees 1-0 victory over the Laredo Bucks on Monday night. Thanks to the loss, Gillis’ Jacks squad will finish the pre-Christmas break portion of the schedule with a higher win percentage than Terry Ruskowski and the Bucks. Odessa leads the Southern Conference with a 19-6-2 record and 40 points.

The playing roster for the team will be made up of 18 players (a minimum of one representative from each team) with the starters for the game announced on December 30th and the reserves on December 31st.

Oakley CHL Player/Goaltender of the Week Announced

The Central Hockey League announced today that the recipients for the Oakley CHL Player and Goaltender of the Week for the period ending December 7th, 2008 are forward Darryl Smith of the Laredo Bucks and goaltender Alexandre Vincent of the Odessa Jackalopes.

Smith is one of the hottest forwards in the league right now sitting with a 10-game point streak and helping the Bucks to a 9-1 record over that stretch. Last week in three games, the rookie scored five goals with four assists and was a remarkable +9. The St. Catharines, Ontario native leads all rookies in scoring with 32 points (16-16=32) on the season. Overall he ranks second in points (32), second in goals (16) and tied for first in game winning goals (4). Six of his last eight games have seen the 5-11, 190-pound forward record multiple points.

Vincent wins the goaltending award for the second time this season (previously won on November 3rd). In fact, the Jackalopes have garnered four of the eight weekly goaltending awards given to date (Juha Toivonen has won twice as well). Last week, Vincent posted a 3-0 record allowing just one goal in each game. He finished with a .944 save percentage (51 saves on 54 shots). On the season, the Drummonville, Quebec native is 5-2-1 with a 2.63 goals against average. Due in large part to the strong goaltending, Odessa has won seven straight games and are in first place in the Southwest Division sitting 11 points in front of their closest competitor.

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

Oakley CHL Player of the Week
Darryl Smith, Laredo Bucks
Position: F
(Weekly Totals)
Games Played: 3
Goals: 5
Assists: 4
Points: 9
Plus/Minus: +9

Oakley CHL Goaltender of the Week
Alexandre Vincent, Odessa Jackalopes
Position: G
(Weekly Totals)
Games Played: 3
Record: 3-0-0
GAA: 1.00
Save %: 0.944
Saves: 51 of 54