Mudbugs Season In Review
Published on April 22, 2008 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs News Release
BOSSIER CITY, LA - The 2007-08 season of Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs hockey will likely be remembered as one of the most record-setting years in Central Hockey League history, but one that ultimately ended too soon. The Mudbugs battled adversity early in the season to become one of the most dominant teams in the CHL and win a second consecutive regular-season championship, smashing a host of individual and team records along the way. Here is a rundown of the achievements and memorable moments from 2007-2008:
October 19th, 2007 - Bossier-Shreveport opens its 11th season of play with a 2-1 loss to division rival Mississippi at the DeSoto Civic Center .
October 20th - The Mudbugs host Texas in their 07-08 home opener at CenturyTel Center . The Brahmas escape with a close 5-4 victory despite a hat trick and four points from Mudbugs Captain Chris Brassard.
November 2nd - The RiverKings hand the Mudbugs another loss to drop Bossier-Shreveport to 0-5-1 on the season and 0-4 at home.
November 3rd - Daniel Pegoraro's unassisted, shorthanded goal late in the third period against Mississippi propels the Bugs to their first victory of the season. Joe Ori's empty-netter made it a 3-1 final score.
November 8th - Karlis Zirnis' beautiful pass between his own legs from behind the net sets up Joe Ori's game-winning goal as Bossier-Shreveport defeats Tulsa 1-0 for its first home win of the season.
November 10th - Ken Carroll makes 14 saves in a 3-0 win over Austin , tying Rod Branch's league record with his 22nd career CHL shutout.
November 13th - John DeCaro blanks Mississippi in a 3-0 win for his second shutout in a row as the Mudbugs break the All-time CHL record with a shutout streak of 192:29 and tie the league record with their third consecutive shutout victory.
November 17th - Chad Woollard's goal at 6:28 of the second period finally ends the Mudbugs CHL record shutout streak at 218:57 as Mississippi defeats Bossier-Shreveport 4-2.
December 1st - Chris Brassard scores the 500th point of his professional career with a third-period goal in a 3-0 Mudbugs victory over Tulsa .
December 4th - John DeCaro is named Sher-Wood CHL Goaltender of the Month after posting a 6-0 record with a 1.00 goals-against average and .965 saves percentage.
December 8th - After losing in a shootout the previous night at Rocky Mountain , the Bugs fall 5-2 to Colorado at the Budweiser Events Center despite 24 third-period shots. It would be quite some time before Bossier-Shreveport would lose again.
December 14th - The Bugs return home to take on the Eagles again. Ken Carroll turns aside 34 Colorado shots to match his jersey number and break the All-time record for career CHL shutouts with his 23rd as Bossier-Shreveport wins 3-0.
December 15th - On a short turnaround after playing the Eagles, the Mudbugs fall behind 2-0 early in an afternoon game at Tulsa . After a Bugs rally gives them a 4-2 lead, the Oilers tie it again to force overtime. Ryan Fairbarn scores the game-winner in the team's only overtime victory of the season.
December 30th - Goaltender John DeCaro and forward Daniel Pegoraro are selected to play for the Northern Conference in the 2008 CHL All-Star game in Broomfield, Colorado .
December 31st - Tyrel Lucas' wrist shot from the blueline beats Texas goaltender Brett Jaeger to give the Mudbugs a 2-1 victory, their third over the Brahmas in a six-day span. Bossier-Shreveport beat Texas 3-0, 6-1 and 2-1 between Dec. 26th and New Year's Eve. The win also moved the Bugs into a tie with Youngstown for first-place in the Northeast Division.
January 2nd, 2008 - Ken Carroll is named Sher-Wood CHL Goaltender of the Month for December after going 5-0 with a 1.20 goals-against average, .964 saves percentage and one shutout in the final month of 2007.
January 8th - Three points from Chris Brassard help the Mudbugs to their franchise record-tying 15th consecutive home win, a 5-2 decision over Youngstown .
January 12th - The Mudbugs visit rival Laredo for their first meeting with the Bucks this year, scoring four first period goals on their way to an impressive 6-2 win. It's the Bugs' 13th consecutive victory, setting a new franchise record.
January 16th - The Southern Conference defeats the Northern Conference 11-6 in the 2008 CHL All-Star Game, hosted by the Rocky Mountain Rage in Broomfield, Colorado . Playing for the North, John DeCaro makes 16 saves on 19 shots playing the second period and Daniel Pegoraro records one assist and three shots on goal.
January 19th - Bossier-Shreveport ties the All-time CHL record with its 15th consecutive win in Youngstown . The Bugs beat the SteelHounds 5-3 to tie the league record set by Colorado in 06-07 and also match the best road winning streak in team history at seven.
January 20th - The Mudbugs' win streak finally comes to an end when Chris Richards scores the shootout winner to lift Youngstown to a 3-2 victory in the third game of a three-in-three at the Chevrolet Centre. Bossier still earns a point with the loss in extra time.
January 22nd - In a 10:00 am Kid's Day game in Mississippi , Ken Carroll posts a 49-save shutout as the Bugs beat the RiverKings 4-0. It is the highest save total ever recorded by a Mudbugs goaltender in a shutout performance. The win is also the 300th in the coaching career of Mudbugs Head Coach Scott Muscutt, making him the fourth coach in CHL history to reach 300 wins.
January 25th - The Mudbugs take over the number one spot in the CHL standings for the first time in 07-08, closing out a seven game road trip with a 3-0 win in Oklahoma City .
January 26th - The Bugs return home for the first time in over two weeks to battle Laredo and break the franchise record with their 16th straight win on home ice. Daniel Pegoraro's goal with just 3:09 remaining in regulation provides the winning margin in a hard-fought 2-1 victory over the Bucks.
February 1st - Ken Carroll wins his second straight Sher-Wood CHL Goaltender of the Month award after a 7-0 span in the first month of 2008 during which he surrendered more than two goals just one time. He finished the month with a 1.43 goals-against average and a .956 saves percentage.
February 2nd - John DeCaro makes 17 saves as the Mudbugs break a CHL record with their 11th shutout victory of the season. The 6-0 win over Wichita is also DeCaro's eighth shutout of the year, tying the league record for shutouts in a season by an individual goaltender.
February 5th - Wichita 's Todd Paul finally scores a goal against John DeCaro at 2:41 of the first period, ending DeCaro's shutout streak at 265:52; a CHL record for an individual goaltender. The second-year Mudbugs netminder hadn't surrendered a goal since 1:49 of the second period on January 20th in Youngstown . That shutout streak shattered the previous streak of 222:01 without allowing a goal, set by Indianapolis ' Shawn Silver in 2002-03.
February 6th - Mudbugs defenseman Dale Lupul is recalled to the Quad City Flames of the American Hockey League. Lupul spends a week with the Flames before returning to Bossier-Shreveport.
February 8th - Bossier-Shreveport blanks Oklahoma City 3-0 at the Ford Center , becoming the first team ever to shutout the Blazers three straight times in Oklahoma City .
February 9th - The Mudbugs' incredible streak of 24 consecutive games without a regulation loss finally comes to an end, as does their franchise record 18-game home winning streak when Texas wins 6-2 at CenturyTel Center . That span of 24 straight games earning at least a point is believed to be a Central Hockey League record.
February 15th A.M. - Forward Justin Aikins is called-up to Rochester of the AHL and records an assist in his AHL debut as the Americans beat Hershey 4-2. Aikins would play eight total games in Rochester before returning to the Bugs on March 7th.
February 15th P.M. - The Mudbugs have their most lopsided win of the year, dominating their only meeting of the season with Odessa and winning 9-0. Brett Smith ties two franchise records in the game by scoring four goals and recording six points. Matt York has two goals and five points in the game as well.
February 16th - John DeCaro makes 20 saves and breaks the All-time CHL record with his ninth shutout of the season as the Bugs defeat Austin 3-0.
February 21st - Corpus Christi jumps out to a 3-0 first period lead at CenturyTel Center , but Bossier-Shreveport battles back to score four powerplay goals and win 5-4.
February 22nd - Joe Ori ties a team record with his 10th game-winning goal of the season in a 2-0 Mudbugs win over the Brahmas. Ori's ten game-winners led the league in 07-08. The win is also Ken Carroll's fifth and final shutout of the season, putting his CHL career record at 26.
February 23rd - The day after scoring his first goal of the season and moving ahead of Dale Henry on the Mudbugs All-time scoring list with his 290th career point, veteran Jason Campbell plays in his 400th career game. "Soupy" becomes the fifth player in team history to reach the 400-game milestone as the âBugs shut out Mississippi 3-0.
March 4th - John DeCaro continues the team's stranglehold on the Sher-Wood CHL Goaltender of the Month award, winning his second of the year and fourth straight for the team. During the month of February, he was 8-1-0 in ten appearances with a 1.45 goals-against average, .939 saves percentage and three shutouts.
March 8th - Despite a 4-2 loss in Laredo, the Mudbugs clinch a playoff spot thanks to shootout losses by both Texas and Youngstown .
March 11th - In Rio Grande Valley for another Kid's Day morning game, the Bugs score four times in a two-minute span early in the first period and roll to a 7-3 win, clinching their fifth consecutive Northeast Division title.
March 12th - Finalists for the CHL's year-end awards are announced. John DeCaro is nominated for league MVP and his second straight Most Outstanding goaltender award, while forward Tyrel Lucas is named a finalist for Rookie of the Year.
March 15th - Bossier-Shreveport clinches its second consecutive Governor's Cup Regular Season Championship in a 3-0 victory over Mississippi . It's the last of the team's CHL-record 17 shutouts on the season and John DeCaro's record 11th goose-egg of the year.
March 18th - DeCaro is named to his second consecutive All-CHL team.
March 19th - Head Coach Scott Muscutt wins the CHL's Coach of the Year award for the first time in his eight-year coaching career.
March 21st - After losing four of their last five meetings with Texas , the Mudbugs score a season-best five powerplay goals on their way to a 7-1 pounding of the Brahmas. Earlier in the day, DeCaro is named CHL Most Outstanding Goaltender for the second consecutive season.
March 22nd - Tyrel Lucas' rookie best seventh game-winning goal of the season in the third propels the Bugs to a 2-1 win over Rocky Mountain in their regular season finale. The Mudbugs ended the regular season with the best team goals-against average in CHL history (1.91), and John DeCaro finished breaking league records for both single-season GAA (1.63) and saves percentage (.941) by a goaltender.
March 30th - The Mudbugs open the 2008 CHL President's Cup Playoffs in a best-of-seven series against the Texas Brahmas.
April 5th - Bossier-Shreveport's 2008 playoff run ends with a loss in Game 4 of the Northern Conference Semifinals at Texas .
The 2008-09 regular season is tentatively scheduled to open at the CenturyTel Center on October 17th for the Mudbugs, who are currently slated to host 24 weekend games during the coming season of play. Contact the Mudbugs office at 318-752-BUGS for information about purchasing season tickets for 08-09.
Central Hockey League Stories from April 22, 2008
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- Mudbugs Season In Review - Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs
- Sundogs Take 3-2 Series Lead with 2-1 Victory - Arizona Sundogs
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