By ROY LANG III, Journal Sports
Things started just fine in Blaine, Minnesota for the Shreveport Mudbugs. A 3-1 victory against the Minnesota Wilderness in Wednesday’s 2022-23 season opener set the stage for a great opening week. However, the Mudbugs found trouble scoring goals and left the North American Hockey League Showcase 1-3 and in last place in the South Division.
North Iowa scored a 1-0 victory on Thursday, Springfield emerged 4-2 winners on Friday and Philadelphia closed the Showcase with a 4-2 win against the Mudbugs on Saturday.
Although it wasn’t a great week for Shreveport, it was an historic event for Shreveport.
Two Shreveporters saw action during the NAHL festival.
Forward Kason Muscutt (5-11, 170) played two of the games for the Mudbugs while Brayden Cook played all four games for the Springfield Jr. Blues.
Although the Mudbugs and Jr. Blues played on Friday, the Shreveport products did not face each other. That was one of the two games Muscutt was out of the lineup.
Cook, who played two games for Shreveport and one for Springfield last season, was impressive from the jump in Blaine. The 5-foot-9, 160-pound forward picked up a pair of points, including the first NAHL goal of his career — the game-winner in Saturday’s Showcase finale for the Jr. Blues.
Last week’s 3 Stars
- Tommy Aitken, started three of four games between the pipes and gave up just a single tally in each of the first two
- Niklas Miller, scored twice in the season-opening victory
- Logan Furstenau, scored twice in the first period against Springfield
NAHL South Division standings
Amarillo (4-0-0), 8 points
Oklahoma (4-0-0), 8
El Paso (3-1-0), 6
New Mexico (3-1-0), 6
Lone Star (3-1-0), 6
Odessa (1-2-1), 3
Corpus Christi (1-3-0), 2
Shreveport (1-3-0), 2
*top four make the playoffs
Mudbugs leaders
Goals: Logan Furstenau & Niklas Miller, 2
Assists: Jaden Goldie, 2
Points: Goldie, 3
Penalty Minutes: Garrett Steele, 17
Game-winning goals: Miller, 1
Goals-against average: Tommy Aitken, 2.00
Save percentage: Aitken, .910
Up next
The Mudbugs open their home schedule with games on Friday and Saturday (7:11 p.m.) against the Amarillo Wranglers.
Contact Roy at roylangiii@yahoo.com
Photo by CHRISTI LANG, Journal Sports
