Mudbugs Weekly

Published on November 8, 2010 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs News Release


LAST WEEK

Friday, November 5 at Mississippi DeSoto Civic Center L 4-3

GAME NOTES: Derek Landmesser broke a 3-3 tie with only 4:02 remaining to give Mississippi a 4-3 victory over the Mudbugs Friday at the DeSoto Civic Center. The Mudbugs rallied from 3-1 down to tie the game in the third, but suffered their third loss of the season to fall to 7-3-0 while Mississippi improved to 3-4-0. Travis Clayton scored twice and added an assist as all three Mudbugs goals in the game came on the powerplay, which finished 3 for 10. Joe Blaznek also scored and added an assist and Jamie Milam contributed two assists as well in the losing cause.

Saturday, November 6 vs. Allen CenturyTel Center L 3-2

GAME NOTES: The Mudbugs suffered their second consecutive loss and third of the season against Allen Saturday at the CenturyTel Center, falling by a 3-2 final score. Allen moved into sole possession of first place in the CHL with the win, which dropped Bossier-Shreveport to 7-4 on the season. Brett Smith and Jeff Martens scored for the Mudbugs, who are now 1-3 against the Americans this year. David Nimmo scored two goals for the visitors, including the game-winner that broke a 2-2 tie in the third period. Brian Foster (3-1-0) made 26 saves but suffered his first professional defeat.

THIS WEEK

Tuesday, November 9 at Laredo Laredo Energy Arena 7:00 pm

GAME NOTES: The Mudbugs travel to Laredo to face the Bucks for the first time this season tomorrow night at the LEA. The Bucks are 4-3-1 this season (T-4th, Berry Conference) after splitting a back-to-back set with Rapid City last weekend. The teams played only twice last season, with Laredo winning both games in the first two months of the year. The 'Bugs and Bucks have not played in nearly a calendar year, last meeting on November 27, 2009.

Friday, Nov. 12 vs. Rio Grande Valley CenturyTel Center 7:05 pm

GAME NOTES: The Mudbugs and Killer Bees will face-off for the second time this year Friday night at the CenturyTel Center. Rio Grande (5-2-2) is currently right behind the Mudbugs in third place in the Berry conference. The 'Bugs beat the Killer Bees 2-1 in a shootout on October 28 in their first meeting of the season. Friday's game, which is also "Scout Night" will be the second of four visits to the CTC for RGV this year.

Saturday, November 13 vs. Laredo CenturyTel Center 7:05 pm

GAME NOTES: The 'Bugs and Bucks will meet for the second time this year Saturday at the CTC, on the heels of Tuesday's first game between them. The two rivals will play one another seven times this season, with three of those games to take place in Bossier City. Saturday is also our "Military Appreciation Night", when we honor members of our nation's armed services both past and present.

WEEKLY NOTES

Putting the "Power" in Powerplay Although they were held scoreless Saturday against Allen, the Mudbugs scored three more powerplay goals Friday against Mississippi to improve their season average to nearly 28 percent on the man-advantage. The 'Bugs currently boast the CHL's second best powerplay unit entering this week at 26.6%. They have scored at least one powerplay goal in eight of 11 games this season and notched multiple PPG's five times.

Balanced 'Bugs With five players on their roster averaging at least one point-per-game, the Mudbugs have used a remarkably balanced offensive attack this year. Bossier-Shreveport is the only team in the CHL with six players (Aikins, Smith, Martens, Rutherford, Limpright, Milam) in double-digit scoring, and all six currently rank in the league's top 25 scorers. Allen and Colorado (four) are the only other CHL teams with more than three players over ten points this year. Of the 19 skaters who have played at least two games for the 'Bugs this year, 18 have recorded at least one point.

Foster Already Winning Awards Rookie goaltender Brian Foster has been named the CHL's Goalie of the Month for October after starting his pro career with three wins in his first three starts of the season. Foster returned from an early season AHL call-up with Rochester on October 23 and promptly backstopped three straight Mudbugs victories over Texas, Allen and Rio Grande Valley. In his last win, Foster stopped 32 shots and four of five shootout attempts in a 2-1 shootout win over the Killer Bees to improve his record to 3-0-0. The 23-year-old U. of New Hampshire alum, who is NHL- contracted with Florida, dressed for three games with Rochester during his AHL call-up. Foster, who suffered his first loss Saturday against Allen, sports a 2.21 goals-against average and a .931 saves percentage.

South Texas Series Begins Starting with Tuesday's game at Laredo, the Mudbugs will play all of their next five games against the Bucks and Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees. After travelling to Laredo on Tuesday, Bossier-Shreveport returns home to host the Killer Bees and Bucks this Friday and Saturday at the CenturyTel Center. Next week the 'Bugs will travel to South Texas once again to visit Rio Grande on Friday 11/19 and Laredo on Saturday 11/20. The mini-series reflects a scheduling trend where the Mudbugs have played ten of their first 11 games against Berry Conference teams and will only play two of their first 32 games this year against clubs from the Turner Conference.

American Issues After facing each other just five times all last season, the Mudbugs and Allen Americans have already met four times in the first 11 games of this season. Allen beat the 'Bugs for the third time this year Saturday night to move into first place in the Berry Conference and in the CHL overall standings. Bossier-Shreveport has had some trouble with the Americans in their two seasons in the CHL, winning just two of nine games against them so far (2-6-1). The Americans are 5-0 all-time here at the CTC.

Loose Pucks Second-year F Tyler Burton, who was waived by Rio Grande Valley earlier in the week, made his Mudbugs debut last weekend. He posted one assist, a -1 rating and two shots on goal in the two games... The 'Bugs are one home win away from 300 home victories in franchise history... F Shawn Limpright had scored five goals and totaled seven points in his last four games before being held off the score sheet Friday and Saturday... The 'Bugs and their opponents have combined to score fewer than six goals only four times this year... D Clay Plume is out of the Mudbugs lineup on a leave of absence while D Michael Couch, F Shane Hart, G Jeff Harvey and F Tyler Lucas are all on IR...

TICKET INFORMATION: Season tickets, mini-plans and group ticket packages for the 2010-11 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: Back for 2010-11 is the latest version of CHL-TV, powered by NeuLion, Inc. Fans will have the chance to watch nearly 600 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 only their team's away games, an all-access league pass or many other options. All game archives are offered to catch up on the games you missed for just $4.00. Visit http://chltv.neulion.com/chltv/ 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 November 8, 2010


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