Catching Up

The Bucks haven't undergone any drastic changes this summer, but a few notable events have occurred for the team.

In mid-May, the Bucks' long-awaited team-owned sleeper bus arrived, and coach/general manager Terry Ruskowski is already using that fact to his advantage.

"I'm using it as a recruiting tool, actually," he said. "We won't have to try to scrounge around to try to find a sleeper to take us places. It's our own bus, and we'll be familiar with it. It'll be much better just to take that every time. It'll be a huge advantage for us."

Later last month, Ruskowski announced that only eight players from the 2007-08 team would be invited to return for the upcoming 2008-09 season. Earlier this week, he shared with me that these players don't yet know who they are, and he believes some will be surprised to find they are not on his list.

"I'm trying to do the best that I can for the team to be successful," Ruskowski said. "I don't want to have to babysit anymore; I just want the guys to play hard, be disciplined on and off the ice, be involved in the community and win games."

Last season's captain, defenseman Serge Dube, has made it very well-known that he has retirement ideas brewing in his mind, but he has not yet made an official announcement and would definitely be welcomed back with open arms should he choose to continue his hockey career.

I'm not sure I could guess who the eight return invites will go to, but center Jeff Bes, defenseman Adam Rivet and forward/defenseman Igor Agarunov are three very safe guesses.

Rumor has it forward Chris Korchinski will be joining an ever-growing list of 2007-08 CHL players who are heading to Europe for their next seasons, while left wing Steve Simoes is purportedly contemplating a return to Canada spurred by his recent engagement to his girlfriend of seven years Amanda.