Brahmas to host end-of-season party at Big Barn BBQ

Team caps off eventful season

The Brahmas’ playoff run came to an end Monday night, but the team will officially close out the season with a fan and player appreciation party at Big Barn BBQ (8021 Main Street, North Richland Hills, 76182) Wednesday, April 25 at 6:00pm.

All Brahmas’ fans will receive a special price of five dollars for a buffet. The party at Big Barn will also include a jersey auction, offering up the Brahmas’ game jerseys to the highest bidders.

The 2011-12 campaign was a season to remember for the Brahmas. The team earned a playoff berth for the fifth consecutive season since relocating to North Richland Hills and advanced in the postseason for the first time since 2009 when it won the Ray Miron President’s Cup.

Texas faced its cross-town adversaries, the Allen Americans, in the opening round for the first time in the rivalry’s history and defeated them in six games to advance to the Berry Conference Finals.

Player Achievements: Chad Woollard climbed the CHL’s all-time goal-scoring list, moving into sole possession of eighth place with 281 scores. Woollard is just four goals shy of tying Riley Nelson for seventh.

It was also a record-breaking season for the Brahmas’ rookie netminder Mark Guggenberger, as well. The Richfield, Minnesota native won the CHL’s Rookie of the Year and Most Outstanding Goaltender Awards, while also earning All-CHL and All-Rookie honors. Guggenberger won Goalie of the Month for February, earning three consecutive shutouts and setting a CHL all-time mark with 238:31 consecutive scoreless minutes.

First-year Brahma T.J. Fox, who led the team with 37 assists in the regular season, scored a team-high six goals and recorded eight points in the postseason. Fox netted three game-winning goals in the playoffs, the most in the CHL.

Fort Worth Faceoff: After a seven-year hiatus, the Brahmas returned to Cowtown this season to play two games at the Fort Worth Convention Center in early March. In two nights, over 11,000 fans attended in support of the Fort Worth Faceoff, including the 501st Legion on Star Wars Night March 3rd. The Brahmas donned limited edition Fort Worth Brahmas jerseys one night and paid tribute to hockey history in North Texas by wearing Fort Worth Texans sweaters the second night.

Robinson's OT goal sends Wichita to CHL Final

 
Thunder closes out Brahmas with 3-2 win

For the first time since 1998, the Wichita Thunder are headed to the Central Hockey League Ray Miron President's Cup Final.

Matt Robinson’s unassisted goal off of his own rebound 4:44 into overtime gave Wichita a 3-2 win over the Texas Brahmas and a 4-2 series win, silencing the 2,003 fans at the NYTEX Sports Centre on Monday night.

Chris Chappell led the way for the Thunder with a goal and assist while Robinson and Chris Greene also added goals. Kevin Seibel, Kevin Young and Matt Summers all provided assists for Wichita.

Goaltender Adam Russo was solid in net, stopping 32 of 34 shots as the Brahmas out-paced the Thunder 34-28 in the shot department.

The Thunder’s three goals all came in different fashions, with one at even strength, one on the power play and one shorthanded. Wichita’s power play unit showed improvement, going 1-3 while scoring on the man advantage for the second-straight game. Prior to game five of the series the Thunder were 0-13 on the power play in the series. Texas struggled on the power play, coming up short on four attempts, including a man advantage situation that stretched from the final seconds of regulation and into the overtime period.

The first period saw neither team score as Texas jumped out to an 11-8 shot advantage over Wichita.

The Thunder jumped on the board first on Chappell’s power play goal 2:43 into the second period after Texas defenseman Erik Spady was assessed seven penalty minutes and a game misconduct for instigating a fight. With the penalty time carrying over into the middle frame, Chappell snapped a wrist shot from the slot, beating Brahmas goalie Brad Fogal to make it 1-0.

Texas wasted little time, though, as Adam Hogg put the puck past Russo just under two minutes later to tie.

Greene added a shorthanded goal late in the period to give Wichita a 2-1 lead heading into the second intermission. With four minutes left in the period, Greene took a pass from Chappell near the redline then moved around a defender and placed a shot over Fogal for the goal.

Brendon Hodge evened things up 5:40 into the third period, taking a pass from Brett Findlay and scoring on Russo to make it 2-2. After killing off a hooking penalty assessed to Jarred Mohr with two-seconds remaining in regulation, Robinson became the hero with his second post-season goal. Robinson made a play at the blue line, keeping the puck in the attacking zone, then jumped on his own rebound in the slot and knocked home the game winner for the Thunder.

Brad Fogal stopped 25 of 28 shots faced and takes the loss.

The Brahmas were assessed 29 minutes on 5 infractions and went 0 for 4 on the power play.

Referee: Boone Bruggman
Linesman 1: John Grandt
Linesman 2: Cory Piche

1st Star: Matt Robinson (WIC)
2nd Star: Chris Chappell (WIC)
3rd Star: Brad Fogal 

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

Special thanks to Pro Hockey News' John Hall for the game write-up.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith

Chappell's OT goal lifts Thunder to 2-1 win

Wichita pushes Texas to brink of elimination

Wichita’s Chris Chappell scored 1:59 into overtime to lift the Thunder over the Texas Brahmas 2-1 in front of a crowd of 4,010 at Intrust Bank Arena on Saturday night.

The win gives Wichita a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven Central Hockey League Berry Conference Final as the Thunder moved the Brahmas closer towards the brink of elimination.

Thunder goaltender Adam Russo turned away 20 shots, including 11 of 12 he faced in the third period while Wichita out-shot Texas 26-21 on the night. Both squads were one-for-four on the power play as each team had a regulation marker while on the man advantage. Wichita’s power play goal marked the team’s first in the series and just their second this post-season.

One night after two Thunder players were ejected from Game Four, the two teams combined for just 16 penalty minutes on eight penalties.

The limited power play chances proved to be key in the battle. With T.J. Fox in the box serving a tripping penalty mid-way through the opening period, Wichita’s Daniel Tetrault scored on the man advantage, giving the Thunder a 1-0 lead.Thomas Beauregard, extending his point streak to 10 games, jumped on a loose puck at 12:11 and sent it to Tetrault who beat Texas goalie Brad Fogal for the score. The goal marked the first time in ten post-season games that Wichita opened the scoring.

The Brahmas held a 7-6 shot advantage in the first period, but could not convert on three power play chances as the Thunder took a 1-0 lead into the locker room at the first intermission.

The score remained the same going into the second intermission after neither team could put the puck in the net during the second period. Wichita out-shot Texas 9-2 in the middle frame, but could not solve Fogal despite two power play opportunities.

As the clock wound down in the third, Texas would finally answer when Brett Findlay found the net at 12:54 while on the power play. With Wichita’s Dustin Donaghy serving a two-minute minor for tripping, Andrew Lackner fired a shot from near the left circle that bounced off of a diving Russo and directly to the stick of Findlay. Findlay then tapped the puck into the open net, giving the Brahmas their first third-period goal in the series and tying the game 1-1.

Two-minutes into the extra-period, Chappell picked up a rebound just inside the left circle and lifted the game-winner over Fogal’s right shoulder, prompting a loud roar from the crowd and a wild celebration with his teammates.

Brad Fogal stopped 24 of 26 shots faced and takes the loss.

The Brahmas were assessed 8 minutes on 4 infractions and went 1 for 4 on the power play.

Referee: Peter Tarnaris

Linesman 1: Kyle DeMaggio
Linesman 2: Shawn Morgan

1st Star: Chris Chappell (WIC)
2nd Star: Adam Russo (WIC)
3rd Star: Daniel Tetrault (WIC)

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

The series shifts back to the NYTEX Sports Centre for Game Six on Monday with the opening face off set for 7:00 pm CST.

Special thanks to Pro Hockey News' John Hall for the game write-up.

Brad Fogal is run down by the Thunder's Chris Greene

Brahmas take Game Four at the Shoebox, 2-1

T.J. Fox scores his third game-winner of the post-season

In a tightly contested defensive struggle, the Texas Brahmas clawed out a 2-1 win over the Wichita Thunder evening their best-of-7 series at two wins apiece. The game saw the two teams record a combined 31 shots on goal (19 for Texas and 12 for Wichita).

Wichita’s typically potent offense registered just five shots in the opening period, five shots in the middle frame and just two shots in the final period. The Brahmas kept up the trend of striking first netting the game’s first goal for the fourth straight time.

Wichita has now allowed the first goal in all nine playoff games they have played this post-season. Texas’ goal came off the stick of Erik Spady with his team on the power play. It was Spady’s second goal of the playoffs with Brett Findlay and Andrew Lackner earning the assists.

The goal came after a five minute major for charging assessed to Chris Greene, a key member of the Thunder’s attack with seven points (2-5=7) in the eight games prior to Friday. The Thunder had a second major called against them in the third period with defenseman Kevin Seibel getting whistled for a kneeing major. Both Greene and Seibel’s majors were accompanied by a game misconduct ending their nights early.

With the score 1-0, Wichita would get even. Thomas Beauregard extended his point streak to seven games with his fourth goal of the post-season. It was scored at the 15:30 mark assisted by Daniel Tetrault and Chris Chappell.

In the second period, the Brahmas would regain the advantage with T.J. Fox scoring his team-best sixth goal of the playoffs and third game winnner. Chad Woollard and Adam Hogg earned the assists.

Brad Fogal stopped 11 of 12 shots faced and earned the win.

The Brahmas were assessed 8 minutes on 4 infractions and went 1 for 6 on the power play.

Referee: Mark-Andre Lavoie
Linesman 1: Kyle DeMaggio
Linesman 2:Cory Piche

1st Star: Mike Hellyer (1 G)
2nd Star: Andrew Lackner (1 G)
3rd Star: Adam Hogg (1 G)

You can view Pointstreak's Box Score here and their GameLive broadcast here. You can view my photos from the game here.

Game Five of the best-of-seven series is set for a 7:05 pm CST face-off on Saturday night at the Intrust Bank Center in Wichita.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith

Brahmas hold on tight for 3-2 win against Thunder

Hellyer nets second post-season game-winner

The Texas Brahmas managed to hold off the Wichita Thunder's third period comeback tonight and earned their first win in the Berry Conference Finals by a score of 3-2.

Brad Fogal stopped 18 of 20 shots faced to earn his fourth post-season win  and Mike Hellyer tallied his second game-winning goal in the playoffs.

There was no scoring in the opening frame in which the Thunder led in shots,
9-3. The Brahmas took control with a 12-4 shot advantage and three unanswered goals in the second period.

Adam Hogg scored his second goal in as many games to give the Brahmas a 1-0 lead at the 6:34 mark, assisted by Chad Woollard and Erik Spady.

Andrew Lackner put the Brahmas up 2-0 less five minutes later off the set up by Calin Wild and Sy Nutkevitch at the 11:30 mark. It was Lackner's second tally of the post-season.

The Brahmas extended their lead to 3-0 when Mike Hellyer fired a backhanded scoop shot past Wichita net minder Adam Russo with 2:40 remaining in the middle frame. Brett Findlay and Brendon Hodge were credited with the assists.

Wichita found their way onto the scoreboard when Kevin Young picked up a loose puck in front of the Brahmas' net and beat Brad Fogal 2:32 into the third period. Thomas Beauregard and Alex Bourret assisted on the play.

The Thunder then cut the Brahmas’ lead to 3-2 at 15:33 as an R.G. Flath wrister found the back of the net. Beauregard and Jarred Mohr were in on the assists.

Despite the late surge, the Brahmas second-period scoring was enough to get them their first win of the best-of-seven series.

Brad Fogal stopped 18 of 20 shots faced and earned the win.

The Brahmas were assessed 8 minutes on 4 infractions and went 0 for 1 on the power play.

Referee: Zak Blazic
Linesman 1: Shawn Morgan
Linesman 2: Kyle DeMaggio

1st Star: Mike Hellyer (1 G)
2nd Star: Andrew Lackner (1 G)
3rd Star: Adam Hogg (1 G)

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

Game Four of the best-of-seven series is set for a 7:30 pm CST face-off on Friday night at the NYTEX Sports Centre.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith

Brahmas blown out by Thunder, 8-1

Wichita takes 2-0 lead in Berry Conference Finals

To borrow a phrase that my wife loves to use, the Texas Brahmas were collectively junk-punched in their man business tonight by the Wichita Thunder. A seven goal second period? Good enough for a league playoff record. Good for them. For the purple and black, as well as their fans, it was a night of frustration - to say the least.

As has been their modus operandi this post-season, Wichita fell behind before catching up with their opponent and ultimately posting a victory. Texas forward Adam Hogg struck first, putting the Brahmas up 1-0 just 2:47 into the opening period. Hogg took a hand-off pass in the slot from Mike Hellyer then skated in on net, beating Adam Russo glove side.

The Thunder evened the score 10-minutes later on a penalty shot by Matt Robinson. While streaking towards the net on a breakaway, Robinson was pulled down by T.J. Fox, prompting a showdown with net minder Brad Fogal. Robinson then beat Fogal through the legs on the penalty shot, making it 1-1 with 7:03 remaining in the first.

The Brahmas had a 13-6 shot advantage in the opening frame.

Alex Bourret’s marker 1:18 into the second frame would be the eventual game-winner. With Chris Greene in the penalty box serving a minor for cross checking, Bourret took a feed from Jarred Mohr and got ahead of Brendon Hodge before putting the puck top shelf to Fogal’s stick-side, giving the Thunder a 2-1 lead.

Aaron Davis and Thomas Beauregard then traded a pair of goals each in a seven-minute span, solidifying Wichita’s lead. 8:24 into the period Davis, in just his second game of the post-season, took a pass behind the net from Matt Robinson and let lose a shot from a tough angle to the right of Fogal that trickled into the net.

Suddenly down 3-1, Brahmas Head Coach Dan Wildfong replaced Fogal with Mark Guggenberger. Just under four-minutes later, Beauregard scored on a snap shot from the right face-off dot, before adding another goal two-minutes later from the slot. Bourret picked up the primary assist on both goals.

Davis added his second of the night a minute and a half later, beating Guggenberger glove-side on a one-timer from the right circle, making it 6-1.

Matt Summers got in on the action at the 17:19 mark, scoring his first of the post-season on a tip-in goal from point blank range.

Greene’s shorthanded marker with 12-seconds remaining added insult to injury, making it 8-1. Greene skated in on Guggenberger on a breakaway and lifted the puck into the net on a backhanded shot above Guggenberger’s right shoulder.

Tempers flared in the third period as Wichita was assessed two game misconducts and both teams were later saddled with double minors for roughing. Wichita’s Justin Sawyer and Erick Lizon both were given game misconducts for their roles in a fight with Ryan Hand at the 5:56 mark of the third. Mohr and Hogg later received matching double minors for roughing at 16:01.

Wichita had a 12-10 shot advantage in the middle period but the Brahmas had a futile 7-3 advantage in the third and a 30-21 lead in the game. Neither team would find the net in the final period and the 8-1 score held as the final tally.

Brad Fogal stopped 6 of 9 shots faced in 28:45 of play and takes the loss. Mark Guggenberger stopped 7 of 12 shots faced in 31:15.

The Brahmas were assessed 19 minutes on 8 infractions and went 0 for 6 on the power play.

Referee: Boone Bruggman
Linesman 1: John Grandt
Linesman 2: Shawn Morgan

1st Star: Alex Bourret (WIC)
2nd Star: Thomas Beauregard (WIC)
3rd Star: Aaron Davis (WIC)

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

Game Three of the best-of-seven series is set for a 7:00 pm CST face-off on Wednesday at the NYTEX Sports Centre.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith. Special thanks to Pro Hockey News' John Hall for the game description.