Bid on Mark Guggenberger's game-worn CHL All-Star Sweater

eBay auctions features Brahmas goalie and other All-Stars

See it here. The game-worn sweaters from the 2012 Central Hockey League All-Stars are now available for bid on eBay. Each sweater is signed by the player. Here's an opportunity to win a one-of-a-kind piece of memorabilia from what is sure to be a stellar career for the Texas Brahmas rookie netminder.

Photo Credit: Arizona Sundogs

Join the Brahmas at Hooters Monday night

Meet the players party!

Be sure to come out to Hooters in North Richland Hills on Monday, March 5 from 7:00-9:00pm for the Texas Brahmas' Meet the Players Party. This will be a great chance to mingle with the boys and let them know how much you appreciate their hard work and perseverance through thick and thin this season.

Bring an appetite, tip well and don't forget to take a moment to thank the Hooters' management for their continuing support of Texas Brahmas hockey.

Click here for a map and directions.

Mark Guggenberger had another exceptional night in goal, stopping 26 of 27 shots faced

Brahmas swat Killer Bees, 4-1

Woollard scores twice, Guggenberger is stellar in Fort Worth Face-off finale

The Texas Brahmas made up for their dismal performance last night (or was it the old rope-a-dope) at the Fort Worth Convention Center with a commanding 4-1 win tonight in the second game of the inaugural Fort Worth Face-off.

Unfortunately, the Allen Americans defeated the Laredo Bucks 5-4 in a shootout, so the Brahmas remain a point behind them and in third place. No worries there.

Mark Guggenberger was stellar in net for the Brahmas, stopping 26 of 27 shots faced for his 19th win of the season. Chad Woollard took point on offense, scoring two goals and Brendon Hodge tallied the game-winner. Woollard's two goals move him into a tie for eighth on the Central Hockey League's all-time goal-scoring list with former Tulsa Oilers winger Sylvain Naud at 279.

For me, the game started out with just the right touch - following "tough guy"Aaron Boogaard's shot on goal, the first of the game according to Pointstreak, Tyler Barr dropped gloves with the "booger", as he's affectionately called by my wife. Both earned Five Minute Majors for their efforts.

Here's a few shots of that action from TAPELEG over at Jerseys and Hockey Love:


The icing on the first period cake followed at the 13:40 mark when Chad Woollard beat Wylie Rogers to make it 1-0, assisted by Brendon Hodge and T.J. Fox. The Brahmas by the way, entered the game 21-4-3 when scoring first this season.

Woollard's tally was his first at the FWCC since 03/20/05 (the final game of the 2005-06 campaign) against the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs - yes, the final time Woollard and Wildfong played against each other (as players).

Not sure what happened, but Referee Boone Bruggman made a couple of trips to have his left side/torso looked out during the period. Brady Leavold was not in the area, so...hey, just kidding tweetheart!

The Brahmas doubled the Killer Bees' shots in the opening frame 12-6 and carried the lead into the first break.

The Brahmas nearly had a score off a shot by Brendon Hodge (I believe) at the 4:24 mark, but the puck hit off the post and Wylie Rogers managed a tremendous save by pouncing on it. The announcer called goal, which sent a host of the Brahmas bulls onto the ice, leading to a short time-out while the ice was cleared.

Hodge scored just 66 seconds later on a rebound in front of the net, assisted by Tyler Barr and Brock Meadows. Make that 2-0 Brahmas.

Following an interference call on Killer Bees defenseman Georgi Petrov, Chad Woollard scored 66 seconds into the resulting power play. T.J. Fox and Phil Fox were credited with the assists. Make that 3-0 Brahmas.

Tyler Barr opens a can of Texas Brahmas Whoop-A%! on Georgi Petrov

The Killer Bees' frustration led to a melee when Brady Leavold went after a Brahmas player (not sure who) and Chris Moran jumped in to assist, meanwhile Georgi Petrov and Tyler Barr mixed it up as well. Here's the results:

Rio Grande Valley - Georgi Petrov - (Fighting Major), 5 min, 9:28
Texas - Tyler Barr - (Fighting Major), 5 min, 9:28
Rio Grande Valley - Brady Leavold - (Instigator), 2 min, 9:28
Texas - Chris Moran - (Fighting (Intervenor) Game Misconduct), 10 min, 9:28
Rio Grande Valley - Brady Leavold - (Fighting Major), 5 min, 9:28
Rio Grande Valley - Brady Leavold - (Fighting (Instigator) Misconduct), 10 min, 9:28
Rio Grande Valley - Georgi Petrov - (Fighting (Aggressor) Game Misconduct), 10 min, 9:28
Texas - Tyler Barr - (Fighting (Aggressor) Game Misconduct), 10 min, 9:28

All four players were ejected as a result of their efforts. The 2-minute Instigator assessed on Leavold gave the Brahmas a power play but the purple and black failed to convert for a score.

The Killer Bees managed a power play score to cut the Brahmas lead to 3-1, following a Cross-checking minor was assessed on Brock Meadows. Nicolas Rioux managed to beat Guggenberger off a set up by Aaron Lee and Dan Gendur.

Shots on goal favored the Brahmas 10-8 in the middle frame.

It was mostly the Brahmas defenders in the final period who stymied chance after chance for the Killer Bees who led in shots 13-3.

Ruskowski took a chance, pulling Wylie Rogers during a late power play opportunity but the 6-on-4 advantage was fruitless as Dan Nicholls scored on the empty net to seal the final score at 4-1.

Mark Guggenberger stopped 26 of 27 shots faced and earned the win. His record goes to 19-6-3-3 with a 1.87 GAA (1st in the league) and a .927 Save Percentage (also 1st in the league).

The Brahmas were assessed 43 minutes on 9 infractions and went for 1 for 3 on the power play.

Referee: Boone Bruggman
Linesman 1: T.J. Nua
Linesman 2: Cory Piche

1st Star: Chad Woollard (2 G)
2nd Star: Brendon Hodge (1 G, 1 A)
3rd Star: Mark Guggenberger

You can view Pointstreak's Box Score here and their GameLive broadcast here.

Here's a great blog post by the aforementioned TAPELEG over at Jerseys and Hockey Love. Enjoy!

The Brahmas will return to North Richland Hills for some much-needed rest and will begin preparing for next weekend when they will host the Missouri Mavericks on Friday and the Laredo Bucks on Saturday.

Photo Credits: Top - Bob Haynes, Special to the Star-Telegram. All others - TAPELEG/Jerseys and Hockey Love

Still no magic in Cowtown

Brahmas shut out 4-0 in first game of Fort Worth Face-Off

It was six years, almost to the day that the then Fort Worth Brahmas won their last game at the Fort Worth Convention Center. On Friday, March 3, 2006, a reported 3,596 was in attendance to see Ben Gustavson steal a 3-2 win in a shootout against the Wichita Thunder. It was just the eighth win on home-ice for the hapless Brahmas who went 8-19-5 at the FWCC and would finish the 2005-06 season last in the league with a record of 17-39-8.

OK, enough of that. Excuses - don't believe in them. Time to move on. Last night's game was not representative of the 2011-12 Texas Brahmas and put whatever negative spin on the loss you'd like, but this was but a bump in the road. What to expect tonight on "home" ice (never was a fan of returning to the FWCC)? Don't know. But I'll venture to say it won't be a repeat of last night's debacle.

On the upside, the Laredo Bucks defeated the Allen Americans for the fourth consecutive time and the third third consecutive time on home ice. The Reds have now lost their last four games and will meet the Bucks again tonight at the Laredo Energy Arena. Go Bucks!

(Photo Credit: Bob Haynes/Special to the Star-Telegram)

The Brahmas honored Fort Worth hockey's past last night by wearing vintage Fort Worth Texans-style sweaters for the game. A little research might have shown that to be bad Juju as the Texans went 20-57-3 in their last campaign as a FWCC home team. I'm not superstitious, mind you (well, maybe a little).

Tomas Klempa gave the Bees a 1-0 lead 15:01 into the first period after beating Mark Guggenberger five-hole from the top of the circles. Mike Wilson and Nicolas Rioux were in on the assists.

It was the only score of the first frame, with the Brahmas taking an 8-5 shot advantage into the locker room.

Brandon Campos increased the Bees lead to two at 11:42 of the second period as he backhanded a shot past Guggenberger. The goal was initially waived off but referee Boone Bruggman quickly acknowledged his error and pointed to the net as the goal light came on.

It looked as the Bees would head to the locker room up by two, but with 20 seconds remaining in the period Dan Gendur ripped a slap shot from the top of the circles to the back of the net. The goal came as the Bees were shorthanded, due to a High Sticking call on defenseman Mike Wilson.

The Killer Bees looked like they might be in trouble at the 4:57 mark of the third period as both Brady Leavold (Spearing Double Minor) and Wylie Rogers (Throwing the Stick) were whistled for penalties at the same time. The Leavold penalty provided the Brahmas two minutes of 5-on-3 and two minutes of 5-on-4, but as we all know, that's hardly an advantage in Brahmasland and the boys were unable to convert.

Aaron Lee added his 28th goal of the season with three minutes to play to increase the Killer Bees' lead to 4-0. Leavold earned an assist on the goal.

The Bees would kill the rest of the clock, keeping the Brahmas away from their end to seal the win.

Mark Guggenberger stopped 11 of 15 shots faced and took the loss. His record goes to 18-6-3-3 with a 1.90 GAA (1st in the league) and a .926 Save Percentage (2nd in the league).

The Brahmas were assessed 12 minutes on 6 infractions and went 0 for 6 on the power play.

Referee: Boone Bruggman
Linesman 1: T.J. Nua
Linesman 2: Cory Piche

1st Star: Wylie Rogers (RGV)
2nd Star: Dan Gendur (RGV)
3rd Star: Tomas Klempa (RGV)

You can view Pointstreak's Box Score here and their GameLive broadcast here.

I spent my time preparing for Friday night's game by laying in a hospital bed (lungs) at Baylor Grapevine. Suffice it to say, I was not well enough to make the game, so there are no photos. Tonight is looking doubtful again. but I'm hopeful for a March 9th return to the action at NYTEX.

Now for a little fun, watch Mark Guggenberger "forced" out of the net by Darth Vader in this promo video for Star Wars Night at the FWCC (from Charley Rhoads on YouTube):

Top photo Credit: Fort Worth Convention Center

Guggenberger Named Sher-Wood/CHL Goaltender of the Month

Nobody did it better (cue the Carly Simon song)

The Central Hockey League announced today that Mark Guggenberger has been named the Sher-Wood/Central Hockey League Goaltender of the Month for February2012. The rookie has earned several recognitions this week being named the 50/50 Central/CHL Rookie of the Month on Thursday and also being named one of the ‘Oakley Three Stars’ for the month of Februray.

In mid-January, Guggenberger stopped 35 of 36 shots in the 2012 CHL All-Star Game earning the win in the CHL’s 6-4 victory over the Arizona Sundogs. The 22-year-old carried that momentum into the month of February where he posted a 9-1-1 record with three shutouts and a 1.23 goals against average.

His shutouts came in three consecutive games propelling Guggenberger to a CHL-record 238:31 consecutive scoreless minutes.

The Richfield, Minnesota native allowed just 15 goals in 12 games during the month of February and in 10 of those 12 games, Guggenberger allowed two goals or fewer. He had a seven-game win streak during the month that watched him allow a miniscule six goals during the seven games.

On the season, the first-year net minder is 18-5-3 with a league leading 1.82 goals against average and a league leading .930 save percentage.

Sher-Wood Central Hockey League Goaltender of the Month
Mark Guggenberger, Texas Brahmas

(February Totals)

Record – 9-1-1
Shutouts - 3
Goals Allowed – 15
Saves – 271
GAA – 1.23
Save% – .948

Photo Credit: Robert Keith

Guggenberger named 50/50 Central/CHL Rookie of the Month

Brahmas goalie went 9-1-1 in February

The Central Hockey League announced today that Texas Brahmas goaltender Mark Guggenberger has been named the recipient of the 50/50 Central/CHL Rookie of the Month for February 2012.
Guggenberger joins Evansville’s Bryan Gillis as the only two goaltenders to win the rookie monthly award (Gillis won in January).

Guggenberger, 23, amazingly allowed just 15 goals in 12 games played during the month of February finishing with a .948 save percentage and a 1.23 goals against average. The Richfield, Minnesota native’s record was 9-1-1 and during his run, he posted three consecutive shutouts. The first of the shutout string of games came on February 14th against the Brahmas' top rival, the Allen Americans, and served as Guggenberger’s first professional shutout.

As a part of Guggenberger’s shutout stretch, the CHL All-Star Game-winning goaltender set a new consecutive scoreless minute streak with 238:31. The 6-3, 208-pound goalie won the Oakley CHL Goaltender of the Week nod on February 21, complimenting his record-breaking week.

On the season, Guggenberger is 18-5-3 with a league-leading 1.82 goals against average and a league-leading .930 save percentage. His three shutouts are tied for the league lead.

Before turning pro, Guggenberger played three seasons in the Western Hockey League (WHL) earning a 40-30-5 record while playing with Kelowna, Swift Current and Portland. Last year, Guggenberger played one season of university hockey at the University of Prince Edward Island.

50/50 Central/CHL Rookie of the Month
Mark Guggenberger, Texas Brahmas

(February Totals)
Record – 9-1-1
Shutouts - 3
Goals Allowed – 15
Saves – 271
GAA – 1.23
Save% – .948

Photo Credit: Robert Keith