Mudbugs Weekly

Published on January 19, 2009 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs News Release


LAST WEEK

Friday, January 16 at Tulsa BOK Center W 5-4 GAME NOTES: The Mudbugs moved to 6-0 against the Oilers this season with a 5-4 win Friday night at the BOK Center. Bossier-Shreveport took a 3-1 lead after one period and was able to hold off a Tulsa comeback for the win. Joe Blaznek had two goals, Travis Clayton had a goal and an assist, and Tyrel Lucas had three assists. J.R. Bria and Todd Paul each chipped in two assists and Ken Carroll made 31 saves to get the win in goal.

Saturday, January 17 at Oklahoma City Ford Center L 4-3 (SO) GAME NOTES: The Mudbugs took three separate one-goal leads on Saturday night at the Ford Center, but the Blazers came back to tie the game each time. Simon Lambert's second goal of the night in the third period tied the game at three and forced overtime. Ted Vandermeer scored as Oklahoma City's first shooter in the shootout and would be the only player to do so. Ken Carroll stopped the remaining four Blazers and Doug Groenestege denied all five Mudbugs in the shootout to give the Blazers the win and keep them in first place in the Northeast Division.

THIS WEEK

Thursday, January 22 at Tulsa BOK Center 7:05 pm GAME NOTES: The Mudbugs and Oilers meet for the seventh time out of eight regular season meetings Thursday in Tulsa. The ‘Bugs are 6-0 against Tulsa this season, including a 4-0 mark at the BOK Center, where they will make their final appearance of the year on Thursday. The Oilers are still looking for their first win under the guidance of new Head Coach Tony Martino entering this week. This game marks the end of the ‘Bugs season-high six-game road trip.

Saturday, January 24 vs. Rio Grande Valley CenturyTel Center 7:05 pm GAME NOTES: Bossier-Shreveport hosts Rio Grande Valley on Saturday night for its first home game in nearly three weeks. The Mudbugs will be looking for some payback against the Killer Bees, who beat them 7-1 at Dodge Arena back on January 10. The ‘Bugs beat the Bees 4-3 at CenturyTel Center in late November to put the season series at 1-1 entering Saturday night. The teams are scheduled to meet once more this season.

OKC Holds onto the Division Lead...For Now With a 4-3 shootout win over the Mudbugs on Saturday night, the Oklahoma City Blazers managed to hang on to first place in the Northeast Division last weekend. The Blazers had beaten Mississippi Friday night to re-take the top spot in the Northeast. The Northeast Division race couldn't be much tighter right now, with the Mudbugs, RiverKings and Blazers all within two points of one another after 37 games. The ‘Bugs and ‘Kings each have 47 points, just behind Oklahoma City's total of 49. Bossier-Shreveport plays the Blazers just three more times this season, compared with seven more games they've got coming against Mississippi.

Surpassing Sauter Mudbugs center Travis Clayton registered the 528th assist of his CHL career Friday night in Tulsa, breaking a tie with former Oklahoma City great Hardy Sauter for second all-time in CHL history in that category. Clayton already ranked second in league history in goals entering this season, and now needs just seven more points to pass former Tulsa Oiler Doug Lawrence for second on the league's all-time scoring list. Lawrence finished his CHL career with 875 points, while Clayton enters this week with 869. Earlier this year, Clayton broke former Blazer Joe Burton's All-time league record for games played with his 709th. The 12th-year pro has played 733 CHL games in his career.

Even Strength Edge Prior to a 5-2 win over Odessa on January 2, Bossier-Shreveport had not scored more than three even-strength goals in any game this season. After failing to get four even-strength tallies in any of their first 29 games this year, the Mudbugs have now accomplished that feat in four of their last eight games. The ‘Bugs scored four even strength goals that night against the Jackalopes, on Tuesday 1/06 versus Mississippi (W 5-3), Thursday 1/08 at Corpus Christi (W 4-1), and last Friday in Tulsa (W 5-4).

Blazin' Blaznek Forward Joe Blaznek continued his hot streak last week with four points (2g, 2a) in two games. The Detroit, Michigan native has piled up 11 points in his last eight games and gotten back to a point-per-game scoring average this season. Blaznek has played in all 37 games for the Mudbugs this year and leads the team with 14 goals, 23 assists and 37 points.

Winning with "O" instead of "D" Friday's victory in Tulsa marked the first time this season the Mudbugs have won a game in which they surrendered at least four goals. Prior to beating the Oilers 5-4, Bossier-Shreveport held a mark of 0-8-1 when surrendering four goals or more. The Mudbugs hold a sound record of 21-4-1 when giving up fewer than four goals this season.

Clark Gets the Call...and Answers It Forward Neil Clark has played five games since being called-up by the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League on Saturday, January 10 and becoming the first Mudbug to be recalled to the next level this season. Clark had an assist for the Americans (his first career AHL point) as they faced Binghamton that Saturday and then had a fight against the Senators on 1/14. Clark now has one point, 15 penalty minutes, three shots on goal and a -1 rating in seven games with Rochester this season.

The Power is Back On Bossier-Shreveport has scored five powerplay goals in its last four games dating back to a 4-3 overtime win in Laredo on Friday, January 9. The Mudbugs were powerplay looked good Saturday night in Oklahoma City, scoring twice in just three opportunities. Entering this week, the ‘Bugs are converting at a success rate of 18.97%, good for fifth in the CHL.

Ori Finding His Groove Mudbugs forward Joe Ori has seven points in his last six games, more than doubling his point total from the previous 19 games in that span. Ori scored the 50th goal of his Mudbugs career Friday night, giving him 97 pro goals. The fourth-year pro from Niles, Illinois had 26 goals last year, including a CHL-best 10 game-winners. He finished the season with 57 points and a +20 rating.

TICKET INFORMATION: Season and group tickets for the 2008-09 season of Mudbugs hockey are available at the team office: 2000 CenturyTel Center Drive, Bossier City, LA 71129. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 am to 5:00 pm. Individual game tickets can be purchased at the CenturyTel Center box office between 9:30 am and 4:30 pm Monday - Friday, by calling Ticketmaster at (318) 741-9700, or online at Ticketmaster.com. For more information, visit www.mudbugshockey.com or call the team office at (318) 752-2847.

MUDBUGS RADIO: All Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs games, both home and away, are broadcast live on "The Home of the Legends" AM 1130 KWKH or Newsradio 710 AM KEEL in Shreveport. Both stations provide free online streaming online at www.kwkhonline.com and www.710keel.com.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Central Hockey League Stories from January 19, 2009


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.

OurSports Central