Insider Preview - Texas Brahmas vs. Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees

Chris Brooks looking for 20th win and two-point gain on Laredo

The Texas Brahmas host the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees today for a 3:05pm face-off. The Brahmas are coming off a three-game road trip that took them to opposite ends of the state, losing a 5-4 shootout against the Laredo Bucks and winning consecutive 4-3 contests against the Amarillo Gorillas.

The two teams have met twice this season, splitting shutouts at the NYTEX Sports Centre. The Brahmas won a 2-0 match on December 9th and the Killer Bees won a 3-0 decision on December 26th.

The Brahmas are 14-3-1 at home this season and have a 26-10-4 record overall, including last night's 4-3 road win at Amarillo. At 56 points, they are third in the league and second in the conference, just three points behind the Odessa Jackalopes.

The Killer Bees had a bit of bus trouble (fire) on the way to Shreveport yesterday but made it to CenturyTel where they soundly defeated the Mudbugs 4-1. Their road record is now 6-11-2. With an overall record of 19-16-4, the Bees are chasing the Laredo Bucks and a playoff spot with 23 games left in the regular season.

After a 16-41-7 record last season, the Bees have already shown marked improvement under new head coach Chris Brooks.

The Bees' three top scoring players are Jesse Bennefield (LW) with 43 points (22 G, 21 A), rookie Nicolas Dumoulin (D) with 32 points (11 G, 21 A) and Evan Rankin (RW) with 29 points (14 G, 15 A). Bennefield is on a franchise record 12-game scoring streak.

The Brahmas top three remain Scott Sheppard (F) with 46 points (23 G, 23 A), Grant Jacobsen (F) with 41 points (17 G, 24 A) and Jordan Cameron (F) with 38 points (15 G, 23 A). Jacobsen still holds the highest league shooting percentage at .315.

On special teams the Brahmas are number three overall in the league with a 20.72 percentage and fifth at home with at 20.1%. The Bees are number seven overall with a 17.84 percentage and sixth on the road at 18.1%. The Brahmas are ranked 12th overall on the penalty kill with a 81.18 percentage and third at home at 88.8%. The Bees are just ahead overall at 11th with a 81.92 percentage and ninth on the road at 82.1%.

Wylie Rogers (12-8-2) is expected in the net for Rio Grand Valley. The starter for the Brahmas has not been named, but my money is on Brett Jaeger (19-5-4-2).

The Bees will be without defenseman Jesse Perrin and left wing Trevor Weisgerber, both out on injured reserve.

The Brahmas will be without defenseman Mike Vellinga, out on injured reserve and forward Pete Rouleau, out on personal leave.

An observation by Joy Lindsay on the LMT Bucks Blog: The game between the Brahmas and Killer Bees is kind of a lose-lose situation for the Bucks. If the Brahmas win, they move to 10 points ahead of the Bucks in the standings. But, if the Killer Bees win, they'll be only four points behind the Bucks with a game between the two teams at Dodge Arena looming. And, of course, the Bucks have yet to win at Dodge Arena this season.

The game starts at 3:05pm. The Brahmas will be testing out their own CHL broadcast today on Nifty-TV with Cody Eastwood making his first professional game announcing debut.