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Mudbugs Weekly

March 28, 2011 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs News Release


Team Record: 37-26-3, 77 points 2nd place, Berry Conference

LAST WEEK

Friday, March 25 vs. Odessa CenturyTel Center W 3-2

GAME NOTES:

The Mudbugs clinched the #2 seed in the Berry Conference playoffs with a 3-2 win over the Odessa Jackalopes in their final home game of the regular season Friday at the CenturyTel Center. Steven Crampton posted three assists for the Mudbugs, while Brett Smith scored one goal and set up another in the win. Shawn Limpright and Justin Aikins scored the other two goals and Ryan Munce stopped 27 shots in front of 5,154 fans at the CTC.

Saturday, March 26 at Odessa Ector County Coliseum L 4-2

GAME NOTES:

The Mudbugs fell behind early and couldn't manage a comeback in a 4-2 loss to the Odessa Jackalopes in the regular season final Saturday night at the Ector County Coliseum. Jeff Kyrzakos scored both goals for the ‚¬ËœBugs, who finished 0 for 6 on the powerplay. Odessa went 2 for 5 with the man-advantage and also scored a shorthanded goal to win the special teams battle. John DeCaro stopped 21 of 25 shots in the loss as the ‚¬ËœBugs outshot the Jacks 28-25.

THIS WEEK

Berry

Conference Opening Round: #2 Bossier-Shreveport vs. #7 Arizona

Game 1: Friday, April 1 CenturyTel Center 7:05 pm

Game 2: Saturday, April 2 CenturyTel Center 7:05 pm

SERIES NOTES:

The second-seeded Mudbugs will start their 2011 CHL playoff run in a best-of-five series against the seventh-place Arizona Sundogs with a pair of home games this weekend at the CTC.

The series will then shift to Arizona for Games 3 and 4 (if necessary) next week before returning home for a potential Game 5 on Saturday, April 9. The ‚¬ËœBugs are mak ing their eighth consecutive playoff appearance this year with their highest playoff seed since 2007-08, while the Sundogs are returning to the postseason for the first time since winning the President's Cup in 2008. The two teams have not played one another yet this season, making Game 1 their first head-to-head matchup since a 6-0 Mudbugs win on December 1, 2009.

WEEKLY NOTES:

On to the Second Season

After winning 37 times during their 66-game march through the 2010-11 regular season, the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs will now turn their collective eye toward earning 14 more victories to end a nine-year Championship drought and win their fourth President's Cup. 2011 is the 13th playoff appearance in 14 seasons of existence for the ‚¬ËœBugs, who are hoping to return to the President's Cup Finals for the first time since 2006. In 131 all-time playoff games, the Mudbugs own postseason winning percentage of 60% with 79 victories and 52 losses.

Getting to Know You

The Mudbugs will start this playoff run against a completely unfamiliar opponent, taking on an Arizona team they have not played all year. The ‚¬ËœBugs have faced the Sundogs only four times prior during Arizona's five year of existence, with their last head-to-head game coming back on December 1, 2009 here in Bossier City. The ‚¬ËœBugs won that game 6-0 to improve to 3-1 all-time against the ‚¬ËœDogs after the teams played three times during the 2008-09 season.

Scouting the Sundogs

Arizona

returns to the playoffs for the third time this year after missing the postseason in each of the last two seasons since winning the President's Cup in 2008. The Sundogs went 25-31-10 (60 pts) this year to finish seventh in the Berry Conference and 15th in the CHL overall. The ‚¬ËœDogs were led in scoring during the regular season by F Kyle Hood (15g, 54a = 69 pts), while D Tyler Butler finished seventh among all CHL defensemen with 46 points. F Adam Smyth led the league with 310 penalty minutes - 89 more than the second-place finisher. Goaltender Levente Szuper went 18-13-6 for the club this year, but ended the season on injured reserve and is currently not on the club's playoff roster with fellow goalies Doug Groenestege and Scott Reid. Arizona finished last in the league d uring the regular season defensively in both goals-against and penalty killing.

Regular Season Recap

In a remarkably parity-filled 2010-11 CHL regular season, the Mudbugs finished with the second-best record in the Berry Conference and sixth-best mark in the league (37-26-3) despite recording a sub-.600 winning percentage for just the third time in franchise history (.583) The ‚¬ËœBugs finished among the CHL's top five teams this year in goals-against, powerplay percentage and penalty killing percentage while leading the league with an average of only 27.48 shots-against per game.

2010-2011 in the (Record) Books

This regular season ranked among the best in Mudbugs history in certain categories for a few players on the club. David Rutherford's 35 goals were the most by a Mudbug since Scott Sheppard's 38 tallies in 2005-06, giving #91 the sixth-best goal scoring year in team history. Jamie Milam tied for the CHL lead and turned in the third-best goal scoring season by a Mudbugs defenseman with 17 goals and tied for third in points by a D-man with 48. Rutherford (.206) and Justin Aikins (.202) also finished with two of the top five shooting percentage seasons in team history,

Goaltenders Rounding into Form

Both John DeCaro and Ryan Munce seem to be finding their stride late in the season with strong performances of late. DeCaro had a career night in Bloomington on March 19, stopping 49 shots to tie for the third-most saves in a game in team history as the ‚¬ËœBugs won 4-2. With wins in nine of his last 13 starts, DeCaro (20-12-1) reached the 20-win mark for the fourth time in his five-year pro career. Munce (5-3-1) has made quite an impact since joining the ‚¬ËœBugs last month, recording five wins and two shutouts in his last seven starts. Over the past six weeks, Bossier-Shreveport went from an average of 3.16 goals-against per game to just 2.92, jumping them from ninth to fourth in the CHL.

Loose Pucks

Shawn Limpright, Brett Smith and Jeff Kyrzakos all reached the 20-goal mark over the last two games of the regular season, giving the ‚¬ËœBugs four 20-goal scorers this season... The Mudbugs finished the regular season on a five-game home winning streak; their second such streak of the season...

The ‚¬ËœBugs are 28-1-0 when leading after two periods.... F Justin Aikins and D Clay Plume tied for the team lead in plus/minus rating this year at +18... D Dave Pszenyczny was a +9 in his last 14 regular season games... Mitch Love (110), Steven Crampton (109), Dave Pszenyczny (109) and Shawn Limpright (108) all finished within 2 penalty minutes of the team lead this year... Crampton led the club with 40 assists...

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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