Mudbugs Weekly

Published on January 11, 2010 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs News Release


LAST WEEK

Tuesday, January 5 at Missouri Independence Events Center L 4-3 (SO)

GAME NOTES: The Mudbugs made their first ever visit to Independence, Missouri to face the Mavericks for the second straight game on Tuesday night. The teams traded goals through two periods before David Rutherford scored an amazing third period goal to give the 'Bugs the lead. Rutherford scored from behind the net on an incredible move to make it 3-2 for the Mudbugs (view a video clip of the goal at www.centralhockeyleague.com/pressroom/news/index.html?article_id@74 ), but Missouri tied the game again just 18 seconds later and then outscored the Mudbugs 3-1 in the shootout.

Friday, January 8 at Rapid City Rushmore Plaza Civic Center L 4-3 (OT)

GAME NOTES: Just like Tuesday's game in Missouri, the Mudbugs traded goals with the Rush throughout Friday's game, again taking a 3-2 third period lead on a goal by Shawn Limpright. Rapid City tied the game once again with less than two minutes left in regulation to force the overtime session, where Limpright was called for goaltender interference and Jamie VanderVeeken netted the overtime winner on the ensuing powerplay.

Saturday, January 9 at Rapid City Rushmore Plaza Civic Center W 4-2

GAME NOTES: The Mudbugs and Rush played another tight game on Saturday night, with Rapid City taking a 2-1 lead early in the third period on a goal by Les Reaney. The 'Bugs answered when Dave Pszenyczny scored off a deflection in front and then Joe Blaznek put Bossier-Shreveport ahead to stay with a 5-on-3 powerplay goal at 14:30. Simon Mangos sealed the win with an empty net goal as the Mudbugs snapped a three-game winless streak.

THIS WEEK

Wednesday, January 13 2010 CHL All-Star Game Laredo, TX 7:00 pm

GAME NOTES: Wednesday night in Laredo, the CHL will showcase its talent with the 2010 CHL All-Star Game at the Laredo Entertainment Center. Goaltender Ken Carroll will represent the Mudbugs in the game after garnering the sixth All-Star selection of his ten-year pro career. Carroll and the rest of the CHL All-Stars will take on a team of South Texas All-Stars, which will be comprised of players from the Corpus Christi IceRays, Laredo Bucks and Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees. The game will be shown live online on CHL TV and on a number of local TV markets around the nation. Click here for more information on where to catch the 2010 CHL All-Star Game.

Fri. & Sat., Jan. 15 and 16 at Colorado Budweiser Events Center 8:05 pm

GAME NOTES: The Mudbugs will close out a five-game road trip this weekend with a pair of games against the Colorado Eagles in Loveland, Colorado. The 'Bugs and Eagles meet only three times this season, with Colorado visiting the CTC on January 30 to close out the season series. This weekend's matchup will be a rematch of last year's Northern Conference semifinal playoff series in which the Eagles won four consecutive one-goal games to advance to the Conference Finals. Colorado is tied with Rapid City for first place in the North, but has lost four straight coming into this week.

WEEKLY NOTES

Northern Exposure This week's games against Colorado will finish up a stretch of six consecutive games against Northern Conference opponents for the Mudbugs. The 'Bugs dropped the first three games of the current conference swing (0-1-2) before topping Rapid City 4-2 on Saturday night. Bossier-Shreveport, who is 11-3-2 against the North this season, enters the week with a one point lead on Mississippi for third place in conference. The Mudbugs trail Colorado and Rapid City (who are tied for first) by six points in the Northern Conference standings.

Carroll to Shine with the Stars Again Goaltender Ken Carroll will travel to Laredo, Texas this week to represent the Mudbugs in the 2010 CHL All-Star Game, presented by Laredo Energy The game, which pits the CHL All-Stars against a team of South Texas All-Stars, is set for 7:00 pm Wednesday night at the Laredo Entertainment Center. This year's All-Star selection is the sixth of Carroll's illustrious CHL/WPHL career, making him the league record holder among goaltenders. Carroll will join Odessa's Joel Martin (voted in as the starter) and Rapid City's Danny Battochio in defending the net for the CHL All-Stars in the 2010 game. Carroll (8-5-2) leads the league with a.926 SV% and ranks fourth with a 2.52 GAA.

Dramatic Finishes The Mudbugs have certainly had a flair for the dramatic lately, going into overtime in five of their past seven games. Dating back to a game at Allen on December 27, Bossier-Shreveport has seen three games decided in a shootout and two more determined in sudden-death overtime. During that span the 'Bugs have beaten Texas (SO) and Corpus Christi (OT) while falling to Allen (SO), Missouri (SO) and Rapid City (OT). Bossier-Shreveport is now 5-3 in games going past 60 minutes this season (2-1 in OT, 3-2 in shootouts). The Mudbugs sport on of the CHL's best records in one-goal games with a 12-2-3 record in 17 games that have been decided by a single tally.

Road Warriors Roll On The Mudbugs currently possess the best road record in the CHL at 12-4-3 in their 19 away games and enter this week on a ten-game road point streak (7-0-3) dating back to December 7. The 'Bugs are in the midst of their longest road trip of the season with a stretch of five straight games away from home. Bossier-Shreveport started the trip in Missouri and played two games in Rapid City last weekend before finishing with a pair of games this weekend in Colorado. By the time they return home to face Rio Grande Valley on January 20, the 'Bugs will have played eight of their last nine games on the road.

Another Milestone for Muscutt With 18 victories so far this season, Mudbugs Head Coach Scott Muscutt has climbed into a tie with former Huntsville and Colorado bench boss Chris Stewart for second in CHL history in career coaching victories. Muscutt and Stewart, who is now the Eagles' President and General Manager, are tied for second all-time with 375 career wins after the Mudbugs defeated Rapid City Saturday night. With his next win, Muscutt will pass Stewart and trail only Oklahoma City's Doug Sauter, who won 544 games in his career with the Blazers.

A Good Time for #300 After being stuck on 299 career goals for five consecutive games, forward Joe Blaznek picked a great time to score his 300th professional tally on Saturday night. With the 'Bugs and Rush tied at two and only 5:30 remaining in regulation, Blaznek wired home his 12th goal of the season during a 5-on-3 powerplay to give the Mudbugs a 3-2 lead over Rapid City. Blaznek's first game-winning goal of the season earned him the milestone of 300 career goals to go with his 342 assists, giving the 34-year-old Detroit native 642 points in 886 career games.

Loose Pucks D Chris St. Croix had a five-game point streak (1g, 5a) snapped on Saturday... The 'Bugs are a perfect 9-0 this year when they do not allow a powerplay goal... Saturday's game snapped a streak of three straight in which the Mudbugs lost after holding a third period lead (0-1-2)... Bossier-Shreveport is just 2-1-2 when scoring multiple powerplay goals in a game this year... The Mudbugs are 10-2-2 in their white uniforms this season...

TICKET INFORMATION: Mini-plans and group ticket packages for the 2009-10 season of Mudbugs hockey are available at the team office: 2000 CenturyTel Center Drive, Bossier City, LA 71112. 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: Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs games, both home and away, are broadcast live on "The Home of the Legends" AM 1130 KWKH and News Radio 710 AM KEEL in Shreveport. Both stations provide free online streaming online at www.kwkhonline.com and www.710keel.com.

CHL TV: New for 2009-10 is the latest version of CHL-TV, powered by Insinc Netcasting. Fans will have the chance to watch all 480 games on the CHL's regular season schedule for a small pay-per-view price. Packages are available as well that give fans the chance to order a month at a time or the entire season. All game archives are offered to catch up on the games you missed for just $3.95. Visit http://chltv.insinc.com for more information.

Season and group tickets are on sale by calling 318-752-BUGS (2847) or by visiting our website at www.mudbugshockey.com.

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Central Hockey League Stories from January 11, 2010


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