Bucks Streak Into Weekend Tilt With Ice Bats
February 5, 2008 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Laredo Bucks News Release
LAREDO, TX- The Laredo Bucks of the Central Hockey League will take their three-game winning streak into a three-game series with division foe Austin this weekend, starting Friday night at the Chaparral Ice Arena. These will be the final three meetings of the regular season between the Bucks and Ice Bats, with Friday and Saturday's games in Austin, and Sunday's game at the LEC.
Family Four Pack tickets are available for Sunday's game for $48 (a $79 value). The family four pack consists of four tickets, four hot dogs, and four sodas for $48.
Laredo is coming off of an impressive 3-0 week, where they beat three Northern Conference opponents to improve their Southern Conference leading mark to 30-13-2 (62 points), nine points of second-place Odessa (23-12-7, 53pts), and 10 points ahead of third-place Arizona (24-14-4, 52 points).
The Bucks came into last week just 2-6-1 against teams from the North, but with the three wins improved to 5-6-1 against Northern Conference squads. Laredo beat Rocky Mountain 4-3 in a shootout Wednesday, Mississippi 5-4 in overtime on Friday, and Tulsa 6-1 on Saturday.
The 5-4 overtime win was a historic one for the Bucks, as they overcame their biggest deficit of all-time to win the game. Laredo trailed by a 4-0 score early in the first period, before rallying to take the game 5-4.
This weekend's three-game set with Austin will be the first of two times this season when the Bucks play the same team on three straight days. Laredo will play three games in Youngstown on March 14th-16th, the penultimate week of the regular season. Laredo is 4-1 against Austin so far this season, falling in their last meeting 3-2 on January 19th.
Laredo has a rather large 25 point lead in the Southeast Division over second-place Corpus Christi, with the Bucks having 19 games left, and the Rayz having 21 games remaining. With the large divisional lead, Laredo is inching towards winning their fifth straight division title.
Of the Bucks 19 remaining games, 11 are on the road with eight being played at the LEC. After starting out 6-0 on the road, the Bucks are now just 11-8-2 away from home, while they lead the CHL with 19 home wins (19-5).
*Bes Having Solid Season*
Last season Jeff Bes had 68 points in 51 games played for the Bucks, this season Bes has already topped that total from last season. The fifth year Buck has put up 72 points in just 45 games in this campaign, and is on pace to have his second highest point total in his five seasons in Laredo. Bes put up 117 points in his MVP year of 2003-04, and 88 points in 2006-06, both ending in Bucks championships.
*The Rise Of Ceci*
After four games with the Bucks John Ceci's numbers didn't jump off the page. In fact, the rookie goaltender was 1-3 with a 3.69 goals against average, and a .880 save percentage. Although his record was below .500, it did not reflect how well he was playing in net. Ceci had games where he saved 38 of 41 shots (@OKC), and 26 of 28 shots (@BOS), and came away with losses.
Since his 1-3 start Ceci has rallied to even up his record at 3-3, with a 2.69 goals against average, and a .910 save percentage. In Ceci's last two games he saved 38 straight shots before giving up a goal to Tulsa in the first period.
*D-Men Close To Returning*
Defensemen Steve Weidlich and David Walker are very close to returning to the Bucks line-up. Weidlich has been on the injured reserve list since December 12th with a wrist injury, while Walker has been out since January 6th with a neck problem. Both have been practicing with the team and are targeting a return sometime next week.
Weidlich will visit the doctor on Februrary 11th to check on his status, while Walker has been seeing a specialist in San Antonio.
*Penner Eligible On Sunday*
Alex Penner's 10 game suspension will end after Saturday's game in Austin, making him available to play Sunday. There has been no word on if he will play Sunday.
**Breaking Down The Family Four Pack**
This season the Bucks will have offered the Family Four Pack of four tickets, four hot dogs, and four sodas for $48, a $79 value, for 13 of their 32 home games (41% of games).
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