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The Insider Preview - Texas Brahmas vs. Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs

Final game of the I-20 Series to be played at the NYTEX Sports Centre

The Texas Brahmas (39-13-5, 83 points) host the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs (36-17-4, 76 points) on Tuesday night for the 10th and final game of the regular season between the former division rivals. The Brahmas have won six of the previous nine meetings in the I-20 series this season (6-3-0), including all four games played at the NYTEX Sports Centre.

The Mudbugs have won their last two meetings with the Brahmas by a combined score of 8-3 at the CenturyTel Center and are 16-8-4 on the road. The Brahmas, however, currently own the CHL's longest active home winning streak at 16 games and are 25-3-1 this season at NYTEX.

The Brahmas lead the Odessa Jackalopes by seven points for the first overall seed in the Southern Conference. They clinched the Southeast Division on Sunday, due to a loss by the Laredo Bucks. A regulation win against the Mudbugs will put the Brahmas in first place in the Governor's Cup race.

The Mudbugs have gone 6-3-1 in their last 10 games and are coming off a 6-2 loss to the Mississippi RiverKings on Saturday night. They have no chance of winning their division, conference or the Governor's Cup this season.

The Mudbugs' top three scorers are Joe Blaznek (F) with 54 points (20 G, 34 A), Travis Clayton (F) with 48 points (19 G, 29 A) and Dale Lupul (D)with 47 points (12 G, 35 A). On Special teams, the Mudbugs are ranked 7th in the league overall on the powerplay at 18.1% and 2nd on the road at 20.5%. On the penalty kill, Bossier-Shreveport is ranked 1st in the league overall at 86.8% and 6th on the road at 84.1%.

Joe Blaznek is the man to watch on the Mudbugs squad. In addition to being the team's leading scorer, Blaznek has scored 10 points (3 G, 7 A) in the last 10 games. He has 7 points (5 G, 2 A)against the Brahmas this season and 27 points (9 G, 18 A) on the road.

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 53 points (20 G, 33 A). On special teams, the Brahmas are ranked 3rd in the league overall on the powerplay at 20.3% and 5th at home at 21.2%. On the penalty kill, the Brahmas are ranked 11th in the league overall at 81.1% and 3rd at home at 87.4%. The Brahmas remain the league-leaders with 19 short-handed goals.

Jason Deitsch is the man to watch on the Brahmas squad. In the last 10 games, Deitsch has scored 16 points (8 G, 8 A) and is a +8. He has scored 40 points (18 G, 22 A) in total and is a +18 this season. Another to watch is Scott Sheppard, who leads the home guard this season with 35 points (13 G, 22 A) and is a +15 at NYTEX. He has scored 7 points (1 G, 6 A) against the Mudbugs this season.

I'm thinking we'll see Brett Jaeger (26-7-4-2) against Ken Carroll (18-6-2-2) in the nets. Just a guess.

The Mudbugs are expected to be without center Brett Smith who is still on the 30 day injured reserve. In addition, forward Brett Angel will be out as he is serving a two-game league suspension.

Matt Quinn will be back (off of IR) and Scott Sheppard is also expected back after not playing in the last two games. Not sure about defensemen Eric Lundberg and Kevin McLeod. Lundberg is still listed on the IR and McLeod may have been injured in Saturday night's game against Odessa.

Massey Ratings predicts the Brahmas will be victorious (68-32). Let's hope they're right!

The game begins at 7:05pm and will be shown on Nifty-TV if you can't be there. But be there, because this is going to be a good one.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith