Killer Bees Weekly Release

Published on February 1, 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 Feb 1st - Feb 6th

BEES WRAPPED UP JANUARY WITH HISTORICAL WEEKEND

ESPN, NBC's Today Show, Sports Illustrated, Associated Press and the Boston Globe were just a few of the national media members in attendance Friday night in Tulsa, as the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees were taking on the Tulsa Oilers, who were suiting up Angela Ruggiero, marking the first time a female skater (non-goaltender) played in a CHL game and she teamed up with her brother Bill to mark the first brother and sister to play in a North American professional hockey game together. The Oilers defeated the Bees 7-2 in the contest with both of the Ruggieros getting in the spotlight. Bill stopped 36 of 38 Killer Bees shots and Angela became the first female to record a point in a professional hockey game in North America, assisting on Tulsa's last goal with 8 seconds remaining. On Saturday, the Killer Bees traveled to Louisiana and faced the defending North Conference Champion Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs in an epic battle that took 65-minutes and a shootout to decide. The game was scoreless heading into overtime and into the shootout, which marked the first time a game has been scoreless heading into overtime in Bees history. Mudbugs forward Scott Sheppard was credited with the game winning goal in the shootout to stand as the game's only goal to lead the Mudbugs to a 1-0 win over the Bees. The game was just the second game in the CHL this season (12/18/04 Fort Worth 1 @ Austin 0 SO) to be scoreless heading into overtime.

CLOSING JANUARY - ENTERING FEBRUARY

The Bees closed out January with a 2-8-2 record and they now head into February, where they have 12 games scheduled. The 12 games are split with six home games and six road games. Eight of the twelve contests are against division opponents, with four against Austin and four against Laredo. Non-division play has the Bees hosting the Amarillo Gorillas twice and the New Mexico Scorpions once, while making a road trip to battle the Odessa Jackalopes. The Bees will only play one weekend consisting of three games in three nights during the month. Last season, the Killer Bees had an outstanding February, as they went 9-1-2 over the month.

THIS WEEK'S "INSIDE THE NUMBERS"

5 - Goals - Bees enforcer Ryan Shmyr tallied 5 goals in January to lead the Bees in goals for the month and also co-led the team in points for the month with 8.

81.5% - PK in January -. The Killer Bees have had their struggles on the penalty kill this season and have been hovering around 70% and at the bottom of the CHL in the category, but in the month of January, the Bees penalty kill was at 81.5%.

$1,055 - US Dollars - The CHL conducted an online auction of game worn All-Star Game jerseys and Jason Tessier's jersey finished as the fifth highest jersey auctioned off at $1,055.00. The highest jersey auctioned off worn by San Angelo goaltender Scott Reid, whose jersey went for an astonishing $2010.00.

15,000 - Minutes in Net - On Saturday, Jeff Levy surpassed the 15,000 minute mark of career minutes in net during his professional career.

BEE OF THE WEEK

This week's Killer Bees "Bee of the Week," for their performance in last week's games, is awarded to goaltender Jeff Levy. The Bees netminder only appeared with the Bees on Saturday in their 1-0 loss to Bossier-Shreveport. Levy took the hard-luck loss in the contest by stopping all 21 Mudbugs shots and was credited with zero goals allowed. Because the Bees lost in the shootout, Levy was unable to be credited with the shutout, which would had been the first of the season for the Bees. The Salt Lake City, Utah native also hit the 15,000 minute mark for career time between the pipes.

DON'T FORGET THE CHANGE

The Central Hockey League confirmed a schedule change requested by the Austin Ice Bats for their game against the Bees , which was originally scheduled for Tuesday, February 8th at 11 AM in Austin. The game has been rescheduled for Saturday, February 5th, with a 7:35 PM start time at Austin's Travis County Expo Center.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Fri. Jan. 28 2-7 L @ Tulsa Oilers Top Star: TUL-Jason Birmingham (2 goals)

Sat. Jan. 29 0-1 L @ Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs Top Star: BOS-Ken Carroll (27 saves, SO)

PRACTICE SCHEDULE

TEAM DEPARTS FOR LAREDO AT 9AM TUESDAY - ON ROAD THE WHOLE WEEK

WEEK AHEAD

Wed. Jan. 2 7:35 pm @ Laredo Bucks Radio: ESPN Radio 1240 AM TV: CHLTV.COM

Notes: The Killer Bees and the Bucks open up a two game set in Laredo, marking the fourth game in Laredo for the Bees this season. Laredo leads the all-time series with a 13-5-2 record, with Jeff Bes leading the all-time series with 35 points (11g,24a). The Killer Bees, who are led by Bill Newson (7g,10a,17pts) against the Bucks all-time, are 7-12-1 all-time against the Bucks and are 3-4-0 this season in the series (Laredo is 4-3-0 this season in the series). The Bees are 2-6-1 all-time at the Laredo Entertainment Center and 0-3-0 this season. The Bees are led in the season series by Bill Newson (1g,7a) with 8 points, while Jeff Bes leads the way for the Bucks in the season series, leading all scorers with 10 points (3g,7a).

Fri. Jan. 4 7:35 pm @ Laredo Bucks Radio: ESPN Radio 1240 AM TV: CHLTV.COM

Notes: Rio Grande Valley will remain in Laredo to battle the Laredo Bucks once again at the Laredo Entertainment Center. The contest will be the final game for the Bees in Laredo this season.

Sat. Jan. 5 7:35 pm @ Austin Ice Bats Radio: ESPN Radio 1240 AM TV: None

Notes: The Killer Bees will conclude their week in Austin on Saturday in a contest that was originally scheduled for Feb. 8th at the Travis County Expo Center. The Bees are 1-3-0 against the Bats this season and 9-7-0 all-time. Oakley CHL Player of the Week John McNabb (4g,3a) leads the Bats in the season series with 7 points for Austin. The Bees are led in the season series by Jason Hawes (1g,3a,4pts.). Austin goaltender Peter Brady earned Oakley CHL Goaltender of the Week honors two weeks ago after consecutive wins over the Bees, in which he 45 of 46 shots. Bill Newson leads the all-time series in scoring with 6 goals and 9 assists for 15 points, while Austin's all-time leader in the series is Bats forward Gerald Tallaire (2g,7a,9pts.).

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