Former Champs near bottom

(AP) Denver, CO The Spurs have gotten off to a rocky start this season. They currently sport a 1-3 record and are near the bottom of the new league standings format. i.e. All one league, no conferences or divisions for the 22 CCHL franchises. The offensive effort to date is tied for 20th in the league with the defense tied for 16th. Looks like the glory days are over for the entry from Denver and the Rocky Mountain West.
A triumvirate of goaltenders have been utilized so far with Brodeur 1-1, 2.oogaa .943svpct posting the only win. Backup Pekka Rinne in his lone appearance was a woeful 0-1, 7.00gaa .774.svpct. Perhaps he doesn't have the makeup to man the net in the CCHL. Next in the rotation was Steve Valiquette, who while fairing better than Rinne, lost to the Honved in Budapest 4-3 in OT, while posting 3.69gaa .892svpct numbers.
Goal scoring has been non-existent for the punchless Spurs who have managed to pot only 7 goals thus far in 4 games.
Leading the club in scoring to date are Smyth 2g 2a 4pts, Liles 1g 2a 3pts but sports a team low -5 and Captain Sakic who has 3 assists in 3gp out of the 4 total games the Spurs have played to date. There has been a lot of
personnel and line shuffling the first few games. The result being that 27 of the 29 players on the pro roster have been utilzed in the 4 games to date. The lone blueliner who hasn't played, Finger, will be suiting up for the next game with Liles spending some time in the pressbox for the time being with his -5. That will leave only one player yet to see ice time. That being center Andrew Ebbett. His time will come, no doubt.
Coach Quenneville said, "It's been rough, but I have to see who plays best with whom. The chemistry...ya know? To be honest, I don't have a clue yet. John-Michael needs to get his head straight. He's been jumping into the play too much. For some reason he doesn't have the 'feel' yet this season for when to jump in and when to lay back. It's been burning us. But, ya know, he doesn't wear that CCHL Champs ring for nothing. He was a big cog in that championship run a couple of season ago."
Dasher Notes
Brodeur will be between the pipes for the Spurs' next game at the Eissporthalle Linz vs. the Blackwings. After the game the Spurs will board the charter jet for the non-stop all night flight back to Denver to face the Bismarck North Dakota Ibex back home the very next night. While they'll gain about 8 hours or so during the trip it still doesn't bode well....eh? I guess the league office never heard of jet lag! Whoever made up this travel schedule ought to be shot! Winger McCormick was injured in the game vs. Budapest when he was run into the boards with no ensuing penalty! It appears he will be out for an extended period at press time. Coach Q is going to experiment with free agent Jamie Lundmark at LW since he has played the port side earlier in his career. Other players besides Liles are going to sit out with players who didn't play in Hungary suiting up vs. the Ibex. Coach Q is hoping this will combat the travel fatigue factor and result in the 2nd win of the season.

Until Next Time...









This is Peter Puckhead signing off