The RiverKings celebrate one of four special teams goals

Brahmas Lose in dramatic home opener

RiverKings win 5-3

“Man looks in the abyss, there’s nothing staring back at him. At that moment, man finds his character. And that is what keeps him out of the abyss,”

- Lou Manheim (Hal Holbrook), Wall Street

It’s a telling and provoking quote that is an expansion on the famous quote from Friedrich Nietzche: “When you look into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you.” The Brahmas are by no means at the edge of the abyss after just four games, but there is a need for this group of young men to find the character they will need to succeed this season.

The Texas Brahmas were defeated by a score of 5-3 in a roller-coaster ride of a home opener on Saturday night at the NYTEX Sports Centre. The Mississippi RiverKings earned their second game in a row against the Brahmas after a 2 1/2 hour brawl on ice. 2,369 fans made the trip to North Richland Hills to celebrate the successes of last season, only to endure the reality of this one.

The night began on a very positive note. Brahmas staffers hustled around NYTEX, greeting fans and putting on the finishing touches for the night's celebration and banner raising ceremony. At the appointed time, the lights went dark and spotlights shined as the Ray Miron President's Cup was carried out by the Trazzera brothers and placed on display on a black draped table in the neutral zone. Then, the members of the 2009-10 roster were announced. Fire fountains erupted as the starting line-up skated out to center ice to form a line for the presentation of the 2009 Southeast Division, Southern Conference and Central Hockey League Championship banners.

Team captain Craig Minard addressed the crowd.

"It was an incredible journey, one we will never forget as players," Minard said. "I hope you don’t either as fans. They say that the hardest thing to do in sports is to repeat as champs. We are going to do our best to keep that cup in North Richland Hills."

After the ceremonial dropping of the first puck by North Richland Hills city councilman Tim Welch, the game was on.

Once again, and with a CHL officiating representative in attendance, the Brahmas were called for penalties, while the zebra stripes (inadvertently, I'm sure) turned a blind eye to fouls committed by the RiverKings. This was mostly a problem early in the first frame.

The RiverKings were able to take advantage of an extended five-on-three opportunity after a hooking call on Craig Minard and a double-minor roughing penalty on Jordan Cameron, both of whom entered the sin bin at the 6:46 mark. 13 seconds later, Mississippi forward Ryan Held scored his first goal of the night, beating Brett Jaeger with the assist from defensemen Dane Marshall and Derek Landmesser at the 6:59 mark. Just one minute and 25 seconds later, Held scored his second goal, this time assisted by Steve Makway and Bobby Chaumont at the 8:24 mark.

Not swayed by the 2-0 deficit, the Brahmas went on the attack. A little more than two minutes later, with Cam Severson in the box for holding, Kevin McLeod took a feed from A.J. Gale and sent a one-timer past Ray Jean to make it a 2-1 game at the 10:27 mark. Lee Jubinville was also credited with the assist.

Grant Jacobsen scored his team-leading fourth goal on an assist from Jordan Cameron during even-strength play to tie things up 2-2 at the 15:58 mark .

Ross Rouleau puts a hit on an attacking RiverKing

The RiverKings doubled the Brahmas' offensive production with a 12-6 shot advantage during the first frame.

The second period opened up with more physical play and mid-way through the frame, the RiverKings were able once again, to take advantage of the power play after a slashing call on Justin Kinnunen. Ryan Campbell scored his third goal of the season at the 10:43 mark. Bobby Chaumont and Ryan Held were credited with the assist. It would be the only score of the period. The Brahmas had the narrow 9-8 shot advantage but couldn't convert on two power play opportunities and were down 3-2 after 40 minutes.

2:35 into the final frame, Jason Deitsch got into it with RiverKings defenseman Adam Smyth after a scoring attempt by Deitsch was blocked by Ray Jean. Smyth attacked Deitsch for crowding his goalie and during the ensuing battle, the two managed to carry the net with them into the boards before officials broke the two up. Smyth received two minutes for roughing and two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct. Deitsch drew two minutes for roughing.

Brett Jaeger facing another RiverKings rush

Mississippi scored their fourth special teams goal at the 6:13 mark, just six seconds after Brahmas defenseman Luke Lucyk was called for tripping. This time it was Bobby Chaumont who got the tally with a little help from Steve Makway and Ryan Held.

Things continued to deteriorate for the Brahmas when Brett Jaeger was called for reportedly spearing a RiverKing player. This was out of my view from the bench and apparently no one got photos or saw exactly what happened (that I've heard anyway). Jaeger was given a five minute Spearing Major and a 10 minute Game Misconduct for his effort. Rookie goalie Joe Palmer entered the game at the 12:06 mark.

Darryl Stoddard, about to give Luke Lucyk the sting of a RiverKing

As play resumed, Luke Lucyk and Darrell Stoddard dropped the gloves and went to battle. Lucyk got the worst of it and both were assessed five minute Fighting Majors.

Down 4-2 late in the third, Kevin McLeod scored his second goal off of a feed from A.J. Gale and Lee Jubinville to make it a 5-3 contest at the 16:17 mark.

The Brahmas mounted a strong effort in the final minutes of the game (out shooting the RiverKings 17-7 in the period) but to no avail. After pulling Joe Palmer with less than a minute to go in favor of the extra attacker, Dan Wildfong looked on helplessly as Mississippi's Derek Landmessser scored an unassisted empty-net goal with 11.2 seconds left to seal the 5-3 win.

The Brahmas out shot the RiverKings by a 32-27 margin in the game, but were soundly defeated by the RiverKings special teams, while failing once again to score on their own man-advantage opportunities.

Ray Jean, a man I've come to respect, stopped 29 of 32 shots, picking up the victory in net for the RiverKings. His record is now 3-1-0. Brett Jaeger stopped 19 of 23, taking the loss for the Brahmas. His record goes to 1-2-0. There is speculation that Brett will earn a suspension from the league for his actions in tonight's game. Joe Palmer stopped three of three during his seven minutes in net.

The Brahmas went 0 for 7 on the power play. The RiverKings went 4 for 12.

The Brahmas were assessed a total of 44 minutes on 15 infractions. The RiverKings were called for 25 minutes on 11 infractions.

The 3rd star of the game was awarded to Justin Kinnunen, who was a +1 with four shots on the night. The 2nd star went to Kevin McLeod with two goals and the 1st star went to Mississippi's Ryan Held, who had an exceptional night on special teams with two power play goals and two power play assists.

You can view the box score here. You can view my photos from the game here.

There are few excuses to be made here and I'm sure few were offered up to Dan Wildfong in last night's extended team meeting after the game. Yes, the officiating was terrible last night. Yes, they faced a solid RiverKings team. Yes, it's only game number four and yes, the Brahmas have a tough schedule. Despite the adversity, these boys need to find what they need to win.

The downside after the first two weeks of the 2009-10 season:

• The Brahmas have yet to win in regulation with a 1-2-1 record (0-1-0 at home, 1-1-1 on the road)
• With one goal in 22 opportunities, the Brahmas are second to last in the league with a 4.55 power play percentage. They have allowed eight power play goals in four games including four tonight.
• The RiverKings won in large part to their special teams play, scoring four goals in 12 chances and stopping all seven Texas opportunities.
• We have no thugs, yet we are sixth in the league (2nd in the Southern Conference) in penalty minutes with 101 after four games. Penalty leaders include Jordan Cameron (17 PIM), Jason Deitsch (16 PIM) and Brett Jaeger? (15 PIM). Do we need an enforcer or do we need discipline?

The upside after the first two weeks of the 2009-10 season:

• Dan Wildfong. 'Nuff said.
• Joe Palmer is second in the league with a 1.67 GAA and first with a .947 save percentage (granted, he's only played for 71:56 minutes)
• Four games in provides a lot of time to get the boys in sync, make personnel changes, work on special teams play, etc. As Gary Stallons said on the Brahmas board, "It's only game 4 of a long season. Have some faith in Dan, Ron, and the boys. GO BRAHMAS!"

The Brahmas will spend the week preparing for the trip to the CenturyTel Center to meet up with the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs (2-2-0) for the first game of the I-20 series on Friday night before returning home to the NYTEX Sport Center for a Halloween night game against the undefeated Allen Americans (4-0-0) in Saturday.

Photo Credits: Robert Keith