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Mudbugs Weekly

December 20, 2010 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs News Release


LAST WEEK

Thursday, December 16 vs. Rio Grande Valley CenturyTel Center L 4-3

GAME NOTES: Sean Muncy scored with just 3:31 remaining to snap a 3-3 tie and help Rio Grande Valley to a 4-3 victory over the Mudbugs Thursday at the CenturyTel Center. The loss dropped the ‚¬ËœBugs to 3-1 against the Killer Bees in the fourth consecutive one-goal game between the teams this year. David Rutherford scored twice and Justin Aikins contributed a goal and an assist in his first game back from injury as the ‚¬ËœBugs held leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in the first half of the game. Jamie Milam chipped in two assists in the losing cause, while both Muncy and Aaron Lewicki posted two-goal games for the visitors.

Friday, December 17 vs. Rio Grande Valley CenturyTel Center L 4-2

GAME NOTES: For the second consecutive night Rio Grande Valley outscored the Mudbugs in the third period to earn a 4-2 win Friday night at the CenturyTel Center. The Bees outscored the Mudbugs 3-0 in the third period over the course of two nights to sweep the back-to-back set in Bossier City. Justin Aikins and Jeff Martens scored the two goals for the ‚¬ËœBugs, who have now lost three straight games for the first time this season and have also lost their last three at home. Bossier-Shreveport outshot Rio Grande Valley 30-20 in the game, including an 11-6 margin in the third period.

Saturday, December 18 at Mississippi DeSoto Civic Center W 5-3

GAME NOTES: The Mudbugs built a 3-0 lead on their way to snapping a three-game losing streak with a 5-3 victory over Mississippi Saturday night at the DeSoto Civic Center. At 19-9-0, Bossier-Shreveport has now jumped back ahead of Allen for first place in the CHL standings. Brett Smith scored a goal and assisted on another in the contest, while Justin Aikins and Steven Crampton each finished with a pair of assists. John DeCaro turned in a 37-save effort to earn his eighth win of the year as the ‚¬ËœBugs were outshot 40-26 on the night.

THIS WEEK

Tuesday, December 21 at Allen Allen Event Center 7:30 pm

GAME NOTES: First place in the Berry Conference will be on the line once again when the Mudbugs will make their third visit of the season to Allen, Texas Tuesday night to take on the Americans for the sixth time this year. After Tuesday ‚¬â„¢s game, the ‚¬ËœBugs will have nine days off before their next game at Texas on New Year ‚¬â„¢s Eve. Bossier-Shreveport has gone just 1-4 against Allen so far this year, with three of those losses coming on home ice. Including tomorrow ‚¬â„¢s contest, the ‚¬ËœBugs and Amerks still have another five meetings ahead in the season series this year.

WEEKLY NOTES

Road Sweet Road

After losing back-to-back games at home last week, the ‚¬ËœBugs earned a 5-3 win Saturday in Mississippi to improve their road record to 11-3-0 this season, second only to Allen ‚¬â„¢s 12-2-0 away mark in the CHL. Since the Mudbugs and Americans are the top two road teams in the Central Hockey League this year, perhaps it is fitting that the visiting team has won six of the last seven head-to-head games between the clubs dating back to last season. Allen ‚¬â„¢s 5-4 win at the Allen Event Center on December 3 snapped a streak of six straight wins for the visiting club in the series.

Bees Sting ‚¬ËœBugs on Back-to-Back Nights

Friday night Rio Grande Valley completed the sweep of a back-to-back set at the CenturyTel Center, again outscoring the ‚¬ËœBugs in the third period to sneak away with their second straight victory. The Mudbugs outshot the Killer Bees on both Thursday and Friday and both games were tied entering the third period, but Rio Grande scored three third-period goals over the two nights compared to none for Bossier-Shreveport. The Bees have won six of their last ten games in Bossier City, where the Mudbugs are suddenly cold with three straight losses after a five-game home winning streak.

So Long, Bossier City

Friday night the Mudbugs concluded their longest homestand to date this season with their fourth straight game at the CenturyTel Center. Saturday however, the ‚¬ËœBugs started a span in which nine of their next ten games will be played on the road. Between now and January 18, the Mudbugs ‚¬â„¢ only home game comes on New Year ‚¬â„¢s Day against Mississippi. Bossier-Shreveport will also have a rare nine-day break between games after tomorrow ‚¬â„¢s tilt in Allen, with many players heading home to spend the holidays with family before returning to face the Texas Brahmas on New Year ‚¬â„¢s Eve.

PP and PK on top of the Heap

For the first time this season, the Mudbugs enter this week with the both their powerplay and penalty killing units ranking in first place in the Central Hockey League. The ‚¬ËœBugs have killed off 27 consecutive opposing powerplays over the past six games to up their PK percentage to 87.8% this season and surpass Texas as the league ‚¬â„¢s #1 shorthanded unit. Another powerplay goal Saturday in Mississippi bumped Bossier-Shreveport back into first place on the man-advantage this season, where they have scored 32 times on 142 opportunities this year for a 22.5% success rate. The ‚¬ËœBugs have scored at least one powerplay goal in 18 of 28 games and notched multiple PPG ‚¬â„¢s ten times this year.

Aikins Picks Up Where He Left Off

Forward Justin Aikins was the CHL ‚¬â„¢s third leading scorer prior to missing four games with an injury, and last week he promptly re-took that position with five points in his first three games back. Aikins scored the ‚¬ËœBugs first goal of the game Thursday and set-up the second one by David Rutherford on the powerplay. He then netted a shorthanded goal in the second period of Friday ‚¬â„¢s game and followed up with two assists Saturday at Mississippi. That effort kept him just ahead of Laredo ‚¬â„¢s Neil Trimm for third place on the league points list with 37 this season on 11 goals and 26 assists. He also remains in the CHL ‚¬â„¢s top three with a +16 rating.

Rutherford Strikes Twice More

Mudbugs forward David Rutherford recorded another two-goal game Thursday to regain sole possession of the league lead in goal scoring with 18 tallies this year. Rutherford now has six multi-goal games this season and eight in his Mudbugs career, but hasn ‚¬â„¢t yet been able to complete his first career hat trick. In addition to his league lead in goals this year, his 33 points are tied for seventh in the CHL and his +11 rating is tied for ninth. He is also tied for second in the league with five game-winning goals and has recorded at least one point in 44 of his last 53 regular season games.

A Big Mudbug Milestone

Mudbugs Equipment Manager Billy T. Welker, an original member of the Shreveport Mudbugs franchise in 1997, worked his 1,500th career game on Saturday. Not only has Welker never missed a game in the 14-year history of the Mudbugs, but all 1,500 of his pro games worked have come consecutively without a game missed in his time with the Tulsa Oilers, San Antonio Iguanas and the Mudbugs. Athletic Trainer George Bullock, Jr. is also approaching a career milestone, with his 1,000 game on the bench coming up on January 2, 2011 in Mississippi.

Loose Pucks

D Simon Mangos played his 400th career game Saturday... D Jamie Milam is tied for the CHL lead among defensemen with 17 assists and tied for fourth with 20 points... D Clay Plume is tied for second among all CHL D-men with a +12 rating this year... The Mudbugs are 7-3-0 on Saturdays this season...

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 ‚¬â„¢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 ‚¬â„¢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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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.

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