Killer Bees Weekly Notes

Published on January 18, 2005 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees News Release


RIO GRANDE VALLEY KILLER BEES

2004-05 WEEKLY RELEASE

FOR THE WEEK OF Jan 17th - Jan. 23rd

WHO WANTS IT?

Any other year, and the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees would probably be making their postseason plans for anything other than the playoffs, but the way this season has gone, playoffs are a still a possibility. In the Southeast Division, Austin lost three of four games before rallying this past weekend to win three straight games to climb from third place in the division to one standing point out of first place. Their week shows what can be accomplished in the division if a team can play a perfect weekend. Corpus Christi and Laredo have each hit stumbling blocks and with Austin's 4-9-1 road record, the Bees are not that far out of the hunt considering their 11-21-2 record. Corpus Christi is 5-5-0 in their last ten games, 3-3-0 in January and had a record of 8-3-1 over November for their only month of play with a record over .500. Laredo will come into the Dodge Arena to start off this week's play riding a four-game winless streak and they are 1-4-0 in January after a 9-2-0 month of December. Rio Grande Valley collected standing point in each of the three games played over the previous weekend, but they suffered three consecutive losses this past weekend and were outscored 13-2. The Bees have been like a cat with nine lives, and they have used about eight of them. Despite all the bad breaks, the Bees find themselves only 13 standing points behind first place Corpus Christi and with 14 divisional contests remaining. The Bees were in a similar position last season through 34 games. Through 34 games last season, the Bees only had three more wins (14) than they do this season through 34 games and then went 9-1-2 in the month of February.

IN ATTENDANCE

The Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees currently sit in third place in CHL attendance with 90,045 fans through 17 home games this season. The mark ranks second in the state of Texas, which has more professional hockey teams (13) than any other state or Canadian province and ranks ahead of San Antonio and Houston. With an average of 5,296 fans per game, the Bees are on pace to eclipse the 100,000 fan mark on Friday against San Angelo. The 100,000th fan strolling through the Dodge Arena doors will be recognized and will be issued an autographed jersey signed by members of the Bees.

THIS WEEK'S "INSIDE THE NUMBERS"

5 - Games Out-Shot - The Killer Bees have not had that much of a problem out-shooting the competition, but since posting a CHL season high 54 shots on goal on January 5th against Odessa, the Bees have been out-shot by their opponents in five consecutive games.

87 - Miles Per Hour - Jason Tessier was the Southern Conference co-leader in the All-Star Skills Competition with a shot of 87 MPH.

300 - Games Played - Bill Newson will play his 300th professional game on Friday against the San Angelo Saints.

GOING ONCE... GOING TWICE....

Killer Bees defenseman Jason Tessier enjoyed his time at the Dodge 2005 CHL All-Star Game, being the only Southern Conference defenseman to tally a goal in the North's 14-13 overtime shootout victory over the South, and a fan has an opportunity to enjoy wearing Tessier's game worn jersey from the contest. The CHL is conducting an online auction on their website (direct address is www.centralhockeyleague.com/auction) of each player's game worn jersey, and as of 5 PM on Monday, Tessier's jersey bid was at $825. It was the first to pass the $800 mark, but was sitting behind Adam Paiement's jersey bid of $1,000. The auction will end on January 26th.

BEE OF THE WEEK

This week's Killer Bees "Bee of the Week," for their performance in last week's games, is given to defenseman Jason Tessier. The Bees lone all-star represented the Bees well in the Dodge 2005 CHL All-Star Game with a two-point (1g,1a) performance. He was the only Southern Conference defenseman to score a goal and he also was the only Southern Conference member to tally a goal against New Mexico's Miguel Beaudry in the breakaway relay contest during the skills competition. Tessier co-led the Southern Conference with an 87 MPH slap shot in the skills competition as well. The St. Jerome, Quebec native co-leads Southern Conference defensemen in the CHL with 7 goals.

IS IT TRUE?

Through 34 games this season, the Bees find themselves with a 8-8-1 home record, which is better than their home record last season (7-9-1) through 34 games. The Bees are also one of three teams with a sub-500 record when out-shooting an opponent (8-9-1), joining Tulsa and Topeka.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Fri. Jan. 14 1-5 L vs. Colorado Eagles Top Star: COL-Ryan Tobler (2g,1a, 3pts.)

Sat. Jan. 15 0-5 L @ Austin Ice Bats Top Star: AUS-Peter Brady (21 saves, SO)

Sun. Jan. 16 1-3 L vs. Austin Ice Bats Top Star: AUS-Jared Dumba (1g,1a, 2pts.)

PRACTICE SCHEDULE

Tue - Wed: 10 am - 11 am Thurs - Fri: 10 - 10:30 am

WEEK AHEAD

Thur. Jan. 20 7:30 pm vs. Laredo Bucks

adio: Real Country 840 AM TV: TELEVISA CH. 7

Notes: The Killer Bees and the Bucks meet again at the Dodge Arena for the Bucks fourth of six visits to the Dodge Arena this season. Laredo leads the all-time series with a 12-5-2 record, with Jeff Bes leading the all-time series with 35 points (11g,24a). The Killer Bees, who are led by Bill Newson (7g,9a,16pts) against the Bucks all-time, are 7-11-1 all-time against the Bucks and are 3-3-0 this season in the series. All series games this season have been won by the home team. Rio Grande Valley is 5-5-0 all-time over the regular season at the Dodge Arena (vs. Bucks) and have won five of the last six meetings at the Dodge. The Bees are led in the season series by Bill Newson (1g,6a) with 7 points, while Jeff Bes leads the way for the Bucks in the season series, leading all scorers with 10 points (3g,7a).

Fri. Jan. 21 7:30 pm vs. San Angelo Saints

Radio: ESPN Radio 1240 AM TV: CHLTV.COM

Notes: San Angelo makes their first of two visits to the Dodge Arena this season, as the Bees look for their first win of the season against the Saints. The Saints lead the season series 2-0-0, but the Bees lead the all-time series 5-3-1. Rio Grande Valley is 3-0-1 against the Saints at the Dodge Arena. Nathan Rosychuk of San Angelo leads the season series in scoring with 4 points (2g,2a), while the Bees have several players with 1 point. Former Saints forward Ryan Finnerty leads the all-time series with 8 points (4g,4a) and Bill Newson leads the Bees in the all-time series in scoring with 7 points (1g,6a).

Sat. Jan. 22 7:05 pm @ Corpus Christi Rayz

Radio: Real Country 840 AM TV: CHLTV.COM

Notes: The last meeting was highway robbery between these two clubs, as the Rayz tied the contest with two-seconds remaining and then won the game in the overtime shootout. It will be the ninth of 11 meetings this season and the 23rd meeting all-time between the two teams. Both teams have winning records in the all-time series, with the Killer Bees holding a 10-7-5 record and the Rayz grasping a 12-8-2 series record. Most of the games in the season series have been close, as four of the eight meetings have been decided in overtime and six of the eight games have resulted in a one goal differential. Bill Newson leads the season series for the Bees with 9 points (5g,4a) and is the all-time series leader with 27 points (15g,12a). Corpus Christi has several players with 12 points to co-lead the season series against the Bees and their all-time leader is recently released Matt Noga, who had 3 goals and 10 assists for 13 points. Both teams have winning records at the oppositions home, as Corpus Christi is 7-4-1 all-time at the Dodge Arena, while the Bees are 5-3-2 in Corpus Christi.

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