Bucks end road trip Tuesday in Amarillo: Beech to start in goal
October 22, 2007 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Laredo Bucks News Release
AMARILLO, TX- The Laredo Bucks of the Central Hockey League will look to end their season opening road trip 3-0, when they play at Amarillo Tuesday morning. Game time is scheduled for 11am, and will be the Gorillas kids day game, with a near sellout crowd expected.
Laredo (2-0, 4pts: 1st in Southeast Div.) at Amarillo (0-1-1, 1pt:
T-2nd in Southwest Div.), 11am, Amarillo Civic Center
Radio: Norteno 1490am (Pre-game show 10:45am)
Internet Radio Broadcast: www.laredobucks.com (Courtesy of Sportsjuice)
TV: CHL Network (www.nifty-tv.com/chl/)
All-Time Regular Season Series: (Bucks lead 6-4-2)
2006-07 Season (Bucks won series 2-0)
The Bucks are looking to start the season 3-0 for the first time since the 2003-04 season, and will turn to rookie goaltender Kevin Beech, who will make his Bucks regular season debut starting in goal. Beech, from London, Ontario, played in six games for the AHL's Springfield Falcons last season, going 0-3 with a 3.13 goals against average, and a .903 save percentage. Beech was selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the sixth round (#165 overall) of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft.
Laredo swept the New Mexico Scorpions on the opening weekend, winning 8-2 on Friday night, and 5-4 in overtime on Saturday evening, coming back from 3-0 and 4-1 deficits. Veteran Jeff Bes scored the game winning goal 2:58 into the extra session, not only giving the Bucks the win, but becoming the franchises all-time leader in goals scored with 121.
Through two games the Bucks have five players in the top ten in the league in scoring. Captain Serge Dube is tied for first with six points (all assists), James Hiebert (4 goals, 1 assist) and Bes (1 goal, 4 assists) are tied for third with five points, with Chris Korchinski (2 goals, 2 assists) and rookie Brent MacSween (2 goals, 2 assists) are tied for 10th.
Amarillo comes into Tuesday's game looking for their first win of the season (0-1-1). The Gorillas lost both games at home by one goal apiece last week. They lost 3-2 against Tulsa Friday night, and then fell to Rocky Mountain 4-3 in a shootout on Saturday evening.
Amarillo is led offensively by center's David Nimmo (3 goals), and Chris Martini (2 goals, 1 assist). Defenseman Trevor Read is the only other Gorillas player with more than one point (2 assists).
The Gorillas have two rookie goaltenders on their roster. Dan McWhinney has played in both games, going 0-1-1 with a 2.89 goals against average, and a .915 save percentage, while Dan Bauer has not seen time in net thus far this season. The Gorillas are 0-for-15 on the power-play, and are 77% on the penalty kill (Killed off nine of 11).
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