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Mudbugs Weekly

January 10, 2011 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs News Release


LAST WEEK

Friday, January 7 at Rapid City Rushmore Plaza Civic Center W 3-1

GAME NOTES: The Mudbugs got a small measure of revenge against the team that knocked them out of last year ‚¬â„¢s playoffs with a 3-1 victory over Rapid City Friday at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. Steven Crampton scored a goal and assisted on another as the ‚¬ËœBugs built a 2-0 lead in the first period. Shane Hart and Clay Plume notched the other two Mudbugs tallies and John DeCaro allowed only one goal to earn his 99th career victory.

Saturday, January 8 at Colorado Budweiser Events Center L 6-1

GAME NOTES: Andrew Penner stopped 26 shots and Colorado controlled the special teams on their way to a 6-1 win over the Mudbugs Saturday at the Budweiser Events Center. The ‚¬ËœBugs, who hadn ‚¬â„¢t lost by more than four goals since last year ‚¬â„¢s season opener, fell to 21-12-1 heading into the CHL All-Star break. Jim Jorgensen netted the lone goal for Bossier-Shreveport, who converted just one of eight powerplays in the contest. Colorado scored three times on the powerplay however, and was led by two goals and two assists from Steve Haddon.

THIS WEEK

2011 CHL All-Star Game

Wed., January 12 at Rapid City Rushmore Plaza Civic Center 7:35 pm

GAME NOTES: A team of CHL All-Stars comprised of players from the 17 other CHL clubs will take on the host Rapid City Rush at 7:35 pm this Wednesday evening at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center in the 2011 CHL All-Star Game. Representing the Mudbugs in the game will be center David Rutherford, who was voted in as a starter by the league ‚¬â„¢s coaches and media after leading in the league in goals during the first half of the season. The game will be shown live online on CHL-TV. Click here to hear live streaming audio from the radio home of the Rush.

Friday, January 14 at Allen Allen Event Center 7:30 pm

GAME NOTES: The Mudbugs will get back in action following the All-Star break Friday in Allen as they continue a six-game road trip against the Americans. The second-place ‚¬ËœBugs will be trying to gain ground against the first-place Amerks on Friday night while looking to improve upon their 1-5 record vs. Allen this year. Bossier-Shreveport has enjoyed more success against the Americans on the road than they have at home, holding a 2-3-1 all-time record at the Allen Event Center.

Saturday, January 15 at Tulsa BOK Center 7:35 pm

GAME NOTES: Bossier-Shreveport continues its road swing Saturday night at Tulsa ‚¬â„¢s BOK Center, where the ‚¬ËœBugs have never lost a game. The Mudbugs have beaten the Oilers 16 times in a row dating back to the 2008-09 season, a stretch which includes a 9-0 mark at the BOK Center since the building opened. Tulsa enters this week tied with Texas for fourth place in a very tight Berry Conference, standing just eight points behind the ‚¬ËœBugs.

WEEKLY NOTES

Rutherford to Start All-Star Game

Center David Rutherford will represent the Mudbugs in Wednesday ‚¬â„¢s CHL All-Star Game in Rapid City, South Dakota after being voted into the starting lineup by the league ‚¬â„¢s coaches and media. This year ‚¬â„¢s game features a team of CHL All-Stars comprised of players from the 17 other CHL clubs taking on the host Rapid City Rush. Rutherford received the most votes (34) of any forward on the ballot and the second-most of any player in the league to garner his first career All-Star appearance. The Ladner, British Columbia native leads the league with 22 goals this season and is tied for 10th in the CHL with 41 points. Rutherford has seven multi-goal games this season and has multiple points in six o f his last 11 contests.

Road Warriors Roll on

Despite dropping three of their last four road contests, the ‚¬ËœBugs still hold the CHL ‚¬â„¢s second-best road record at 12-6-1 as they continue their longest road trip of the season this week. Last Sunday the Mudbugs began a six-game road swing, which takes them through Rapid City, Colorado, Allen and Tulsa between a pair of games in Mississippi. The ‚¬ËœBugs won ‚¬â„¢t play at home again until they host Dayton on Jan. 20. Allen (15-3-0) is the only team with a better road mark this year.

Over Halfway Home

Friday ‚¬â„¢s game marked the halfway point of the 66-game CHL regular season for the Mudbugs, who are on pace to win at least 40 games for the ninth time in franchise history and the first time in three seasons. Last year the ‚¬ËœBugs stood at 17-12-3 at the halfway point, which also came in Rapid City. Despite losing nine of their last 15 games, Bossier-Shreveport still holds the second-best record in the league with a mark of 21-12-1 for 43 points and a .632 winning percentage. Only Allen (24-7-1) brings a better mark into the second half of the season among the 18 CHL teams.

Northern Exposure

Last weekend ‚¬â„¢s two-game swing through the Mountain Time zone concluded Bossier-Shreveport ‚¬â„¢s only trip to the former Northwest Division this season. After playing only two of their first 32 games against teams from the Turner Conference (both against Missouri), last weekend ‚¬â„¢s games against Rapid City and Colorado started a stretch during which the Mudbugs will finish the season with 15 of their last 34 games coming against the Northern half of the CHL. Only three other CHL teams (Dayton, Laredo and Texas) have played fewer out-of-conference games than the ‚¬ËœBugs (four) this season.

‚¬ËœBugs Win Only Meeting v. Rush

Friday ‚¬â„¢s 3-1 Mudbugs win over the Rush offered the only rematch this season between Bossier-Shreveport and Rapid City, who last met in last year ‚¬â„¢s CHL Northern Conference Finals. The last time the Mudbugs had played in Rapid was Game 7 of that series, a 7-3 Rush win which propelled them to the President ‚¬â„¢s Cup Finals. In seven all-time regular season games, the ‚¬ËœBugs own a record of 5-1-1 against the Rush. Including their seven-game playoff series, the teams have alternated wins and losses over their last 11 meetings.

Eagles Snap Mudbugs ‚¬â„¢ Streak

Including regular season and playoffs, the Mudbugs had beaten Colorado five times in a row before falling to the Eagles 6-1 on Saturday. The last time the teams had played prior to Saturday was Game 4 of last year ‚¬â„¢s Northern Conference Semifinals, when the ‚¬ËœBugs completed a four-game sweep of the Eagles to end Colorado ‚¬â„¢s three-year reign as North Champs. The Mudbugs winning streak came on the heels of a lengthy nine-game losing skid against the Eagles.

Loose Pucks

F Justin Aikins (who ranks seventh in the CHL with 44 points) had been held pointless just twice in his past 18 games before leaving Saturday ‚¬â„¢s game with an injury in the first minute ‚¬Â¦ Injuries have caused F Brett Smith to miss three straight games, F Jeff Kyrzakos to miss two and F Justin Aikins and D Dave Pszenyczny were both knocked out of Saturday ‚¬â„¢s game with injuries ‚¬Â¦ F Jeff Martens is tied for the CHL lead with a +21 rating. He is also approaching 100 career games ‚¬Â¦ G John DeCaro allowed only one goal Friday to earn his 99th career victory ‚¬Â¦ D Clay Plume is tied for seventh among CHL D-men with a +12 rating ‚¬Â¦ D Jamie Milam is tied for sixth among defensemen with 17 assists and seventh with 23 points ‚¬Â¦ D Michael Couch is approaching 200 career games, entering this week with 195 ‚¬Â¦

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 ‚¬Å“The Home of the Legends ‚¬Â 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.

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