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Southwest Showdown
The best players in the Central Hockey League are heading to New Mexico for the 2004 All-Star Game.

01.07.04 - Don't forget to take that left in Albuquerque.

If you do, you might not find your way to the Stingley Coliseum in time to watch the 2004 Central Hockey League All-Star Game.

The best and brightest players in the CHL will converge on Thursday, January 22nd in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The rosters for the Northern and Southern Conferences All-Star Teams have been named and 34 players in total will be making the trip to the Land of Enchantment.

The starting line-ups for both squads were selected through balloting among all CHL Coaches and Public Relations Directors, along with selected media members across the CHL.

Northern Conference Starting Line-Up

Forwards	Team
Greg Pankewicz	Colorado
Don Parsons	Memphis
Mike Oliveira	New Mexico
Defensemen
Bernie John	Indianapolis
Hardy Sauter	Oklahoma City
Goaltender
Ken Carroll	Bossier-Shreveport

Leading all Northern Conference voting and selected on 22 of 27 (81.5 %) ballots was Colorado Eagles right winger Greg Pankewicz, who currently leads the CHL with 22 goals and sits second in overall scoring with 50 points.

Also selected as a starting Northern Conference forward is two-time defending CHL Most Valuable Player Don Parsons of the Memphis RiverKings, who makes his fourth consecutive CHL All-Star Appearance.

Completing the line is center Mike Oliveira of the host New Mexico Scorpions, whose 20 goals ranks third in the CHL, trailing only All-Star linemates Pankewicz (22) and Parsons (21).

Defensively, Bernie John of the Indianapolis Ice starts with the second most votes, named on 20 of 27 ballots (74.1 %), and leads all CHL rearguards with 29 assists and 36 points.

John makes his fourth consecutive CHL All-Star team, and is joined by Oklahoma City's Hardy Sauter, now a seven time-time All-Star, and the CHL's all-time leading scorer by a defenseman with 608 total points.

In net, standout Ken Carroll of the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs earns a second trip as an All-Star starting goaltender while recording 14 wins, a pair of shutouts, a 2.17 goals against average and a .924 save percentage.

Southern Conference Starting Line-Up

Forwards	Team
Brent Cullaton	Laredo
Jeff Bes	Laredo
Chris Minard	San Angelo
Defensemen
Mark DeSantis	Amarillo
Scott Hillman	Odessa
Goaltender
Shawn Degagne	Amarillo

Leading all Southern Conference voting and selected on 19 of 24 (79.2 %) ballots was Laredo right winger Brent Cullaton. He currently leads the CHL with both 51 points and 34 assists.

Jeff Bes, who ranks third in CHL scoring with 48 points and leads the circuit with 10 special teams goals, joins Laredo teammate Cullaton on the forward line.

Rounding out the trio is second year pro Chris Minard of the San Angelo Saints. Minard is enjoying an outstanding season with 13 goals and 19 assists through 33 contests.

Both Southern Conference All-Star starting defensemen have qualified for their third consecutive All-Star game, with versatile Amarillo rearguard Mark DeSantis and Odessa blueliner Scott Hillman earning starting nods. Hillman currently ranks 2nd in league scoring by defenseman with 28 points.

Amarillo netminder Shawn Degagne gets the call in goal for the Southern Conference with a goals against average of 2.29, a save percentage of 92.8 and a CHL-leading 16 wins.

 

Northern Conference All-Star Reserves

The reserves for the Northern Conference were selected by Coach Scott Muscutt of the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, in conjunction with the CHL's Hockey Operations Department.

An additional six forwards, four defensemen and a goaltender were selected to join the starting lineup.

Reserve Forwards

Colorado left winger Ryan Tobler (19 goals, 33 assists) sits fourth in CHL scoring, and is joined by Chris Richards of the host New Mexico Scorpions (14g, 31a), Chad Woollard (12g, 15a) of the Fort Worth Brahmas, Jason Bermingham (19g,16a) of the Tulsa Oilers, Jason Baird 16g, 24a) of the Indianapolis Ice and Chad Spurr (14g, 19a) from Bossier-Shreveport.

Reserve Defenseman

Bolstering the Northern Conference All-Star defensive unit are returning
All-Star Derek Landmesser of the Memphis RiverKings along with Oklahoma
City's Tyler Fleck, Colorado's Brad Williamson, and Bossier-Shreveport's
Craig Minard.

Reserve Goaltender

In goal, Wichita netminder Nathan Grobins has enjoyed an outstanding season to date, and will backup starter Ken Carroll from Bossier-Shreveport. Grobins has posted 13 wins this season, along with a 2.34 goals against average and a .926 save percentage in combined duty with both Memphis and Wichita.

 

Southern Conference All-Star Reserves

Coach Terry Ruskowski of the Laredo Bucks, in conjunction with the CHL's Hockey Operations Department, selected the Southern Conference All-Star reserves.

An additional six forwards, four defensemen and a goaltender will join the starting lineup.

Reserve Forwards

Laredo's Chris Grenville (selected as the 2003 CHL All-Star Game Most Valuable Player with four goals in the South's 10-6 victory over the North in Oklahoma City) has been added to the team as a reserve forward.

Joining him will be Austin's Gerald Tallaire, Bill Newson of the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees, Joe Blaznek from the Lubbock Cotton Kings, Odessa's Sebastien Thinel, and Amarillo's Derek Hahn, the CHL's 2002/2003 Rookie of the Year.

Reserve Defensemen

Selections to the Southern Conference All-Star defensive unit include Mike Tilson of the Corpus Christi Rayz, Daniel Tetrault of the Austin Ice Bats, Derek Booth from San Angelo and Laredo's Serge Dube.

Reserve Goaltender

In goal, Scott Reid of the San Angelo Saints has been named to the Southern Conference All-Star club, posting 17 wins, a 2.62 goals against average and a save percentage of .926 to date this season.