Game Day No. 15

Tonight is the last night of the Bucks' 7-game homestand, which took up most of the month of November. The team hasn't left Laredo since going to Hidalgo to face the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees on Nov. 1 (a 3-1 loss) and has yet to leave the state so far this season.

Tomorrow, that will change, as they embark on a 17-hour bus ride to Prescott Valley, Ariz., to take on the defending champion Sundogs, who knocked them out of the postseason last year, in two straight games.

But, for tonight, the Bucks (10-4-0, 20 points) are still at home, and will need to focus on the Mississippi RiverKings (8-7-0, 16) if they want to keep their Southern Conference and Southeast Division leads heading into Thanksgiving, as the Texas Brahmas (9-4-1, 19) play tomorrow night.

They will also be looking to keep their win streak alive and improve it to six straight games, which would give them a 6-1 record on the homestand.

When I talked to Coach Ruskowski about tonight's game, he highlighted the RiverKings' defense and how tough his team will have to play to get past it and create scoring chances. And, of course, when they create those chances, they will need to capitalize on them.

I am genuinely looking forward to watching this game, and hopefully it will live up to expectations.

The game at the LEC is the only one in the CHL tonight, while in the NHL, the St. Louis Blues are at the Nashville Predators, the Atlanta Thrashers are at the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Los Angeles Kings are at the Calgary Flames.

Oh, and Claude Lemieux has already gone from tryout signee to Worcester Shark.

UPDATE: Brian Sandalow posted his weekly Bees' notebook, which in addition to talking about the team's power play (A problem for everyone, eh?), mentions something I had left out earlier for no particular reason but should probably share. It seems executives from the Edmonton Oilers visited Oklahoma City last weekend with thoughts of putting their AHL affiliate in the city. They certainly have the capacity on it. Bob Przybylo, Sandalow and Greg Rajan each have some more info and insight about this situation on their blogs. Oh, and could you imagine having your home opener on Nov. 29? I had forgotten it was that late, yikes.