Mudbugs vs. Blazers - 01/04/08

Pregame Thoughts -

This should prove to be an exciting game tonight, if for no other reason than the person operating the home penalty box will me my good friend Brian. He bid for and won the right to serve in the penalty box for two games this January at the Gentlemen's Golf Classic earlier in the season. His second game will be January 26th against Laredo, a game that I will be helping Travis Huntington to announce.

Back to the game. Oklahoma City is .500 team this year with record of 13-13-4 (30 points) which is good for third place in the Northwest Division of the CHL behind division leader Rocky Mountain (21-4-2, Northern Conference best 44 points) and second place Colorado (16-8-4, 36 points). They are 4-3-3 in their last ten games and are a 5-10-1 on the road. I love playing Oklahoma City for a couple of reasons. First, their coach Doug Sauter has that awesome moustache that you can see here: http://centralhockeyleague.com/pressroom/coaches/index.html?staff_id=20


Mainly I dig the guy because the last year's Oklahoma State fair some Belgian draft horses started stampeding until Sauter bit one of the horses to settle it down. I won't stick raisins in my mouth and this guy is chomping down on the ears of a horse? Awesome.

Jason Wolfe will start in net for the Blazers. He has appeared in 17 games, has a 3.04 GAA and has an 8-6-2 record. He started in net once in the Century Tel Center this year and lost the game 5-2.

Blazers to keep an eye on will be All-Star Mike Burgoyne who leads all CHL defensemen in scoring this year. Marty Standish who will probably get in a fight because today is a day that ends in "y". Then again he may not because he is not dressed out.

The Blazers have the 10th best record in the league, the 4th best power play, the 5th best penalty kill, the 9th best offense, and the 7th best defense.

The Mudbugs with the 6th best record in the league, have the 10th best offense, the top ranked defensive team, the 16th best power play, and the 4th best penalty kill.

When you look at those numbers, you would think that Oklahoma City would be the better team going in. Of course a lot of people thought that the Oklahoma Sooners were a good bowl team before they stunk up the Fiesta Bowl (again) against West Virginia the other night. It must be an Oklahoma thing.



The Mudbugs will be let by Goaltender Kenny Carroll who recently was named December CHL Goaltender of the Month. He gave up two goals and got a win during that game on December 4th against Wolfe.

Tonight will mark the first game for Matt York in a Mudbug sweater. He will get the starting not playing alongside Quade Lightbody on the blue line for the Bugs. He spent the first 12 games of the year playing for Fassa HC . I have been around hockey players for quite a long time now and one thing that hockey players love on game day, besides a nap, is their Italian food. Every hockey team in North America stops by an Olive Garden, a Macaroni Grille, or Carrabas on game day to load up on chicken parm and pasta.

What do they do in Italy? Isn't every restaurant an Italian restaurant? I need to know this.

posted at 7:09 pm.

First Period Thoughts -

York is wearing number 23 for the Bugs and I am sure that somewhere Milan Vodrazka fans are realizing that "Vodka" is gone for good.

Jake Ortmeyer just scored his second goal of the season with 12:44 left in the period off of assists by Kevin Labatte, and Chris Brassard. My buddy Brian has made it over seven minutes without having to give out a new puck or open a door for a Mudbug on a penalty. What if he never has to open the door tonight? Shouldn't he deserve a refund or something.
posted at 7:19 pm

Brian now has company in the penalty box as Elias Godoy is sitting for two minutes on a tripping penalty. I don't think he has practiced on the door yet tonight and this could end badly.
The countdown is on.

I see him banging on the glass and...

what the hell?

Who in the hell is that guy?

There is some other guy opening the door. So Brian just gets to sit there for the entire game? He is going to be pissed and demand a refund because he could of watched the game from better seats, had some drinks along the way, and been able to cheer. I will have to figure out what he gets to do during intermission.

I am really interested to see what happens with 1:03 left in the period. That is when he yells at the top of his lungs "HOW MUCH TIME IS LEFT" and then Robert J. Wright replies "one minute", and then he screams "THANK YOU", and Robert comes back with some clever comeback.

Will he just whisper it to him? Will he pass him a note? Will he get the other guy in the box with him to do it?
posted at 7:26 pm

Do you know what a GM does during games? Well right now Steve Cherwonak is sitting next to me telling Flamer (the music guy) what cheers to put on the video board. So he is the head cheerleader, I guess.
posted at 7:33 pm

My man Tyrel Lucas is in the penalty box right now. I really hope Brian can grab me some kind of memento of Tyrel's visit to the sin bin. This guy is playing lights out right now.

Damn, they still won't let Brian open the door. I wonder if you need to be a union guy or a certified CHL guy to do it? Does this guy get more practice opening doors than the average Jill or Joe? What makes him so freaking special?
posted at 7:39 pm

At the end of the first period, the Mudbugs lead 1-0. They have outshot the Blazers 13-11. When the Mudbugs lead after the first period they are 5-1-0 at home and are 8-1-2 overall. Oklahoma City is 0-5-0 on the road when trailing after the first period and are 2-7-0 overall. That is good news.

Here is what I found out from Brian. The guy in the box is named George and he is in the Air Force. He offered Brian the option of working the door or not. Brian said he would work but he says there is a lot of stuff that he needs to be doing during the game.

Apparently neither Godoy or Lucas said a word while in the box and Brian did not bring me anything. To top things off, he totally forgot about what to say with 1:03 left to play.
Damn him.
posted at 7:46 pm

Second Period Thoughts -

One of my favorite players in the league is Oklahoma City forward Ryan Watson, but I can't stand watching him in the horrendous Blazer uniforms. There are stripes all up and down the arms and legs. They really need to do something about these things. The only thing I like about them is that the names and numbers really stand out on them.

Stacey Bauman is on the ice and in his honor I would like to introduce the Stacey Bauman All-Star team to you. A month ago I let you in on the Tyrel Lucas All-Star team of guys whose names may lead you to believe that they are of different ethnicity than what they really are.

The team was originally the Darcy Tucker All-Stars because every time I heard his name I expected to see Cami Granato skating along with him. There had to be a reason why Tuck was always getting in fights and I am convinced that being called Darcy his entire life had something to do with it. Remember that Johnny Cash song "A Boy Named Sue", well he was pissed at his name in that thing and it never really happened to him. What if Johnny Cash's real name was Sue? Wouldn't the movie Walk Hard have ended with him being held by his cellmate of the last 25 years-to-life holding him on his death bed?

Well I am not sure how well adjusted these guys are, but I really think that if you just heard the name and you had to choose a sex, you may put the name on the Double X Chromosome side of the ledger.

Jordon Doshier - G - Wichita Thunder
Stacey Baumann - D - Oklahoma City
Sylvain Dufresne - D - Odessa
Jami Yoder - D - Rocky Mountain
Jocelyn Dubord - F - Odessa
Ashlee Landone - F - Austin
Riley Nelson - C - Colorado
Dusty Collins - C - Arizona
posted at 8:18 pm

Derek Miller lost his edge, with the help of Michael Kaye (who shares his name with the announcer of New York Yankees so I hate him already, then again Derek Miller wears a Yankee cap around, but I don't hate him. I just pity him) was helped off the ice at the 8:30 mark of the second period. He was not putting any weight at all on his right leg when he left the ice and looked like he was in pain.
posted at 8:23 pm

Still no Derek Miller. Not to state the obvious, but we really can't afford to lose a defenseman right not.

I know this is a few days late, but I can't remember a hockey game on television than the Buffalo-Pittsburgh game on New Year's Day. Thank goodness that pretty much all of the college bowl games this year sucked and it had good ratings. The thing I loved about it was the snow. I just wanted someone to make snow angels after scoring. The snow made it great and I loved the Pittsburgh uniforms. Anything with Carolina Blue looks great on TV. They need to do that every year but maybe make it a New Year's Eve game. Can you imagine if they held that thing in Foxborough, Yankee Stadium, the Meadowlands, or Veteran's Statdium (basically somewhere other than the 50th largest market). Still hats off to Buffalo for bringing 71,217 people to the game.
posted at 8:35 pm

At the end of the second period the Mudbugs still lead 1-0. They are still out shooting the Blazers 26-23. Oklahoma is the third worst offensive team in the third period in the CHL and they have lost every game (0-9-0) that they went into the third period trailing. That is a good sign for the Mudbugs.

The best news that came out of the second period is the my boy Brian is opening up the door for players coming into the penalty box. He is still a little hesitant to open the door at the end of a penalty, but he is taking some baby steps. Tyrel Lucas will start the third period in the penalty box and Brian still won't get me anything of his. Damn him.
posted at 8:43 pm

Third Period Thoughts -

I don't get this penalty against Matt York at all. He gets checked into the Blazer bench so you know that some guys on the bench were giving it to him. Then he gets dog piled on against the dasher so he comes up with his stinky-ass glove to someones face to get them off of him. Then he gets the penalty. That is a pretty lame call by Zac Wiebe. I am pretty sure Steve Cruickshank would have given matching minors.
posted at 9:01 pm

14:32 left in the period and Kevin Cooper goes into double digits in goals for the year with his tenth goal. He had a great wraparound the Blazer defender on the new circle and walked to the net putting it past Wolfe with a backhanded shot. That was the 29th shot of the night for the Mudbugs. Ahhhhhh, Manwich karma.

How big of fan favorite has Cooper become, the entire western end of the CTC were cheering "Coooooooooooooooooop" when the goal was announced. Nice job Mudbug fans.
posted at 9:05 pm

I haven't mentioned this yet, and my friend Phil first brought this up, but Jason Wolfe is huge. I am talking linebacker huge. He is 6-5/235. I can't cheer in the press box, but if I could, I would be cheering "good goalie, huge goalie" after every Mudbug goal. I would also be calling him clemens or bonds (neither of which deserves to be capitalized) and asking if his shots wer B-12 or HGH. I am not sure who is lying in the whole clemens vs. the trainer feud that is going on right now, but they are both Yankees and they should both be loathed. My only problem with the whole thing is this, what was clemens thinking when he asked the trainer to inject him in the first place? With B-12? I don't even know what B-12 is, but if you need to have it administered via a needle, maybe you need to revisit your vitamin selection matrix. My One-A-Day for men vitamin had B-12 so maybe there was something in the syringe.
posted at 9:16 pm

Yeah, Fairie. That is Ryan "Fairie" Fairbarn to you folks. He just put the Bugs up 3-0 in the game with 8:35 to play in the game. Assists go to Daniel Pegoraro and "My Man" Tyrel Lucas. Pegoraro has been all over the ice tonight.
posted 9:20 pm

5:02 left in the game now and the Mudbugs are on a power play. I really think we need to start declining these things and just play even strength.
posted at 9:25 pm

Okay, I take it back. Kevin Cooper scores his second goal of the night off of assists from Brett Smith (who has kept his helmet on all night) and Justin Aikins. Good night for Cooper. Probably the second star if the score holds. The Mudbugs lead 4-0 with 3:39 left.
posted at 9:27 pm

Please score one more for a cherry limeade. Please. Please. Please.
posted at 9:31pm

You have got to be kidding me. Freaking Michael Kaye scored to take away the shutout from Carroll. He won't like that. Mike Burgoyne assisted. I am really glad that he finally came through when it didn't matter.

First star - Kevin Cooper - 2 goals and great work all over the ice
Second star - Kenny Carroll who saved 39 shots.
Third Star - Jake Ortmeyer - 1 goal +1 rating.

See you tomorrow everyone.
posted at 9:35 pm

Mudbugs vs. Rayz Tuesday 11/20/07

Pregame Thoughts -
Has it really been a year since I have blogged a Mudbug game? This just seemed like the right time to come back. The Mudbugs are firmly entrenched in last place in the tough Northeast Division of the CHL. Not only are they in last place, they are 16 points behind first place Youngstown. The Bugs are only three points out of third place Texas, but the fact is that entering the 12th game of the season, they are looking up at the rest of the division. That sucks.

John Decaro starts in net for the Bugs tonight and he sports a 3-3-1 record this year with a 1.99 GAA, third best in the CHL. He will be facing the second lowest scoring team in the CHL tonight (Tied with the Mudbugs). I don't know about you, but that sounds exactly like what the Mudbugs need right now.

Corpus is 2-7-1 in the last ten games and have not even recorded a point in six away games this year.

All fans in attendance should start making plans for a Cherry Limeade at Sonic in the next week because on the road, Corpus has given up an average of five goals a game. All fans in attendance when the Mudbugs score five goals a game have a week to redeem their tickets at local Sonic stores for a free Route 44 Cherry Limeades. I love those drinks. They are perfect with Rum.

Corpus has two wins all year and both of them were in shootouts, at home. They are one of two teams to have defeated the Youngstown Steelhounds this year, beating them 3-2 on November 4th so I guess they have game, but it seems like something has been wrong with them on the road all year.

Joe Blaznek, formerly of Wichita skates for the Rayz. He is in typical Blaznek form too. He sports a -5 rating but is tied for the team lead with nine points. He also leads the team in shots. I am guessing he is probably missing Travis Clayton and Jason Duda right about now. Of course, Blaznek has a better tan that either of his former Thunder linemates.

I smell a 5-3 win for the Mudbugs tonight

posted at 7:15 pm CST

FIRST PERIOD THOUGHTS

Did you ever see the Bad News Bears, and they have that montage where the Bears are making all kinds of mistakes and can't seem to get anything going? Well that is Corpus on the power play, except they just scored a power play goal at the 2:43 mark of the first period. I take full responsibility on that goal. I jinxed the team.

Here is a question for Scott Muscutt: Is there a reason that you are not playing Zirnis, Ori, and Pegoraro on the same line like last year? Were they not the best line the Mudbugs had last year? Isn't that a great scoring line? Then you come back with Lloyd, Smith, and Brassard, and finally end up with a combination of Campbell, Godoy, Aikins, Labatte, and Lucas? Some times I don't understand coaches. Of course between us, Muscutt and I have a 278 wins as a hockey coach and they are all by him.

MY MAN TYREL. My favorite white hockey player whose name would seem to indicate that he is of a different race than what he actually is just tied the game at one after a sweet feed from Joe Ori. Good times.


The CHL could put together a whole team of players whose names are like Tyrel Lucas. We can call them the "Tyrel Lucas All-Stars"

Forwards -
Marcus Reszka from Amarillo
Cedric Bernier from Arizona
Tyrel Lucas from Bossier-Shreveport
Sheldon Wenzel from Mississippi
Kai Magnussen from Tulsa

Defense -
Mario Joly from Odessa
Jami Yoder from Rocky Mountain
Sheldon Wing from Tulsa

Goaltenders
Marco Emond from Colorado
Sebastien Laplante from Wichita

posted at 7:15 pm CST

Joe Ori is playing incredible hockey right now. He has scored over a quarter of the team's goals this year, leads the team with a +7 rating, and is tied with the team lead in points with 9. On top of that, you would be hard pressed to find a more exciting player on the break away this year. If he keeps this up, look for Ori to be in Boonefield, Colorado during the All Star break.

If anyone is looking for any last minute gift ideas for forward Brett Smith may I recommend a new chin strap to keep his hat on and a leash for his hockey stick. I swear he loses one or the other (or sometimes both) during every penalty kill. Maybe that is why the women like him so much, because he is constantly disrobing on the ice during games. I think he watched a little too much of the World Series this year and watched Manny Ramirez lose his helmet every time he ran the bases. Maybe it is Smitty being Smitty.

posted at 7:25 pm CST

I still haven't figured out Jake Ortmeyer this season. He is 6'3" tall and weighs in at 210 pounds. I have seen the guy and he is pretty impressive physical specimen (in a totally plutonic non-homosexual way), but he seems to play a lot smaller. He always seems to be in the right position but I think myself and a lot of fans were hoping for something more physical from the big defenseman from Omaha, Nebraska.

Wait, what the hell? He is from Omaha, Nebraska? How did that happen?

Not only is he a professional hockey player from Omaha, his brother Jed plays in the NHL for the Nashville Predators. I remember that guy because in January of last year while playing for the New York Rangers, he scored on a short handed penalty shot (yeah, read that last sentence again and fell my pain of being a Bruins fan) after coming back from a heart condition.

Here is video of the shot. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FglxSmRmRvc

After one period we are tied at one. Corpus has outshot the Bugs 10-9. Steve Cruikshank has called three power plays during one period (doesn't he always hand out matching penalties?) and Corpus has scored on one of their two chances while the Mudbugs have taken an o-fer on their power play.

posted at 7:58 pm

SECOND PERIOD THOUGHTS

22 seconds into the second period and Captain Chris Brassard puts the Bugs ahead 2-1 with a sweet goal after an even sweeter feed from Brett Smith. That is his first goal since the home opener when he had a hat trick.

He won't be thinking about that goal though, Corpus goaltender Jason Tapp was taken out by his own defenseman Niko Tuomi behind the net. Chris Brassard was all alone in front of the net but whiffed on the shot. Ouch.

On the faceoff, Mudbug Karlis Zirnis ran into Tapp and knocked the goaltender to the ice. Tuomi then cross checked Zirnis in the back. Brassard skated all the way across the ice and took on Tuomi in a brief fight where neither player really landed any blows.

Twenty seconds later Rayz forward Chris Shaffer took Joe Ori down behind the Mudbugs goal. Mudbugs Alternate Captain Quade Lightbody came to Ori's defense and cross checked Shaffer in the head as Ori lay motionless on the ice for over a minute. After all was said and done Shaffer gets to hit the showers early with a five minute boarding major and a game misconduct. Lightbody has a two minute penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. I guess busting a guy in the chops with your stick is unsportsmanlike.

posted at 8:13 pm

Jason Tapp has a 3.59 Goals Against Average. I have only seen him play 28 minutes of hockey, but I have already seen him go behind the net three times only to almost give up an empty net goal. I am willing to wager that his GAA would be a point lower if he would just mind his crease.

On a totally non-game related note, has anyone noticed that the big thing in football this year is that when a touchdown is made the players high five their asses? They jump up in the air and turn their butts and tap their teammate's rear end with theirs. Wouldn't you love to see hockey players do that? Wouldn't it be great to see Joe Ori jump up in the air and pirouette around to tap rear ends with a team mate and then make the landing? I think someone needs to do this. Not Quade Lightbody though. We need to save his legs.

posted at 8:22 pm

8:33 pm. Daniel Pegoraro. Penalty Shot. The crowd is on their feet. He skates back and soaks it in. Jason Tapp might want to stay home. Pegoraro skates up, makes a move stick side, brings the puck glove side, and takes it back across. Tapp slides across on his back, Pegoraro puts it backhanded at an open net and Tapp reaches up from his back to catch the darn puck. Sick move. Sicker save.

posted at 8:35 pm

You know what I learned tonight? That a penalty shot does not show up in Pointstreak's statistics unless it is a goal. No shot on goal, no save, no nothing. It is like it never happened. I had the same rule with relationships when I was younger, if I didn't score, it didn't count. Thank you, I will be with you all night.

That might be the second greatest thing I have learned this year. The most important thing I have learned this year is everything I have wanted to know about Youngstown Steelhound's Kurtis Dulle who was profiled in Cosmopolitan's November 2007 issue. He is listed as a semi pro hockey player. Wait a minute, this is professional hockey. Not semi-pro. Actually, I have seen Tulsa play, they are semi-pro. He plays for Youngstown now though, and they are mostly pro.

To quote Kurtis, "I'm athletic, a little shy at first, and goofy. I like to make people laugh." He is looking for, "a girl who has worked hard to accomplish things and wasn't spoonfed her whole life." Just half her life right? Some of these puck bunnies are rather young these days so half his life is probably correct.

On his first date he would, "take her horseback riding or canoeing - some activity that is new to her. I'd want to put her in a fresh situation." A fresh situation? Is that the same thing as making out in the produce section? How about macking in the bakery? Isn't that fresh? Canoeing? Horseback riding? Wow, he needs to quit watching the Massengil commercial reruns.

He loves boy shorts on a girl more than thongs. I kind of agree with that. There is something infinitely sexy about a woman in boxers.

I love the fact that we hear only parts of Bon Jovi but Jason LaFlame will play all of Poison's "Nothing But a Good Time". Great music man here at the CTC. Except for one thing, he didn't play "Sweet Caroline" tonight. Get on it Laflame.

The Mudbugs have outshot the Rayz 20-16 and lead 2-1 after two periods.

Posted at 9:06 pm

THIRD PERIOD THOUGHTS

What a weird period of hockey this has been so far. It is nothing but a dump and chase game. I just spent the last ten minutes alternately watching the game and checking out the rest of November's Cosmo. I am going to have some mad game this weekend.

Here is the difference between this year's team and teams of the past. The Mudbugs are ahead by one goal with 5:56 left to play in the game and 4,592 Mudbug fans are expecting something bad to happen. Have we held a one-goal lead all year? How are we choking in the third period? As a Red Sox fan, I felt the same way until 2004 when the Sox finally came through. I hate feeling like this, but I am just waiting for some little breakdown and watching the puck slide through Decaro's pads.

Posted 9:27 pm

FINAL THOUGHTS

I am not getting a Cherry Limeade for Thanksgiving, but as a Mudbug fan I am getting something better. A win where the team held a one point lead in the third period. I was talking to my father after the game and he mentioned something very interesting. In past years the Mudbugs have had three very distinct lines including one line that always caused match-up problems for the other team. Four years ago it was the "Triple C" line of Craig Soke, Chris Brassard, and Chad Spurr. Three years ago it was the "Hibernia Line" of Brassard, Brett Smith, and Ryan Manitowich. Two Years ago it was the Dan Wildfong, Blair Manning, and Scott Sheppard line. Last year it was the Ori, Pegoraro, and Zirnis line. Now all three lines are basically interchangeable. Perhaps that is the balance that the Mudbug system strives for, perhaps one line hasn't had a chance to stand out yet, or perhaps there isn't that one line in the cards for the Mudbugs. No matter what the excuse is, my dad was bored tonight.

In the end the only thing that matters is not the two goals scored, it is the two points the Mudbugs gained on their division rivals. This weekend the Mudbugs travel to Youngstown for two games against the Steelhounds. If the Mudbugs get two points it will be a good trip, if they get three is will be a great trip, but if they can keep their momentum, they could have an outstanding trip.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Posted at 11:11 pm

Mudbugs vs. Riverkings Tuesday 11/28/06

I am going to update this throughout the night. Just click on refresh and scroll down to the period we are in to read the latest. Thanks, Montana.

Third Period Thoughts

The minute of madness is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long for these fans. They need to either start the minute of madness before the third period begins or shorten it to 30 seconds.

Phil Aucoin just scored the easiest goal I have ever seen on the 5 on 3. I am out of here. I need to get down to my regular seat. We need some love this period.

So much for the leagues top penalty kill unit.


Second Period Thoughts

The Bugs will start the period on a powerplay as Derek Campbell finishes serving the remaining 1:45 of his elbowing penalty.

Scoreboard malfunctions are delaying the start of the second period right now. Tequila Tim just had the longest dance ever in the Century Tel Center. I wasn't sure if he was going to make it out of the dance alive.

Woo-hoo, the teams are back on the scoreboard. Time to resume play again.

We were almost killed during the first intermission by Clawed the Mudbug when he shot his T-shirt from his cannon up here. I may be wrong, but I am fairly certain that if that T-shirt would have hit me, I would have an Arena named after me when I win that lawsuit. Of course I wouldn't have enjoyed it so much since I had a T-shirt shot through my chest, but the Montana Center has a nice ring to it.

Pegoraro wins the face off, well he never gave up on the faceoff should be the more appropriate terminology. He puts it back to Ori at just inside the blue line at the Horshshoe Casino spot on the ice and banks it off of the Memphis defender. Great shot by Ori. It was an even strength goal since both teams were skating four and is Ori's fourth goal of the season. We are tied at one apiece.

...and Derek Landmesser breaks the tie with a shot from the Harrah's spot on the ice. On top of that the bench gets another penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. This whole thing started when Darrell Stoddard ran into Forbes Macpherson at center ice during the first penalty. It was a pretty obvious dive from the stands. Forbes probably could of got run for that one. Dan Wildfong slashes a Riverking and takes another penalty. Now the Riverkings will start the third period with a two man advantage. Not good times.

Shots are all tied at 22. Memphis is 2 for 8 on the powerplay while the Mudbugs are 0 for 5 during the game.

Stay tuned for fireworks in the third period.

First Period Thoughts

Jason Sessa's power play goal was a thing of beauty in the first period. It is really easy to see the numbers when they are right in front of you scoring. Not a good effort by the penalty kill unit for the Mudbugs.

We are four minutes into the first period and the Mudbugs haven't come close to a shot. In fact the closest we came was on a dump in by Musselman about a minute into the game.

Don't let tonight's attendance numbers fool you, if there are 2,000 fans here, then I am an anorexic midget (I mean little person, sorry).

I love the icing rule that says you cannot have a line shift if you ice the puck. After this icing, linesman Kevin Mighton skated to the Mudbug bench and pulled Brian Sutherland and Jason Williamson back on the ice. Good Times.

The best part of the press ox is the guy in row P of section 101 starting the "let's go Mudbugs" every thirty seconds. It is almost like sitting next to my buddy Beerbug during an away game.

Great save by Decaro at 6:34 of the first. Glove high on Louis Dumont.

I am sitting next to Roy Lang tonight. Someone has given him a Derek Landmesser bobble head doll and put a sign that says "LANG: GO Turtles". Payback for his preseason pick of Memphis to win the Northeast division this year. I have a great picture of it that I will have to figure how to post.

For those of you who are reading this and were discouraged by the play of the Mudbugs on Friday night against Rio Grande Valley, please be happy that you are at home listening tonight. Right now we have no flow to our game. We are dropping passes for trailing skater that are not there. The Bugs are putting the puck in the crease for snipers that aren't there to shoot.

Shots are 11-5 for Memphis tonight. The Riverkings are 8-2-0 when outshooting their opponent.

Memphis only leads 1-0 after the first period. It easily could have been 2 or 3 to zero if not for a couple dandy Decaro saves. Memphis is 5-0-1 when leading after one period.

All is not lost though. Memphis is only 2-2-0 when trailing after two periods and Memphis is 0-0-1 when playing on a Tuesday. Today is Tuesday.

posted at 7:49 pm cst


Pregame Thoughts
Chris Murphy is back on the ice for the Mudbugs tonight. He will be skating in place of Cam Abbott who is a scratch.

John Decaro will be in the Mudbugs goal apparently against Larry Sterling who is 8-2-2 this year with a 2.35 GAA. The eight wins puts Sterling in second place in the CHL while the GAA is tied with John Decaro fifth in the league.

The Riverkings are wearing he most atrocious uniforms seen this side of Oklahoma City and Rio Grande. Apparently they are paying homage to the New Orleans Saints. Hopefully we will see the non-existent Reggie Bush offensive production and not the Drew Brees offensive explosion tonight.

The numbers are almost impossible to read from up here in the press box.

The Mudbugs will be all black tonight. Thank goodness. I say that we keep it black until it bucks us.

Montanalysis of tonight's game:

Three Keys

The Mudbugs must get ahead early. Memphis is 1-3-1 when trailing after one period and Bossier is 3-1-2 when leading after the first period.

The Mudbugs must also keep up the work on the penalty kill and CLEAR THE ZONE!!!! The Bugs are still first in the league with a 91.7% penalty kill success rate on 145 chances (also tops in the league)

Most of all, and this is the worst kept secret in the league, the Bugs need to score some freaking goals. Decaro and Sterling both sport identical 2.35 GAA. Sterling is 8-2-2 and Decaro is 3-3-3. Four times this season Decaro has given up three goals or less and lost

Keith Kaval will be the referee tonight. This is a huge matchup of Northeast Division rivals who are separated by only three points. A win keeps the Mudbugs within shouting range of the top of the division. A loss puts the Mudbugs five points back.

Prediction - Mudbugs win 4-3.

posted 6:55pm cst

Postgame thoughts

• Final shot total has the Mudbugs leading 40-27.
• Daniel Pegoraro, Karlis Zirnis, and Ken Carroll get the first, second, and third stars respectively.
• We broke the power play drought that we were in thanks to Pegoraro. A great story about Pegoraro. My father decided during the first game that he was either going to love the player or hate the player. After one shift he loved Pegoraro, so Pops I hope you are happy.
• My favorite female hockey player provided me with some posters that she was giving out and they look fabulous. Good job Mudbugs.
• One unruly fan needs a very big time out. Along with Jason Duda who waited in the penalty box for a good ninety seconds after the game to skate back to the bench. I am guessing he has been watchin a lot of WCW and WWE. Good job Duda.
• One gigantic monkey off of the Mudbug's back.
• Now bring on Memphis on Tuesday. Hopefully Mudbug Nation can provide more than 4,343 fans.

posted at 9:45 pm cst

Third Period Thoughts

• I kind of like the second intermission interview between Justin Scholtes and a player. For instance we learned tonight that Daniel Pegoraro likes swimming pools over oceans, the color red, and he was the coolest guy in school. Then he drops the fact that his favorite song right now is the new song by Christina. Apparently he realized that he was about to lose some credibility so he decided to throw out that he likes Kenny Chesney also. From now on, nobody ever gets to give me crap about my music selection.
• Robert J. Wright just thanked the official apartment complex of the 2006-07 Mudbugs. Roy Lang believes, and I totally agree, that there are enough Puck Bunnies out there to make that announcement a bad idea. Good thing we are out of the Aspen Apartments. It was bad enough that those apartments were party central in Shreveport, but when they moved out there were people burning down the buildings.
• Daniel Pegoraro just scored a 4-on-4 goal with only four seconds left in Forbes MacPherson's penalty to put the Bugs up 3-1 with 9:44 left to play. So far tonight all three goals and six assists have been tallied by nine different skaters. Not bad balance.
• 4,343 fans on hand tonight. On a night with no high school football and only the Notre Dame/USC game on television. What gives Mudbug nation? Three hundred less fans than last night facing one of our biggest foes is rediculous.
• Nice elbow behind the play by Jason Duda to Dan Wildfong's mouth. Then Darren McMillan takes a cross checking penalty to give the Mudbugs a two man advantage.
• Apparently DePudt saw the elbow because Duda is sitting in the box for the next four minutes. So we have Wiebe in the box for the next 1:16, McMillan in the box for the next two minutes. Duda in the box for the next four minutes. I believe that the Mudbugs will be on a two man advantage forever against Wichita.
• I forgot to add the hissy fit that Wichita Mark French through when he tossed the water bottle on the ice and started banging the dasher. Very mature Mr. French. Very mature.
• Karlis Zirnis and Ryan McLean were both just shown the gate for the night. They both got double minors for smearing and unsportsmanlike conduct. Congratulations to Zirnis for getting second star tonight.
• The drought is over. Daniel Pegoraro scores off of assists by Chris Gustafson and Chris Brassard. Ten skaters have points tonight. We still need one more goal for Sonic time baby.
• I am not saying that Ryan McLean and coach Mark French shower together. I am just saying that they are the only two Thunder guys in the shower. Together.
• Bad form by a Mudbug fan who had Travis Clayton coming over the glass to challenge him. Hey drunk fan, these guys have sticks and pads, you would get smoked.

posted at 9:33 pm cst

Pregame thoughts

• At the end of the period the Thunder were only credited for five shots. By my count there should be four more shots added onto that total. Hopefully that will be rectified sometime during the night. The funny thing is that I have been complaining about it all night up here and I just now found out that the shot counter sits by us. Good times.
• Great goal by Cam Abbott. This guy works too hard not to show up on the score sheet every night. Of course as I am typing this he just missed a wide open goal off of a missed shot by Zirnis.
• Great work by the Abbott, Brassard, and Zirnis line as well as the Musselman, Macpherson, and Wildfong line along with the blue liners. We kept the Thunder pinned in their own zone for a solid ninety seconds. Great work.
• Keep an eye on Steve Dix. He left his feet during the first period on a hit on Pegoraro that left Pegoraro a little woozy (from my point of view). "Pegs" just returned the favor along the far boards. Now Dix is running around like a baby trying to hit someone. If you think I am mentioning this just so that you are saying the word Dix to yourself, then you may be onto something.
• This may seem like an old joke, but if you put Viagra on Ryan McLean will he grow?
• What about Steve Dix?
• I know that we are loud with our "Clear The Zone" cheer on penalty kills, but I can here the boys down there clear as day during penalty kills. Great job Amigos. Oh, and Jeff, the idea of banging the signs works great. It is very, very clear throughout the arena. For those of you who do not like our little cheer, please keep in mind that we are number one on the penalty kill in the CHL. I am sure that we have nothing to do with it, but there are three men who think they are responsible. By the way, my girlfriend will not sit with me during the game because she hates that cheer.
• Things are very tense between the two teams exiting the second period. Expect some chippiness in the third period. The Mudbugs lead by one going into the last frame. They are currently be outshot 29-19 in the game. My count has the Thunder with 22 so with a three shot difference we are doing better.

First Period Thoughts

• The Blaznek, Clayton, and Duda line is broken up and nobody even told me. Right now Duda and Clayton are skating with Kris Wiebe while Blaznek is on the second line. This is kind of like when Beyonce left Destiny's Child and left Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams all by themselves. Maybe not. You try coming up with a superstar trio that broke up in their seemingly prime.
• Blaznek's goal was a thing of beauty. You just can't leave a guy with that much talent wide open in front of the net. They just missed another one with 2:15 left in the period that Duda gave to Wiebe. You can see Clayton and Duda feeding Wiebe on every powerplay and having him set up in the slot.
• Wildfong's goal opened up perfectly after the shot by Brassard. I always find it amazing that teams leave Dan Wildfong alone in front of the net. Actually, I can kind of relate. It is kind of like a Duke (sucks) University basketball game when you watch the ball getting passed around and all of a sudden there is JJ Reddick all alone at the top of the key. You scream at the TV and at Roy Williams "How in the hell can you leave that guy open?". Then you watch the replay and see just how hard JJ Duke worked for that shot.
• Roy Lang just asked a great question. "Why don't you see defensemen skate around with the puck to kill time when they are deep in their own zone with nobody chasing the puck?" I was wondering the same thing last night. You would think that somewhere in Coach Muscutt's playbook there is a play where Jeremy Downs gets the puck and starts skating around while people try to catch him.
• Speaking of calling plays. Was anyone else who watched yesterday's LSU/Arkansas game sick and tired of the "Wildcat" formation? By the end of the game I was hoping to find Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson and release a Wildcat into their bed. Maybe that is what the Bugs need to do. Come up with some unbelievable gimmick play that just fools the other team so much that they have no idea how to combat it. Maybe we only put four skaters on the ice from now and play a man down. Or maybe we play three defensemen and two forwards. Or let the other team win every faceoff. What is the worst that can happen? We are already playing in a league that gives two teams do-over during the playoffs.
• Our shot counter here at the CTC has always been bad, but this year that person is atrocious. That person missed three shots on Carroll by the Thunder. I know that they were just the opposite last year. Me thinks that Ken Carroll will not like this very much in the morning.
• Oh, one more thing for the CenturyTel Center. Can we not put an eighty-year old person in charge of the only coffee and cappuccino machines in the arena? Last night I had to wait over five minutes for her to pour two black coffees and a vanilla cappuccino. It wasn't that she was slow, which she was, but she kept getting all "Monkish" by constantly checking the level of coffee in each cup. I was almost ready to jump over the counter and pour my own damn coffee.

posted at 7:58 pm CST

Pregame thoughts

• Where are the fireworks this year? Not that I am biased since my buddy Dannie lit them off last year, but it was always nice to see the opposing teams goalie jump after the National Anthem.
• Memo to the Mudbugs regarding the National Anthem. The guy last night, Peter Gabucci was very good. The two singers last week (the young girl and the gentleman with the shiny head) were awesome as well. Tonight's singer left a lot to be desired. I am not going to mention his name but there is no way he would have been invited to Hollywood if this were "American Idol".
• Why doesn't the CTC invest in another American Flag and place it at the other of the arena so everyone can salute a flag during the National Anthem? There is plenty of room.

posted at 7:21pm

BACK IN BLACK

Thank goodness for the losing streak. Now we can get the Bugs back in their more familiar home black jersey's. Don't get me wrong, I really like the red jerseys the Bugs have worn this year, and we have won every game at home up until last night. It's just that sometimes a jersey sends a message. The Mudbugs always wear black jerseys during big games and you will find no bigger game than this one tonight. Bossier-Shreveport is only three points out of the cellar and the Bugs have played in two extra games. Fortunately, the season is young.

Keys to the game:

Keep Joe Blaznek, Travis Clayton and Jason Duda off of the boards - The Wichita trio accounts for fifty percent of the scoring for Wichita. The trio are terrific on special teams and need to be accounted for on every shift.

No stupid penalties - Blaznek is currently second in the league with three shorthanded goals in the young year. The power play for Wichita is 9th in the league and their penalty kill is ninth in the league. On top of that, Wichita is number one in the league with penalty minutes with 507 on the year.

Score a freaking goal - Maybe it is time to quit being cute with the puck. Set up in front of the net and pepper Martin with shots. Scott Muscutt is down in the locker room right now lighting a fire under the boys telling them that the better team will not win tonight, the team that wants it most will win the game tonight.

On a personal note I would like to thank the Southern Women's Hockey League for giving out posters tonight and I would like to give a shout out to my beloved Montana State University Bobcats who advanced to the second round of the I-AA NCAA football playoffs.

posted at 7:01 pm cst

Preview of tonight's game - The best of times, the worst of times

It seems as I was correct with my memory. The Mudbugs have never been shutout twice in a row. Never. Nine years of not being shutout in consecutive weeks. The good news is that this team is number one with the penalty kill with a 91.2% kill rate. This is a good number since the Bugs currently lead the league with 136 shorthanded opportunities. Good times.

Now for the bad times. The Mudbugs are dead last with the powerplay in the CHL. Yep, we are scoring on only 8.9% of their powerplay opportunities. I think I need to run to the restroom because I just threw up in my mouth.

The natives are restless in the swamp right now, but the thing that I hope everyone remembers is that this is a very, very young team. There are six players just out of college, two players who did not play at all last year, two players were in Germany during last season, and one player who spent most of the year in Fort Worth. Even that is not an excuse. While leaving the CTC last night my boy Brian turned to me and asked if we should stay to watch them skate lines like the 1980 Olympic Hockey Team. Hopefully we won't hear Muscutt screaming "AGAIN" tonight.

It looks like we will have Ken Carroll in goal tonight for the Mudbugs who fell to second in the league in Goals Against after the three goal game last night. In goal for the Thunder will be Andrew Martin who was the first goaltender on the ice for Wichita. Some of you may remember that Martin was on the team during Carroll's absence at the beginning of last year. Martin sported a 2-3-0 record with a 2.59 GAA . This year he is 1-1-0 with a a sparkling 1.84 GAA.

Posted at 6:37 pm CST


Montana is in the Insider

I will be blogging during the game for our good friend Sabrbug during tonight's Mudbug game vs Wichita. Tonight's game is a pivotal one for the Mudbugs as they must put forth a better effort than the one the previous two games. For the first time in recent memory the Mudbugs have been blanked in consecutive games, to the same team, with the same goaltender. I will keep all up to date with developments as the game goes on. Remember that tonight is free poster night at the CenturyTel Center and there will be an autograph session immediately following the game with the players.

Personally I am expecting a much better game from the Bugs as hopefully the Tryptophan has worn out. Coach Muscutt played with the lines a little bit last night trying to find the right combination of players on the ice. The first line of Wildfong, MacPherson, and Zirnis is still the money line for the Bugs, but was anyone else taken aback at Wildfong taking the draw instead of Forbes?

The second line of Brassard, Williamson, and Abbot needs to make some things happen tonight and the third line of Musselman, Ori, and Pegoraro was basically nonexistant last night. I loved the energy early on in the year from Ori, Nason, and Pegoraro and hope to see those three together again.

The power play is non-existent right now. We really miss two players that would make this thing go. Ryan Fairbarn did a decent job on the point this year and his work on the power play is sorely missed. The player I think we miss most of all may be Craig Minard. Many may not know this, but Minard was immensely instrumental in the special teams for the Bugs and often served as a coach on the Ice for Muscutt. Gustafson will be something special for us. I really do believe it and even though he had a horrible night last night, he will show up in the box score tonight. That kid simply cannot have two bad games in a row for us. Right now we have one consistent blue liner and that is Jason Basile. Downs, Lightbody, Sutherland, and Gustafson are not playing badly, they just seem apprehensive. We should work that out tonight.

I would expect that the fans from Wichita will have a long drive home tonight and that I will end up at Sonic with a cherry limeade.