The Insider Preview - Texas Brahmas @ Laredo BucksSeason series tied 3-3, teams meet for two games at the LEC
The Texas Brahmas (41-15-5, 87 points) are in Laredo to take on the Bucks (34-22-5, 73 points) for two games on Wednesday and Thursday nights at the Laredo Entertainment Center. The Brahmas won the Southeast Division (ending five straight seasons with division titles for Laredo) on March 8th and need just one more point to clinch the Southern Conference title. They can win it if The Rio Grande Killer Bees defeat the Odessa Jackalopes tonight.
The Brahmas are currently tied with the Mississippi RiverKings and three points behind the Colorado Eagles in the race for the Governor’s Cup. At this point the cup is the Eagles’ to lose but the race is close enough that anything can happen. Note: The Eagles were the last team to win both the Governor’s Cup and the Ray Miron President’s Cup after the 2004-05 season.
For the Brahmas, the last three games of the regular season are very important. After a number of injuries and a rampant flu bug have sidelined several players, the team needs to prove that they can remain focused and win games on the road against tough divisional opponents if they expect to do well in the playoffs. For head coach Dan Wildfong, the physical issues are not the problem.
"We have enough ability and depth that we should be able to overcome that," he told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "We’re playing an individual game, not a team game. We’re not keeping it simple."
Although they’ve won seven of their last 10 games, the losses have come against formidable opponents including the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs (two losses in a row) and the Laredo Bucks. The Brahmas have to build up their momentum heading into the post-season.
"I think that’s the biggest hurdle that we have right now," Wildfong said. "We have to play playoff hockey going into the playoffs. You can’t sit and wait and then it be too late to figure out what you’re doing wrong. We have to figure that out right now and get it going in the right direction.”
The Brahmas will begin hosting playoff games on March 28th and 29th at the NYTEX Sports Centre.
The Brahmas are currently tied with the Mississippi RiverKings and three points behind the Colorado Eagles in the race for the Governor’s Cup. At this point the cup is the Eagles’ to lose but the race is close enough that anything can happen. Note: The Eagles were the last team to win both the Governor’s Cup and the Ray Miron President’s Cup after the 2004-05 season.
For the Brahmas, the last three games of the regular season are very important. After a number of injuries and a rampant flu bug have sidelined several players, the team needs to prove that they can remain focused and win games on the road against tough divisional opponents if they expect to do well in the playoffs. For head coach Dan Wildfong, the physical issues are not the problem.
"We have enough ability and depth that we should be able to overcome that," he told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "We’re playing an individual game, not a team game. We’re not keeping it simple."
Although they’ve won seven of their last 10 games, the losses have come against formidable opponents including the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs (two losses in a row) and the Laredo Bucks. The Brahmas have to build up their momentum heading into the post-season.
"I think that’s the biggest hurdle that we have right now," Wildfong said. "We have to play playoff hockey going into the playoffs. You can’t sit and wait and then it be too late to figure out what you’re doing wrong. We have to figure that out right now and get it going in the right direction.”
The Brahmas will begin hosting playoff games on March 28th and 29th at the NYTEX Sports Centre.
The season series between the Brahmas and the Bucks is tied thus far, 3-3. The Brahmas won 4-1 at the LEC on January 3rd and 6-2 at NYTEX on January 17th. The Bucks then won 2-1 (Shootout) on December 6th and 5-4 (Shootout) at the LEC on January 21st. The Brahmas split the last two games at home, winning 5-2 on February 20th and then losing 2-0 on March 14th.
The Bucks are within one point of clinching the No. 3 seed in the Conference and will get it with a Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees' loss to the Odessa Jackalopes tonight. Otherwise, they will have to earn it with a win or an overtime loss to the Brahmas on Wednesday. They are 20-8-2 at home but have lost five of their last eight at the Laredo Entertainment Center; the last game played on March 8th. Oh, and I must just mention that Coach Roscoe is going for his 500th win on Wednesday night. No offense coach, but I'd like that mark to come some other time. How about Saturday night in Odessa?
The Bucks' top three scorers are Brent Cullaton with 71 points (20 G, 51 A), Darryl Smith (F) with 67 points (36 G, 31 A) and Alex Goupil (F) with 56 points (23 G, 33 A). Smith was named to the CHL’s All-Rookie Team today.
On Special teams, the Bucks are ranked 6th in the league overall on the powerplay at 18.2% and 3rd at home at 22.6%. On the penalty kill, Laredo is ranked 3rd in the league overall at 85.8% and 5th at home at 86.2%.
The Bucks' power-play has struggled recently. They’ve gone just 5 for 40 on the man-advantage in their last 10 games.
Forward Darryl Smith is the Bucks player to watch with 45 points (24 G, 21 A) and a +14 rating at home this season and nine points (5 G, 4 A) in his last 10 games. Keep an eye on center Ryan Salvis, also. He has led the Bucks in scoring against the Brahmas this season with five points (1 G, 4 A).
The top three scorers for the Brahmas are Scott Sheppard (F) with 63 points (31 G, 32 A), Jordan Cameron (F) with 58 points (22 G, 36 A) and Grant Jacobsen (F) with 54 points (20 G, 34 A).
On special teams, the Brahmas are ranked 3rd in the league overall on the powerplay at 19.7% and 4th on the road at 19.7%. On the penalty kill, they are ranked 11th in the league overall at 81.48% and 15th on the road at 75.5% (eek!).
Scott Sheppard is the Brahmas player to watch with nine points (5 G, 4 A) and a +7 rating against the Bucks this season. He’s also their leading road warrior with 28 points (18 G, 10 A) and a +4 rating when traveling.
I expect Brett Jaeger (28-9-4-2) in net for the Brahmas. Not sure if it will be Sebastien Centomo (20-16-2-2) or Andrew Martin (5-3-1-1) in net for the Bucks. My money is on Martin though, considering his performance at NYTEX last Saturday.
It’s too early to say who will miss the games for both teams, so I’ll just leave it at that. Keep an eye on Pointstreak for updates.
Both games start at 7:00pm and will be broadcast on Nifty-TV. You can also listen on Internet radio here.
Photo Credit: Laredo Bucks
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