Central Hockey League: Jackalopes hope they're just getting started

This was the plan, the blueprint laid out at the beginning of the season for the Odessa Jackalopes.

With 15 players returning from a team that advanced to Game 7 of the Central Hockey League’s Southern Conference championship series before losing to the Texas Brahmas, the Jackalopes looked to get a fast start out of the gate for the 2009-2010 season.

Fast, however, is an understatement.

“Did we think that we had a good team at the beginning of the season?” Jackalopes coach Paul Gillis asked. “Yes we did and I think the familiarity that everyone has with each other, the expectations on them coming into the season and with the systems certainly helps.

“My first year here, we made a lot of changes during the season because I was trying to learn the personnel and needed to make moves to improve the hockey club. Last year, we didn’t make that many changes and I hope that this year is the same way.”

With a 10-1-1 mark in its first dozen contests, Odessa has the top mark in the CHL and currently is riding a seven-game winning streak, while earning points in each of its past 10 contests.

Forward Dominic Leveille is second in the league in scoring with 21 points (5 goals, 16 assists), with Sebastien Thinel — the 2008-09 CHL Most Valuable Player — sitting second on the team with 17 (3-14) points.

To this point, 11 players have scored in double figures and forward Kenny Bernard might be the hottest player in the league, having had an eight-game goal-scoring streak stopped in Saturday’s 5-2 victory against Amarillo.

The Jackalopes will put their streak and momentum on the line when they host Amarillo at 7:05 tonight at Ector County Coliseum. It’s the first of four games in five days, and Amarillo is the only team to have defeated Odessa in regulation this season.

The other loss came by way of an 11-round shootout to the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs.

“I think the one thing that I’ve really noticed is the work ethic that everyone is bringing to practice and the games each day,” co-captain Kory Karlander said. “We all know how close we came last year and we know how much we want to go farther this season.

“Plus, when you bring back all 11 forwards, most of the defenseman and upgrade your goaltending, you expect as a team to be better. And every night, it’s not just two or three different guys, but guys up and down the lineup that are scoring points for us.”

Bernard leads the league in power-play goals with six and also has tallied a pair of short-handed goals, while Leveille leads the league in power-play assists with 12, followed by Jackalopes defenseman Philippe Plante with eight.

Plante (3-10-13) and fellow blueliner Alex Dunn (4-8-12) are the top two scoring defensemen in the CHL.

Additionally, the Jackalopes have the best special teams units in the league — converting at a 33-percent clip on the power play and killing off 89.3 percent of the chances against them.

After putting all the bright spots together, it’s easy to see how the quick start was achieved.

“I think the biggest benefit has been with our power play,” Gillis said. “Everyone stepped right back into their roles and picked up from last year.

“Normally at the beginning of the season you are working at getting the right combination of players on the power-play and penalty-kill units and there is a lot of opportunity because of the number of penalties being called. We’ve been playing well and this is what we expected from our team and we just have to continue to work hard.”