Happy Holidays From The Corpus Christi IceRays!!

First road trip with Corpus Christi

This last week I had my first road trip with the Icerays. We played Wichita Falls Wednesday and Friday and then traveled to Dallas Friday night playing the Tornado the next night before heading home for Christmas!

Wednesday night we won 4-3 in a very chippy physical game against the Wildcats, I received my first penalty as an Iceray on a kneeing call of an awkward hit in our zone.

Friday night was a more disappointing game, losing 3-2 to the wildcats, with a late goal in the third period. This loss put us 7 points behind Wichita in the standings who we are chasing for a playoff spot.

Friday's game against the Tornado however, proved to be an extremely upsetting loss! We ended the first period up 2-0 with momentum and energy but, in the second we let up, took some bad penalties and the puck just wouldn't bounce our way. We again lost in the last minute to a shorthanded goal to lose 4-3 to the Tornado. We also ended our streak of 17 straight penalty kills when Texas scored their 5 on 3 goal in the third to take the lead.

Now i am back in Colorado, visiting friends and family, finishing final exams and working with Coach Cully after Christmas.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Corpus Christi Logo

Here's an animate logo my pop made!

It's an animated GIF so you have to let it load the animation. 



Witchita Falls Wildcats vs Corpus Christi Icerays

Another eventful weekend in Corpus! We played The Wichita Falls Wildcats this weekend, the first game was disappointing. We couldn't bury a puck the entire game and ended up losing 4-0. However, with 12 min left in the third period I had my first NAHL fight! Coach called out five guys that we needed to fight, myself being one of them. The fight went very well and lasted a long time. The crowd went completely crazy, there isn't a place that I have ever played that has shook like that!

The next day proved to be a much better outcome for our team. We won the second game 5-4 in an OT/shootout. As a team we performed much better and although losing the lead we gained in the second period, we finished strong after a close call in OT where Phoenix Copley our Goaltender(also named NAHL player of the Month in November) came up strong when we needed him most.

We go on a road trip tomorrow with 3 games against Wichita Wednesday and Friday and Texas Tornado Saturday before our Christmas break!

Chance Creger Fight Corpus Christi Ice Rays

Here are a few images of this weekend's fight. Photos by Mark Locke II. Thanks again Mark!

Creger wins a convincing fight

CORPUS CHRISTI BLANKED BY WICHITA FALLS, 4-0

"Corpus Christi won two fights as Brandon Marshall and Chance Creger both dropped the gloves."

"Creger won a convincing fight against Sentyurin in his first fight for the IceRays."

Corpus Christi Ice Rays Hockey

"In the Crease" blog article ~ by Greg Rajan

Check out Greg Rajan blog "In the Crease" from Corpus Christi Caller Times (caller.com).

"Another one in"


"The latest newcomer is defensemand Chance Creger, a product of Brent Cullaton's Boulder Jr. Bison, Creger is expected to make his debut on Friday against Amarillo." -Greg Rajan

Jim Porter's Pics of my Fight!

 

Jim Porter's Photography

First weekend in the NAHL

My first weekend with the Corpus Christi Ice Rays went well! Even though both games ended up in a loss to the Amarillo Bulls, I was able to get my feet wet with the NAHL's style of play. Everything happens faster, decisions have to be made quickly, and mistakes have to be limited. I am enjoying everything and receiving a lot of great help from the team captain, other leaders on the team, and also from both coaches. I am hoping to get an opportunity this week in practice and next weekend against Wichita Falls to put into practice what I have and will learn. With hard work and a little bit of time I should be able to play with more confidence by being more physical and becoming an effective member on the team with the role of a defensive defensemen.

Brent Hughes Interview 1440 Keys Talk Radio

Here is Coach Brent Hughes Interview they had on 1440 Keys Talk Radio!

Be sure to catch all the live action on News/Talk 1440 KEYS, online at www.1440keys.com/rays, with the voice of the IceRays, Ryan Holt.

Chance Creger Player Announcement 1440 Keys Talk Radio

Here is the announcement they had on 1440 Keys Talk Radio!

Be sure to catch all the live action on News/Talk 1440 KEYS, online at www.1440keys.com/rays, with the voice of the IceRays, Ryan Holt.

Corpus Christi Signs Defenseman Chance Creger

Click Here for News Article Link

Chance Creger Fight Boulder Bison 2010

From Texas to Boulder back to Texas

Its been a very exciting couple of months since my last post!

After my last tournament with the Ice Jets in Detroit I made the tough decision to leave my friends and teammates and go back to Colorado due to a poor academic structure at ischoolHigh (IMO). I came back to Boulder and signed with the Boulder Junior Bison after a few weeks with skating with the team!

After all was settled, I took my first road trip with my new team down to Texas to play the Brahmas. I played one game on that Sunday earned my first point with an assist to Dustin Simmions who buried a great shot to help us with the 8-2 victory.

The very next weekend I played my second and third games on Friday and Sunday. In the Sunday game I got into my first fight which I will post above if youd like to see!

But the BIG NEWS..! Yesterday Coach Cully called me aside and asked if I would like to play in the North American Hockey Leauge (NAHL) for the Corpus Christi Ice Rays! I talked with the Coach and I will be called up wearing #8 this weekend!

Detroit Motor City Cup

Had our first tournament in Detroit this last weekend! My team did fairly well, we lost our first game to the Lansing Capitals 1-0 off a fluke goal that went off the referee off the post and in. We then played Victory Honda and had a great 3-1 upset win! In our last round robin game we played Michigan Development Hockey team and won 6-3. However we came in second in our bracket and were unable to gain the Wild Card spot for the quarterfinals. In our consolation game we played Team Illinois. We didn't show up for that game at all and lost 5-2. Overall the coaches said that I played really well and I'm excited to get some more experience and hopefully win our next tournament in Detroit again in two weeks!

One week into Ice Jets Hockey!

Well i have my internet set up in my new apartment and I am able to update the blog now! The training for Ice Jets is like no other I have ever experienced. Every day of the week I spend from 345 to 745 training. Two hours of non-stop ice session and then straight into two hours of dryland training. Everything is going great, ischool is a little different but it's going to be a great learning experience as well! I'm taking AP physics, AP English, AP engineering, AP calc and, AP US History.

First tournament is in Detroit in two weeks! Our team is looking really good everyone gets along and there is an insane amount of talent!I'm really excited and it's looking like things are shaping up for a great year!

New Mexico Mustangs NAHL

Driving home from a tryout in New Mexico for the Mustangs NAHL team. I had a great weekend played really well and met some really great players. One of them played for the Ice Jets last year so I was able to get his opinion on the team which was great! I am even more excited to play now and it sounds like a ton of fun and a great group of teammates.

As far as the tryouts go I was cut before the All-Star game this time around because of my age but in my exit interview they said they are going to watch me this next year and keep in touch and let me develop with Ice Jets.

All in all it was a great weekend and a good experience with some talented players.

Just about a month of CO left

With just over a month left before I leave for Texas on August 21st I have only a few updates for everyone. I was accepted into a charter school in Texas this week called ischool. Its a small High School affiliated with the Ice Jets Hockey association that specializes in Math, Science and Engineering. Seems so far to be a pretty neat school and has great test scores so hopefully I can continue to do well in school and focus on hockey at the same time. Its a great set up at the school for the hockey players too, we go to school from 8-12 everyday then train for hockey for four hours after school.

Also I have been very busy raising money for this next hockey season as well. Thankfully a couple of family friends have been giving me work lately to help me raise money. Jim and Marie Raikes have a little section of a lake that they rent every year. Its a beautiful lake too, right in front of the flatirons in Boulder CO with clear blue water that reflects the mountains. Anyway they had a dock out on the lake but with the wind that builds up through the canyon it completely destroyed the dock. So Mr. Raikes and I rebuilt the dock and the ramp making a few improvements here and there, it looks great and works well! Also Mark and Jeni Knox put me to work with their son Brendan to stain their deck this last week as well.  While fighting the sun and wasps we finished in three days and celebrated the fourth by going to the new YMCA pool!

I also wanted to thank everyone who has been so generous by giving donations so far:
Keith and Robyn Bruns
Phil and Liz Weeks
Krystal Abfalter
Jason and Jessica Anderson
We are at about 40% of our goal already so thanks very much!

An unexpected summer...

At the beginning of the summer I thought that it was going to be another summer of working to pay for hockey and hanging out with friends leading into another year at Peak to Peak Charter School for my Junior year. However a week after summer began, I found that I would need surgery on my heels. Hard tissue nicknamed "Bauer bumps" was growing into my Achilles, keeping me from skating or any other summer plans until I recovered from surgery which was preformed on May 28th. As I recovered I realized that in this upcoming year I had yet to secure a spot on any elite hockey team. Lying on my bed I made a list of tryouts that I could participate in order to get on a team and focus on working for the remainder of the summer. After talking with local AAA coaches I found that competition for my defensive position was high. Team Rocky Mountain tryouts were at the very end of summer, and if I relied on this option there was a chance that if I didn't make it I would not be playing hockey this next year. I went into a scramble mode and tried to find options as to where I could play. Luckily I had a friend in town, Ryan Fay, who spoke to me about playing AAA in Dallas, Texas with him the following year. He and his father Tom contacted the coaches of the Dallas Ice Jets for me. I spoke with the head coach, Paul Taylor and was invited to the tryouts which were the weekend of June 18, only two and a half weeks after my surgery. With stitches still in my feet my dad and I drove 14 hours down to Texas. At the end of the second game of a three game tryout I was asked to come into Coach Taylor's office. He told me that I had already made the team and they wanted me to sign with them for the next season. Instantly all the worry and weight of making a team was lifted. I went home and talked with the rest of the family about the opportunity. I would be on the ice 2 hours a day, training off ice for two hours a day, going to a great school from 8-12 every day and to top it off the Fay's offered to let  me billet with them the entire year. This chance could develop me enough to give me the ability to play Division 1 NCAA hockey when the time for college came around! We decided to accept the offer and so I will be heading to Dallas August 21st... I hope to add a new post every week updating everyone on the happenings while I'm away. Enjoy!