Killer Bees Weekly Notes

February 10, 2004 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees News Release

RIO GRANDE VALLEY KILLER BEES

2003-04 WEEKLY RELEASE

FOR THE WEEK OF Feb. 9 - Feb 15th

FRIDAY NIGHT IS ALREADY SOLD OUT

The Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees had a tremendous crowd Sunday night, with 5,332 fans packing in the Dodge Arena. There will be more than that this Friday night against the Laredo Bucks, as the 5,500 seat venue is already sold out, with the last ticket sold Monday afternoon. The Bees currently rank fourth in the CHL in attendance with an average 4,937 fans per game, which is 89.7% of the arena sold for every game. With Friday's game sold out, tickets for Sunday's game against Austin are going fast.

BEES IN THE BOOKS

The Killer Bees lead the CHL in shutout wins with 7, as Jeff Levy co-leads the league with 4 and rookie goaltender Jacque Vezina has 3 on the season. The Bees are one shutout away from tying a CHL record of 8 team shutouts, which is currently held by the 02/03 Tulsa Oilers and Austin Ice Bats. The Bees co-lead all of AA-hockey with their 7 shutouts with the ECHL's Columbus Cottonmouths. On a wild note, the Bees been involved in 12 shutouts this season (7 for and 5 against), which is a new CHL record.

BEE OF THE WEEK

This week's "Bee of the Week" award, for their role in the previous week's games, is given to forward Ryan Shmyr. The veteran forward led the Bees in goals during the four-game week with 3. He tallied his first professional two-goal performance during regular season action Sunday against Corpus Christi with both goals scored in the first period. Jeff Levy also had an impressive week in net for the Bees, as he stopped 87 of 91 shots on goal in three games and only allowed 4 goals.

MILESTONE FINALLY REACHED

Bees veteran forward Andrew Taylor had 149 assists after two consecutive games with an assist on January 9 and 10th, but he had to wait 13 games until he picked up his milestone 150th career assist on Sunday. He now is one goal away from his 100th career goal and a point away from his 250th career point.

COMMUNITY CHALLENGE HITS THE ICE FRIDAY

It will be a bragging rights of who's who at the Dodge Arena on Friday as the first intermission will feature the first ever Bill Burns Challenge. Burns, the CEO of Rio Grande Regional Hospital will challenge Joe Houston of Dodge, John Kittleman of KRGV Newschannel 5, and Cody Sparks of The Monitor in the Human Slingshot Competition. Each of the participants representing the four companies will be slung across the ice in a disk attempting to knock down giant bowling pins.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Wed. Feb 4 6-1 W @ Austin Ice Bats

Top Star: RGV-Andrew Taylor 2 goals

Fri. Feb. 6 4-0 W @ Corpus Christi Rayz

Top Star: RGV-Jacque Vezina (shutout 25/25)

Sat. Feb. 7 0-1 L @ Austin Ice Bats

Top Star: AUS-Jonathan Forest (shutout 28/28)

Sun. Feb. 8 5-2 W vs. Corpus Christi Rayz

Top Star: RGV-Ryan Shmyr 2 goals

WEEK AHEAD

Fri. Feb. 13 7:30 vs Laredo Bucks Radio: XERT 1170 AM

Notes: The Killer Bees and the Laredo Bucks have faced off 10 times this season, but have not faced each other since January 9th. The game kicks off a home-and-home series between the Bucks and Bees. Jeff Bes of Laredo leads the series with 7 goals and 14 assists for 21 points. Bill Newson (5g,1a), Justin Van Parys (4g,2a) and Matic Kralj (2g,4a) each have 6 points to lead the Bees in the series.

Sat. Feb. 14 7:30 @ Laredo Bucks Radio: XERT 1170 AM TV: CHLTV.COM

Notes: Rio Grande Valley makes their fifth trip to Laredo this season, where the Bees are 1-3-0. The lone win was the last time Laredo has lost at home, and it was the only regulation loss Laredo has suffered at the Laredo Entertainment Center this season. Laredo has won 16 straight at home.

Sun. Feb. 15 6:00 vs. Austin Ice Bats Radio: XERT 1170 AM Notes: The Bees return home to wrap up the week hosting the Austin Ice Bats. The Killer Bees are 4-0-0 this season against the Bats at the Dodge Arena. Each team has shutout each other twice this season and the last meeting between the two squads resulted in a 1-0 Austin win. Bill Newson leads the Bees and the series offensively with 4 goals and 6 assists for 10 points. Rookie forward Brent Hughes leads the Bats in the series with 4 goals and 3 assists for 7 points. The United States Air Force will sponsor the game, so the first 1,000 fans will receive lanyards and the Bees will be wearing special commemorative Air Force themed jerseys, which will be auctioned off after the game.

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