Pro Hockey: Jacks cap best regular season with win
In 2001-2002, the Odessa Jackalopes put together a magical season, winning 47 games and earning 99 points to lead the Central Hockey League in both categories.
On Saturday night, this year’s version went one better.
Dominic Leveille scored a pair of goals and Mike Lesperance and Collin Circelli each finished with one marker as the Jackalopes defeated the Rapid City Rush 4-2 in front of a season-high 4,808 at Ector County Coliseum.
The victory capped Odessa’s regular-season record at 48-11-5, good for 101 points, both club records. The Jackalopes are the first CHL team since Laredo in the 2003-04 season to reach 100 points for the season.
“I thought it was a solid effort; I thought we skated, we were working hard and we made plays,” Jackalopes coach Paul Gillis said. “I thought we had a lot of energy the entire game and worked hard.
“It was nice for our preparation because all year our goal has been to win every game. The 48 wins tell how hard the players worked this year.”
Odessa will next skate next Friday or Saturday in the Southern Conference semifinals, at Ector County Coliseum, against either Corpus Christi or Texas, who open their first-round playoff series on Monday in Corpus Christi.
Rapid City (43-14-7), the Northern Conference champion, will face either Mississippi or Missouri in the conference semifinals next week. The Rush, however, will open their series on the road as their home arena is already being used for another event.
“This was a good game for us,” Jackalopes forward Mike Ramsay said. “Rapid City is a good team that plays well, so we knew that we would have to be ready to go and that’s going to help going into the playoffs.”
Leveille, who also added one assist, put Odessa on the board with 4:21 gone in the first period. Kory Karlander started the scoring play by skating the puck into the Rush zone through the left circle and then slid the puck between the skates of a Rapid City defenseman, where Leveille picked it up and skated into the slot before driving on the net and pushing the puck past goaltender Miguel Beaudry.
Rapid City tied the game with nine minutes remaining in the first period when Rich Hansen, standing just above the right post, took a pass from Colt King and quickly redirected past Jackalopes goaltender Joel Martin.
Lesperance, however, put Odessa back in front with his ninth goal of the season, taking a pass from Jeff Pierce at the top of the slot and firing a shot through a screen that beat Beaudry between the pads.
