Bees Weekly

January 5, 2004 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees News Release


THERE IS HALFTIME IN HOCKEY

With 32 games played, the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees have hit the halfway point of their inaugural season. The Bees currently set in third place of the Southeast Division and are 2 standing points behind the Austin Ice Bats and the final playoff spot in the Southern Conference. Bill Newson currently leads the Killer Bees in scoring at the half with 17 goals and 8 assists for 25 points in 32 games. Jason Tessier leads the Bees defensemen with 14 points off of 4 goals and 10 assists, and goaltender Jeff Levy has been a cornerstone for the Killer Bees with 4 shutouts. Here is a look of the top three events that took place in the Bees first half:

10/18/03 - The Killer Bees played their first ever game, but unfortunately lost to the San Angelo Saints 3-1. Troy Linna scored the lone goal for the Killer Bees, which resulted in the puck and stick shipped to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

10/31/03 - The Bees played their first ever home game, opening up the Dodge Arena with a sold-out (5,500) crowd against the Corpus Christi Rayz. The game had goals, fights, and even a shootout, which is where the game was decided with a Corpus Christi 5-4 win.

11/19/03 - The Laredo Bucks are currently 15-1-1 at the Laredo Entertainment Center, and their lone home loss in regulation came on this day. Bees forward Ryan Shmyr scored the game winning goal in the third period, as the Bees defeated the Bucks 4-3.

BEE OF THE WEEK

This week's "Bee of the Week" honor, for their role in the previous week's games, is awarded to Bill Newson. The Enfield, Connecticut native led the team in scoring with 4 goals and 1 assist for 5 points in the week's four games. Newson helped lead the Bees to a 5-3 win over the Laredo Bucks last Tuesday night with a pair of goals (including the game winner), and then recorded a pair of goals on Friday night against San Angelo to help lead the Bees back from a 3-0 deficit to send the game into overtime. Newson has 11 goals in his last 14 games.

HARD HALF

In the first half of the season, the Killer Bees played 25 of their 32 games against teams that are in first or second place (12- 1st, 13-2nd) of their division. First half opponents averaged a winning percentage of 61.5%. The Killer Bees have a tough weekend this weekend with opponents averaging a 69.7% winning percentage, but when it is all said and done for the second half of play, the current remaining opponent winning percentage is at 51.9%. Of the 32 remaining games, 9 are against the Corpus Christi Rayz and 7 are against the Austin Ice Bats. 14 of the remaining contests for the Bees are against teams that are currently in last place of their divisions.

A STAR WILL BE BORN

The remaining Southern Conference rosters for the Dodge 2004 CHL All-Star Game will be announced tomorrow (Tuesday) by the CHL league offices in Phoenix, Arizona. At least one Killer Bee will be chosen to suit up in the contest, which is scheduled for Thursday, January 22nd in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The conference roster is selected by Laredo Bucks head coach Terry Ruskowski in conjunction with the CHL Hockey Operations Department.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Tue. Dec. 30 5-3 W vs Laredo Bucks Top Star: RGV-Bill Newson 2 goals

Wed. Dec. 31 1-6 L @ Laredo Bucks Top Star: LAR-Brent Cullaton 4 pts. (2g, 2a)

Fri. Jan. 2 3-4 OTL (so) vs San Angelo Saints Top Star: RGV-Bill Newson 2 goals

Sat. Jan. 3 2-4 L @ Austin Ice Bats Top Star: AUS-Kelly Smart 2 pts. (1g, 1a)

WEEK AHEAD

Fri. Jan. 9 7:30 vs Laredo Bucks Radio: XERT 1170 AM TV: TeleVisa

Notes: For already the tenth time this season, the Bucks and Bees will square off with each other for another border city battle. Laredo leads the series 7-2-0, but the Killer Bees defeated the Bucks 5-3 last Tuesday night in their last trip to the Valley, which also saw a combined 111 minutes in penalties. Brent Cullaton and Jeff Bes each lead the series in scoring for the Bucks with 18 points each.

Sat. Jan. 10 7:30 vs Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs Radio: XERT 1170 AM

Notes: The Bees go from hosting the best team in the Southern Conference to hosting the best team in the Northern Conference, as Bossier-Shreveport (bôhz-yur shreve-port) makes their first trip to the Dodge Arena. This is the only trip of the season for the Mudbugs, and the Bees will head to Louisiana to complete the home-and-home series on March 14th, which is also the last game of the season.

Sun. Jan 11 3:00 @ Austin Ice Bats Radio: XERT 1170 AM

Notes: The Killer Bees are 3-2-0 against the Ice Bats this season, but are 0-2-0 in Austin. Bees forward Bill Newson leads the season series in scoring with 2 goals and 3 assists for 5 points. Austin's Brent Hughes has 4 goals in two games played against the Bees in Austin. The game is the first of 4 road games, which will place the Bees on the road for the following week.



Central Hockey League Stories from January 5, 2004


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