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Mudbugs Weekly

March 21, 2011 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs News Release


LAST WEEK

Wednesday, March 16 at Fort Wayne Memorial Coliseum L 5-4

GAME NOTES: The Mudbugs were only 1:12 away from getting at least one point when Guy Dupuis scored a powerplay goal to give Fort Wayne a 5-4 victory Wednesday night at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. Kevin Young assisted on three goals in the contest, while Justin Aikins had a goal and an assist as the ‚¬ËœBugs came back from a 4-2 third-period deficit to tie the game at four. Steven Crampton, Jeff Kyrzakos and Andy Contois scored the other goals for the Mudbugs.

Friday, March 18 at Fort Wayne Memorial Coliseum W 3-2 (SO)

GAME NOTES: Justin Aikins and Steven Crampton scored on back-to-back attempts late in the shootout to give the Mudbugs a 3-2 win over the Komets Friday at Memorial Coliseum. John DeCaro made 23 saves in regulation and overtime and then stopped seven of eight Komets in the shootout to earn the win. Andy Contois extended his point streak with two assists on goals from Justin Aikins and Jamie Milam for the ‚¬ËœBugs, who built a 2-0 lead before Fort Wayne came back to tie.

Saturday, March 19 at Bloomington U.S. Cellular Coliseum W 4-2

GAME NOTES: John DeCaro turned aside 49 shots to tie for the third-most saves in team history to backstop the Mudbugs to a 4-2 victory over Bloomington Saturday at U.S. Cellular Coliseum. The Mudbugs built 3-0 lead Saturday on goals from Travis Clayton, Justin Aikins and Andy Contois, but Bloomington roared back in the third to cut the lead to one. DeCaro refused to allow the equalizer however, setting a new career high with 49 saves by the time the game ended.

THIS WEEK

Friday, March 25 vs. Odessa CenturyTel Center 7:05 pm

GAME NOTES: The Mudbugs will close their regular season home schedule Friday night against the playoff-bound Odessa Jackalopes, who will be making their first visit of the year to Bossier-Shreveport. In the only prior meeting between the clubs this year, the ‚¬ËœBugs earned a 4-1 win over the Jacks back on December 4 in Odessa. The Jackalopes currently stand in fifth place in the Berry Conference, two points ahead of Mississippi.

Saturday, March 26 at Odessa Ector County Coliseum 7:05 pm

GAME NOTES: The ‚¬ËœBugs and Jacks will finish the regular season with the second game of a home-and-home weekend series from Odessa on Saturday night. Bossier-Shreveport has visited the ECC twice over the past two seasons, winning both games in west Texas. The Mudbugs have lost their regular season finale in both the last two seasons (0-1-1).

WEEKLY NOTES

...and Down the Stretch They Come

With less than a week and only a handful games left in the 2010-11 regular season, playoff races are heating up all over the CHL. The Mudbugs' recent winning ways have given them a four-point cushion for second place in the Berry Conference and allowed them to control their own destiny in the final week of the regular season. The ‚¬ËœBugs can clinch the #2 seed in the conference with wins over Odessa in their last two games, since they would own tiebreakers for both wins and head-to-head record against Texas and Tulsa in case of a tie in points. The Brahmas trail the ‚¬ËœBugs by four points with four games remaining, while the Oilers have three games left and are currently tied with Texas for third place in the conference.

Look Out, Smokin' Joe

Forward Travis Clayton scored a goal on Saturday to move within four points of the CHL's all-time scoring record, which is currently held by longtime Oklahoma City Blazer Joe Burton. With 13 points (6g, 7a) in his last nine games, Clayton (981 points) is making a case to challenge Burton's 985 CHL points in the final two games of the season. The 14-year veteran recently scored the first hat trick of his Mudbugs career to lift the club to a 5-4 win over Dayton on the night before his 35th birthday. He then added four more points (1g, 3a) in his next two games to begin threatening Burton's record.

One Streak Follows Another

Just three games after Shawn Limpright tied the Mudbugs' longest point streak of the season at nine games, Andy Contois has picked up the torch and brings a nine-game streak of his own into this. The Marquette, Michigan native has totaled 11 points in his last nine games on five goals and six assists to bring him near a point-per-game average with 12 points in 13 games since joining the Mudbugs in late February. Contois' hot streak comes on the heels of a stretch during which Limpright racked up 13 points (5g, 8a) over a nine-game stretch that tied the longest scoring streak by a Mudbug this year before ending in Fort Wayne on Wednesday. Limpright led the team in scoring last season with 53 points.

Goaltenders Rounding into Form

Both John DeCaro and Ryan Munce seem to be finding their stride late in the regular season, as both goaltenders have turned in strong performances in recent weeks. DeCaro had a career night Saturday in Bloomington, stopping 49 shots to tie for the third-most saves in a game in team history as the ‚¬ËœBugs held on to win 4-2. With wins in nine of his last 12 starts, DeCaro (20-11-1) has now reached the 20-win mark for the fourth time in his five-year pro career. Munce has made quite an impact since joining the ‚¬ËœBugs last month, recording four wins and two shutouts in his last six starts. Over the past five weeks, Bossier-Shreveport has gone from an average of 3.16 goals-against per game to just 2.92, jumping them from ninth to fourth in the CHL defensively.

Loose Pucks

Friday's Fort Wayne crowd of 9,327 was the largest the ‚¬ËœBugs have played in front of since March 4, 2006, when they won 2-1 at Oklahoma City in front of 11,116 fans... D Jamie Milam scored his 17th goal of the year Friday to maintain the CHL lead among defenseman... D Kevin Young has six assists and a +2 rating in six games since joining the Mudbugs... D Dave Pszenyczny is a +9 in his last 12 games...

The Mudbugs are 28-1-0 when leading after two periods.... Head Coach Scott Muscutt recently became the second coach in CHL history to surpass 700 career games coached...

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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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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