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Killer Bees Weekly Release

November 8, 2004 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees News Release


HERE COME THE "THREE-IN-THREES"

The Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees had a seven day window between their game on October 30th and this past Saturday's contest against Corpus Christi. The Bees will not have an off-period like that for the remainder of the regular season and their longest off-period remaining is two sets of five-day periods in January (1/9 - 1/13, 1/23 - 1/27). Beginning Tuesday, the Bees begin a span of 11 games in 19 days. Seven of the 11 games are road games, including the first three games in three nights (three-in-three) set for the season, which places the Bees in Fort Collins, Colorado on Friday and Saturday against the Colorado Eagles and in Albuquerque, New Mexico on Sunday against the New Mexico Scorpions. "Three-in-threes" are standard in hockey and the Bees will play 11 sets of "three-in-threes" this season, including the next four consecutive weekends. Rio Grande Valley is 19-13-4 all-time in games involved in a "three-in-three" and have had the most success in the middle game of the sets with a 6-3-3 record.

THIS WEEK'S "INSIDE THE NUMBERS"

1 - Home Wins - Bees goaltender Jacque Vezina picked up his first victory in net at the Dodge Arena Saturday with the 3-2 overtime win over Corpus Christi. The returning Bee had only appeared in four games at the Dodge Arena last season, starting in three.

4 - Goals by Tessier - Bees defenseman Jason Tessier has tallied 4 goals, which not only leads the team in that department, but co-leads CHL defensemen.

11 - Consecutive Stops - Jacque Vezina stopped all four Corpus Christi attempts Saturday night in the shootout, and has now stopped 11 consecutive shootout attempts dating back to March 12th in Laredo, which was his first career shootout win. He is now 2-3 in shootouts.

2750 - Miles - The number of miles the Bees will travel in their road trip to Colorado, New Mexico and Lubbock this week.

DODGE MORNING MAYHEM

Electrifying will be an understatement Tuesday morning at the Dodge Arena, as the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs come to town for an 11 AM face-off. It is the annual "school day" game and the already sold-out contest will have over 5,000 screaming kids in attendance. Fifth grade students from the Edinburg CISD and Mission CISD will team up with third grade students from PSJA ISD to pack the Dodge Arena. The Killer Bees do community and educative programs with numerous school districts in the Rio Grande Valley and this game serves as a reward for the attending students.

BEE OF THE WEEK

This week's "Bee of the Week" is issued to second-year Killer Bee Jason Hawes. The forward tallied his second consecutive multi-assist game of the season (only had one last season) with two assists in the Bees 3-2 shootout victory over Corpus Christi Saturday night. Hawes has 5 points (1g,4a) in his last two games and leads the Bees in scoring with 6 points (1g,5a). The Perth, Ontario native co-led the Bees in October scoring with 4 points (1g,3a) and is off to a solid November.

BREAK OUT THE GRAPES

As promised, Killer Bees broadcasts this season will feature "Grapeline with Don Cherry and Brian Williams" during the first intermissions and also during the Killer Bees Call-In Show with Tracy Egeland live from Outback Steakhouse. Grapeline is a daily broadcast segment is a four minute feature that airs every day during the winter months coast-to-coast throughout Canada and shares Cherry and William's opinions on newsworthy events in the hockey world. Grapeline is in its 21st season and is produced by THE FAN Radio Network out of Toronto.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Sat. Nov. 6 3-2 W (so) vs. Corpus Christi Rayz Top Star: RGV-Matic Kralj (OT so game winning goal)

PRACTICE SCHEDULE Mon & Wed.: 10 am - 10:45 am Thur: Team Departs for Road Trip

WEEK AHEAD Tue. Nov. 9 11:00 am vs. Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs Radio: ESPN RADIO TV: None

Notes: For the first time this season, the Killer Bees face a non-Southeast Division squad, as they host the defending Northern Conference Champion Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs. The Bugs are on a South Texas swing that includes a stop in Laredo Thursday for a rematch of last season's championship teams (Laredo won in Game 7). The ‘Bugs have won both match-ups in the all-time series against Rio Grande Valley. The two teams played a home-and-home season series with Bossier defeating the Bees 3-2 in a shootout on 1/10/04 at the Dodge Arena, and then shutting out the Bees 1-0 in the meaningless regular season finale on 3/14/04. Six different Bees have tallied a point against the ‘Bugs in the all-time series, while Bossier-Shreveport's Chad Spurr and Chris Brassard each lead the all-time series with 2 points (1g,1a). This is the first of three meetings this season between the two teams and the only one at the Dodge Arena. The Bees are 2-2-3 all-time against Northeast Division teams.

Fri. Nov. 12 8:05 pm @ Colorado Eagles Radio: Real Country 840 AM TV: CHL TV.COM

Notes: The Killer Bees make their farthest most Northwest trek of the season for their first trip to Colorado to face the Colorado Eagles. The two programs, which joined the league together last season, have only faced each other once before. The Eagles traveled down to the Rio Grande Valley on December 7th last season and shutout the Killer Bees 2-0. Riley Nelson and Ryan Tobler each had two points in the contest to lead the all-time series offensively. Expect shots on goal, as Colorado (40.7 avg) and the Bees (39.3 avg) are the top two teams in the CHL in average shots per game. Colorado also leads the league in shots allowed with an allowance low of 24.5 per game. The Bees are 0-2-0 all-time against Northwest Division teams.

Sat. Nov. 13 8:05 pm @ Colorado Eagles Radio: ESPN Radio 1240 AM TV: CHL TV.COM

Notes: The Bees make an overnight stay in Fort Collins to complete the two game set with the Eagles. It is only the second time the Bees have played the same opponent on the road in consecutive nights, and ironically the last time was almost to the day, as the Bees swept the San Angelo Saints in a weekend set on 11/14/03 - 11/15/03.

Sun. Nov. 14 6:05 pm @ New Mexico Scorpions Radio: ESPN Radio 1240 AM TV: None

Notes: It will be the first time the Scorpions and Bees have met in the regular season, as the Bees wrap up their "three-in-three" weekend set at the Tingley Coliseum. The teams faced each other in the preseason at the Dodge Arena, with the Scorps' winning 5-2. The Scorpions are coached by Bill McDonald, who served as Tracy Egeland's coach in Lubbock during the 00/01 and 01/02 seasons. Egeland served as an assistant under McDonald in 02/03 and eventually took over for him when McDonald resigned to accept the current position.



Central Hockey League Stories from November 8, 2004


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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