I don't have much time right now, but just wanted to acknowledge the fact that the Corpus Christi IceRays are moving to the North American Hockey League, the same junior league that is putting a franchise in Amarillo.
Not all of the details have been confirmed, but Greg Rajan from the Corpus Christi Caller-Times has the scoop and will likely provide more info on his blog later.
I am in the middle of editing two sections while also dealing with a bunch of other work, so I can't really make calls about this right now, but Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees beat writer Brian Sandalow has some initial remarks from coaches and other league figures, including Terry Ruskowski, on his Twitter account.
UPDATE: You can read Sandalow's story on the situation here. This is what Coach Ruskowski had to say to him about it:
"It’s going to hurt both of us, Rio and us. It’s a situation where cost and travel is going to go up. The rivalry won’t be there. Now there’s only two in (South Texas) and scheduling-wise it’s going to be tougher to have people coming down here just to play two teams."
I will only be able to use a blurb about the situation in sport shorts for tomorrow's paper because the front page is already full of local stuff, but I'll try to follow up on everything ASAP.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Catching Up
Sorry for the lack of posts lately; I've been pretty busy with desk work and a few stories here and there, so I haven't had much time to get on the blog. I am working on that "stay or go" post, but I figured I would try to catch up on some news for now.
First things first, the Bucks have lost a Southern Conference opponent, as the Amarillo Gorillas announced today that they will be suspending operations for the 2010-11 season.
The move was somewhat expected, as the North American Hockey League announced plans to open a franchise in Amarillo for next season a while back and apparently will officially announce that franchise's existence tomorrow.
Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees Vice President of Communications Rich Bocchini has all the info about that, as well as his take on how it will affect the Killer Bees (which is similar to how it will affect the Bucks) on his blog.
The Gorillas join the New Mexico Scorpions and Rocky Mountain Rage as "suspended" CHL franchises, while the Austin Ice Bats, who are owned by Gorillas owner Randy Sanders, are considered defunct but supposedly still looking to relocate after the Texas Stars took over the Austin scene.
Meanwhile, the Bucks are currently holding a Bucks pride contest for their fans. All you have to do is submit photos of yourself and your family wearing Bucks gear and showing your team pride to fans@laredobucks.com. Entry deadline is June 4.
Prizes include tickets to Six Flags Fiesta Texas, Sea World and Schlitterbahn.
Staff members and players who are still in town have been making appearances at local events, which you can read about every week in the team's community update.
On a more hockey-oriented front, Bryan Benway posted an interview with 2009-10 captain Adam Rivet the week before last. You can listen to that here.
Yesterday, Benway posted on his blog, saying the team is close to making its first (re-)signings for the 2010-11 season and will likely do so next week. When they will announce them, though, is likely a different story.
The Corpus Christi IceRays sent a few players to different teams this week to complete prior trades, and you can read about who went where on Greg Rajan's blog.
That should about do it for now. I'll get back to work on that "stay or go" post, which will be up here before I leave the office Friday night. And if any other Bucks news surfaces, I'll be sure to blog about it ASAP.
First things first, the Bucks have lost a Southern Conference opponent, as the Amarillo Gorillas announced today that they will be suspending operations for the 2010-11 season.
The move was somewhat expected, as the North American Hockey League announced plans to open a franchise in Amarillo for next season a while back and apparently will officially announce that franchise's existence tomorrow.
Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees Vice President of Communications Rich Bocchini has all the info about that, as well as his take on how it will affect the Killer Bees (which is similar to how it will affect the Bucks) on his blog.
The Gorillas join the New Mexico Scorpions and Rocky Mountain Rage as "suspended" CHL franchises, while the Austin Ice Bats, who are owned by Gorillas owner Randy Sanders, are considered defunct but supposedly still looking to relocate after the Texas Stars took over the Austin scene.
Meanwhile, the Bucks are currently holding a Bucks pride contest for their fans. All you have to do is submit photos of yourself and your family wearing Bucks gear and showing your team pride to fans@laredobucks.com. Entry deadline is June 4.
Prizes include tickets to Six Flags Fiesta Texas, Sea World and Schlitterbahn.
Staff members and players who are still in town have been making appearances at local events, which you can read about every week in the team's community update.
On a more hockey-oriented front, Bryan Benway posted an interview with 2009-10 captain Adam Rivet the week before last. You can listen to that here.
Yesterday, Benway posted on his blog, saying the team is close to making its first (re-)signings for the 2010-11 season and will likely do so next week. When they will announce them, though, is likely a different story.
The Corpus Christi IceRays sent a few players to different teams this week to complete prior trades, and you can read about who went where on Greg Rajan's blog.
That should about do it for now. I'll get back to work on that "stay or go" post, which will be up here before I leave the office Friday night. And if any other Bucks news surfaces, I'll be sure to blog about it ASAP.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Rush Win Presidents' Cup
The 2009-10 Central Hockey League season came to a close in dramatic fashion last night as the Rapid City Rush rallied to a 4-3 double-overtime win over the Allen Americans in Game 6 of the Ray Miron Presidents' Cup Finals.
The Americans jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period, but could not hold on, and with just 32 seconds left in the second OT period, Scott Wray scored to give the Rush the CHL title in the franchise's second year of existence.
You can read more about Wray here, the game here and here and the finals as a whole here and in today's "Shots from the Point."
Though the Bucks do not get to say they lost to the eventual league champs, they did lose the eventual conference champions, so that's something.
Did any of you watch the game last night? I was not able to for a variety of reasons, but it seems to have been quite a thriller.
The Americans jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period, but could not hold on, and with just 32 seconds left in the second OT period, Scott Wray scored to give the Rush the CHL title in the franchise's second year of existence.
You can read more about Wray here, the game here and here and the finals as a whole here and in today's "Shots from the Point."
Though the Bucks do not get to say they lost to the eventual league champs, they did lose the eventual conference champions, so that's something.
Did any of you watch the game last night? I was not able to for a variety of reasons, but it seems to have been quite a thriller.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
LMT Sports Page On Facebook
Though this isn't the biggest season for Bucks news, I just wanted to let those of you who read this blog know that the LMT sports section now has a Facebook page.
You can find it here, and "like" it to receive Laredo sports news updates in your Facebook news feed.
We will post all Bucks news on that page, as well as to our Twitter account, and sometimes, those pages may be updated before this blog.
Additionally, Facebook allows for us to have photo albums; I have already uploaded a lot of the Bucks JPEGs we have from this season, and I will upload more from this season and years past as I find them.
You can also upload your own fan photos, whether they be game action shots, pictures from team events or photos of you with your favorite Bucks players.
I have been working on this page for the past few days, and I think it's actually pretty neat, because it gives us a lot more freedom than the LMT 956 Sports website, and we can tag photos and stats/results to the players participating in games.
If you have a Facebook account, check out our page, and "like" it if you'd like to receive our updates and be able to share your photos or opinions. Thanks!
You can find it here, and "like" it to receive Laredo sports news updates in your Facebook news feed.
We will post all Bucks news on that page, as well as to our Twitter account, and sometimes, those pages may be updated before this blog.
Additionally, Facebook allows for us to have photo albums; I have already uploaded a lot of the Bucks JPEGs we have from this season, and I will upload more from this season and years past as I find them.
You can also upload your own fan photos, whether they be game action shots, pictures from team events or photos of you with your favorite Bucks players.
I have been working on this page for the past few days, and I think it's actually pretty neat, because it gives us a lot more freedom than the LMT 956 Sports website, and we can tag photos and stats/results to the players participating in games.
If you have a Facebook account, check out our page, and "like" it if you'd like to receive our updates and be able to share your photos or opinions. Thanks!
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Rush Take Series Lead
The Rapid City Rush continued their trend of winning every game in the Ray Miron Presidents' Cup Finals during which they score more than two goals with a dominant 7-2 victory over the Allen Americans in Game 5 tonight.
They now lead the series 3-2 heading back to Rapid City, where they will have a chance to win a title in Game 6 on Tuesday.
The Rush were outshot 26-22 tonight but managed to get seven of those 22 shots into the back of the net to take their first lead of the series.
You can read more about the game here.
They now lead the series 3-2 heading back to Rapid City, where they will have a chance to win a title in Game 6 on Tuesday.
The Rush were outshot 26-22 tonight but managed to get seven of those 22 shots into the back of the net to take their first lead of the series.
You can read more about the game here.
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