Laredo Bucks - CHL's only undefeated team

The Laredo Bucks shut out the Austin Ice Bats 4 - 0 at Austin's Chaparral Ice Center this Sunday afternoon.

Bucks remain the only undefeated team in the Central Hockey League with 9 consecutive wins, a record for the Laredo franchise.

Jeff Bes remains #1 in the league standings with 19 points, followed closely by Chris Korchinski in second place with 15 points.

Bes scored 2 goals and an assist in this afternoon's match up, and Steve Simoes added 2 assists as did Rane Carnegie.

Congratulations to Paul Elliott who scored his first goal of the season. Paul has consistently become an outstanding defenseman. He's solid in front of our goalie and his presence has made all the difference in goals scored against. He beautifully sweeps pucks away from all approaching opponents and effortlessly turns the play around. Good job, Paul!

On a side note... the Corpus Christi Rayz beat the other remaining undefeated team, the Youngstown Steelhounds, 3 - 2 in a shootout, this afternoon, at home, at the ABC Center. Congratulations to the Rayz. Their hard work paid off.

The Rayz and Steelhounds face the Bucks this coming Friday and Saturday, respectively, at the Laredo Entertainment Center. Two must see games, so if you haven't bought your tickets, do so now because the house will be rocking.

Saturday is event night at the LEC, and $5,000 worth of prizes will be given away. Although exciting and very much appreciated, to qualify to win the prizes donated by sponsors, you must visit all the vendors around town and have them validate a card. Only cards that have been validated by all sponsors will qualify to enter to win. I'm not too keen in putting fans through so much trouble to win prizes, with the high cost of gas as it is.

Shouldn't getting them in the arena and buying a seat be enough to qualify to win prizes? I don't understand why they have to complicate simple giveaways. This only opens the opportunity for cheaters and friends of friends to submit entries unfairly. All game tickets are labeled with a seat number. Can't all fans entering the arena qualify to win prizes by cutting this section off and dropping it in a bin from which the winners will be drawn?

I know, I know, the whole trade off idea with the sponsors is to get them to visit their businesses, but people, please use commom sense. After the last Rotary Night event, which by the way, is still being advertised scrolling on the Bucks website over a week later, it was evident that a select few were able to participate to win prizes; those who bought tickets directly from Rotary members. And the season ticket holders got squat? Mighty fine way to show your appreciation to the faithful ones who sweat, bleed, and cry Bucks juice. At the next brainstorming junket, try to keep it fun and simple. Your outlandish marketing ploys are going to get old very fast.

On a serious note, kudos to Bryan Benway who has proven to be a determined sportscaster on a mission to make the Bucks broadcasts enjoyable. His intermission interviews are always interesting, and he's been brushing up on plenty of hockey know how. It is clearly evident that he is a hard worker willing to innovate on his delivery. Gotta admire his drive. Good job, Bryan.

And good job also to the LEC crews who are bringing us a very enjoyable video and audio broadcast by way of the CHL "Nifty" Network. Your work is outstanding. No one else has the many camera angles or sound effects that you have. Standing ovation to all of you.