Bees give taxed Brooks win over Laredo

HIDALGO - Some things have happened during his first season that Killer Bees coach Chris Brooks simply couldn't have expected.

He couldn't have foreseen losing veteran after veteran to injury, needing to waive Rob Voltera or losing Robin Bouchard because of a family issue. Combine all of that with the trade request and eventual departure of Travis Banga, and the Bees' 6-3 win Tuesday night over Laredo meant a little more to Brooks.

"I told them that after the second period, after what we've been through as a team that this game has a little something special in it, especially for me," Brooks said.

During his first season as coach, Brooks has continuously preached to his players to keep things positive. Through all of the injuries and player departures, he has tried to see where the Bees could gain.

Any injury or player departure was an opportunity for a young player to get more ice time. Playing shorthanded was going to simply test players and challenge them. But trading Banga to Texas because of his objection to playing with Dennis Maxwell seems like it was something which made Brooks realize even more that it has been a "long process" for him since coming to the Bees.

"Since my decision with Robbie, Bouch going home with his family and Travis requesting a trade, it's been extremely challenging," Brooks said. "It's been a busy job. I wasn't expecting this. Mentally I'm relieved a little bit.

"There's been a lot of stuff that's happened that I didn't expect to happen."

The latest challenge was getting rid of a player/assistant in Banga who decided he didn't want to play with Maxwell. After his first home game back, Maxwell appreciated how difficult a week it was for his coach and that Brooks stood up for him the way he did.

"It's always nice to have someone have your back," Maxwell said. "It's nice. It's been a while since that. I've been pretty happy."

Brooks was also pleased with the effort he saw from the Bees, who snapped a five-game winless streak. Both Brian Bicek and Evan Rankin scored twice for the Bees, who took a 5-0 lead five minutes into the second but allowed Laredo to get to within 5-3 when Erick Lizon's shot beat Wylie Rogers and the final buzzer.

But that goal was the last time the Bees were truly threatened, allowing them to lock up an important win for Brooks.

"You could tell it was starting to wear on him," said Bicek, who played at Western Michigan while Brooks was an assistant coach there. "Being a first-year coach, it was a surprise the stress and other stuff you wouldn't necessarily expect, especially the rare circumstances this year with the off-the-ice-problems and injuries. It created extra pressure that maybe he didn't expect or we as a team didn't need."

At least on Tuesday they got a win, and to listen to Laredo coach Terry Ruskowski, it could also be a costly loss for the Bucks. With the loss and Texas' win, the Bucks fell four points behind the Brahmas for the Southeast Division lead.

While those problems are different than the Bees' issues, Ruskowski wasn't taking them lightly.

"We're the softest team in the league, by far the softest," Ruskowski said. "We don't hit anybody. We're the softest team in the league."

ICING: Bees defenseman Jesse Perrin returned to the lineup Tuesday after missing three games with a right leg injury. With his return and the addition of Topher Scott and Matt Byrnes, the Bees played with a full roster of 16 skaters. ... Bucks forward Darryl Smith made his first appearance with Laredo since returning from a professional tryout with Houston of the AHL. Before leaving, Smith was the CHL's leading rookie scorer and voted to start next week's All-Star Game.

Brian Sandalow covers the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436. 

Tuesday's Game

BEES 6, BUCKS 3

LAR                           0        3       0    -       3

RGV                           3        2       1    -       6

First period - 1, RGV, Bennefield 17 (Byrnes, Goeckner-Zoeller) 1:09. 2, RGV, Bicek 11 PP (Perrin, Dumoulin) 5:09; 3, RGV, Lee 9 PP (Bicek, McClellan) 11:27. Penalties - Miller, Laredo (slashing) 4:42; Bennefield, RGV (s;ashing) 6:18; Weidlich, Laredo (hooking) 8:15; Featherstone, Laredo (hooking) 9:49; Dulle, RGV (delay of game) 15:29; Kozak, Laredo (roughing) 19:00; Smith, Laredo (roughing) 19:00; Bennefield, RGV (roughing) 19:00; Rankin, RGV (roughing) 19:00.

Second period - 4, RGV, Rankin 9 PP (Dumoulin, Bennefield) 2:28; 5, RGV, Rankin 10 (Ansell, Rogers) 5:48; 6, Laredo, Gooch 2 (Judd, Smith) 6:29; 7, Laredo, Lizon 3 (unassisted) 14:00; 8, Laredo, Lizon 4 PP (unassisted) 19:59.  Penalties - Agarunov, Laredo (hooking) 0:33; Weidlich, Laredo (slashing) 1:02; Dixon, Laredo (interference) 4:30; Dulle, RGV (holding) 5:29; Burns, RGV (slashing) 7:23; Featherstone, Laredo (roughing) 7:23; Kozak, Laredo (slashing) 7:50; Burns, RGV (slashing) 18:05.

Third period -  9, RGV, Bicek 12 EN SH (unassisted) 18:46 Penalties - Dulle, RGV (tripping) 9:47; Bicek, RGV (hooking) 11:44; Kozak, Laredo (slashing) 12:15; Kozak, Laredo (abuse of official) 12:15; Goupil, Laredo (interference) 15:10; Hardwick, RGV (hooking) 18:10

Power-play opportunities: Laredo: 1 of 7; RGV: 3 of 11   

Shots - Laredo: 6-10-5--21 ;  RGV: 13-16-12-41  

Goalies - Laredo: Ryan Gibb 11-8-1 (40-35);  RGV: Wylie Rogers  9-8-1 (16-13)

A - 3,871  T - 2:23

Referee - Justin Green

Linesmen -  TJ Nua, Jared Ottenhof