Game No. 1 - Bucks at Mudbugs

The 2009-10 regular season is set to begin within the next few minutes, with the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs hosting the Bucks at the CenturyTel Center in Bossier City, La.

Tonight's game, unlike the rest of the season, can be seen for free on CHL-TV. Of course, you can try to win a season pass here if you're feeling lucky. If not, you can listen to the Bucks on IMAGEN 94.1 FM or just follow the box score on Pointstreak.

Just out of curiousity, have any of you purchased CHL-TV memberships? As far as I've been told, media members can't get free access, and I definitely cannot afford those rates.

New Buck Jean-Philippe Levasseur and oft-Mudbug John DeCaro are your starting goaltenders. By the way, what is up with Pointstreak only having this season's stuff listed on player pages?

First Period: Game is under way as of about 7:11 p.m. ... Well, according to Pointstreak right now, this wasn't on a power play, but Jeff Bes just scored his first goal since his knee injury in January and did so against the team that knocked him out for the rest of the 2008-09 season. The reason I thought it could be on a man advantage is that defensemen Adam Rivet and Jarred Mohr had the assists on the score, which came at 10:43 in the period. Bucks lead 1-0 with shots tied 4-4. ... Well, the guys who made that goal possible each went to plus-1 on the plus/minus department, so I guess it was even-strength. However, they are the only ones with anything in that category, so I guess the CenturyTel officials are not on top of their game right now. ... Okay, penalties are finally being added to the box score, and it seems that was a power-play goal scored during the first of consecutive stints in the penalty box for Mike Salekin. Bes took the first penalty of the game, slashing at 2:52, and Salekin was called for slashing at 8:51 and hooking at 13:10. Salekin then fought Justin Styffe at 18:42, with Robin Richards taking on Neil Clark one second later according to the box. Seems like it's been a pretty rowdy little show over there. ... What the heck, now Lance Monych and Darryl Smith are also plus-1, with the Mudbugs who were on the ice for the goal all getting minuses. I'm a bit perplexed by the officials' logic, because unless Salekin got out of the box eight seconds early for some reason, that was not an even-strength goal. ... Okay, they changed it to a power-play goal, so I can stop rambling about that, haha.

Second Period: Sorry, got a bit busy doing stuff for the paper, but it seems I didn't miss too much. The Bucks have taken a few more penalties, with Smith called for high-sticking, Nick Klaren serving a too-many-men minor and Richards going off for slashing. Joe Zappala also took a slashing call, giving the Bucks their third power-play chance near the halfway point of the period. And, as soon as I refreshed the page, Smith has taken advantage of that to give the Bucks a 2-0 lead. Guess the power play is working out just fine. ... Smith's goal is currently listed as unassisted, and the Bucks are up 20-11 on shots. ... Evan Schwabe has just given the Bucks their first non-power-play goal of the season, knocking one in on an assist from Mohr at 16:53 in the period. Bucks lead 3-0. ... The period has ended, but not before Chris St. Croix could be called for tripping at 19:45, meaning the Bucks will have 1:45 left of a power play when the third period begins. They already lead 2-0 and have a 29-12 shot advantage, which I assume means the 20-11 figure was inaccurate. ... Okay, my apologies, that Smith goal was not on the power play, so he scored the Bucks' first even-strength goal. Regardless, they lead 3-0 with 20 minutes left to play. ... And now the third goal has been changed to Igor Agarunov, with Schwabe and Mohr getting the assists. Smith's is no longer unassisted, with Rivet and Bes getting the helpers. Hopefully things (Pointstreak-wise) will not be such a mess tomorrow night!

Third Period: And the Bucks have taken advantage of that overlapping power play to score yet another goal, this time with Monych getting his first point since re-joining the Bucks. Well, so did Mike Looby, actually. Cody Hamilton had the primary assist. The goal came at 1:09 in the period, giving the Bucks a 4-0 lead. ... Levasseur's chance for a shutout has ended, as Zappala sent one past him at 3:17 in the period. That was the Mudbugs' 13th shot of the game. Justin Aikins had what is currently the lone assist. ... Jeff MacDermid has just taken the first penalty of the period, for tripping at 5:25, to put the Bucks on their fifth power play of the game. ... Clark got called for unsportsmanlike conduct at 10:27, so now the Bucks are on power play No. 6. ... Just noticed the shot disparity has taken a hit, with the Bucks now up 36-21 in that category. ... It seems the reason behind that penalty may have been a bit more complicated than Pointstreak can reveal, as the clock is still stuck at 9:33 left in the game. ... Ummm, wow, the score is now 6-1. Monych knocked one in on assists from Bes and Smith at 14:19, then Smith scored on assists from Monych and Richards at 16:09. Did anyone see this coming? Even Coach Ruskowski seemed a bit concerned about his team heading into this. ... Salekin has been in another fight, this time with Bucks defenseman Benjamin Dieude-Fauvel. About three minutes left in the game, Bucks still lead 6-1. ... Dieude-Fauvel's penalty has been changed to a "no category game misconduct," while Salekin received a "cross checking game misconduct" in addition to his fighting major, and Clark got the same rap as Dieude-Fauvel. I get that the Mudbugs are losing their tempers, but I wonder what Dieude-Fauvel did. Was he defending the player at the bad end of that crosscheck? Considering the fact that this is where Bes was lost last season, injuries were definitely in the back of the returning Bucks' minds heading back to CenturyTel. Let's hope Salekin didn't do anything too stupid. ... Couple minutes later, Schwabe and David Pszenyczny have taken simultaneous roughing minors. It's like they know we're holding Page 3 just for this game story. Apparently the one line that hasn't done any scoring was also the one on the ice for the Mudbugs' lone goal. Forwards Nick Klaren, Justin Styffe and Neil Trimm are the Bucks' only players in the negatives as far as plus/minus goes.

Game Over: We finally have an unofficial final. Bucks win 6-1 on stellar performances by their top line, offensive defensemen and new goalie. Hopefully Bryan Benway's recap will shed some light on the game misconduct penalties. But as long as no one was hurt, what better way to start the year than a thorough beating of a perennial powerhouse for your first regular season win ever in their building? Especially for a rebuilding team, yikes. Wonder if the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees were watching this one. ... Benway's recap does not include any info about those misconducts, so I'll give Ruskowski a call tomorrow to see what I can find out. The guys should be very happy that they won, because tonight's bus ride could have been very unpleasant otherwise.