Bees shrug off locker room altercation

HIDALGO — Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees coach Paul Fixter says a typical hockey player is “200 pounds of dynamite with a two-inch fuse.” After practice Tuesday, two fuses were lit.

Defenseman Mike Looby and forward Dennis Maxwell got into a heated shouting match in the Bees’ locker room Tuesday at Dodge Arena. Looby, who scored the Bees’ lone goal Saturday night, left the ice midway through practice to treat an injury. Maxwell, one of RGV’s assistant captains, took exception to Looby leaving the ice and let him hear it in the dressing room.

An hour or so after the argument, which at times got very loud, Looby, Maxwell and Fixter all downplayed what happened.

“It was just a couple guys having words,” Maxwell said. “It was a disagreement about, you know, when you play with 20 guys every day, sometimes you have disagreements.”

Despite how it sounded, Looby insisted the disagreement between him and Maxwell “was nothing.”

“My knee was giving me a little bit of trouble, and I thought, ‘Just take a little bit of extra precaution because we have a big game coming up this weekend,’” Looby said, referencing the Bees’ games Thursday and Saturday against Laredo and Friday against Corpus Christi. “I just thought I’d get the doctor to check it out and get some ice on it. Nothing too big.”

Instead of focusing on what happened after practice, Fixter instead thought it was just a symptom of being competitive.

“Hopefully, it won’t happen very often, but we compete for a living,” Fixter said. “Sometimes, the emotions get the better of you. Athletes are tightly wound individuals. They want to compete, and they want to win. We’re emotional creatures.”

In four games this season, Looby has been one of the Bees’ most consistent players, with two goals and one assist. He also has a plus/minus ratio of plus-3, one of the highest marks on the Bees. Fixter said Looby will be in the lineup Thursday at Laredo if his injury doesn’t get worse.

Judging by what Maxwell said after practice, it sounds like Tuesday’s incident in the locker room will be forgotten by then.

“I’ll be glad to take him out to lunch and forget about it,” Maxwell said.

Top of the line

When the Bees’ first line of David Masse, Rob Voltera and Travis Banga are out on the ice, everyone knows it. The trio has combined for 12 points and five goals, with Voltera hitting the back of the net four times.

Banga isn’t surprised that his line has clicked as quickly as it has.

“Any time you play with guys that have their talent, it’s easy to get them the puck,” said Banga, who had 32 assists for Memphis last season. “Both of those guys can handle the puck. Masse is probably one of the best 1-on-1 players in the league, and anytime you get him or Voltera the puck in the zone there’s a good chance it can get to the net, and maybe to the back of the goal.”

Masse said the combination has worked because all three players have different styles of play, with Voltera preferring to play near the goal, Masse handling the puck and Banga distributing.

“Everybody needs to do a little of something,” Masse said. “I think we’ve got it.”

Something the line does need to improve is its plus/minus rating. Banga and Masse are at minus-2, while Voltera has a minus-4. That figures to improve, however, when the line starts scoring more goals.

Fixter, though, sounded pleased with his top scoring line.