1/29 BUGS vs. MEMPHIS (W, 4-2)

BUGS PREVAIL AND THINGS GET TESTY
The Mudbugs win this rough affair 4-2. Scott Muscutt's feelings after the game were obviously. In his words he is tired of the circumstances surrounding Steve Cruickshank as a referee in this league and the way his games are being called.
I'm no expert, but the fact Dan Wildfong received four minutes of extra penalties in the late scrum was baffling.
It was your typical late hockey game crap between two teams that hate each other.
Back to the game. Another solid effort by the Bugs, and finally a convincing win. Those one-goal games can be excruciating. Folks, Chris Brassard is a different hockey player. Even at his best in a Mudbugs uniform defense wasn't his forte. Not saying he was poor defensively, but he didn't stand out like he has the past two weeks.
The Mudbugs head into Corpus Christi for a pair this week to meet a Rayz team that hasn't scored in more than FOUR games. That's actually scary if youre a member of Bossier-Shreveport.

GONG!
With 4:54 left in the game things got a touch ugly. Not surprising if you've been reading the blog today. Nearly every Mudbugs and RiverKings skater on the ice was penalized. No big brawls broke out, it was just one big dog pile for the most part that started when Dan Wildfong and Derek McKinlay started throwing blows.
TIME: 7:27 p.m.

VODRAZKA SCORES AGAIN!
Milan Vodrazka scored his second goal of the night to give the Mudbugs a 4-1 lead.
TIME: 7:28 p.m.

THE OLD JOKE GOES ...
The only way Blair Manning is going to score is if a puck bounces off his leg. The unselfish veteran is known for his passing skills and infrequent shots. Well, he put the Mudbugs up 3-1 late in the second period ... that's right, when a puck bounced off his leg and into the net. Following a Dilorenzo stop of Chris Brassard and Milan Vodrazka, the puck careened off Manning, who was crashing the net, and into the net.
3-1 after 40 minutes. The chippyness died down in the second, but if the game is out of hand, I wouldn't be surprised to see it resurface.
TIME: 6:45 p.m.

CAPTAIN DAN PUTS BUGS AHEAD
Another "garbage" goal for Dan Wildfong, who put the Mudbugs ahead 2-1 after he was Johnny on the Spot following a rebound from Memphis goaltender Michael Dilorenzo. Two minutes left in second.
TIME: 6:38 p.m.

WELCOME TO THE CHL COACH McCLELLAND
He was standing on the top of the Memphis bench at the CenturyTel Center screaming at the top of his lungs. The former NHL player and Stanley Cup winner was pleading for the officials to see the Mudbugs had too many men on the ice. Finally, the whistle blew and RiverKings coach Kevin McClelland got his wish.
But the Mudbugs fans didn't appreciate the coach's antics -- although justified. McClelland and the fans behind the Memphis bench became involved in a brief shouting match. Old time hockey.
TIME: 6:36 p.m.

GONG SHOW IN THE MAKING HERE
Chippy would accurately describe the first period at the CenturyTel Center. It seems as if things will only get worse, too.
Dan Wildfong and Sheldon Wenzel -- who went with Shaw earlier -- dropped the gloves in the final seconds of the first and this time Wenzel got the best of things.
1-1 after 20 here. Stay tuned for the rest of the bout, I mean game.
TIME: 5:56 p.m.

THEY WANTED TO GO, BUT DIDN'T
Moments after Chris Brassard and Darrell Stoddard threatened to drop the gloves, they were both integral parts to goals from their teams.
Stoddard knocked in a rebound to give Memphis a 1-0 lead, but Brassard used a beautiful feed to setup a goal from Milan Vodrazka 26 seconds later.
Mudbugs are outshooting Memphis 11-7 with 3:03 to go in first.
TIME: 5:40 p.m.

TWO SECONDS IN!! BOMBS AWAY
Chris Shaw and Sheldon Wenzel dropped the gloves as soon as the puck hit the ice Sunday. After several seconds to get to center ice, there was much dancing but not much punching. Both players did a pretty good job of tying the opponent up. However Shaw likely landed the best punch.
Time: 5:12 p.m.

THIRD IN THREE DAYS
Would be tough to expect Memphis and Bossier-Shreveport to play at a paced comparable to the past two nights. Memphis played an overtime affair last night in Wichita while the Mudbugs pasted Fort Worth goaltender Larry Sterling with 60 shots on goal Saturday, one night after a game in Odessa.

1/28 BUGS vs. FORT WORTH (L, 4-3)

DEFENSIVE MISCUES CONTINUE TO HAUNT MUDBUGS
Bossier-Shreveport is a good team, there is no doubt about it, but the tendancy by the Mudbugs to give up that untimely goal to the opponent better change ... SOON.
A turnover created Wes Mason's game-winner midway through the third period. The sad thing is, this was the Brahmas' only glimpse of a scoring chance in the first 10 minutes of the third. Fort Worth, with just 13 skaters, was gassed in the final 20 minutes and you could tell. The Brahmas were doing everything just to get the puck out of their own zone. How many times did they ice the puck? Too many to count.
60 shots on goal and three goals? Now I'm the first one to say the shots are super-inflated for the Mudbugs at the CTC (still wish the off-ice folks would realize they are only hurting the Mudbugs goaltenders and helping the opposition's). But they had plenty of scoring chances tonight without much success. The three goals they did score Larry Sterling had no chance on.
I thought it was a really gutsy move to put David Cacciola in net tonight. And I'm not playing Monday-morning quarterback, I told Mudbugs general manager Jason Rent this before the face-off.
My thought was this. The Fort Worth game meant much more than Sunday's game against Memphis. Losing to the worst team in the CHL almost mentally erases all the good stuff that's happened lately. Especially considering the recent breakdown against a the CTC last time out.
I expected to see Ken Carroll in net tonight and Cacciola against Memphis (he shut them out last week). Many would say Carroll played Friday night in Odessa. Well Sterling played in Austin on Friday, too. That being said, maybe Carroll wasn't 100 percent.

UGH
A defensive breakdown led to Wes Mason's game-winning goal midway through the third period and the Mudbugs fell to the Fort Worth Brahmas again.
For a detailed recap, log onto shreveporttimes.com
TIME: 10:45 p.m.

72 SHOTS THROUGH TWO PERIODS
Tied at 3. Should be interesting third.
TIME: 9:01 p.m.

MCLAUGHLIN GETS HAT TRICK; GAME TIED AT 3
Just when it seems I'm going to be able to write another blog entry, there is another goal. Short recap: The Bugs tied it up, McLaughlin scored againt to make it 2-1 Fort Worth before Brett Smith tied it at 2. Jason Basile scored to give Bossier-Shreveport a 3-2 lead before McLaughlin completed the hat trick with a goal. This all in the first half of the second period.

BRAHMAS UP 1-0
Beau McLaughlin scored a goal off a rebound to give Fort Worth a 1-0 lead with 4:43 remaining in the first period.
TIME: 7:34 p.m.

FAST AND FURIOUS FIRST PERIOD
Halfway through the opening 20 minutes, the Mudbugs had amassed 15 shots and the Brahmas 10. Nevertheless, we're scoreless.
TIME: 7:27 p.m.

SCHEDULE CHANGE
The Mudbugs, thanks to an appearance by Nine Inch Nails, have rescheduled what was to be their final regular-season game on Mar. 25. The game against Austin will now take place Mar. 12 (Sunday) at 7:05 p.m.

CACCIOLA VS. STERLING
Those who thought Andrew Martin would get the start tonight, must start trusting me, haha. Martin has not been signed yet, but should by next week. The only remaining game between the Bugs and the Brahmas is in Fort Worth in two weeks.
TIME: 6:28 p.m.

Outlook
The Mudbugs face the stingy Brahmas once again. Bossier-Shreveport has won four of the seven meetings against the Central Hockey League's worst team this season ... Mudbugs defenseman Chris Shaw is one of two players (Brit Dougherty, Austin) in the CHL to have played at least 20 games without scoring a point. Entering Friday, 275 players (not including goaltenders) had recorded at least one point. Ken Carroll and Andrew Martin have each recorded an assist in net for the Mudbugs this season ... Fort Worth defenseman Konrad Brand may possess the most amazing feat of all his Brahmas teammates this season. Brand plays on a team that has allowed 41 more goals than its scored this season, yet he is a plus-6. Truly amazing. He would rank fourth in plus/minus on the Mudbugs ... The Brahmas signed former Mudbugs netminder Andrew Martin, but he is unlikely to play tonight.

Season series (Bugs lead 4-1-2)
Date Result Site GWG
Nov. 25 Brahmas, 4-3 (SO) FWCC Bret DeCecco
Nov. 12 Brahmas, 2-0 FWCC David Silverstone
Nov. 25 Bugs, 2-1 (OT) CTC Scott Sheppard
Dec. 2 Bugs, 4-1 FWCC Martin Stuchlik
Dec. 16 Bugs, 6-5 (OT) CTC Dan Wildfong
Dec. 17 Bugs, 5-0 CTC Ryan Manitowich
Jan. 14 Brahmas, 3-2 (SO) CTC Ben Gustavson
Brahmas statistics(through Thursday)
# PLAYERS, POS GP G A PTS +/- PIM
17 Cory Stillman, C 38 17 19 36 -3 61
11 Bret DeCecco, RW 38 18 14 32 -9 44
27 Wes Mason, LW 32 14 18 32 -11 10
29 Ryan Fairbarn, D 37 7 17 24 -5 38
2 Vladimir Hartinger, D 25 5 16 21 -17 70
7 Jimmy Sokol, F 35 5 14 19 -14 37
24 Ben Gustavson, LW 38 8 9 17 -1 101
16 Matt Reynolds, F 38 7 8 15 -8 85
10 (IR)Derek Seal, F 27 6 5 11 -8 38
8 Konrad Brand, D 32 1 10 11 +6 91
21 Ty Hennes, F 32 5 5 10 -1 63
28 David Silverstone, LW 20 4 4 8 +3 53
18 Beau McLaughlin, RW 26 2 5 7 0 21
15 Mike O'Sullivan, F 31 4 2 6 -3 14
23 Justin Coutu, D 24 1 3 4 -9 47
22 Andrew Nahirniak, D 19 1 3 4 -2 32
5 Sheldon Lee, D 38 0 4 4 -12 64
44 Noah Katz, C 1 0 0 0 -1 2
TOTALS - 38 100 161 261 -41 1095
GOALTENDING
# GOALIES W L OTL SO GAA SV%
35 Larry Sterling 11 16 3 1 3.38 .900
1 Chris Davidson 1 3 1 0 3.80 .879
TOTALS 12 21 5 1 3.71 .888
Mudbugs statistics(through Thursday)
# PLAYERS, POS GP G A PTS +/- PIM
10 Dan Wildfong, LW 35 13 25 38 +6 155
16 Blair Manning, C 35 2 28 30 +8 32
25 Chad Spurr, RW 33 8 20 28 +3 45
14 Chris Brassard, LW 33 6 22 28 +2 49
41 Brett Smith, C 35 16 11 27 -4 40
29 Ryan Manitowich, LW 35 13 10 23 +2 18
11 Jason Campbell, C 30 6 10 16 +3 22
22 Craig Minard, D 29 3 12 15 +5 26
24 Jason Basile, D 35 5 9 14 +8 42
44 Dale Lupul, D 32 2 9 11 +6 50
8 Quade Lightbody, D 35 3 7 10 +9 80
20 Shane Palahicky, RW 34 4 5 9 -1 33
23 Milan Vodrazka, C 24 4 2 6 +4 10
18 Jeremy Downs, D 22 1 3 4 +6 12
28 Martin Stuchlik, F 22 2 1 3 0 16
42 Chris Shaw, D 21 0 0 0 -3 93
TOTALS - 35 107 185 292 +10 807
GOALTENDING
# GOALIES W L OTL SO GAA SV%
34 Ken Carroll 10 7 4 3 2.26 .920
1 David Cacciola 5 2 1 1 2.81 .907
TOTALS 18 12 5 4 2.77 .904

1/27 BUGS at ODESSA (W 5-4)

MUSCUTT TALKS ABOUT ODESSA WIN; FORT WORTH MATCHUP
Just got off the phone with Scott Muscutt. The Mudbugs were packing up the bus and heading out as quickly as possible.

MUSCUTT: "We didnt play as well or as sharp as we wanted to in the first period. It wasnt a poor effort. We just played like we were on the road in the first period. On a whole, we really responded."

"We really dominated in the second period. We played a good hockey game."

ON ODESSA'S LATE 5-ON-3 GOAL:
"The one goal they did score. Smitty is in front of the net. Craig Minard got stuck in the face trying to clear the puck from behind the net. The puck bounces off Smitty's stick, hits him in the pants, bounces up in the air, hits the crossbar and drops in the corner of the net. I'm not exaggerating -- that's exactly what happened. "

ON OVERALL EFFORT
"Four or five of the guys just told me, 'I didn't have a good game tonight.' That's when you can tell things are starting to come back around."

ON FORT WORTH GAME
"We have to make sure we're coming out. I didnt even get out of the room tonight talking about tonight's game and the boys were already saying, 'We owe Fort Worth.'"
"For a bunch of reasons, this contest tomorrow night is a big one. That's why we're trying to get this bus packed up so we can get guys home, get them rested and get ready to go for a big one against Fort Worth."

SPURR BEGINNING TO HEAT UP
Chad Spurr scored two goals Friday as the Mudbugs defeated Odessa 5-4 at the Ector County Coliseum. Defensemen Jason Basile, Dale Lupul and veteran Blair Manning added goals.
The Mudbugs (19-12-5) have won four consecutive one-goal games and lead the Northeast Division by 11 points.
Ken Carroll made 33 saves on the night.

MARTIN SIGNED BY FORT WORTH
Didn't someone say yesterday what a great fit Andrew Martin in Fort Worth would be? Unlikely the Plano, Texas, native will be in the lineup Saturday against the Bugs, but maybe Feb. 4 in Fort Worth. Unfortunately Saturday is Brahmas' final trip to CenturyTel Center this season.

WHEELS ON THE BUS GO ROUND AND ROUND
The Mudbugs took a bus from the CenturyTel Center late Wednesday and headed to Odessa. After their game tonight against the Jackalopes, Bossier-Shreveport will get back on the bus and head back to town for Saturday's game against Fort Worth.530 miles of I-20 ... no thanks!

AND THERE WERE SOME WHO DIDN'T LIKE IT
Had many people write to voice their displeasure over John Madden's rant in the locker room on Jan. 3 after an embarrasing loss to Youngstown.Well, the Mudbugs have not LOST a game in regulation (5-0-2) since that evening. I would say it worked. Plus, Madden has NEVER been one to interfere with the way head coach Scott Muscutt does business or runs the team. So unlike Jerry Jones or George Steinbrenner, who constantly micromanage, this rant actually meant something.

GAMEDAY STUFF
Outlook
Bossier-Shreveport (18-12-5) looks for consecutive win No. 4 against a team we don't hear about much around here ... The first-place (Southwest Division) Jackalopes boast Mike Gorman, the starting netminder for the Southern Conference in last week's All-Star Game. Another player to watch is Odessa winger Sebastien Thinel, the CHL's fourth-leading goal scorer. He is a plus-8 with four game-winners and seven power-play goals ... Odessa hasn't found much success outside the Southern Conference (2-4-3), but both wins and only one loss have come against the Northeast Division ... The Mudbugs have won the last three meetings between the teams and have not lost to Odessa since Dec. 21, 2002 ... Quietly, the Mudbugs have compiled their longest non-losing (in regulation) streak of the season at seven games and tied their longest winning streak at three.

Jackalopes statistics
# PLAYERS, POS GP G A PTS +/- PIM
43 Sebastien Thinel, RW 36 23 29 52 +12 38
10 Dominic Leveille, RW 36 15 27 42 +5 44
25 Matt Cressman, C 36 15 15 30 +11 47
22 John Kozoriz, F 36 15 12 27 +2 44
23 Don Margettie, RW 34 7 19 26 +7 10
59 Mike Rutter, C 21 10 15 25 +3 34
6 Scott Hillman, D 36 5 19 24 +2 31
18 Mike Carter, RW 34 5 15 20 -3 36
24 Pascal Bedard, D 36 5 14 19 -2 57
41 Adam Loncan, F 34 10 7 17 +3 14
15 Paul Davies, LW 35 6 6 12 +2 55
12 Chris Brannen, D 35 2 6 8 +9 30
17 Andrew Davis, D 34 0 8 8 -1 67
16 Jeff Ewasko, D 27 2 4 6 -1 168
5 Josh Legge, D 36 0 5 5 -1 79
37 Jamie Lovell, D 36 0 3 3 +10 25
TOTALS - 36 120 206 326 +13 911
GOALTENDING
# GOALIES W L OTL SO GAA SV%
40 Mike Gorman 16 9 2 2 2.43 .928
31 Derek Dolson 4 2 0 0 3.09 .905
TOTALS 20 12 4 2 2.97 .915

Mudbugs statistics
# PLAYERS, POS GP G A PTS +/- PIM
10 Dan Wildfong, LW 35 13 25 38 +6 155
16 Blair Manning, C 35 2 28 30 +8 32
25 Chad Spurr, RW 33 8 20 28 +3 45
14 Chris Brassard, LW 33 6 22 28 +2 49
41 Brett Smith, C 35 16 11 27 -4 40
29 Ryan Manitowich, LW 35 13 10 23 +2 18
11 Jason Campbell, C 30 6 10 16 +3 22
22 Craig Minard, D 29 3 12 15 +5 26
24 Jason Basile, D 35 5 9 14 +8 42
44 Dale Lupul, D 32 2 9 11 +6 50
8 Quade Lightbody, D 35 3 7 10 +9 80
20 Shane Palahicky, RW 34 4 5 9 -1 33
23 Milan Vodrazka, C 24 4 2 6 +4 10
18 Jeremy Downs, D 22 1 3 4 +6 12
28 (IR)Martin Stuchlik, F 22 2 1 3 0 16
42 Chris Shaw, D 21 0 0 0 -3 93
TOTALS - 35 107 185 292 +10 807
GOALTENDING
# GOALIES W L OTL SO GAA SV%
34 Ken Carroll 10 7 4 3 2.26 .920
1 David Cacciola 5 2 1 1 2.81 .907
TOTALS 18 12 5 4 2.77 .904