December 26, 2007 Mudbugs 3 Brahmas 0

Two months ago, the home season began at the CTC against the newly formed Brahmas and the Texas team spoiled our opening. A week later Mudbugs fans descended upon North Richland Hills' NYTEX complex to watch again, as the Brahmas took the game (in overtime) from our struggling Bugs team.

Two months later, the Brahmas are the team struggling and the Mudbugs have won the last 11 home games in a row. The boys posted another nice win last night, another shut out at that. John Decaro had an easy night(his fifth shut out of the season--that's got to be some sort of record?) and the Bugs' defensive system shut down another team. Seven shutouts so far this season, and we're only twenty-six games in. Decs and KC are near the top of the rankings for league goalies. All three lines are producing goals. The defensive unit is stifling their opponents. Wowzers, what a great Christmas present for Bugs' fans, eh?

My parents were in attendance last night, and Brett Smith is my mom's favorite player to watch (although she is partial to the Brahmas' David Cacciola, too, but that's another tale); and I knew that when he scored the first goal, she was a very happy fan.

I did think the Bugs didn't really wake up until about mid-way through the second period as far as playing "their game". The Brahmas clogged up a lot of open lanes and I thought the Bugs' passing and puck handling looked suspiciously weighed down with remnants of fruitcake and other Christmas sugar. But they woke up and took control of the game quite nicely and left the Brahmas shaking their heads and their head coach very frustrated.

Can't say enough about KC....no, not Ken Carroll (no offense, Kenny!), the other guy, Kevin Cooper. Two goals through Cacciola's five hole were results of Coop's continuous, feisty hard work on the ice. This guy never lets up and the more I watch him, the more he reminds me of a combination of former Mudbug players from the 03-04 season...which is a GREAT thing.

One down, two more to go with that Mudbugs West team this weekend. The next ten games for the Mudbugs include SEVEN against divisional rivals. January is setting up to be a very important month for the Bugs, and it's possible for this team--who started off so poorly and we never thought they'd catch up with a steamrolling Youngstown--to be tied for first place in the division as the 2008 begins. Who'd have thunk it two months ago? Not some Mudbugs' fans. But I believe we're all on the same page now, and we're more than ready to cheer on what this team can and will do. It's an exciting time to be a Mudbugs fan!

(A side note: I will be in Dallas on Saturday night attending a Stars game, thanks to my brother's Christmas gift, so I won't be blogging about Sat.'s game. Here's hoping Marty Turco doesn't decide to do his best impression of a slice of Swiss cheese!)

December 22, 2007 Mudbugs 4 Steelhounds2

This game had me worried. The Hounds are a notoriously physical team, not afraid of the rough stuff, and they have the big players to do some damage. That and the fact the Mudbugs took them out to the woodshed and gave them a 7-2 whipping the last time the Hounds were at the CTC. AND then there was the fact the Hounds had lost the night before to an underachieving Tulsa Oilers team. I figured they were at the top of the "They're not happy" list as they rolled into the Swamp. And I was right.

The Mudbugs played a good first period of hockey, keeping up with the physical play of the Hounds and outpacing them nicely. Referee Mike McCreary had done a good job the night before in OKC, and he was letting the boys play...for a while.

After scoring 2 in the first period, the ugly play surfaced. Tyrel Lucas crawled into the team box after he was pushed from behind into the open door of the Bugs’ bench by Milan Mislonka . The ref’s eyes were on the puck in play up the ice and he missed what happened. Mislonka proceeded to be a butthead (can I write that?) for the rest of the night.

Ken Carroll was roughed up several times when the Hounds got close to the net. At one point I thought KC was gonna throw down with Eric Przepiorka; Kenny had had enough and he let Eric and the ref know it. Then Kevin Cooper got a cross-check to the face and left the ice for some stitches, bu in typical Mudbug fashion, he returned and scored the game winner in the third. At one point towards the end of the second period, my friend B and I were worried that that McCreary had lost control of the game and a line brawl was brewing. It didn’t come to that, but tempers were hot out on the ice last night.

The Bugs were given a large number of 5-on-3 power plays, only one of which they were able to convert to a goal. Troubling? Yep. It’s hard to score a goal when you spend half the PP cycling the puck, but Youngstown did a great job of keeping the Bugs to the outside of the “house”. Yes, it was frustrating to watch (and according to Coach, it was driving the boys themselves a little nutso), but it’s something that can be fixed.

The Texas Burgers come to town the next two games and these two games are huge in the standpoint of the division stakes. Former Mudbug Dan Wildfong gets to spend his birthday in the CTC on Saturday, Dec. 29th. I have a feeling he ain’t gonna like his present from his former team. Memphissippi and Youngstown meet up at the end of the week, so these four teams could be doing a lot of fast-shoe shuffling up and down the division's standings by years’ end. Who doesn't enjoy a little two-step now and then? The NE division, by far, has been the one to watch in the CHL this season.

To all the readers, I wish you a very blessed Christmas holiday. May you and yours celebrate merrily.

Don’t forget that the Bugs are in action again on Wednesday night in the Swamp. The Bugs will be ready with lumps of coal for their old teammates....fire up the grill and let’s have some holiday hamburgers!

December 21, 2007 Mudbugs 2 Blazers 0

John Decaro gets his fourth shut out for the year, and the Mudbugs get their 6th shut out of the season. The third in the last eight games. If that isn’t a testament to a tough d-corps and defensive system, I don’t know what is. When the season began, Captain Chris Brassard was adamant that the d-corps would be the best in the league. At this point, I doubt anyone is ready to argue with him.

The Bugs played great hockey in OKC, and the Blazers had no answer for it. Karlis Zirnis potted the Bugs' first goal of the evening at the end of the first, and the Bugs held off the Blazers as we listening fans held out collective breaths for the next 39 minutes and 57 seconds of the game. Good thing we've got experience, haha. Daniel Pegoraro got an empty netter three seconds before the end of the game, a pretty nice way to say "Merry Christmas" to the Blazers. I hadn’t realized it was the Teddy Bear Toss night in OKC until the end of the game, as Travis described the plethora of bears being chunked onto the ice. The Bugs had spoiled the evening for teddy-tossing fans and come home with two big points. Tulsa had done us a huge favor in defeating the Steelhounds, and the Riverkings--quite shorthanded--beat the Brahmas. The Mudbugs are quickly moving up in the division as they rack up points. Yep, I love the month of December!

December 18, 2007 Mudbugs 3 Oilers 1

In a word, this was an exhibition of sloppy hockey. Miscues on passes and set-ups, scrambling in the zone, average play at best. The first fifteen or so minutes were good, and then Tulsa started pushing and the Bugs just seemed to lose focus. At one point I thought someone had played with a time machine because the boys were eerily looking like they did about 6 weeks ago...not too good. I told my friend B that we'd fed the boys too well at the Booster Club Christmas party, since it looked like all that food had settled into their feet. UGH.

Elias Godoy, however, scored another amazing goal in the first, and Joe Ori made it 2-0 in the second. Tulsa would score in the second, making things anxious for us fans, but Brett Smith, with his second consecutive empty net goal, put a cap on the Oil leak and sent Tulsa home with a loss.

After the game, Coach called it an ugly win, and he was not happy with the way the team performed. He knew that some re-focusing had to be done, but he told us that the players were unhappy with themselves and their effort, so I felt like they’d get their acts together for the trip to Oklahoma City.

December 15, 2007 Mudbugs 5, Oilers 4 OT

From what my friends tell me, this was one weird game. Once again, all I got was static on the radio (thanks, KEEL!), so I followed the game on pointstreak while I graded papers.

The Bugs started out shaky, down 2-1 at the end of the first, but Coach must have given them a good motivation speech as they scored three in a row (2 goals were PP goals--yippee!)in the second. But the Oilers weren't ready to quit on that snowy Saturday night, and scored two more to tie the game. The third period involved no scoring, so the game went to OT. Ryan Fairbarn didn't want to spend all night in Tulsa, so he scored the game winner just 56 seconds into OT and the Bugs get a 4-point weekend, tying them up with the Brahmas with 27 points.

I understand from friends that a Bugs' goal was waved off by Paul Depuydt, despite the fact that the puck sat a good four inches over the goal line, the goal light went on, and the Bugs began to celebrate. Not sure who Paul sees for his eye exams or who scored his referee test, but get this guy some specs and a CHL rule book.

The Oilers come to the Swamp Tuesday night, looking for a little revenge. Tulsa enforcer Curtis Voth may want to watch his manners; we don't take too kindly to impolite behavior at the CTC....

December 14, 2007 Mudbugs 3 Eagles 0

Games against the Eagles have always been great contests, so I expected nothing but the same. Never did the thought of a Mudbugs shut out occur to me or my friends. At the end of the first, the Bugs had 19 shots on goal and had zipped all over the ice with great speed. I told my friend B that I was worried that there would be nothing left in the tank for the rest of the game. KC and the d-unit kept them out of trouble at the end of the first, killing of a crucial 5 on 3 penalty, and, I think, squishing the momentum for the Eagles.

75 seconds into the second period, Justin Aikens got a feed from Elias Godoy, shot it from the right side of the net, sending the puck into the crossbar. It popped right down behind Eagles’ goalie Keserich, and the teddy bears went a-flyin. It was fun watching the players avoid being hit with the bears, and a few plastic mudbugs did make it to the ice. Finally, the bears were toted off—in a shopping cart, no less—and the game moved on. At the end of the second, the Bugs had 30 SOG to the Eagles 24, and the Eagles were looking pretty worn out. Greg Pankewicz was none to happy with his teammates and fussed at them during one of the official time-outs, much to our delight, haha.

The third period began with the game still at 1-0, not a reassuring thing against the scoring machine Eagles. But, the Mudbugs did a tremendous job of shortening up the space of ice (thanks, Coach, for that explanation) and taking away any sort of set up for Colorado. I totally missed Elias Godoy’s wonder of a goal at the beginning of the third as I was working the booster club table, but my friends tell me that it was awesome. The next 16 minutes of the game were a bit stressful as we watched the Eagles’ frustration mount. I kept expecting some sort of goon exhibition to be forthcoming, but I think the Mudbugs had worn out the Eagles so much, that all they were looking for was the bench and an oxygen tank. After Brett Smith’s empty-netter at 19:35, Eagles’ captain Greg Pankewicz wouldn’t even face his bench, and when the buzzer sounded, he was their first player off the ice. So much for teamwork. Colorado is not the dominant force it has been. Ryan Tobler is out on IR and big guy Chris Hartsburg has retired. The absence of both players and Coach Chris Stewart was painfully obvious.

Mega-congrats to Ken Carroll for his shutout, making him the CHL/WPHL Superman of shutouts. KC worked hard on Friday night, and his teammates worked even harded to help him out. The Mudbugs continue to improve, and the lines are doing some amazing things. Things are looking really good for this team.

Apologies

I apologize for the lack of posts concerning the Mudbugs' trip to Colorado. I went to North Richland Hills to watch the Brahmas take on Laredo and Amarillo two weekends ago, and was out of pocket in keeping up with the Bugs' games. From what I was told, the Bugs played two good games, and should have won both, just as people predicted the Bucks would take one from the Brahmas and the Brahmas would beat the Apes. Oh, well, I never was one for predictions anyway.

December 4, 2007 Mudbugs 5, Blazers 2

The Bugs decided to gift their fans with another Sonic Route 44 Cherry Limeade drink with its 5 goal-performance last night. OKC's big Wolfe in goal--he's 6'5"--hollered "UNCLE", I think, after goal number 5. My friends and I were a little worried when we saw how big this guy was (his waist was as high as the top of the goal net), but he moved about as quickly as a defensive tackle trying to make a touchdown run: not very well. Good news for our speedy Mudbugs.

The Bugs had 9 players who earned points last night, and Ken Carroll had a great night in goal, stopping 38 of 40 shots. The lines are really starting to click as the players are getting comfortable with their line counterparts. By the third period, the Blazers were pretty much toast. They were huffing and puffing, looking for the oxygen tank as they came off the ice. Our guys looked quite cool and collected.

The Blazers did have a few good moments. OKC's second goal should make someone's highlight reel; that spinorama move by Dallas Flaman sure was a jaw-dropper. They were given a crucial 5 on 3 powerplay at the beginning of the third and tried their darndest to score, but Superman kept his composure and the Bugs defense was tremendous once again.

Special Kudos to Kevin Labatte for standing up to Graham Dearle, one of the top pugilists in the league. Kevin has taken on two of these guys recently and made both of them bleed. Not bad for a rookie.

The unnecessary silliness by Chris Barth and whomever sticked Jake Ortmeyer in the neck near the end of the game prompted an ominous promise from Coach: be very ready for the next Bugs/Blazers match up, which is December 21st in OKC.

The Bugs hopped onto the Black Pearl at midnight for their trek to Colorado to face the much-improved Rage and the struggling Eagles. The Rage will be without goalie Terry Dunbar and Justin Schmit, due to lengthy suspensions from their actions in last weekend's game against New Mexico. The Eagles are once again dealing with injuries to some of their premier players, playing short-handed quite a bit. I don't want to look the gift-hockey gods in the mouth, but....nope, I won't say it. If the Bugs play these next two games the Mudbug way, then they should come home with four more important points. Don't forget to listen to the games via the radio broadcast this weekend; these should be two really exciting contests. (and Pegs, please wear your mouthguard this time!)

December 1, 2007 Mudbugs 3 Oilers 0

Ryan Fairbarn decided, “Hey, this scoring thing is fun!” and garned two more goals in an early Saturday afternoon game against the Oilers in Tulsa. Karlis Zirnis showed how much he likes to share and sent a winning pass to Chris Brassard who was able to score his 500th professional career point. Ginormous congrats, Captain Brass!

After the game on Friday night, some of us were worried that the boys didn’t have any goals left and that the short turn-around time between games would adversely affect their efforts. SILLY US! They had the game solidly in hand the whole sixty minutes.

The team now boasts 9 wins and 1 OT loss in the last 10 games. Even I did a double take when I checked that stat. WOW! That’s impressive. That’s AWESOME! That’s Mudbugs hockey. (Insert big smile here.) That stat ought to make fans around the CHL to take notice and should put the other CHL teams on guard. Yep, it’s December and it’s time for the annual rev-up-the-Hemi engine that fuels the Mudbugs team. As Coach Muscutt mentioned, there’s still work for this team to do to improve. And the Oklahoma City Blazers are next up for the Bugs' fine-tuning this coming Tuesday night. Wonder if they’ll wear their disco gold sweaters? Hey, Jason, can you play some cheesey 70’s disco music if they do? If they wear those awful stripes, how about some "Folsom Prison Blues"?

(An aside, my deepest sympathy goes out to my buddy Roy Lang. Your Turtles really stunk it up this weekend.)

Edit to add: I am a total moron. I can't believe that I typed in the wrong score and that I didn't mention the fact that Decs got another shut out, his third so far this season. Shame on me. And the Riverkings still stunk it up this weekend, Roy.

November 30, 2007 Mudbugs 7 'Hounds 2

Yes, that score is correct. What a difference twenty-four hours can make. The Mudbugs re-signed Kevin Labatte and the team on the ice was like nothing we’d seen so far this season. The Steelhounds are a big, physical team that had an unprecedented road win streak of 12-1-1 before the Mudbugs visited them in Ohio last weekend. The Bugs took 3 of 4 points from the Dawgs at home, and I’m sure that they were ready to get back to winning. Top scorer Peter Pohl had returned to the team, which made me gnash my teeth a bit, but Andy Franck was called up to the AHL earlier this week, so I felt like this game would be more of a test for the ‘Hounds.

Just a note for Steelhound Milan Mislonka: Don't wear yourself out in pregame chirping to your opponent. It obviously didn't work.

And the scoring begins...We’d all just sat down after cheering Elias Godoy’s (who garnered a 3-point night) goal to tie the game at 1-1, when-whammo-six seconds later we were on our feet again as Justin Aikens struck at the ‘Hounds ‘tender Brad Roberts. At the end of the second, the score was 3-2 Mudbugs, and I silently prayed against a dreaded third period meltdown. Little did I know who was going to do the melting.

At the beginning of the third, I watched as Ty Lucas was just off to the right of the net. I yelled, “Move up, Ty, move up! Right there!” And as I called it, Joe Ori passed the puck, and Lucas potted goal number 4. I felt better but we were still waiting for the Steelhounds to start pushing. When Kevin Cooper scored goal number 5, you could almost feel the visible sigh of relief released from Bugs fans. Goals number 6 and 7 were the whipped cream and cherry on top of a dominating, offensive onslaught. I hope somebody bought Brad Roberts some aloe to put on his neck burns.

Congrats to Ryan Fairbarn and Karlis Zirnis for getting their first goals of the season. (The monkeys made a b-line for the Hounds bench as they lost last night to the Brahmas in a similar fashion.) I didn’t get to see Fairbarn’s face after he scored, but Zirnis’s expression was one of such relief, his whole body just sagged with it. So much for the invisible men.

Kevin Kaminski and his team had to be wondering if Andy Franck,was really the glue that had been holding his big team together. The much bigger, more physical Steelhounds couldn’t keep up with the speed and cycling and shooting styles of the Mudbugs. And the Mudbug Nation shouted for joy.

November 29, 2007 Mudbugs 2 Thunder 1

I was worried the team would play to the level of the poor-performing Thunder. I guess it’s difficult to get motivated to play against a team that’s doing so badly at this point in the season, and I’m sure the next game against Y’town was certainly at the back of the Bugs’ minds. Despite a good performance by Thunder goalie Sebastien Laplante, the Bugs prevailed with an ok effort. But that same effort was certainly not going to work against the Steelhounds, many of whom sat---along with their Coach Kevin Kaminski--in section 120 watching the game.

The best things about this game, besides the win and the two points, were getting a first look at new Mudbug Kevin Cooper (whose play reminded several of us of a certain former Mudbug named Dan...), who zipped all over the ice, and watching Thunder player Kris Wiebe participate in the KISS cam, haha.