Bees Have Record Setting Win Over Laredo

December 29, 2004 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees News Release


Hidalgo, Tx - Rio Grande Killer Bees forward Joe Guenther and Derek Holland did something no other Bees member had ever done, and the team also set several franchise records in the process, as the Bees completed a record setting night with a 6-4 win over the Laredo Bucks, ending the Central Hockey League's hottest team's eight-game winning streak in front of a sell out crowd of 5,600 at the Dodge Arena Tuesday night.

The Rio Grande Valley had their first "White Christmas" in recorded history, with several inches of snow touching down on Christmas, and tonight the folks in the Dodge Arena saw their first measurable amount of hats on the ice, as the Bees faithful flung hats onto the ice for the first time ever due to Joe Guenther recording the Bees first ever hat trick in franchise history. The fans also got to see Derek Holland set the single-game franchise mark for assists in a game, as he tied a personal best with a four-assist game.

A lot of the fans in attendance could have been in attendance for the sole purpose to see what events would spill over from the December 17th game in Laredo, which the Bees set a franchise record with 95 penalty minutes and the game featured a line-brawl, but if those fans missed the first eight seconds of the game, they did not see much spill over. Bees forward Ryan Shmyr and Laredo's Steve Makway dropped the gloves and exchanged blows on the opening face-off to get the rough-stuff out of the way early and get on to the game. It was the Laredo Bucks that started off the scoring with Phillippe Lauze tallying his fifth goal of the season (fourth against the Bees) 6:16 into the game. The Bees wasted no time answering back, with Guenther producing his first goal of the game 1:31 later to tie the game at 1-1.

The Killer Bees have had their struggles in the second period of play this season, and especially at home where they had only recorded five goals in the period coming into tonight, but their was no signs of problems during the second period tonight, as the Bees registered three goals during the period. Two of the goals were power play goals, as Ryan Shmyr and Joe Guenther each lit the lamp. James Hiebert cut the Bees lead to 3-2 with a goal with 4:54 remaining in the period, but the Bees answered back with a quick goal, just as they did earlier. Bill Newson tipped a loose puck past Bucks defenseman Dion Hyman into the attacking zone, forcing Bucks goaltender Jeremy Symington to hesitate playing the puck. Troy Linna was able to beat Symington to the puck at the point, leading to an easy goal for Linna 1:50 after Hiebert's goal to lift the Bees lead to 4-2. Newson's assist extended his consecutive game point streak to a franchise tying six games.

Jason Hawes opened the third period scoring by deflecting a shot off Bucks defenseman Steve Weidlich past Symington 3:40 into the period to take a 5-2 lead. The Bucks did not back down. James Hiebert collected his second goal of the game for the Bucks and then Scott Kelman contributed a power play tally in a span of 3:10 to cut the Bees lead to 5-4 with 9:22 remaining. The Bees received a power play opportunity moments later to set the stage for Guenther to complete the hat trick for his second power play goal of the game and the Bees their franchise high tying third power play goal of the game. Guenther's marker was scored with 5:03 remaining and it would be enough to end the Bucks winning streak.

The Bees set a franchise high in points in a single game (18) with a franchise tying six goals and a franchise high 12 assists in the game. Bees goaltender Jeff Levy stopped 25 of 29 shots for his 100th win of his pro career. The Bees three power play goals gives them a series total of eight this season against the Bucks (8/17 47.1%), which is remarkable turnaround after going 7 for 95 last season (7.4%) against the Bucks. Rio Grande Valley was also happy to see their first weeknight win of the season after starting out 0-5-0 this season on weeknight games, and it's just their second Tuesday win ever (2-7-0). The win ties the season series between the two clubs (2-2-0) and ends the Bees four-game winless streak against division competition. The Bees return to action Thursday night against the Corpus Christi Rayz at the Dodge Arena, as the Bees look to knock off another co-leading Southeast Division foe.

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Laredo 1 1 2 -- 4

Rio Grande Valley 1 3 2 -- 6

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FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: LAR-Lauze (Hiebert, Hyman) 6:16. RGV-Guenther (Emersic, Aslund) 7:47. Penalties: Shmyr, RGV (Fisticuffs, Major, 5 min) 0:08. Makway, LAR (Fisticuffs, Major, 5 min) 0:08. Kralj, RGV (Unsportsmanlike Conduct, Minor, 2 min) 4:11.

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: RGV-Shmyr (powerplay) (Holland, Newson) 1:30. RGV-Guenther (powerplay) (Kralj, Holland) 7:16. LAR-Hiebert (Cullaton, Agarunov) 15:06. RGV-Linna (Newson, Holland) 16:56. Penalties: Lloyd, LAR (High Sticking, Minor, 2 min) 0:31. Smith, RGV (Cross Checking, Minor, 2 min) 4:12. Cullaton, LAR (Unsportsmanlike Conduct, Minor, 2 min) 5:29. Gillam, RGV (Tripping, Minor, 2 min) 7:36. Simoes, LAR (Roughing, Minor, 2 min) 18:10. Shmyr, RGV (High Sticking, Minor, 2 min) 19:59.

THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: RGV-Hawes (Dziama, Mizerek) 3:40. LAR-Hiebert (Cullaton, Makway) 7:28. LAR-Kelman (powerplay) (Cullaton) 10:38. RGV-Guenther (powerplay) (Kralj, Holland) 14:57. Penalties: Hyman, LAR (Cross Checking, Minor, 2 min) 5:03. Smith, RGV (Holding, Minor, 2 min) 10:13. McHugh, LAR (Interference, Minor, 2 min) 13:20. Kralj, RGV (Hooking, Minor, 2 min) 16:54. Gillam, RGV (Roughing, Minor, 2 min) 19:26.

Shots on goal:

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Laredo 8 9 12 -- 29

Rio Grande Valley 12 14 10 -- 36

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Power-play Conversions: Laredo - 1 of 7, Rio Grande Valley - 3 of 5 Goalies: Laredo, Jeremy Symington (36 shots, 30 saves;) Rio Grande Valley, Jeff Levy (29 shots, 25 saves;) A: 5,600. Referees Tom Sterns. Linesmen: Brad Duncan, Chance Haugen.



Central Hockey League Stories from December 29, 2004


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