Unfortunately, last Saturday night in a quick overtime goal the roller coaster ride of ‘21-22 came to an end for the Mudbugs The Mudbugs would not repeat as Robertson Cup Champions. Just getting out of the South Division is tough enough, but then to have to travel over a thousand miles to Blaine, Minnesota, and compete against the four other conference champions makes it tough. You have to win 9 games to win the trophy. It’s a difficult feat. Although it won’t come back to Shreveport this year, the boys at George’s Pond are still our champions.
The Shreveport Mudbugs are an anomaly in the Shreveport/Bossier area. For the fourth consecutive year, the Shreveport Mudbugs have led the NAHL in attendance. Not just the South Division, they have led the 29-team league. The South division holds five of the top ten spots in the attendance record. Shreveport/Bossier teams have a history of being on the other end of that and not being able to hold on to franchises for very long. The Mudbugs celebrated 20 years of a total history from WPHL to CHL to NAHL.
As a fan, I was amazed when Shreveport was going to play hockey. Being from this area all my life questions arose about how long would it last. The first game for me in Hirsch Coliseum played was the Monroe Moccasins and Shreveport Mudbugs. If I recall (I’m getting old), Shreveport crushed Monroe 12-1. I was hooked. One of Leigh and my first dates in 1997 was to a Mudbugs game. We sit up high in the stands and get there at game time and the game is delayed because the ice had not frozen well. Believe it was an hour delay. We stuck it out and here comes the WPHL version of New Mexico Scorpion. BOO!!! Leigh looks at me and says “That’s not nice..” Well, this date is not going well in my mind. By mid-second period, she’s screaming for blood and slamming them into the wall. Whew!!! The problem is we didn’t get out until 11 am and a first-date dinner was at Taco Bell drive-thru. That’s a story we tell and the memories we have related to this franchise. Twenty-five years later, my wife Leigh and my two boys, Jackson and Carter, have had many memories that we share of Mudbugs hockey has given us. You could put stories in the comments and shows what this team means to you.
The dark years were tough but fans came back stronger than ever for a junior hockey league. Recall, that the WPHL and CHL were minor league teams. Junior hockey, if you don’t know, is a step to get a shot to play at the college level. Shreveport embraced the names Bobak, Brimmer, Gatto, Khokhlachev, etc that are all born after the year 2001. They are shoulder to shoulder respected along with those names of head coach Jason “Soupy” Campbell and Mudbugs general manager Scott “Musky” Muscutt. All former WPHL and CHL players who stayed and along with president and managing partner Tommy Scott, give back to the next generation.
We may not have brought the trophy home, but the organization did its job in getting players to the next level. Six Mudbugs received college commitments through bumps and bruises on the ice
| Player | School |
| Austin Brimmer | Long Island University (D1) |
| Davis Goukler | University of Alaska-Anchorage (D1) |
| Timofei Khokhlachev | American International College (D1) |
| Evan Mitchell | St Lawrence University (D1) |
| Jake Onstott | Aurora University (D3) |
| Lukas Sedlacek | Aurora University (D3) |
Who would have thought that these players come to Northwest Louisiana and go play college hockey? That’s a dedication to the future of hockey from the top-down of the Shreveport Mudbugs organization.
Through covering the Mudbugs this year for the first time, I’ve got to see the excitement of these players and according to them, this organization is known throughout the junior hockey community as a place to be. Thank you Mudbugs for embracing Under The Radar NWLA along with the same ranks as seasoned journalists from The Tim Fletcher Show, KTBS, KSLA, KTAL, and Shreveport-Bossier Journal.
To wrap this up, old Fairgrounds Field is an example of the crumbling sports environment in the Shreveport/Bossier area and a birds-eye view from George’s Pond (sorry have to explain old Hirsch Coliseum) I’m taking my memories of watching the Shreveport Captains growing up with me when they tear it down in the future. I’ve enjoyed going to CBA Shreveport Crawdads and Storm, CFL Shreveport Pirates, American Association Shreveport baseball, and even independent league iteration of the Shreveport Captains, Shreveport Rafter, and Lady Rafters, and the AFL and AF2 Bossier City Battlewings. I’ve enjoyed them all but they are the past. The Mudbugs even had their own time they had left as a CHL team and resurrected later as an NAHL team. Here’s the thing though we can have great organizations bring teams to town, we have to put butts in the seats. The Mudbugs give us that hope that it can be done.
Shreveport has some exciting things going on where you have the Shreveport Mavericks making a title run in The Basketball League at Centenary Gold Dome. A new USL2 soccer team called Blue Goose will be playing this summer. Gulf Coast Premier League soccer will kick off for Shreveport United in the coming months. Guess what, women’s soccer will return with Shreveport United also in the GCPL women’s division.
We need to support what we have coming and not look at our past. It’s hard to ignore, but it’s time to move on and be thankful for what we have
Thank you Mudbugs for giving hope for a future in Shreveport / Bossier sports.
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Great story! I read it 3 times and enjoyed all 3! I raised some of my grands on Mudbugs Hockey, and they all knew the chants and understood not to say “you suck” except at the games!! Bringing hockey back was the BEST thing to happen to Shreveport. Keep up the nice stories!!