Killer Bees Open 2004/2005 Season in Austin

Published on July 27, 2004 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees News Release


HIDALGO, TX: July 27, 2004 – The Central Hockey League released the official 2004-2005 regular season schedule today from their offices in Phoenix, Arizona, with teams scheduled for 30 home games and 30 road games to equal 60 games. Two additional non-regular season dates will be announced at a later time to give Killer Bee fans and their sponsors 32 nights of hockey entertainment at the Dodge Arena.

The Killer Bees will begin their season on Saturday, October 23rd in Austin against the Ice Bats to also open up Southeast Division play. The home opener for the Killer Bees will be Friday, October 29, as the Bees host the defending CHL Champion Laredo Bucks at 7:30 PM.

This season, the Killer Bees remain positioned in the Southeast Division of the Southern Conference with Austin, Corpus Christi, and Laredo completing the division. The Bees will get a quick taste of their division, as they play each of their division opponents in their first four games. The Killer Bees play an unbalanced schedule, and of their divisional rivals, the Killer Bees will faceoff with Austin 10 times (5 home, 5 road), Laredo 11 times (6 home, 5 road) and Corpus Christi 11 times (5 home, 6 road).

21 of the 30 Killer Bees home games will be scheduled on the weekends, leaving only 9 home games on weekdays. The longest road trip (days) for the Killer Bees will come between January 22 – February 11, as they hit the road for 6 consecutive games covering a 20-day span. Their most strenuous portion of the schedule appears to be in November, as they will play 9 of 13 games on the road and will play 10 games in 16 days within that span, including a 1,250 mile voyage to Fort Collins, Colorado to battle the Colorado Eagles (the two farthest apart teams in the CHL). The longest homestand for the Bees is four games and they will complete the task twice this season from October 29 - November 9 and December 18 - December 30. Unlike last season when 6 of the final 7 regular season contests were on the road, the Killer Bees will play five of their final six games of the regular season at home, with the final regular season home game scheduled for March 19th against the San Angelo Saints. The Killer Bees only played three games outside of Texas last season and this season they will make seven trips outside the state. For the first time, the Killer Bees will make trips to Albuquerque, New Mexico, Fort Collins, Colorado and Memphis, Tennessee. There will also be new blood flowing into the Dodge Arena, as the Fort Worth Brahmas (December 10th), Oklahoma City Blazers (December 18th) and the New Mexico Scorpions (February 19th) will make their first ever trips to the Rio Grande Valley. The only opponents the Killer Bees will not host this season is the Tulsa Oilers, Wichita Thunder, and the inaugural Topeka Tarantulas, which is a newly relocated team from Indianapolis (Ice). On the road, the Bees will not travel to Oklahoma City or to the Sunshine State to play Wichita or Topeka.

Rio Grande Valley will play a 30-home game schedule during the regular season consisting of 4 Tuesday, 2 Wednesday, 3 Thursday, 8 Friday, 10 Saturday, and 3 Sunday games. The Bees will take part in three kids-day games this season, but only one will be at the Dodge Arena, and it will take place Tuesday, November 9th against the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs at 11AM. Last season, the Bees over-capacitated the Dodge Arena during their first ever kids day game with area school students, and they will focus on doing the same this season through their "Reading & Writing with the Bees" school program. Additional info concerning the "school game" will be released at a later date. All home games will be played at the Dodge Arena and the standard game time for home games is set for 7:30 PM, and 6:00 PM for Sunday games, but all times are subject to change.

The Killer Bees promotional schedule and pre-season schedule has not been released, and will be released at a later date. If you would like to contact head coach Tracy Egeland about any scheduling concerns, arrangements can be made by contacting Chris Due at the Killer Bees office. A full league schedule can be found at the CHL's official website (www.centralhockeyleague.com) and any league-oriented scheduling questions can be directed to CHL V.P. of Communications and Scheduling services Steve Cherwonak at (480) 949-8600.

"The Valley of Bees" will swarm the Dodge Arena again in October, as the Killer Bees are currently preparing for their second season. Season tickets and corporate opportunities are now available by calling the Killer Bees office at (956) 843-7825. For more information concerning Killer Bees hockey, please visit their website at www.killerbeehockey.com.

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Central Hockey League Stories from July 27, 2004


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