Texas Brahmas face undefeated Odessa team tonight

Bulls face a different animal than the pre-season Jackalopes

The Brahmas are coming off of a 4-3 victory in Amarillo last night where goaltender Brett Jaeger saved the win and defenseman Kevin McLeod added three assists to make him Texas' point leader with five so far this season.

The Brahmas have signed forward Topher Scott who will play in tonight's game. Forwards Mark Carragher, on IR with a groin pull, and Greg McConnell will sit this one out. Left Wing Brad Bonello has been traded to the Mississippi RiverKings.

Odessa comes into NYTEX with a 3-0-0 record. They lead all Southern Conference teams in wins to date.

The Jackalopes are a different animal than the Brahmas met in the pre-season. Odessa may have been the most impressive team on opening weekend, defeating the reigning CHL Champion Arizona Sundogs twice. Last night they defeated the New Mexico Scorpions 9-2 and they are hoping to make it four straight tonight. They have three forwards with seven points each (Collin Circelli, Sebastien Thinel and Jeff Pierce).

Rookie right wing Jean Bourbeau was called up to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL) on the 20th. In his two games played with the Jacks, Bourbeau scored three points (2 G, 1 A).

On Friday, the Jacks put goaltender Derek Dolson on waivers and signed forward Mike Ramsay and goaltender Alexandre Vincent. Ramsay played for the Jacks two in 2006-07 and put up 44 points (24 G, 20 A). He played for the Fresno Falcons (ECHL) last season, scoring 35 points (18 G, 17 A). Vincent will back up the red hot Juha Toivonen. The 6' 4", 214 pound Vincent was selected by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft (round 4, #114 overall). He played in 39 games for the Jacks last season and had a 2.79 goals against average and a .921 save percentage.

Rookie goaltender Juha Toivonen is the big story for Odessa. After 3 games, Toivonen, 21, has a 3-0-0 record with a 1.67 goals against average and a .946 save percentage. He's faced 92 shots and saved 87. Toivonen was the Oakley CHL Goaltender of the Week after his 46 saves beat the Arizona Sundogs on opening weekend.

Goaltending and penalty killing will be the key for the Brahmas tonight. Is that an understatement? I'll have more info, interviews and photos after tonight's game.

The game begins at 7:05pm. If you have a good reason not to be there, then catch it on Nifty-TV.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith