Catching Up...Part Two

Earlier this week, I had talked to Coach Ruskowski a little bit more extensively about the "tough stuff" he had said was lacking in the Bucks' losses but definitely came out of hiding for the 5-2 win over the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees last Saturday.

Consequently, that was a topic in my notebook for this week, but I had some leftover quotes from Ruskowski and Rick Kozak, who is one of the players that Ruskowski hopes will keep that aggressiveness going as the season rolls along.

"It's huge (having Kozak)," Ruskowski said. "That's why I got him here. The big guy can score, and he can do the rough stuff, too. That's what you call a 'typical power forward.' He goes into the corner, bullies himself in there, tough in front of the net. He can scrap, he scores; he's a really good power forward, so I'm really happy with that.

"Then we have (forward Erick) Lizon and (defenseman Vincent) Zaore will go in there and get his nose dirty, and obviously Dube will, too, even though he's not noted for that. But when (defenseman Ryan James) Hand gets back, he's another guy that's aggressive and will stand up and do what he has to do. I think that when he gets back, we'll be a fairly competitive, tough team, and we'll stand up for each other even more."

Added Kozak, who had started Saturday night's win with a brawl against Killer Bees associate captain Rob Voltera, "Laser (Lizon) had a good fight, boys were finishing checks, Dube came in when one of our star players got hit and showed the other team we're not going to let other teams come in here and push us around."

Though he encourages the guys to stand up for each other, the last thing Ruskowski wants to see is them taking penalties they can't afford, but the closeness the players he has now are developing has been something he's been encouraged by lately.

"You can't take unnecessary penalties that cost you games, but you have to know that your team is very important and that you stick up for your teammates. I'm hoping that will be the whole season, not just a one-time thing. The guys seem to be getting closer; they're doing stuff together off the ice, and I'm happy to see that."

Another big thing Ruskowski wants the team to focus on is passing. In all the times I've spoken to him, there is one thing he's said to me more than any other, and that is, "When we pass well, we play well."

Not exactly an earth-shattering idea, but that is obviously important. There were a few other things Ruskowski wanted to work on, and he outlined them for me after Monday's practice when I asked if having a full week of ice time was going to be beneficial to the team heading into this weekend.

"I sure hope so," Ruskowski said. "Today was more of a fun day, skating and passing; it wasn't really a hard skating day. Tomorrow, we'll do more systems, probably more forechecking. The next day, we'll do defensive coverage and we'll try to get everything done so that everybody knows exactly what they have to do. Then we'll have a good skate at the end; I've gotta keep these guys in good, top shape and ready to play so that when the game comes they won't have to skate as hard as they do in practice."

Another topic I spoke to Ruskowski about was the goaltending situation, because he had told me last week he'd like rookie backup Ryan Gibb to get at least one start on this 7-game homestand.

"I do want to give him some time in," Ruskowski said on Monday. "I want the fans to see him; I think he needs to get more comfortable at home. He's worked very hard, so I thinke he deserves a shot to start at home. I like him as a goalie, so it's not going to be a worrisome thing for me. I think he can do the job, so I'm not going to put him in and worry about; I'll put him in knowing that he can do the job."

Gibb is 1-1-0 so far in his professional career with the Bucks, having stopped 47 of 52 shots from the Killer Bees in his loss and 31 of 34 shots from the Corpus Christi IceRays in his win. Both of those games were on the road.

Meanwhile, the CHL has released its second coaches' poll, which sees the Colorado Eagles (10-1-0) stay in the top spot. If there was any bigger surprise this season than the Killer Bees (5-1-1) being the last undefeated team, it's the Oklahoma City Blazers (8-0-2) still being undefeated in regulation, and that has put them at No. 2 in the latest poll.

The Bucks, who were No. 8, have moved up to No. 6.

Here are the "Shots from the Point" for today.

In NHL news, the Lightning have apparently decided to fire Barry Melrose just 16 games into the season. People these days are so impatient. Guess we'll see if he ends up back at ESPN or somewhere else.

Obviously, a lot of people are going to have a take on this...so here is Brian Sandalow's, and here is Greg Wyshinski's.

P.S. Thank goodness.