Central Hockey League: Jackalopes wary of wounded Brahmas

The Odessa Jackalopes were in quite a hole the last time they left the Permian Basin.

They trailed the Texas Brahmas 2-0 in the best-of-7 Southern Conference semifinals, with Games 3 and 4 scheduled on the defending Central Hockey League champion’s home ice in North Richland Hills.

But what a difference just a few days have made.

The Jackalopes left for the Metroplex again Sunday, and this time it’s the Brahmas whose playoffs are on life support as they trail the Jackalopes 3-2 in the series.

Game 6 is scheduled for 7:05 tonight at the NYTEX Sports Center. Game 7, if necessary, would be at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday at Ector County Coliseum.

The Jackalopes hope it’s not necessary.

“We know that Texas has a solid team over there,” Jackalopes forward Mike Ramsay said. “We know that they are going to throw everything and the kitchen sink at us on Monday and we are going to have to be ready.

“There is still a lot of hockey to be played.”

Around the Jackalopes locker room Saturday night, following a 2-1 victory over the Brahmas in Game 5, Ramsay’s teammates echoed his words.

The Jackalopes, however, have done something Sebastien Thinel talked about after dropping the first two games of the series at home.

“We need to find a way to get traffic to the net and get in his kitchen,” Thinel said about Texas goaltender Brett Jaeger, who stopped 74 of the first 78 shots he faced in the series.

In Games 3 and 4, the Jackalopes did exactly that, sending people to the net and through the crease to bother Jaeger.

In Game 3, Brahmas coach Dan Wildfong pulled Jaeger with less than six minutes to play.

In Game 4, Jaeger got a quicker hook, heading to the bench after giving up three goals in the first 15 minutes of the game.

Backup goaltender Joe Palmer started Game 5 and it’s anyone’s guess who gets the nod tonight.

“We’re confident that we can skate with any team,” co-captain Kory Karlander said. “We just need to do the little things that we had success with all year — going to the net, putting the puck on net, taking care of our defensive responsibilities everywhere on the ice.

“Texas is a good, veteran team that’s capable of scoring in a hurry, as we saw in the first game. It’s our job to keep that from happening.”

If the Jackalopes are able to wrest the series from the Brahmas tonight, they will have revived their playoffs for a second consecutive year with miraculous play.

They lost the first two games against Laredo in last year’s playoffs, then won four straight and advanced to the Southern Conference Finals against Texas.

The Brahmas are going to need to channel some of that 2009 magic in order to stay with the Jackalopes.

Odessa goaltender Juha Toivonen, though, hopes for a different result.

“We’ve been getting better each game,” he said. “The best thing is that everyone in the locker room knows that we still have to win one more game and that’s the toughest one.

“It’s certainly nicer being up 3-2 than going back to their building trailing 3-2.”