There’s been quite a few bits of news out of Odessa in the last few days, so I am consolidating a bit and putting them all in one article. View this as a little primer on the season start for the Jacks.
Odessa has started strong this season, pulling out of the gates with a 3-1-1 record. Yesterday, the team announced the league was honoring Jeff Pierce with an Oakley CHL Player of the Week Award, for the week ending October 25th. Pierce scored points in all three games the Jackalopes played last week, helping his team to a 2-0-1 record for the week. He finished the week with seven points (5G, 2A), including the first hat trick of his career, which came against the Amarillo Gorillas on Friday.
Today, a Jackalopes player was again honored with a league award. Collin Circelli was announced as the CHL Performance of the Week award winner, for his two-goal performance in a comeback, shootout-win for the Jacks over Corpus Christi on opening night. The Jacks were down 2-1 with less than a minute left in the game when the comeback began. Circelli scored the game-tying goal with 32 seconds left in regulation, and after playing a scoreless overtime period, added the game-winning goal in the sixth round of the shootout.
And, to wrap up the Jacks news, a long-time hero for the Jackalopes is making his return to Odessa. Scott Hillman will be at the Ector County Colliseum tonight for the first time since his retirement after the 2006-07 season. Hillman is the head coach of the CHL’s expansion Missouri Mavericks. The Jackalopes will honor their former all-star defenseman in a pre-game ceremony where they will retire his jersey.
As a former beat reporter for the Jackalopes, and knowing “Hilly” as well as I got to know him, I have to tell you how thrilled I was to hear that Odessa was going to honor him like this. For many years, Scott Hillman was the heart and soul of the Jackalopes, and personified the integrity with which the team conducted itself, day in and day out. His numbers alone would qualify him for this team honor, but his jersey would hang from the rafters even if the stats weren’t as good as they are. I wish I could be there to see this for myself, but I’m going to be sure to congratulate him when he comes through my area later this season.
