SteelHounds open home series

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They will meet the Texas Brahmas tonight, Friday
and Saturday at 7:05.

YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown SteelHounds open a three-game series with the Texas Brahmas tonight at 7:05 at the Chevrolet Centre. The other games will be played on Friday and Saturday.

The SteelHounds are 15-5-1 (31 points) overall and sit in first place in the Northeast Division of the Central Hockey League.

Texas is 12-6-0 (24 points), which is good for third place in the division. Tonight's game will mark the fourth battle between the two teams this season.

The SteelHounds have taken two of the previous three meetings against the Brahmas, with all three games taking place in North Richland Hills, Texas.

The SteelHounds defeated Texas on Oct. 28 (2-1) and Nov. 17 (3-1).

The Brahmas downed Youngstown, 5-2, on Dec. 1.

That win marked the first time in franchise history that the Brahmas defeated the SteelHounds after going 0-8-2.

The SteelHounds are coming off of a five game road trip where they went 2-3-0. The SteelHounds are 14-4-1 on the road as they prepare for their third home game.

Coach Kevin Kaminski sees this as a very important set of games for his team.

"This is a huge weekend," Kaminski said. "This is a 12-point weekend for us as we could be up 13 or by one point on the Brahmas.

"Everyone wants to go into the Christmas break on a high and feel good about their play and where they are in the standings," Kaminski said. "We need to make hay at home as the success on the road won't mean anything unless we can get it done in our building."

Goaltenders Brad Roberts and Layne Sedevie have replaced Andy Franck, who is playing for Syracuse in the American Hockey League.

Roberts finished third in the CHL in wins last season with 23. Sedevie attended SteelHounds training camp in October before signing with the Indiana Ice Miners of the Mid Atlantic Hockey League. Roberts is 2-2-0 this season while Sedevie is 2-1-0 as a SteelHound.

Captain Chris Richards leads team scoring with 27 points. Saturday's contest will mark his 150th game played as a SteelHound. In three seasons here, he has accumulated 70 goals and 155 assists for 225 points to be the all-time leader in games played, assists and points.

The Brahmas are coached by former Bossier-Shreveport captain Dan Wildfong. In his first season as a head coach, Wildfong has brought in some familiar names including assistant coach Forbes MacPherson and goaltender David Cacciola.

MacPherson was teammates with Wildfong with the Mudbugs while Cacciola was the net-minder for the Bugs during the 2005-06 campaign.

At this weekend's games, fans are encouraged to bring items to donate to Toys For Tots. Friday, the first 500 children younger than 13 will receive a free SteelHounds Youth Jersey, courtesy of Armstrong.

Saturday's game will feature the annual "Teddy Bear Toss." Fans can bring new teddy bears to throw onto the ice after the SteelHounds score their first goal. All teddy bears collected will be donated to Toys For Tots.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007