Jaeger involved in bench-clearing brawl

Eight players and coaches suspended

It was a wild match between the Nottingham Panthers and the Coventry Blaze at the Skydome Arena on Saturday night, to say the least.

Former Brahmas goalie Brett Jaeger suffered a back spasm during the pre-game warm-ups and the opening face off was delayed while the Blaze trainer worked on Jaegs.

Once the game got under way, Nottingham’s tactic was to rush Jaegs as much as possible, thinking that getting in his face would unsettle his game.

Referee Tom Darnell had his hands full with what was already a physical game. 19 penalties had already been called (most of them for roughing or slashing) by the time the second period fracas began.

A tripping call on Coventry captain Brad Cruikshank was the straw what broke the camel's back – ultimately leading to a full-on bench clearing brawl. Cruikshank was ejected from the game for giving Darnell the finger after what he considered to be another soft call handed out.

The ball (or should I say puck) started rolling as Cruikshank was being led off the ice. He rushed Panthers goalie Craig Kowalski and then Nottingham players poured onto the ice, followed by the Blaze squad as various scuffles and fights broke out.

Jaeger battled Guilliame Lepine after the Panthers defenseman scrapped with Blaze D-man Jason Robinson. Both were given match penalties which were downgraded overnight, allowing them to play on Sunday.

Both teams accumulated 235 penalty minutes and the brawl added to the already lengthy penalty summary.

In what has been called the largest collective punishment dished out since the Elite League was formed in 2003, Cruikshank was given a nine-game suspension and will not be available until January 4th. Panthers Captain Danny Meyers was banned for seven games for a blind side hit on Jaeger.

Nottingham wing Alex Penner was banned for five games, Jade Galbraith and Marc Levers one game and bench coach David Graham got three.

Blaze coach Paul Thompson was handed a two-game ban while forward Aaron Nell was handed a one-match suspension.

By the way, the Blaze won the match 2-1. And you think we've had some fun at the shoebox!

You can read the Coventry Blaze match report here

You can view master photographer Mark Tredgold's shots of the action here

Here is one of the many videos currently circulating on YouTube:

The Blaze have a 14-6-1 record (28 points) and are in fifth place in the current standings. Jaegs has a 15-9 record with a 2.63 GAA and a .920 save percentage.

Photo Credit: Mark Tredgold

Brahmas lose in overtime, gain point in standings

Griffith forces overtime, Hazelwood gets game-winning goal

The Laredo Bucks won their third straight home game (for the first time this season) and their first overtime contest, defeating the visiting Texas Brahmas 3-2 in overtime tonight at the Laredo Energy Arena.

In the end, it was the players dealt in a trade between the two teams on November 3rd that determined the outcome of the game. Todd Griffith, formerly of the Bucks, scored the tying goal that forced the game into overtime and a wraparound goal by former Brahma Jeff Hazelwood won the game 1:50 into the extra frame.

It was a wild and aggressive start to the game with a combined 31 shots registered in the first frame.

The Brahmas went up 1-0 just 2:39 into the game when Matt Pierce jammed in his own rebound on the right side of the crease to beat Pier Pelletier and pick up his fourth goal of the season. Tyler Allen was in on the assist. It was the only score in the first 20 minutes, which saw no penalties.

The Bucks, who came into the game 4-5-1 at home, narrowly out shot the Brahmas 16-15 in the period.

Laredo tallied the equalizer 1:56 into the middle frame when Hans Benson took possession of a loose puck in the slot and sent a slap shot past Kevin Beech. Neil Trimm was credited with the assist.

Each team had two power play opportunities but were stymied by the others penalty killers. The Bucks killed off a 32 second five-on-three and the Brahmas killed off a four-minute double minor.

The Brahmas out shot the Bucks 11-8 in the second period.

Benson gave the Bucks a 2-1 lead with 6:53 left in the third period when he tipped in Jarred Mohr’s slap shot from the top of the left circle. Jeff Bes was also in on the assist.

The Brahmas tied the game with just 1:04 left in regulation after Beech was pulled in favor of the extra attacker. Todd Griffith jammed in a rebound (with a little help from Jason Deitsch and Alex Curran), ultimately forcing the game into overtime with his fourth goal of the season.

Hazelwood's tally on the Bucks' second shot in overtime sealed the win for the home team, whose record improves to 9-9-3 (.500, 21 points) on the season. Hans Benson and Jarred Mohr earned their third and second points, respectively, with the assists.

The Brahmas out shot the Bucks 37-32 in the game but the 2-1 shot advantage in overtime favored Laredo; you know, because they won the game.

With the loss, the Brahmas record goes to 10-6-3 (.605, 23 points) and they remain in third place in the Berry Conference. They now have a two point lead on both Mississippi and Laredo, who have both played two more games than the bulls. Texas is now 4-3-2 on the road.

Kevin Beech stopped 29 of 32 shots faced and takes the loss. His record goes to 7-2-2-1 with a 2.84 GAA (16th in the league) and a .906 save percentage (13th in the league).

Pier Pelletier turned away 35 of 37 shots faced to earn the win. His record goes to 4-5-2.

The Brahmas and the Bucks both went 0 for 3 on the power play. Both teams were assessed six minutes on three infractions. The Brahmas still have the number one penalty kill in the league with just 12 power play goals allowed and a 87.10 percentage.

The 3rd Star of the game went to Pier Pelletier for his night in defense of the net. The 2nd Star was awarded to Jeff Hazelwood, who tallied the game-winner in OT and the 1st Star went to Hans Benson, who registered two goals and an assist.

Referee: Ryan Hersey
Linesmen: John Grandt, Jon Shaw

You can view the box score here and the Game Live broadcast here

You can view the Brahmas' press release here

The Brahmas continue their December road trip this weekend with a game in Tulsa Friday and a visit to their I-20 rivals, Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, Saturday evening. The Brahmas next home game is set for Saturday, December 18 when they host the Odessa Jackalopes.

Photo Credit: Laredo Bucks

Lawrence activated from injured reserve

Brahmas forward Mick Lawrence has been activated from the 10-day Injured Reserve according to Pointstreak.

Lawrence has played in 17 of 19 games thus far and is fourth on the team in points (15) and penalty minutes (35) and third in goals (6) and assists (9, tied with Steven Later). He leads in game-winning goals with two.

Lawrence travelled with the team to Laredo and will start in tonight's contest against the Bucks.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith

Sunday, December 5th

Well, it was good to come out of the previous weekend with a couple of really big wins. We came from behind to beat Laredo in overtime in the last seconds of the game. That was a really huge and then obviously to beat Bossier- Shreveport on Saturday was also a really big win. They’re doing really well this season and they’ve beat us a couple of times in this building already – so that was a really big win.

After that, we had a couple of days off. We had Sunday off and Monday was an optional day - a few guys skated but a lot of guys took the day off after a long week the week before with four games in five nights. But as of Tuesday, we all got back to work to get ready for the games against Missouri and Colorado.
It was a normal week of practice for the most part. After the big weekend with a couple of wins, the mood was pretty good in the locker room – a lot of the guys were having fun.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go well on Friday night and the outcome wasn’t what it needed to be. We definitely don’t want to lose games in our building and to lose 4-1 was hard. We didn’t think that we put in the effort that was necessary to win that game – we had a few opportunities but our effort just wasn’t what it needed to be.

I’m the team captain, but we have enough leaders on this team –everybody knows their role and everybody knew that Friday night wasn’t what it needed to be and we definitely didn’t want to lose back-to-back games on home ice.

On Saturday night against the Eagles, we battled. We battled hard and the effort was where it needed to be. I think we really dominated the game from start to finish.

Everybody gets the system that we play here and everybody has bought in. All of us knew we had to come back with a better effort, and from top to bottom, we did it. We had good goaltending, good results from our lines and everybody down the row put in the right kind of effort and it showed on the scoreboard.

We’ve got the holidays coming up, but we’re trying to remain focused on winning. This is still our job and we’re here to win games. We know we’ve got to come into the rink ready to play each and every night and then when it comes time to get those few days off, we’ll enjoy the time off but also take care of our bodies and be ready for those games after Christmas too because we don’t want to take a step back coming off of a break like that.

Maxwell placed on IR

Brahmas forward Roger Maxwell has been placed on the 10-day injured reserve according to Pointstreak. Maxwell left the ice favoring his shoulder and arm following a scrape with Mavericks captain Carlyle Lewis on Friday night. He joins Jesse Dudas, Calin Wild and Mick Lawrence who are also out on IR.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith

1-8-1

Brahmas defeat Stewart's Eagles 4-1

NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, Texas (December 4)- Four goals, physical play and strong defense sent the Brahmas soaring over the Eagles Saturday night as they beat Colorado 4-1 at the NYTEX Sports Centre. The Eagles now have an all-time record (including playoffs) of 1-8-1 at the NYTEX Sports Centre.

Assistant Coach Greg Pankewicz acted as the Eagles' bench boss as Head Coach Chris Stewart served a one-game suspension for his disagreement with referee Tudor Floru Friday night. Floru, who was scheduled to ref the game in Texas, was replaced by Geoff Miller.

Texas came out of the gates with guns a blazing, out shooting Colorado 14-4 in the first period. Tempers matched the heat of the Brahmas sticks at the end of the period as Tyler Allen and Riley Nelson took exception of one another earning matching fighting calls at the buzzer, with an additional roughing minor tacked on to Allen.

The Brahmas began the period with a 5-on-3 disadvantage, but the league’s top ranked PK unit was able to defer any Eagles scoring chances. With teddy bears in tow and geared to be tossed to the ice following Texas’ first goal for the Brahmas annual “Teddy Bear Toss”, Alex Curran set the toys loose when he netted his second goal of the season with a shot from the point at the 16:48 mark. Exactly one minute later Greg Hogeboom’s quick shot directly from the face off beat Kyle Jones for the Texas 2-0 lead.

A pair of goals in the third took the wind out of the Eagles sails beginning with a Dan Riedel tally five minutes into the final period. Todd Griffith took a rebound off the pipe to register his third goal with Texas; assists from Riedel and Matt Pierce. Kevin Beech’s flawless night was interrupted with 1:39 remaining in the game with a goal by Daymen Rycroft, but the Brahmas held on to their 4-1 victory to close their home stand.

With the victory, the Brahmas handed Eagles’ net minder Jones’ his first regulation loss of the season. Texas out shot Colorado 36-19.

The Brahmas now begin their December road trip starting Tuesday when they head south to take on the Laredo Bucks for a 7:oo pm face off. The Brahmas next home game is set for Saturday, December 18 when they host the Odessa Jackalopes.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith