Bees missing Masse

McALLEN — It’s impossible to know just what kind of impact David Masse would have made this season.

In 43 games for the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees (11-29-7) over two seasons, Masse scored 22 goals and added 38 assists. His wrist shot, one of the most dangerous in the CHL, forced defenses to play the Bees differently when he was on the ice.

So, when Masse left the Bees in November, eventually landing in the Quebec LNAH, RGV lost its best shot and most potent scorer. Without him, the Bees have struggled to score, sinking to 16th out of 17 teams with a total of 129 goals.

Bees coach Paul Fixter said the Bees have especially missed Masse on power plays and shootouts. The Bees’ 27 goals with an advantage is the second-fewest in the league, and their 0-7 record in shootouts is the league’s poorest.

“There’s no question we miss his presence,” Fixter said. “He’s a natural goal scorer.”

Masse, whose rights were traded by the Bees Jan. 8 to Texas for Robin Big Snake, was never a player known for his defensive abilities. In his 13 games for the Bees this season, Masse had a minus-4 rating and was one of RGV’s least aggressive forecheckers.

But, on offense, Masse was simply the Bees’ most gifted player. After the Bees acquired

Masse from Tulsa last January for Bill Newson, Masse scored 17 goals and contributed 21 assists. That trade, albeit a risky one because of the popular Newson’s departure, helped the Bees make the postseason for the third time in four seasons.

Now, without Masse, the Bees are the CHL’s worst team. And Fixter doesn’t understate what kind of impact Masse could have made this year.

“We’d probably have 30 more goals for, and 30 less against because the games would be tighter and we wouldn’t be giving up some of those late goals at the end of games,” Fixter said. “That’s a 60-goal swing.”

Whether that number is accurate or not, the Bees are four points behind Wichita, the league’s second-worst team. They are also 13 points behind Amarillo for the Southern Conference’s fifth and final playoff spot.

Austin, the team the Bees face tonight and Friday, is three points out of that final spot and 10 ahead of the Bees. The Ice Bats started the season 7-22-1 before winning 12 of their next 19 games to get back into the postseason race.

“(Austin) is a team to learn from because they’re no better than us in ability, in my opinion,” Bees goalie David Lemanowicz said. “Maybe they worked a little harder orÂ… I don’t know what their secret formula is, but in terms of ability, we can look at them and say ‘If they can do it, why can’t we?’”

For the Bees, it certainly would be easier to do if they still had Masse.

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