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Mudbugs Weekly

April 11, 2011 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs News Release


LAST WEEK

Berry Conference Opening Round (Best of Five)

#2 Bossier-Shreveport vs. #7 Arizona: Mudbugs Win Series 3-1

Game 3: Tuesday, April 5 Tim's Toyota Center W 5-1

GAME NOTES: The Mudbugs scored three third-period goals to secure a 5-1 victory over Arizona in Game 3 of their Opening Round playoff series Tuesday at the Tim's Toyota Center. Shawn Limpright, Jeff Kyrzakos and Steven Crampton each finished the night with a goal and an assist as the Mudbugs led for nearly all of the last two periods. John DeCaro was fantastic in goal with 31 saves in his first appearance of the series. The ‚¬ËœBugs scored two more powerplay goals on five chances and again killed off six Arizona powerplays.

Game 4: Wednesday, April 6 Tim's Toyota Center W 2-1

GAME NOTES: Justin Aikins scored his second goal of the night with 39 seconds left and John DeCaro made 48 saves as the Mudbugs defeated the Sundogs 2-1 to win their Opening Round playoff series in Game 4 Wednesday at the Tim's Toyota Center. DeCaro faced a barrage of Arizona shots throughout the night to keep the ‚¬ËœBugs in the game, which was tied at one for over 45 minutes of play. Aikins then scored the series-clinching goal on the powerplay with under a minute remaining to cap off a two-goal night and complete the four-game series victory for Bossier-Shreveport.

THIS WEEK

Berry Conference Semifinals (Best of Five)

#2 Bossier-Shreveport vs. #3 Tulsa: Series Starts Friday @ CTC

Game 1: Friday, April 15 CenturyTel Center 7:05 pm

Game 2: Saturday, April 16 CenturyTel Center 7:05 pm

SERIES NOTES: The Mudbugs and Oilers will open their best-of-five conference semifinal series with Games 1 and 2 this weekend at the CenturyTel Center. The teams played only three times during the 2010-11 regular season - with the ‚¬ËœBugs taking the season series 2-1 - but have not seen each other since Tulsa snapped a 16-game losing streak to the Mudbugs on January 15 at the BOK Center. The Oilers are making their first playoff appearance since 2005 after posting a third-place Berry Conferenc finish with a 35-25-6 regular season mark.

WEEKLY NOTES

On to Round 2: ‚¬ËœBugs vs. Oilers

After winning their first playoff series for the third consecutive season, the Mudbugs are now preparing for a second round matchup with the Tulsa Oilers in the best-of-five Berry Conference Semifinals. The #2 ‚¬ËœBugs defeated #7 Arizona three games to one in the Opening Round of the playoffs, advancing to round two with a hard-fought 2-1 victory in Game 4 against the Sundogs. #3 Tulsa, meanwhile, made history with their five-game series victory over #6 Mississippi. The Oilers became just the second team in CHL history to rally from a 0-2 deficit and win a best-of-five series when they won three straight games to oust the RiverKings and win their first playoff series since 1994.

Drilling for Oil

With their second round series coming against Tulsa, the Mudbugs will now have faced in the playoffs the two Berry Conference foes they played the least during the regular season. Bossier-Shreveport did not face Opening Round opponent Arizona at all during the regular season and met the Oilers only three times despite the short, 353-mile distance separating the two clubs. Prior to Tulsa's 7-3 victory over the shorthanded ‚¬ËœBugs on January 15, Bossier-Shreveport had beaten the Oilers 16 times in a row since last falling to them in March of 2008. The Mudbugs swept back-to-back season series against the Oilers in 2008-09 (8-0) and 2009-10 (6-0) before winning the first two meetings this year to reach 16 straight head-to-head wins, nine of which had come at Tulsa's BOK Center since that building opened in the Fall of 2008.

Extra Special Teams

The Mudbugs dominated the special teams play against Arizona in the Opening Round, scoring five powerplay goals while allowing none to Arizona. The ‚¬ËœBugs scored two powerplay goals each in Games 1 and 3 before Justin Aikins capped off the series with another man-advantage tally late in Game 4. That gave the club five powerplay goals on 16 opportunities so far in the postseason, good for a conversion average of over 31%. At the other end of the ice the Mudbugs dominated Arizona's powerplay in the first round, killing off all 19 Sundogs powerplays in the series to join Allen as the only two teams who have yet to allow a powerplay goal so far in the playoffs.

Defense Wins Championships

If the old sports cliché holds true in the 2011 CHL playoffs, it would seem to bode well for Bossier-Shreveport's chances after the first round. The Mudbugs allowed a total of just six goals to the Sundogs in their four-game Opening Round series victory to lead all CHL playoff clubs so far with a 1.50 team goals-against average. John DeCaro stopped 79 of the 81 shots he faced on his way to wins in the last two games of the Arizona series to post a .975 saves percentage and a 1.00 goals-against average so far in the postseason. Ryan Munce also played well in the first two games of the series at home, going 1-1 with a 1.93 GAA and a .931 SV%.

Taking the Chance to Advance

After their series-clinching Game 4 win vs. Arizona, the ‚¬ËœBugs have won six of their last seven games when they have the chance to eliminate an opponent and advance to the next playoff round dating back to the 2006 CHL playoffs. Bossier-Shreveport has also won 11 of 12 all-time series in which they have held a 2-1 lead, including a 4-0 mark when holding a 2-1 lead in best-of-five series. This year's Opening Round series against Arizona was the first best-of-five set the ‚¬ËœBugs had played since defeating Indianapolis in the 2004 Northern Conference Semifinals.

Loose Pucks

Game 3 marked the 100th playoff game in the career of Head Coach Scott Muscutt, who holds a 57-44 all-time playoff record... Four players own a share of the team lead in playoff scoring through one round with four points apiece... The Mudbugs have won six of their last eight road playoff games...

The ‚¬ËœBugs are now 30-1 this year when leading after two periods following their Game 3 victory... Jim Jorgensen's first career playoff goal was also the game-winner in Game 3... F Shawn Limpright has 20 points (8g, 12a) in his last 18 regular season and playoff games... F Brett Smith ranks 6th in Mudbugs history with 18 playoff goals... Amateur F Nick Layton played a regular shift in the last two games of the Arizona series after making his pro hockey debut in Game 2...

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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