Brahmas host the Corpus Christi IceRays on New Years Eve

Division rivals meet for first of five games this season

The Texas Brahmas will close out the year at home tonight against the Corpus Christi IceRays. It is the first of five meetings between the two teams this season.

The IceRays are coming off a huge road win against the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees last night. The 6-4 win was the IceRays' second straight and improved their record to 12-13-3 on the year, moving within one point of the Bees for third place in the Southeast Division. Their road record is now 4-5-3. The IceRays will make the nine-hour trip to NYTEX overnight. The teams will play a second game on Friday night.

Despite their place in the standings, the IceRays have had some impressive wins this season, defeating the Tulsa Oilers in their home opener buy a score of 12-3. They have beaten the Mississippi RiverKings and the Arizona Sundogs twice and have wins against Laredo, Bossier-Shreveport and Odessa.

The IceRays have three players with over 35 points this season. They are Chris Richards with 39 points (16 G, 23 A), Justin Quenneville with 37 points (10 G, 27 A) and Ryan Bennett with 36 points (17 G, 19 A).

Anyone who saw the video of last Friday's brawl against the Mudbugs (See it here) can see that the IceRays can and will play physical. They lead the league with 1,028 penalty minutes; 69 minutes more than the Arizona Sundogs. Defenseman T. J. Reynolds leads the team with 118 PIM.

According to Greg Rajan, forward Jonathan Trottier was out of the lineup last night with an undisclosed injury. Center Mike Zbriger missed most of the game with back spasms and is questionable for tonight. The IceRays are also without defensemen John Adams (called up to the Houston Aeros on Monday) and Jozef Sladok (injured reserve), forwards Patrick Steinmayr and Brett Connolly and right wing Chris Shaffer (injured reserve).

The Brahmas are without defenseman Justin Kinnunen and forward Topher Scott as of this writing. Forward Jason Deitsch is still on the Houston Aeros roster.

After 29 games, the 17-9-3 Brahmas have slightly improved on last seasons record of 15-3-1. After a horrible showing against the Killer Bees on the 26th, the Bulls had an impressive 4-3 win over the Oklahoma City Blazers on Saturday night. With a 10-3-1 record at NYTEX, the Brahmas are hoping to sweep the two-game series and continue their pursuit of the number one spot in the Southeastern Division.

The game will begin earlier than usual at 6:05pm and can be seen on Nifty-TV. The Brahmas are hosting a free New Year's Eve Party immediately following the game. The party will feature live music from the Blueprints and party favors at no charge for all fans attending the game.

Image Credit: Corpus Christi Ice Rays