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Mudbugs Weekly

January 18, 2011 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs News Release


LAST WEEK

2011 CHL All-Star Game

Wednesday, January 12 at Rapid City All-Stars 11, Rush 6

GAME NOTES: Center David Rutherford represented 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. Rutherford recorded a pair of assists in his first career All-Star appearance as the All-Stars skated to an 11-6 win over the host Rapid City Rush.

Friday, January 14 at Allen Allen Event Center L 3-0

GAME NOTES: In his first start since November, goaltender Chris Whitley stopped all 29 shots he faced as Allen shut out the Mudbugs 3-0 Friday at the Allen Event Center. The ‚¬ËœBugs outshot the Americans 29-28 in the contest, but finished 0 for 4 on the powerplay and were shut out for the second time this season. Justin Aikins, Brett Smith and Dave Pszenyczny all missed the game with injuries and Jeff Kyrzakos left after the first period and did not return.

Saturday, January 15 at Tulsa BOK Center L 7-3

GAME NOTES: Playing with only 13 skaters Saturday at the BOK Center, the Mudbugs suffered their first loss to Tulsa since the 2007-08 season by a score of 7-3. The Oilers ‚¬â„¢ first win over the ‚¬ËœBugs since March 18, 2008 dropped them to 21-14-1 this season. Joe Blaznek and Mitch Love scored the goals for the Mudbugs, who had four forwards and a defenseman miss the contest with injuries. The ‚¬ËœBugs missed on all six of their powerplay chances as they outshot Tulsa 40-23 in the contest.

THIS WEEK

Tuesday, January 18 at Mississippi DeSoto Civic Center 7:05 pm

GAME NOTES: The Mudbugs face the RiverKings for the ninth and final time this season tomorrow night at the DCC, finishing out their head-to-head series with Mississippi earlier than ever before since the teams began playing one another following the 2001 CHL/WPHL merger. The ‚¬ËœBugs lead the season series 6-1-1 this year after splitting a home-and-home series to start 2011; winning 8-2 at home on New Year ‚¬â„¢s Day and falling 3-2 in a shootout here in Southaven on January 2.

Thursday, January 20 vs. Dayton CenturyTel Center 6:35 pm

GAME NOTES: The Mudbugs return home for the first time in three weeks for their first-ever game against one of the former IHL teams when the Dayton Gems visit Bossier City Thursday at 6:35. The game, which is the first of three Dayton visits to the CTC this year, will be just the second at home for the ‚¬ËœBugs since December 17. PROMOTIONAL NOTES: Thursday ‚¬â„¢s game is 98 Rocks ‚¬â„¢ "Back in Black Night", where we encourage fans to wear all black to the game as the ‚¬ËœBugs switch to wearing their black uniforms at home for the second half of the season.

Friday, January 21 at Texas NyTex Sports Centre 7:30 pm

GAME NOTES: The Mudbugs and Brahmas will meet for the sixth time this year and fifth in North Richland Hills Friday night as the ‚¬ËœBugs continue a three-in-three weekend. Since winning the first two matchups of the season Bossier-Shreveport has dropped three straight against their rivals from Texas, who have climbed within four points of the ‚¬ËœBugs and are tied with Odessa for fourth place in the Berry Conference.

Saturday, January 22 vs. Laredo CenturyTel Center 7:05 pm

GAME NOTES: Bossier-Shreveport looks to stay unbeaten against the rival Laredo Bucks this year Saturday night at the CTC. The ‚¬ËœBugs are 3-0 against Laredo this season after winning all three meetings during November. The Bucks are tied with Rio Grande Valley for last place in the Berry Conference, but have won three of five here in the new year.

WEEKLY NOTES

Battered ‚¬ËœBugs Stay Busy

The injury-riddled Mudbugs won ‚¬â„¢t get much opportunity to rest up this week with four games in a five day span starting tomorrow in Mississippi. Forwards Justin Aikins and Brett Smith and defenseman Dave Pszenyczny all missed Friday ‚¬â„¢s game at Allen with injuries, a game in which Jeff Kyrzakos and Jeff Martens also went down. With Kyrzakos and Martens out for Saturday ‚¬â„¢s contest in Tulsa, the ‚¬ËœBugs then faced the Oilers with just 13 skaters at their disposal. Aikins, who ranked fifth in the league in scoring when he was injured, is on 30-injured reserve, while both Smith and Pszenyczny are currently on 10-day I.R. Bossier-Shreveport is also without the services of forward Tyrel Lucas, who was injured prior to the season and has not yet played this year.

Lengthy Trip Ends Where it Began

Tomorrow night ‚¬â„¢s game in Mississippi concludes Bossier-Shreveport ‚¬â„¢s longest road trip of the season 17 days after it began with a game against the RiverKings on January 2. Tomorrow ‚¬â„¢s game also concludes a stretch in which nine of the Mudbugs ‚¬â„¢ last ten games have been played away from Bossier City dating back to December 18. The ‚¬ËœBugs, who have played at home just once in the past month, are still the CHL ‚¬â„¢s second-best road team at 12-8-1 despite winning just one of their last seven away games. Following tomorrow ‚¬â„¢s game the Mudbugs will finish the year with 18 of their last 29 games coming at the CenturyTel Center, the first of which is set for Thursday against the Dayton Gems.

Scoring Pace Slows

Before their torrid start to the season began cooling last month, the Mudbugs won 11 of 13 games from early November to the first part of December. Over that 13-game stretch, the ‚¬ËœBugs scored at least four goals ten times and never netted fewer than three in a game. In the 12 games since then however, Bossier-Shreveport has hit the four-goal mark just twice and has been held under three tallies seven times while being shut out twice. At the other end of the ice, the Mudbugs have surrendered four goals or more in ten of their last 17 games since a month-long period in which that happened only once.

DeCaro Nears the Century Mark

Fourth-year Mudbugs goaltender John DeCaro is on the verge of reaching his milestone 100th career victory. The two-time CHL Most Outstanding Goaltender brings a 10-5-1 mark into this week, putting him just one win away from reaching triple-digits as a pro. The Marysville, Washington native, who has started seven of Bossier-Shreveport ‚¬â„¢s last ten games, holds a record of 84-32-9 as a Mudbug and a career mark of 99-42-11 in five years as a pro. DeCaro also ranks fifth in CHL history with 15 career shutouts, 11 of which came during his record-breaking 2007-08 season during which he set league marks for goals-against average, saves percentage, shutouts and shutout streak.

Oilers Finally Drill Back

Before losing Saturday night in Tulsa, Bossier-Shreveport had defeated the Oilers in 16 consecutive games, sweeping the season series in each of the past two seasons and winning the two first matchups this year. Tulsa ‚¬â„¢s last win over the Mudbugs before last week came on March 18, 2008 at the old Tulsa Convention Center, with the ‚¬ËœBugs sporting a 9-0 all-time record at the BOK Center prior to coming up short on Saturday. Despite being Berry Conference foes separated by only 353 miles, the ‚¬ËœBugs and Oilers will not play again for the remainder of this season after meeting just three times this year.

‚¬ËœBugs Shoot Blanks in Allen

Making his first start since late November on Friday, Allen goaltender Chris Whitley stopped all 29 shots he faced as the Americans shut out the Mudbugs 3-0 at the Allen Event Center. The loss dropped the Mudbugs to 1-6-0 against Allen this year and left them eight points back for first place in the Berry Conference. The ‚¬ËœBugs outshot the Americans 13-7 in the first period and 29-28 in the game but missed on four powerplays and were shut out for the second time this season.

Loose Pucks

F Jeff Martens is tied for fourth in the CHL with a +20 rating and has played 96career games entering tonight... D Michael Couch will play his 198th career game tonight... The Mudbugs reached 40 shots on goal Saturday in Tulsa for the first time since last March, also against the Oilers... D Jim Jorgensen and D Clay Plume both rank among the CHL ‚¬â„¢s top 18 defensemen in plus/minus rating...D Jamie Milam is tied for ninth among defensemen with 17 assists and tenth with 23 points... The Mudbugs have allowed nine powerplay goals in their last eight games after surrendering none in the six prior contests... The ‚¬ËœBugs have gone back-to-back games without a powerplay goal for just the second time this year... Friday ‚¬â„¢s loss in Allen marked just the third time this year the ‚¬ËœBugs have lost a game in which they allowed fewer than four goals...

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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