News and Notes

This just came through on the AP wire, so I'm going to be a bit weepy for the rest of the night. FYI, I am leaving Laredo at 4:30 a.m. on Sunday to catch a flight at 8:30 a.m. to get somewhere in time for the All-Star Game that was originally scheduled for 1 p.m. EST then moved to 7 p.m. EST before this decision just ruined it all.

Yes, I know it's better to have him sit this out than lose him for regular season games, but he's 21 years old and should be able to enjoy this but instead is missing it in spite of being the top vote getter for the second straight year.

Meanwhile, the Corpus Christi IceRays have have traded right wing Mike Zbriger to the Wichita Thunder in exchange for forward Chris Greene.

As you may remember, the Bucks acquired Alex Goupil from the Thunder a bit past this time last year, and we all know how that worked out for them, so we'll see if Greene can do anything similar for the IceRays.

With 36 games under his belt with the Thunder this season, Greene had four goals and 15 assists for 19 points, while Zbriger had 13 goals and 16 assists for 29 points in his 36 games with the IceRays. Greene has a plus/minus of minus-12, while Zbriger is a minus-10, but it should be noted that Greene played on a team that has only two players in positive numbers as far as that goes.

The things it seems the IceRays were looking for are intangibles that don't show up on the score sheet, as Greg Rajan notes in his blog post about the trade. In his next post, he mentions that the IceRays also got rookie defenseman John Adams back from the Houston Aeros and don't even have to use a roster spot on him just yet, and also shares IceRays coach Sylvain Cloutier's thoughts on his newest addition:

"We get bigger and he's one of those guys who works hard and is a pain I the butt to play against. I think we needed one of those guys and he'll complement some of our other forwards. We're in playoff mode now and need to win games, so we need that (element). And we needed to improve defensively. He's a bigger guy and can battle down (low). I think that's a good pickup for us."

Guys who are a pain in the butt to play against are usually a plus, so I'll keep an eye on his PIMs and whatnot this weekend to get an idea of what he'll be bringing to Laredo next weekend.

The IceRays won their game last night, the first of four straight on the road, without Adams or Greene present as they topped the Rapid City Rush in a 5-2 victory.

Zbriger had a goal in the win, but it was only his third in 19 games.

With the victory, the IceRays (15-18-4, 34 points) pulled within six points of the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees (18-15-4, 40 pts.) for third place in the Southeast Division standings.

The Killer Bees had a chance to pull within six points of the second-place Bucks (22-11-4, 48 pts.) on Tuesday, but they fell in a 4-3 overtime game against the Tulsa Oilers. That coupled with the Bucks' win last night got the Bucks back to eight points ahead.

And, of course, the Brahmas (24-10-4, 52 pts.) are still on top but have played one more game than each of the other three teams in the division.

The Bucks are off tomorrow night due to some prior rescheduling, but they will be practicing tomorrow in Mississippi before watching the Killer Bees take on the RiverKings tomorrow night.

In other divisional action, the Brahmas will be at the Amarillo Gorillas, and the IceRays are at the Rocky Mountain Rage.

Oh, and according to Rajan's notebook, Dustin Traylen shouldn't be popping up anywhere else in the CHL, as he is headed home to Quebec to go back to school.

Tonight's CHL Score: Mudbugs 4, Oilers 1.