Killer Bees return to NYTEX for Friday night hockey

Brahmas looking for fourth win in a row

"We didn't finish the game. We started playing individual hockey. We got to our old ways that we were trying to get away from."

- Dan Wildfong

Even in the face of victory, Fonger wants more from his players. Forced to watch most of the third period of Tuesday's game against the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, he watched the 'Bugs nearly erase a three goal lead and force an overtime period. If there's anything that Wildfong cannot impress upon his players enough, it's that you have to play together as a team for all 60 minutes and the win will go to those who are willing to do that.

Next up for the Brahmas come the 12-11-2 Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees for the second of four games this season between the new division rivals. Chris Brooks' team sits in third place in the Southeastern Division with 26 points, 9 points behind the Brahmas. The Brahmas are 9-2-1 at home; Rio Grande Valley is 4-7-0 on the road.

The Brahmas and the Killer Bees met for the first time this season on December 9th. The Brahmas won that game 2-0 with David Cacciola in goal. Brahmas fans will be rooting for the Colorado Eagle who play the Laredo Bucks tonight. A win by the Brahmas and a loss by the Bucks will tie the two teams at the top of the Southeast Division.

The Brahmas will be without defenseman Justin Kinnunen and forward Topher Scott. The Bees are without Trevor Weisgerber, Ryan Shmyr and Travis Banga and have not yet replaced Rob Voltera.

The Brahmas are the 2nd to the Bees for the least amount of penalties in the league, averaging 18.93 minutes per game. The Bees average only 18.48. The Bees are the only CHL team not to receive a game misconduct and have had just one 10-minute misconduct this season. Their 12 major penalties are the fewest in the league and are 31 fewer than the league leader (Corpus Christi, Arizona and Oklahoma City).

The Brahmas are third in the league with a 19.91 powerplay percentage. The Bees are 11th at 17.37%. They went 0 for 4 in the last meeting. The Bees' special teams are 9th in the league with a 81.71 powerplay percentage while the Brahmas are 11th with a 80.23 percentage.

The Brahmas are the only CHL team not to allow a shorthanded goal this season but are tied for second scoring seven shorthanded goals on their own. It has been a balanced attack with six different players scoring a SHG for the Brahmas with Grant Jacobsen standing as the only player scoring two shorthanded goals.

The game begins at 7:05pm and will be shown on Nifty-TV.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith