Mudbugs Hockey Blog

The first 20 games of the season, despite whoever the Mudbugs assemble as their team by the start of the new season, with no players left from the Cup winning team of the WPHL era, may be the most crucial part of the whole 2007-2008 season.

This season will definitely be the beginning of a new era for the Mudbugs, which may or may not be a good thing. What is your gut feeling? Are you excited about the new beginning or too cautious to feel anything until you witness for yourself exactly what kind of team the Mudbugs will be this season? My gut feeling points toward the latter of the two.

Having said that, we all know the history of slow starts for this team in past several seasons, and with only one, that’s right one preseason game on the schedule against the Odessa Jackalopes on the 13^th of October, it leads me to believe the Bugs will be doing a lot of assessing of players the first 10 to 20 games of the season. This is bad and here is why.

The first 20 games of the season the Bugs will play a total of 12 divisional games, which includes the first 7 in a row. Also 17 of the 20 games will be played against Conference rivals. The only good news they can build on is the fact that during the 20 stretch they will enjoy 11 of them inside the friendly confines of the CenturyTel Center.

That is why I feel the Bugs must break tradition of slow starts this season or they could fall to the bottom of the division to begin the season for the 2^nd straight year. Yes they have been known to find a way to climb out of mediocrity by putting together a great second half, but this early season is not a good time to follow suit, not this season.

I believe this team will also be searching for an identity which usually translates into confusion and incohesiveness. The light rarely just flips on by itself. It takes a big time work ethic by everyone. Will they break tradition or follow suite?

© 2007 – 2009, Mudbugs Hockey Blog. All rights reserved. To Republish you must link back to the Original Article

Freedom that is. Is freedom your right, your privilege? I feel freedom is not something you do, but the opportunity to do so. On September 11th as well as every minute of everyday in this fine country where freedom is not only misused but misunderstood as well as taken for granted, we as people must understand the freedom is neither a right or even a privilege in itself, but the opportunity to enjoy these things in the first place.

The fine Men and Women who have fought and still are to this very day chose or were chosen to protect that opportunity for freedom. I thank you for the bravery, courage and dedication to your country everyday.

Some Football News:

Seeing Kevin Everett of the Buffalo Bills lie there on the turf this past Sunday afternoon unable to move any extremities from a hit we have seen plenty of times before, forced everyone sports minded or not how dangerous the sport can be and how fast their lives and there families lives can change and in this case maybe forever. All the best to the families and friends of the young man of only 25 yrs old.

When these kind of things happen during a game, this serious, there are no sides, what I saw was both teams form a pile of prayers with one goal, one purpose together as one praying for the health of the injured player. It’s a very powerful and inspiring thing to witness. A lesson to us all.

Some Hockey News:

As football season opened this past week it always reminds me that NHL training camps and pre-season games are not far behind. This is the time of the year when it all begins, New Orleans Saints and LSU Tigers (and can’t forget my Buffalo Bills, and yes let’s not leave out the Dallas Cowboys Ehhmmm!!!) football gets underway which is followed up by the NHL regular season, the World Series and the best part! Mudbugs Hockey. As of this article we are at less than 39 days away from the Mudbugs home opener against the Mudbugs of the west, the Texas Brahmas on Saturday October, 20th at 7pm.

© 2007 – 2009, Mudbugs Hockey Blog. All rights reserved. To Republish you must link back to the Original Article

You know if you think about it why else would one change things if only to make them better? From all that I have seen and witnessed over the off-season point towards the better in my opinion. How much better is yet to be accomplished, and from all the attempts do that very thing are beginning to start popping up all around Mudbug Nation as we speak.

I attended my first Mudbug Boilers Booster Club meeting in a long while this past week and I have to say it was great to see some familiar Mudbug mugs around the room. The meeting was not only pleasant and informative, but alot of fun as well.

Guest speaker on the night was our new General Manager Steve Chernowak. He excited the meeting with his extreme love for the game and abundance of energy that became very contagious if not intoxicating at times. I can’t even begin to attempt to recreate how excited Steve is to be a Mudbug fan. It was amazing, and did wonders for refreshing my spirit. He is a fine example of the kind of excitement and leadership this team will only benefit from.

Sole Mudbugs Team owner John Madden put the word out this off-season that things were going to change, and change they have. From where I am sitting I can honestly say so far it has been a change for the better. I believe sometimes change is good, it has a way of breaking away the same old-same old thus replacing it with a new refreshing perspective and sense of commitment.”Change for the better” will be my new battle cry for the new season.

© 2007 – 2009, Mudbugs Hockey Blog. All rights reserved. To Republish you must link back to the Original Article