Mudbugs Hockey Blog

Sometimes you get what you play for. The Mudbugs came into this game hoping to crack the goose eggs they had dropped in their last two home contests, only to add a third,  losing 6-4 after a 3rd period meltdown. The team is now 0-3 at home, and 2-0 on the road.

The Bossier Shreveport Mudbugs and Texas Brahmas played a quick-paced see saw battle throughout the first two periods, but the game was ultimately decided in the final 20 minutes with the Brahmas outscoring the Mudbugs 4-2 and 11-5 on the shot clock. This included an empty netter in the final seconds chasing away the few remaining fans left to the exits.

There are two large reasons for the Mudbugs losing this game, goaltending and turnovers. Where were the Mudbug’s heads in the game tonight? Are they nervous playing in front of their home crowd? I say no and yes. A win obviously would have fixed both of those psychological enemies tonight.

Whatever happened to waiting for the whistle to blow “before” turning away from the play for a swig (of water)? The Brahmas 5th goal on the night was scored when Mudbugs netminder Ken Carroll allowed the puck to slip past him while turning away from the play, only to realize that the game was still in progress and the black biscuit was lying in the net behind him. Ooops! Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, it was a mistake, and was the turning point of the game.

Obviously he must have thought the play was blown dead. If he had been some rookie, we might give him a “get out of the doghouse” free card, but not a CHL all-star netminder. I realize goofy stuff happens in games, but that flub just may have closed the casket lid on the game.

Summing up the Mudbug scoring:  Tyler Liebel started things off with the opening goal of the game at 3:20 of the 1st period assisted by Joe Blaznek and Mark Johnson. The second period saw only Mudbugs captain Brett Smith put away his 2nd of the season from Simon mangos and Joe Zappala tying the game at 2-2. Shawn Limpright scored his 1st as a Mudbug, tying the game at 3 goals apiece at 7:37 of the third period.

The Mudbugs did give the fans hope when Joe Zappala made it 5-4 from Brett Smith at 18:13 on the powerplay, but unfortunately with just seconds left to play, Brahmas Tyler Skworchinski sent the puck sliding into the gaping net with the Mudbugs net wide open in favor of an extra attacker.

The Mudbugs will head out to play the Mississippi RiverKings tomorrow for an early 3:05 start. The earlier time might work to the Mudbugs advantage by not giving them much time to dwell over the previous loss. Hopefully they can continue their winning way by increasing their perfect road record to 3-0.

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

Tonight the ‘08-09 President’s Trophy Texas Brahmas will make their first of four trips to the CenturyTel Center to square off with their arch rival Bossier Shreveport Mudbugs. The Mudbugs will be looking for their 1st win on home ice after two previous tries.  The two teams met up 10 times last season with the Mudbugs holding the 6-4 edge, which includes going 3-2 on home ice.

Coming into tonight’s game, the Mudbugs roster will be with ? and be without ? … Huh! you say. I say that because I don’t even think Scott Muscutt himself knows what those little tweaks are going to be until he turns in the roster slip to the Referee before the game.  There are so many players lurking around the CTC it’s anybody’s guess.

The Mudbugs will be hoping to feed their miraculous comeback win from their last outing, coming back from deficits of 3-0, 4-2, to take home a 5-4 victory in an 11 round shootout last Saturday night in Odessa. Defensemen Simon Mangos was the hero on that night, but it took the whole team to get to that point. Mangos leads the team in Assists(4) and Points(5).

Texas, on the other hand, will be shooting for their 2nd win of the season with a 1-2-1 record. They may have to do so without their #1 goaltender Brett Jaeger who was called up on the 26th to the Houston Aeros of the American Hockey League. If he returns you can bet he will be in between the pipes come game time.

The I-20 Rivalry always brings excitement and anticipation to the ice, will it tonight? Will the game be physical? There are so many things the Mudbugs need to improve on, setting the tone physically will be a huge factor along with winning those one-on-one battles for the puck along the boards.

Bigger than any other factor in the game is puck possession, if you have it, they don’t = best defensive scheme there will ever be. That in turn leads to more faceoff wins and scoring chances. If the Bugs can cut down on unforced turnovers, win the board battles (something they have been lacking thus far), they will stand a very good chance of coming out on top for their 1st home win this new season.

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

Mudbugs defensemen Simon Mangos scored twice in an 11 round shootout, but it was the last one that gave the Bossier Shreveport Mudbugs the win on this night 5-4. The Odessa Jackalopes built up a 3-0 score early, only let it slip from their hands.

It was if the Jackalopes figured all they had to do was slam the Mudbugs down, build up a comfortable lead and the game would be theirs. Well who in their right mind would have thought different after Odessa had outscored their opponents 16-4 in their last two outings coming into the game. Then they slam the Mudbugs with 3 unanswered goals by the end of the first 20 minutes.

Good thing hockey games are 60 minutes (or more) long. Because I have a feeling the ‘lopes may not have anticipated the real Mudbugs would comeback to play they way they did in the final 45+ minutes of regulation.

Did anyone? I’m thinking the players that skated out from the locker onto the ice to start the second frame wanted nothing more than to erase that as best they could.

The Mudbugs would go on to outscore Odessa 4-1 throughout the last 40 minutes tying the score at 4 goals apiece. The extra 5 minutes proved useless, so off to the shootout the two teams went. It took a nail biting 11 rounds for the eventual deciding goal to complete the comeback for the Mudbugs who are now 2-0 on the road.

Mike Lesperance opened the scoring with his 2nd, Collin Circelli with his 4th and Jean Bourbeau with his 2nd of the season put the Jackalopes up 3-0 by the end of the period.

The fire underneath the crawfish pot began to get warmer and warmer as Mudbugs began to chip away at that 0-3 deficit bit by bit.  Mike Salekin got things rolling with his 1st of the season from Tyler Liebel and Joe Zapalla at 6:59 of the period.

The Mudbugs then drew closer when Travis Clayton put home his 1st of the season on the powerplay from Dale Lupul and Simon Mangos at the 10:39 mark of the period bringing the Mudbugs to within one.

The Jackalopes widened their lead to 4-2 with less than 3 minutes to play in the second when Kenny Bernard put away his 2nd of the season while the Bugs were a man down.

There was only one thing left to do, Time to turn up the heat all the way up and go for broke. See picture above!

The Mudbug juices really started to bubble when Joe Blaznek scored at the 13:03 mark of the period from Neil Clark and Simon Mangos to bring  the deficit to within one goal for the second time in the contest.

Mudbugs Captain Brett Smith completed the comeback when he put away his 1st of the season at 14:49 of the 3rd period with assists by Joe Ori and Justin Aikins. He is Captain, He is clutch and He is Heart and Hustle.

There would be no more scoring throughout the final minutes of regulation time including the extra 5 minute overtime period, so the hard fought game had to be decided in a shootout.

Throughout the first 10 rounds, each team had scored only once. Simon Mangos for the Mudbugs and Mike Ramsay for the Jackalopes.

The goaltenders on either side held their own making stop after stop until Simon Mangos made the crawfish pot boil over as Mudbugs were flying everywhere in celebration of a win that seemed to insurmountable earlier in the contest. A great win, a great lesson learned.

The Mudbugs will have off until Friday night at home when they will play host to the Texas Brahmas at 7pm. They will then travel to Mississippi where they will visit the RiverKings at the DeSoto Civic Center.

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

The Allen Americans came into tonight’s contest unbeaten, and left the same way after knocking off the Mudbugs 2-1 in a close checking, turnover riddled game. However both teams did manage to put up the shots as the Americans outshot the Mudbugs 40-35. All three goals in this game were scored with the man-advantage.

With those kind of numbers one would think the game was wide open, but the reason for the high total was due to turnovers on both sides of the photographers booth, in all three zones. The other reason was 16 powerplays (8 by each team).

Each team had their chances to win the game, despite the calls or non-calls. It is a 60 minute game and each team had their fair share of shots on goal. The Mudbugs had 25 plus minutes after falling behind 2-1 to not only tie the score, go on to win the game. They just could not bury the biscuit and get the job done on this night.

The first period belonged to the goaltenders as the teams shared 30 shots, 18 by Allen and 12 by Bossier Shreveport. Both teams were awarded 3 powerplays apiece, but neither team hit the back of the net.

The Mudbugs managed to take the 1-0 lead just :14 into the 2nd with a powerplay goal by Joe Blaznek, who let go a laser shot to hot to handle for Allen goalie Charlie Effinger. The goal was Blaznek’s 1st of the season and was assisted by Travis Clayton and Simon Mangos.

The Americans tied the game at one apiece with just under seven minutes to play in the period when Dallas Stars draft pick Jordie Benn fired a shot past Mudbugs goalie Ken Carroll while the Mudbugs were attempting to kill off a 5-3 man disadvantage.

The goal was scored at the 13:18 mark of the period while Dale Lupul was serving a minor for hooking at 12:31, he was then accompanied by Joe Blaznek after being called for tripping at 12:57 of the period leaving the Mudbugs down two men.

The second frame ended 1-1, while while the Americans held a 29-24 shot advantage after 40 minutes. Summed up each team scored a powerplay goal apiece, but it was the 5 on 3 that was the highlight of the period, depending on which side of the photographers booth the players were sitting.

The Americans then scored with less than 5 minutes to play in regulation time, when Nathan ONabigon rushed in all alone on goal and scored his 1st on the season. The Mudbugs tried to tie the score, but to no avail. The Mudbugs fall to 1-2-0 on the season, while the Americans remain undefeated at 3-0-0.

Bossier Shreveport will head out to Texas tonight to play the Odessa Jackalopes who have a record of 3-1-0, including outscoring opponents 16-4 in their last two games.

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

The Mudbugs will welcome the Allen Americans, along with ex-Mudbug Ryan Fairbarn to the CenturyTel Center tonight. As to what the lineup sheet will look like, we will have to wait and see as head coach Scott Muscutt has plenty to choose from.

The Mudbugs have added Defensemen Tysen Dowzak 6.05, 212, who signed a 5 game tryout contract and played last season for the Kelowna Rockets of the OHL.  Dowzack played along side NHL Buffalo Sabres outstanding defensemen Tyler Myers.

The Mudbugs also signed James Delory a 6.05, 225  forward out the OHL Oshawa Generals who played along side New York Islanders #1 draft pick John Tavares. Delory will be in tonight’s lineup.

The team will be without the services of Kirk Medernach, who had suited up for the first two games of the season, has been placed on IR with a somewhere on the body injury.

Other notables are forward Tyrel Lucas, (IR) Kevin Cooper, (immigration)  Mark Johnson (IR) and Jeff Kyrzakos, (immigration) as to the whether any of these players will be in the lineup, on IR or in the Waiting Room (which describes the players who are not injured, but can’t play for some reason or another).

Also noted in the Shreveport Times: The Mudbugs’ roster is still in flux. Forwards Jeff Kyrzakos (immigration) and Kevin Cooper (immigration) are game-time decisions. Mudbugs coach Scott Muscutt expects forward James DeLory to be in tonight’s lineup. The Mudbugs have been finalizing his contract since he’s property of the Florida Panthers organization. The Mudbugs will also unveil new retro jerseys. Tonight’s game is the first meeting between Bossier-Shreveport and Allen.

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

For the past few seasons I have heard some of my hockey friends talk about the rose-colored glasses they put on when the hockey season starts for our Mudbugs. In the past, I’ve thought why would you want to wear those things. it always seemed to me that they just made you where you didn’t really care if the Bugs lost or not. Seemed it was all about just having fun, visiting with your other hockey buddies just enjoying the game. And if the Bugs won it was just an added bonus. But I’ve since changed my mind about those glasses. It’s funny, but I have chosen to wear them this season. Why???

At the start of Mudbug season every year, it’s always something that fans find to voice their opinions on. Which there isn’t anything wrong with that. That is if you like all the drama that goes along with it. In the past I have gotten caught up in all the soap opera like drama. But I have decided to join some fans this season try those glasses out. Fans are always going to find something that isn’t right with the coach, the players this season we can add the new owner, music any other little thing that just doesn’t seem to suit them.

Like I said. That’s fine for some people. you have the fans that want to talk about all the things that just aren’t right then you have the ones that just put those “Rose-Colored” glasses on just go to the games visit with all their hockey family. And yes; they do care if the Bugs win or lose. But it’s not like they can do anything about it when our guys do lose.

Does griping about the team, coach, owner or anything else HELP them to win the next game??? Nope it sure doesn’t. But some fans enjoy that kind of stuff. It’s what motivates some people. And for others it’s just downright fun for them. And that’s everyone’s prerogative. But for me; I really think all the soap opera like stuff at the beginning of this season made me see things different. In a very good way.

We have a new owner this season that literally kept our BUGS from folding . To him I’m grateful for that. Pre-season night didn’t go too well for any of us. But the 1st game of the regular season was definitely better. Tommy Scott is just like one of the new players on our team this season. It will take him awhile to learn the ropes. And I think with time; things will get better & better. I choose to give him a chance. Because we still have hockey because of this man’s generosity and his & his family’s love for the game.

So I’ll wear my rose-colored glasses this season with pride. I’ll continue to visit with all my hockey family, enjoy some of the music being played, yell as loud as I can for our guys and support them win or lose. But as for putting blame on players, the coach, owner or anyone else when our guys lose; I’ve be leaving that up to my hockey friends that enjoy all that stuff. Almost losing another team has made me realize just how strong my love for this game truly is. It’s about having fun with your friends & yelling so loud at the games that you sometimes lose your voice. And to me; it’s about learning much much more about the ‘Coolest Game On Earth”. And our Bugs get all the credit for supplying all of us with that game.

If some of you others ever get tired of alot of the soap-opera drama & want to just put it all away & start just having fun with your friends & cheering as loud as you can for your team whether they win or lose; just put on a pair of those glasses have some fun. RURTRB, PB wear them. And RURTRB said it best in a post on The Swamp. The music may have sucked for her but she so enjoyed visiting with all her hockey friends that she hadn’t seen in a long while. And she also enjoyed getting to see our Bugs play their 1st game. Win or lose. But my “Rose-Colored” glasses see a bright future for this year’s team. Go get em Bugs.

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

The Bossier Shreveport Mudbugs outscored the Corpus Christi IceRays 3-1 in the 3rd period  on their way to earning their first win in a see-saw battle 4-3.  It was good for team as well as the fans. A relief after the 6-1 bummer the previous night in Bossier City.

Neil Clark what turned out to be the eventual game winner. Mudbugs goalie John DeCaro made his 2nd straight start earning his first win of the season stopping 23 of 26 shots.

Mudbugs took the 1-0 lead off the stick of Tyler Liebel 1:39 into the 1st period, scoring his first of what will be many more goals to come as a Mudbug, his helpers where from Joe Blaznek and Tyler Sheldrake.

The lead lasted just over 5 minutes when Chris Richards evened up the score, then IceRays Morgan MacLean at the 10:07 mark of the period put his team ahead by a 2-1 margin heading into the first intermission.

There was no scoring in the second frame, but that didn’t mean it lacked chances to score, there were 21 shots on goal, led by Bossier Shreveport with 11.

It took only 44 seconds for the Mudbugs to even the score when Jeff MacDermid deflected home his first as Mudbug off a blast from teammate Simon Mangos. The IceRays then took the lead for the second time off the stick of Jereme Tendler for a 3-2 lead at 3:57 of the period.

That would be all the offense left on this night for Corpus Christi as the Mudbugs tied the game once again when Joe Zappalla fired home a wicked blast from the blueline, Ok! actually what happened was, IceRays goalie misplayed the puck and embarrassingly put the puck into his own net.  Oh no!!! Oh yes!

So the fans, the Mudbugs team as well as Joe Zappala who happened to be the last Mudbug player to touch the puck, therefore by rule was awarded the goal that tied the game 3-3, on the powerplay and obviously unassisted. Thank you from all Mudbug fans, even in foreign speaking countries.

Does this gift even things up with the crazy goal scored  on John DeCaro Friday night, when the puck bounced off the boards behind the net, skimmed across the net and off the back of DeCaro and into the net. Hockey is a game of bounces, and this time the bounce went in favor of the visiting team. As bad as that boo-boo was for one team, and lucky for the other, there was still a game to win.

So with the score tied at 3-3, Mudbugs forward Neil Clark brought the puck out from behind the net and roofed a sweet backhander for the 4-3 lead and eventual game winning goal. The assists went to Joe Zappala and Brett Smith.

The Mudbugs head back home to prepare for another home and road weekend, beginning with Friday night when the Mudbugs will welcome CHL newcomer Allen Americans to the CenturyTel Center. They will then head out that same night for a 7pm. Saturday night faceoff  in Odessa Texas to play the Jackalopes.

© 2009 – 2010, Mudbugs Hockey Blog. All rights reserved. To Republish you must link back to the Original Article

There was supposed to be a representation of  Bossier Shreveport Mudbugs new “Heart and Hustle” concept last night, and what better time to show off it off is on opening night. Except what fans witnessed was what could be described as “Frustration and Confusion”.

The Mudbugs where outplayed, outhustled and outsmarted to a 6-1 loss to the Laredo Bucks. A team that up until last night had not enjoyed a regular season victory on Mudbugs ice.

There was, believe it or not, a silver lining for a good portion of this game when the Mudbugs had every chance to even up the score, and possibly change the complexion of this game.

Jeff Bes gave Laredo a 1-0 lead at 10:43 of the 1st period on the powerplay, the Mudbugs had over 23 minutes ( between the 1st and 2nd Periods) to turn the game around by tying the score at 1-1.

But any inkling of the Bugs getting back into this game was crushed with such a  horrible 2nd period in which they were outshot by an astounding 22-6 in shots, while allowing back to back goals by Darryl Smith at 13:24  and Igor Agarunov at 16:53 of the period giving the Bucks a 3-0 lead heading into the locker room.

It took just 1:15 for the Bucks to send the fans to exits (assuming they hadn’t already) when  Lance Monych upped the the score to 4-0 which in turn sent even more fans to the exits. Which is not a good thing for the players to see, and I am sure they don’t like anymore than we do when that happens.

The Mudbugs did erase the Krispy Kreme doughnut by getting on the scoreboard at 3:17 of the final period when Joe Zappala found the back of the net assisted by Justin Aikins. But it was little reprieve to an already huge deficit.

The Bucks then added insult to injury by delivering the final blow by adding two more scores to the already 4-1 score, with goals by Lance Monych at 14:19 and Darryl Smith just under two minutes later.

Hard to find positives from this game for the team as they headed right out after the game for a 7:00pm start in Corpus Christi, Texas. The IceRays lost to the Odessa Jackalopes 3-2 in OT in their 1st contest of the season.

© 2009 – 2010, Mudbugs Hockey Blog. All rights reserved. To Republish you must link back to the Original Article

The Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs may have worked overtime gathering the players they brought in this off-season. With 12 players returning from last season’s roster along with three more from the ‘07-08 roster, has this training camp maybe the most competitive ever.

Winning experience is the key to these players returning as eleven (11) have contributed either one or both of the (‘06-07, ‘07-08) Governors Cup Teams. That will prove to be nothing short of the building blocks of a solid foundation that proves to be an much needed attribute later in the season.

The Mudbugs have the opportunity of having a very nice blend of size and speed to their team this season, with 13 players 6 feet or over with Defensemen Dale Lupul sporting the largest all around size at 6.02, 210. Conversely the smallest are Travis Clayton (5.08, 180) and Brett Smith (5.08, 175), but if you have had the pleasure of watching these two in action, they are anything but small.

The Mudbugs have only 3 of the allowed 4 veteran players in camp. By no means do they have to rush out and sign a 4th, there is no rule on how few players under the 300 pro games, just how many. The 3 players having played 300 games or more are Joe Blaznek, Travis Clayton and Shawn Limpright. Continue Reading »

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