Quotes and Notes

In my story about the Bucks who have left the team, I did not mention exactly what Hiebert will be doing business-wise this season because he is still getting settled, but I can tell you he will be staying in Laredo, at least for now.

Now, finally, here are some leftover quotes...

Majority owner Glenn Hart on team captain Serge Dube and his decision not to retire:

"That was huge. I'm going to get in trouble for saying this, but I think he's been the single most important factor in our success. He may not be the guy who stands out the most to the fans, but he is a superstar at our level."

Hart on bringing back Alex Goupil:

"I loved Goupil. I was really strongly in support of Alex coming back. It's a rare thing to get a guy who's on the second level that has the skill level he has."

Head coach/general manager Terry Ruskowski's address to fans when announcing the re-signing of Jeff Bes:

"I don't know what else you can say about Jeff Bes and what he's done for the community and the Laredo Bucks. He's not just the MVP of the playoffs and MVP of the regular season...with age, he gets better, more productive. He's been a huge help these past two years as my player/assistant coach. He's a great guy to work for...work with, I should say. I'll probably end up working for him a few years down the line, but for now, work with."

"We always talk about guys who are a priority to sign, and he is a huge priority. I couldn't be happier to say that we've signed him for this year and many more years to come."

"One thing I have to say about Jeff that I'm so proud of...when we won our first championship, there was a line, I think we were signing autographs for four, five, six hours. There was a huge line at the arena. I remember his girlfriend at the time came up to him and said, 'This is ridiculous.' And Jeff Bes said, 'I've waited 14 years for this; five hours isn't going to make a big difference.' I thought, 'That's the kind of guy I want on my hockey team,' and that's a guy who stayed with us. That kind of attitude shows his character. With character, you're always in the running to be a championship team, and that's what we're doing now."

Ruskowski on what's left for this offseason:

"There are a couple other guys that we're probably close to getting that I think will help the team a lot, so we're looking forward to getting their contracts back as quickly as possible."

I also meant to mention that Dube was actually in attendance for the Bes presser, sitting in the back of the Whataburger eating lunch with his wife. He usually comes out for all the team announcements even though he doesn't seem to be required to, which is nice to see.

The guys who are coming back this year all seem to be pretty close, even the ones who just got here last season. When I called Goupil last week in attempt to find a number at which I could reach Dustin Traylen, he had Igor Agarunov on the other line. Hopefully that closeness extends to the rookies and newcomer Sebastien Centomo because it definitely helps the team out on the ice.