Wichita’s Tim Boron Voted CHL Performance of the Week

The Central Hockey League (CHL) announced today that Tim Boron of the Wichita Thunder has been voted the winner of the CHL Performance of the Week for Week 10. The netminder made 53 saves in a 2-1 Thunder victory over Mississippi on December 19th propelling him to the award.

Boron’s effort received 49% of the vote earning 289 of the 591 votes cast. Coming in second place was Laredo’s Darryl Smith who scored the game winning goal with 16 seconds left on the clock in the Bucks 4-3 win over Corpus Christi on December 20th.

Boron has been a lift to the Thunder as of late winning the Oakley CHL Goaltender of the Week award earlier in December. He is a deceiving 3-8-1 on the season with a 2.50 goals against average and a .928 save percentage.

The nominees for the CHL Performance of the Week for week 11 of the season (Dec. 22-28) are as follows:
-RGV’s Christian Boucher making 41 saves in the Bees 1-0 win vs. Laredo on December 22nd
-Wichita’s Jason Tessier scoring a hat trick in the Thunders 6-3 win vs. Tulsa on December 26th
-Odessa’s Russ Moyer netting five points in the Jacks 7-3 win over Amarillo on December 27th
-Texas’ three-goal third period erasing a 3-1 deficit in their 4-3 win over OKC on December 27th
-New Mexico’s Chris Robertson’s hat trick in the team’s 6-4 win at Colorado on December 27th

Fans can vote for the winner through Monday, January 5th with the winner being announced on Tuesday, January 6th.

Oakley CHL Player and 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 21st, 2008 are defenseman Neil Smith of the Amarillo Gorillas and goaltender Tim Boron of the Wichita Thunder.

Smith becomes the first defenseman to win the award this season using his physical presence on the blueline to help the Gorillas to a 1-1 record. In Friday’s 7-5 victory over Rapid City, the Fonthill, Ontario native had an assist and was a team-high +4. Then on Saturday night, Smith set the tone for one of the most physical games of the weekend with an early first period fight and then later assisted on the Gorillas only goal in the 2-1 loss to the RiverKings. On the season, the 6-3, 215-pound defenseman has seven assists in 17 games and is a +1 tying him for the best plus/minus on the team.

Boron has been on quite a roll lately moving up to the top of the league with his 2.20 goals against average (third in the CHL) and .936 save percentage (second in the CHL). Last week, the Winnipeg, Manitoba native went 1-1 stopping a season-high 53 shots in the Thunder’s 2-1 win over Mississippi and then followed that up with 28 saves in Wichita’s 2-1 loss to Rapid City. In the month of December, Boron is only 1-4-1 despite allowing just 10 goals in his six starts. The 6-0, 177-pound goalie has received just five goals of support from his team in the month.

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

Oakley CHL Player of the Week
Neil Smith, Amarillo Gorillas
Position: D
(Weekly Totals)
Games Played: 2
Goals: 0
Assists: 2
Points: 2
Plus/Minus: +4

Oakley CHL Goaltender of the Week
Tim Boron, Wichita Thunder
Position: G
(Weekly Totals)
Games Played: 2
Record: 1-1-0
GAA: 1.50
Save %: 0.964
Saves: 81 of 84