The Insider Preview - Texas Brahmas vs. Oklahoma City Blazers

Brahmas look to rebound after Saturday night's loss

The Texas Brahmas (31-11-4, 66 points) take on the Oklahoma City Blazers (26-13-6) at the Ford Center this morning for a special Kid's Day game at 10:35am.

After a textbook start to the season, the Blazers, a team loaded with talent, have had issues with consistency. Suffice it to say they are not playing their best hockey right now but they are by no means a non-threat. They have lost their last three games in a row, including a pair of road games against the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs. With the home-ice advantage and playing a morning game, the Blazers may have the advantage today.

For the Brahmas who are coming off a tough road loss against the Mudbugs on Saturday night, a win today would be a big morale booster. They will return home for a pair of games against the Odessa Jackalopes this weekend. The Brahmas have a one point lead over Odessa and an extra two points earned today would be huge, to say the least.

The Blazers have won three of five games played between the two teams this season, two at the Ford Center and one at NYTEX. The Brahmas have won the last two; one at home on December 27th and one at the Ford Center (in overtime) on January 7th. After today's game, they will meet one more time at the NYTEX Centre on February 22nd.

The Blazers' top three scorers are Bill Vandermeer (RW) with 44 points (20 G, 24 A), D.J. Jelitto (LW) with 34 points (18 G, 16 A) and Ted Vandermeer (F) with 34 points (15 G, 19 A). On Special teams, the Blazers are ranked 10th in the league overall on the powerplay at 17.10% and 10th at home at 17.50%. On the penalty kill, Oklahoma City is ranked second in the league overall at 86.20% and eighth at home at 84.40%.

Cam Doull is the danger man today, having scored four goals against the Brahmas this season. Simon Lambert, and Bill Vandermeer have each scored three. But watch out for D.J. Jelitto. In the last 10 games, he has put up 13 points (8 G, 5 A) and is a +6. Bill Vandermeer has scored 24 points (12 G, 12 A) at home this season.

The top three scorers for the Brahmas are Scott Sheppard (F) with 53 points (26 G, 27 A), Grant Jacobsen (F) with 46 points (18 G, 28 A) and Jordan Cameron (F) with 43 points (16 G, 27 A). On special teams, the Brahmas are ranked 5th in the league overall on the powerplay at 20.60% and third on the road at 20.20%. On the penalty kill, they are ranked 11th in the league overall at 81.60% and 14th on the road at 76.3% (eek).

Scott Sheppard is the man to watch for the Brahmas. His overtime goal gave the Brahmas their last victory against the Blazers. In the last 10 games, Shep has scored 16 points (7 G, 9 A) and is a +6. He has scored 25 points (18 G, 7 A) on the road this season (10 on the powerplay). Grant Jacobsen has consistently been the league leader at shot percentage (currently at .273).

Doug Groenestege (14-4-3-2) will get the start in net for the Blazers. Groenestege has proven to be a consistently high caliber goalie and leads the league with a 2.09 GAA. He is fifth in the league with a .921 save percentage. Not sure who will be in net for the Brahmas. David Cacciola has two losses in two starts against OKC. Brett Jaeger has one loss and was in net for the last two wins.

Both teams are healthy and expected to be at full strength.

The game starts at 10:35am and can be seen on Nifty-TV. You can listen to it on Internet radio here

Photo Credit: Clayton Dorris