Penner, Eagles ready for Mudbugs

BY HAP FRY • HapFry@coloradoan.com • March 24, 2010 (courtesy of www.coloradoan.com)

LOVELAND - Andrew Penner isn't one to take preparing for any opponent lightly, let alone against a playoff foe.

Still, the second-year Colorado Eagles goaltender figures to pay extra close attention to the video he will view the next couple of days on the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, who will be the Eagles' opponent in the Central Hockey League's Northern Conference Semifinals that open Friday at the Budweiser Events Center.

"I haven't seen them yet this season," Penner said. "I'm definitely looking forward to watching some video on them so I can see what some of their tendencies are."

Colorado and Bossier-Shreveport squared off three times in the regular season with the Eagles taking two of three games.

Penner did not play in any of the three because he was called up by the Springfield Falcons of the American Hockey League in the middle of January and did not return to the Eagles until early February after the two teams had played all three regular-season games.

That's not to say Penner doesn't know what he's up against. Colorado opened the 2009 postseason with a four-game sweep of the Mudbugs with Penner in goal.

"They're a good team," Penner said. "They had a good stretch to end the regular season. I expect to see a lot of what we saw from them last year."

While the Eagles swept the Mudbugs, all four games were decided by one goal.

"We got a lot of timely goals, which is what you need in the playoffs, but that was last year and this is this year," Eagles veteran forward Ryan Tobler said. You always know what you're going to get out of them. They play tight defense and shoot a lot of shots on goal."

Unlike last year, the Eagles don't enter the postseason as the owner of the Governor's Cup for best regular-season record. They are the No. 2 seed in the Northern Conference behind Rapid City.

The Eagles, however, do enter the playoffs playing some of their best hockey after closing out the regular season by winning seven of eight.

"We're playing really well right now," Eagles coach Kevin McClelland said. "We're playing with a lot of confidence which is what you want to have when you enter the playoffs. They (Mudbugs) are a heckuva hockey team so we've got to play with confidence and play our game."'

While Bossier-Shreveport does feature capable scorers in Shawn Limpright and Joe Blaznek and solid goaltenders in John DeCaro and Ken Carroll, the most important thing for the Eagles to focus on is playing their game.

"Maybe we're not the favorites this year, so there's something for us to prove," Tobler said. "We play all year for this time of year. That's how its always been with this team."