By ROY LANG III, Journal Sports
For months, Jason Campbell, armed with a whip, rode the Shreveport Mudbugs in an effort to help them exit an early-season slump. Now, the head coach is behind the bench for the hottest team in the North American Hockey League.
How does the coaching approach change?
It doesn’t.
“It’s still a lot of the same stuff,” Campbell said, after the Mudbugs posted a convincing sweep of El Paso — by scores of 5-0 and 6-1 — to push the team’s win streak to six games. “The timing is down, the cohesion of the lines is pretty good – guys are familiar with each other. The power play is clicking, too, and the guys are a little more confident and understand what they need to do to be successful.”
Although Shreveport didn’t score in either first period this weekend, it managed 11 goals overall and tied an NAHL franchise record with its 12th straight game with at least three goals scored.
The Mudbugs have won 11 of 12 games, making them the hottest team in the NAHL.
Campbell has seen many a hot streak, as a player and a coach, and has a plan to massage the momentum while providing motivation.
“You just need reminders of what it was like at the beginning of the year,” Campbell said. “You tell them: ‘You put in so much work to get to this point, now is not the time not to work and to take things for granted.’”
The Mudbugs have feasted on the bottom of the South Division. During their run of 11 wins in 12 games, eight of those victories have come against the bottom two teams (El Paso, four; Corpus Christi four).
The competition is expected to toughen as Shreveport continues its monthlong homestand Friday against Oklahoma. The Warriors (22-6-1) are in second place in the South and have taken three of four games from the Mudbugs this season.
“How we’re playing right now isn’t good enough to win in the playoffs,” Campbell said. “We have half a season of work to do, first to make the playoffs and then to win when we get there.”
Last week’s 3 Stars
- Simon Bucheler, a winner in nine of 10 starts, made 20 saves in a shutout victory on Friday.
- Logan Heroux, a four-point weekend, including two goals in 87 seconds early in Saturday’s second period that sparked a rout.
- Drake Morse, also a four-point weekend. He collected the game-winning goal Friday and leads the team in scoring.
NAHL South Division standings
Lone Star (23-3-4), 50 points
Oklahoma (22-6-1), 45
Shreveport (18-10-4), 40
New Mexico (17-12-2), 36
Amarillo (15-12-3), 33
Odessa (14-14-1), 29
El Paso (10-17-2), 22
Corpus Christi (6-21-5), 17
*top four make the playoffs
Team leaders
Goals: Garrett Steele, 12
Assists: Drake Morse, 17
Points: Morse, 26
Penalty Minutes: Maksim Sushchynski, 66
Game-winning goals: Hayden Nichol, Logan Gotinsky 3
Goals-against average: Simon Bucheler, 1.92
Save percentage: Bucheler, .922
Up next
The Mudbugs continue the homestand with a pair against Oklahoma (Friday, Saturday, 7:11 p.m.).
Contact Roy at roylangiii@yahoo.com