Mudbugs Weekly

March 7, 2011 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs News Release


LAST WEEK

Wednesday, March 2 at Allen Allen Event Center L 5-3

GAME NOTES: Allen scored the last four goals of the game, including an empty-netter with five seconds left, to hand the Mudbugs a 5-3 defeat Tuesday at the Allen Event Center. James DeLory, David Rutherford and Travis Clayton scored goals for Bossier-Shreveport, who led 2-0 after the first period and 3-1 midway through the second before Allen began to come back. Ryan Munce stopped 34 shots in the contest but suffered the loss in his second start with the team.

Friday, March 4 vs. Laredo CenturyTel Center W 2-0

GAME NOTES: Ryan Munce turned aside all 25 shots he faced to earn the shutout in his first win with the club as the Mudbugs beat Laredo 2-0 Friday night at the CenturyTel Center. The game stayed scoreless for over 49 minutes before Jamie Milam ‚¬â„¢s powerplay goal, which was followed by a Justin Aikins tally for the victors. Munce made 12 saves in the third period to preserve the shutout as the ‚¬ËœBugs finished the season series with a 6-1 record against Laredo.

Saturday, March 5 vs. Allen CenturyTel Center L 4-2

GAME NOTES: The Mudbugs fell behind 2-0 in the first period Saturday at the CenturyTel Center and couldn ‚¬â„¢t dig out of the hole in a 4-2 loss to the Allen Americans. David Rutherford and Shawn Limpright scored goals as the ‚¬ËœBugs outshot the Americans 25-18 in the last two periods, but never could recover from a rough first period. Allen added two powerplay goals later in the game to finish off the win and complete the season series with their eighth win over the Mudbugs in ten games.

Sunday, March 6 vs. Texas CenturyTel Center W 6-0

GAME NOTES: Jamie Milam ‚¬â„¢s hat trick and a shutout from John DeCaro highlighted the Mudbugs ‚¬â„¢ 6-0 victory over Texas Sunday at the CenturyTel Center. With their 30th win of the season, the Mudbugs stand at 30-24-3 and move back within four standings points of the Brahmas. Milam scored one goal in the second period and added two more in the third to become the first Mudbugs defenseman to record a hat trick since 2007. At the other end, DeCaro made a number of key saves to earn his second shutout of the year and tie Mike Gorman for fourth in CHL history with 17 in his career.

THIS WEEK

Tuesday, March 8 vs. Dayton CenturyTel Center 6:35 pm GAME NOTES: The ‚¬ËœBugs and Gems meet for the second time this year on Tuesday, with Dayton winning the first matchup between the clubs 5-3 back on January 20. The Gems enter this week tied with Ft. Wayne for 7thin the Turner Conference. PROMOTIONAL NOTES: Our Fat Tuesday game is also "Mardi Gras Night" at the CTC, featuring an actual Mardi Gras parade on the ice during intermission!

Friday, March 11 vs. Dayton CenturyTel Center 7:05 pm

GAME NOTES: The Mudbugs host the Gems for the second time this week and final time this season on Friday as the 'Bugs play their fifth game of a six-game homestand. PROMOTIONAL NOTES: Friday ‚¬â„¢s game is "Youth Sports Night" and also "Clawed ‚¬â„¢s Birthday"

Saturday, March 12 vs. Texas CenturyTel Center 7:05 pm

GAME NOTES: The ‚¬ËœBugs and Brahmas open a home-and-home series with their third meeting in as many weeks at the CTC. A 6-0 Mudbugs win on Sunday in the last meeting evened the season series at 4-4-1 for the ‚¬ËœBugs against Texas. PROMOTIONAL NOTES: Saturday is "JDRF Night" benefitting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Sunday, March 13 at Texas NyTex Sports Centre 4:00 pm

GAME NOTES: The Mudbugs travel to Texas on Sunday to complete the season series in their 11th meeting of the year with the Brahmas. The game closes out the weekend ‚¬â„¢s home-and-home set and begins a four-game road swing for the ‚¬ËœBugs

WEEKLY NOTES

Into the 700 Club

Sunday marked the 700th game in the coaching career of Mudbugs bench boss Scott Muscutt, who has spent all of those games as Head Coach of the Mudbugs over 11 seasons now. In those 700 career games, Muscutt ‚¬â„¢s Mudbugs have compiled a record of 425-211-64 to make him the second winningest coach in CHL history. In addition to being the most-tenured coach in the CHL today, Muscutt also has the third-highest winning percentage in league history (.653) and trails only former Oklahoma City coach Doug Sauter in both wins and games coached.

Playoff Picture Coming into Focus

With three weeks and around a dozen games left in the 2010-11 regular season, playoff races are developing all over the CHL. The Mudbugs are currently in fourth place in the Berry Conference: just one point behind third-place Tulsa and four points shy of Texas, who stands in second. The Brahmas clinched a playoff spot with Saturday ‚¬â„¢s win over Laredo, while the Mudbugs and Oilers both stand within striking distance of the #2 seed in the conference as well.

Shorthanded as Usual

Forward Steven Crampton missed his fifth straight game with an injury on Sunday, while defenseman Jim Jorgensen was out for the third straight night and forward Jeff Martens missed his third game in the past four. When Justin Aikins, Travis Clayton and David Rutherford returned to the ice last week and Andy Contois signed with the club, the ‚¬ËœBugs briefly played with a full 18-man lineup for the first time since early January, but they are now back to playing short just as they have in 21 of their last 23 games.

Tricky Six

Mudbugs defenseman Jamie Milam, who wears jersey #6, scored a goal in the second period and added two more in the third frame of Sunday ‚¬â„¢s 6-0 win over Texas to become the first Mudbugs blueliner in four years to record a hat trick. The performance propelled Milam into the league lead with 16 goals this season and left him just three points shy of the league lead in scoring among D-men with 46 points (16g, 30a). The last time a Mudbugs defender scored three goals in a game before Sunday was March 2, 2007, when Ryan Fairbarn did it in an 8-0 shellacking of the Tulsa Oilers.

A Pair of Goose-Eggs

Both Mudbugs goaltenders recorded shutouts last weekend as the club earned its second and third goose-eggs of the season. Ryan Munce started the weekend off with a 25-save shutout of the Laredo Bucks in Friday ‚¬â„¢s 2-0 win, earning his first win with the club as the ‚¬ËœBugs shut the Bucks out for the second straight game. John DeCaro then followed suit for the Mudbugs on Sunday, blanking the Texas Brahmas with 23 saves in a 6-0 victory. That shutout was the 17th of DeCaro ‚¬â„¢s career, tying him with Mike Gorman for fourth in league history. Bossier-Shreveport has now posted at least three shutout wins in every season of their 14-year existence.

More Than a Pair of Fists

In addition to three fights his last four games, second-year forward James DeLory has scored a goal and added two assists to bring his season total to 13 points. With seven goals and six assists in just 28 games this season, DeLory has already far exceeded last year ‚¬â„¢s offensive output of three points (2g, 1a) during his rookie campaign. Including his time earlier this year with Cincinnati of the ECHL, DeLory (who turned 23 years old Thursday) also has a career-high 15 fighting majors and 117 penalty minutes in 49 total games this season.

"Smitty" Climbs the List

Sixth-year Mudbugs forward Brett Smith had two more assists Sunday to continue his rise in the club ‚¬â„¢s all-time record book. Smith has now passed General Manager Jason Campbell for fifth on the team ‚¬â„¢s all-time scoring list with 298 career points in his Mudbugs career. He also ranks fifth in career assists and seventh in goals. Smith is near a point-per-game average this year with 47 points (18g, 29a) in 49 appearances.

Loose Pucks

F Shawn Limpright enters this week on a four-game point streak (3g, 4a)... F Jeff Kyrzakos played his 100th game as a Mudbug and 296th as a pro on Sunday... The ‚¬ËœBugs continue a six-game homestand this week with three more home games as they try to improve upon a 15-13-1 record here at the CTC this year... The Mudbugs are 23-1-0 when leading after two periods.... D Michael Couch is a +9 over the past month... F Steven Crampton remains just three games away from 500 in his pro career... The ‚¬ËœBugs lead the CHL with an average of 26.9 shots against per game this season... Bossier-Shreveport is the fourth-least penalized team in the CHL...

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.



Central Hockey League Stories from March 7, 2011


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