ROUNDUP News and notes

Dairy Queen cakes: Several SteelHounds will be serving at the Cortland Dairy Queen today from 6-9 p.m. They also will help auction cakes they decorated.
Promotions: The SteelHounds will wear jerseys celebrating St. Patrick’s Day Friday and Saturday, then auction them off after Saturday’s game. Rick Nash wristbands will be given to fans at Sunday’s game.
Praise for Franck: SteelHounds coach Kevin Kaminski is happy that Andy Franck has been selected one of the five goalies picked for the Central Hockey League’s top goalie award. “He’s hates to lose and he wants to play every minute,” said Kaminski of Franck (21-10-4, 2.99 goals against average). Kaminski said Franck’s role in the team’s 12-1-1 start (all road games) deserves merit. “He was a big part of it. He’s an impact goalie, he makes the big saves when you need him to — he’s been very sound throughout the whole year for us.”

Captain’s thoughts: Although the SteelHounds lost a shootout at Colorado last Saturday, captain Chris Richards says the three-game road trip “absolutely was successful. We had a good chance to get six out of six but anytime you go on the road and play three good opponents and get five, it’s a good weekend. Richards said this weekend’s opponent — the Laredo Bucks — presents a challenge. “They’re an all-around good team. They’ve won their division five years in a row and they’ve been in the finals four years in a row. We’ve got to expect to battle here at home.”
Key player: Richards said the SteelHounds will be kept busy trying to keep Bucks center Jeff Bes off the scoresheet. “Every year he’s up there in the running for [leading scorer]. So we’re going to have to make sure we play good defense against these guys. If we don’t, they will exploit their chances for a lot of goals. They’re capable of winning [playing wide open or tight], but their style is more of a 3-2 defensive style.”
Series: The SteelHounds and Laredo have played just once this season. On Nov. 10, the SteelHounds defeated the Bucks in Laredo, 2-1.
Most annoying: SteelHounds forward Bryan Lachapelle has been “honored” as the Central Hockey League’s most annoying player. Fans may visit the CHL Web site through Sunday and submit E-mail questions that Lachapelle will respond to by Tuesday.

Tom Williams