The 2003-2004 Central Hockey League Ray Miron President’s Cup Finals begin tonight, as the Laredo Bucks welcome the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs to the Laredo Entertainment Center in Game One of the best of seven series. Game One is key, as both clubs will look to get the first of the four wins needed to win the CHL title. Game time is 7:30 PM, and live audio and video for the entire title series is available by visiting CHLTV.com.


Bucks Coach Terry Ruskowski in Today’s Laredo Morning Times:
“We know it’s going to be a battle with Bossier-Shreveport. They are hard working, talented and they are good defensively. They also have a great goalie, so we know it’s going to be a battle all the way. Nothing is going to come easy.”

Mudbugs Coach Scott Muscutt in Today’s Shreveport Times:
"Laredo is a powerhouse. Every guy in their lineup can score goals. We want to be able to muck it up and take the body. It's something since Day 1, we've taken a lot of pride in. It's a matter of pride. This is what we do well and we're happy to say we do it."

Game One Live BoxScore: Bossier-Shreveport @ Laredo

Today’s Laredo Morning Times Coverage

Today’s Shreveport Times Coverage

Offensively, Laredo is the CHL’s highest scoring team and boasts five players with over 50 points in the regular season, including scoring champion and CHL Most Valuable Player Jeff Bes. Bossier-Shreveport isn’t as high powered, but does have a deep and balanced core of forwards with a knack for coming up with key goals at the most opportune time. On defense, these are two rock solid clubs who finished 1-2 in the CHL in average goals against, so goals are unlikely to come easy for either squad.

A key component to determining this year’s CHL champion will be goaltending, with Laredo’s CHL Rookie of the Year David Guerrera and Bossier-Shreveport’s Ken Carroll taking center stage. Guerrera has played well in the post-season, but hasn’t faced nearly as much action (125 shots) as the playoff-tested Carroll (252). In series’ against Rio Grande Valley and Amarillo, the Bucks held a decided shot advantage which is likely to become more balanced in the finals. Carroll came up with several key outings when the Mudbugs needed him most, including a 27 save performance in Bossier-Shreveport’s 3-1 Game 5 win over Indianapolis, and a 33 save shutout outing in Game Five of the Northern Conference Finals to close out the Wichita Thunder.

Both clubs enjoy outstanding special teams, which may ultimately play the most important role in the series. The Bucks and Mudbugs have each recorded 10 power play goals in the post-season, and have been adept on the penalty kill. Bossier-Shreveport leads with a 95.08 penalty kill percentage, only allowing three goals on 61 shorthanded situations, while Laredo has been nearly as good, killing off five of 56 opposition chances (91.07 %). The Bucks have scored three times while shorthanded in the playoffs, and the Mudbugs once.

The last times the clubs met, on March 9th in Laredo, the Mudbugs posted a 4-1 win in Laredo that ended the Bucks CHL record 21-game winning streak and saw the clubs combine for 106 penalty minutes in an extremely physical meeting. Expect more of the same throughout the series as the clubs battle to become 2003-2004 CHL Ray Miron President’s Cup Champions.