All-Star Game

Pre-game: The CHL players were out on the ice for warmups at 6:22 p.m., and the South Texas guys came out a few minutes later. From what I've been told, the game will start approximately one hour from now. I'd say there are approximately 50 people in the stands at this point. ... The TV broadcast went live at 7, and if there are more than 1,000 people here now, some are hiding from me. Unsurprisingly enough, referee Tom Steinel got booed upon being introduced, and the PA announcer made "Leveille" sound like a far less pretty name than it should. Okay, most of the CHL guys had their names pronounced wrong. ... South Texas guys are all getting cheered quite a bit; seems there might be just as many out-of-town fans in the arena as those from Laredo. It looks a lot more crowded with the lights off, maybe some more people have arrived. ... I completely forgot Bryan Benway told me a mariachi band is performing "O Canada" until they came out on the ice right now. Should be interesting. ... Glenn Hart out to drop the ceremonial first puck pretty close to the 7:24 start time I was given.

First Period: Joel Martin has made the first play worth noting, a nice save on a puck trying to go five-hole after a rush back into his crease, less than a minute into the game. The three Rio Grande Valley forwards (Jesse Bennefield, Grant Goeckner-Zoeller and Sean Muncy) are out together, while the other lines for South Texas are Jeff Bes-Darryl Smith-Justin Quenneville and Ryan Garbutt-Evan Schwabe-Jereme Tendler. ... Defensive pairings for South Texas appear to be Kyle Peto-Jason Tessier, Jarred Mohr-Adam Rivet and Nathan Ansell-Tom Sawatske. Not leaving a whole lot to the imagination there. ... Another great save by Martin, this one on Muncy from close range. ... South Texas has a 9-1 shot lead just over five minutes into the game. ... Smoke from the opening "pyrotechnics" still leaving a clowd over the LEC. ... I meant to note the fact that the Eagles looked ridiculously good together at practice this morning, and they just did it again, absolutely destroying the South Texas D for the first goal of the game. Aaron Schneekloth scored it, Riley Nelson set it up, and Kevin Ulanski - who, by the way, sports a mullet - sent it over to him. CHL leads 1-0 at 6:09 in the period. You can find the box score here, by the way. ... Make that 2-0 on a nice shot from between the circles by Arizona Sundogs defenseman Jon Landry, who seemed to drag the puck up before whipping it past Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees goaltender Andy Franck. Allen Americans forwards Justin Bowers and Bruce Graham set that one up, again making the CHL team the one to capitalize on the team familiarity the South Texas team should have working for it. ... Wow, Martin is on fire right now. Stopped a cross-crease tic-tac-toe play with none of his d-men in sight, then set up to save another shot just seconds later. He's stopped 14 so far. ... Two more nice stops, a pad-blocker combo save on Schwabe, who was breaking in 2-on-0 with Ansell, and then another on a shot from the slot. ... Goeckner-Zoeller just got a backhand on net, the first shot in a couple minutes, and Martin stopped it with ease. ... Another 2-on-1 thwarted by Martin. ... He's now up to 20 saves after stopping Smith on a setup by Bes. ... Goeckner-Zoeller and Bennefield just walked in on Martin with no one else between them and the net, and somehow, he stopped that chance, too. Wonder if Coach McClelland's going to wish he could keep him in for another period after this showing. ... Seriously, since when was I such a jinx? I think it's the blog, not me. A laser wrist shot by Smith, who was skating in toward the goal line on Martin's left side, just beat Martin to cut the lead to 2-1 at 18:34 in the period. Peto and Quenneville get the assists. That was the 25th shot Martin faced. ... End of the period, CHL leads 2-1, South Texas up 28-13 on shots.

Second Period: Ken Carroll of the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs in goal for the CHL All-Stars now. ... Only took two shots on him to get a goal, with Tendler ripping one over his left shoulder at 2:01 in the period to tie the game at 2. Garbutt gets what is currently the lone assist. ... Another hometown boy has scored, with Schwabe getting one by Carroll on a big fake-out move. Carroll appeared to have cleared the puck away from his net, but it went in off defenseman Andrew Smale of the Amarillo Gorillas. Peto has what is currently the lone assist. ... South Texas generating some good chances getting the puck on net and hanging around trying to knock it in, but the score remains 3-2. ... Smith nearly deflected a shot in for a second goal, but Carroll was in just the right place to stop it. ... Kevin Nastiuk of the Corpus Christi IceRays entering the game at 9:45 in the second period. ... South Texas has built up a 37-17 lead on shots. ... Sean Muncy has added to the South Texas lead with a goal on a nice feed from Quenneville, who got the puck from Peto. South Texas up 4-2 with under two minutes to go in the second. ... End of the period, South Texas leads 4-2, up 44-21 on shots.

Third Period: Danny Battochio of the Rapid City Rush is now in goal for the CHL team. ... And Muncy now has his second of the night after banking the puck into the net off Battochio. Goeckner-Zoeller gets what is currently the lone assist, and it might have been all Killer Bees on the ice for South Texas at that point. ... Bennefield just got a breakaway and was stopped, as was Goeckner-Zoeller on a similar chance right before that Muncy goal. ... The CHL team is finally back to half the shots that the South Texas team has taken at 25-50. ... Greg Rajan just pointed out the fact that Schwabe limped off the ice with 4:53 left in the second period and hasn't been out there yet in this one. Not the best thing for the Bucks right now, I'll keep you posted. ... These goals aren't really being scored the way you'd expect them to be in an All-Star Game, but the South Texas team has taken a 6-2 lead on one by Bennefield from just inside the right circle. Goeckner-Zoeller gets one assist, but they're giving Tessier the second... and he wasn't out there. Rivet was, though, and his number is the closest to Tessier's, so that might be going to him. ... And we have a penalty. At 10:08 in the period, T.J. Caig is going to the box for a trip to put South Texas on the power play. ... And now South Texas leads 7-2 after Garbutt beat Battochio glove side on a nice wrister. He and Quenneville bounced it back and forth before he took the shot, so Quenneville gets the primary assist for his third point of the night, and Muncy gets the second for his third. Peto also has three points, all assists. ... Lead now 7-3 after Caig jammed in a rebound off a shot by Rush forward Les Reaney. Odessa Jackalopes forward Dominic Leveille gets the other assist. ... Didn't take the long to get that one back, as the South Texas All-Stars have made it 8-3 just 37 seconds later. They're giving it to Bes, but Muncy went first in the fist bump line and was positioned in a place where he could have gotten a piece of it, so we'll see. Ansell gets an assist either way. ... This has finally turned into the back-and-forth scoring game we were told to expect, though a little late in the evening. Lead now 8-4 at 15:13 on a goal by Missouri Mavericks forward Jeff Christian. Landry and Texas Brahmas forward Jordan Cameron get the assists on that one. ... Random at this point, but Jean-Philippe Levasseur picked up his first win with the Springfield Falcons tonight, saving 34 shots in a 4-3 victory. ... Not content to only double their opponent's score, the South Texas team has tacked one more on, with Goeckner-Zoeller backhanding a rebound past Battochio. Ansell gets what is currently the lone assist.

Game Over: South Texas wins, 9-4. Muncy and Martin are the MVPs.

Update: Schwabe went to the hospital for X-rays, returned on crutches and will miss at least a couple weeks. Curtis Billsten will return to the lineup this weekend, but the Bucks will once again be one forward short. ... My notebook got scrapped at the last minute, so I have a TON more leftover stuff to share with you when I have the time to type it all. ... Attendance was 3,984, quite a bit shy of what everyone wanted and the average for an All-Star Game. ... Colorado Eagles netminder Andrew Penner has been called up to the Falcons, but don't get too excited just yet. They've exhibited some faith in Levasseur, and Aaron Sorochan seems more likely to get demoted than he does, especially after getting them a win tonight. We'll see how that progresses.