Getting Ready for the Jacks

The Bucks were not able to practice today because of an event at the LEC, but it's safe to assume the team met up for at least a spin class or a meeting of some sort.

It's also safe to assume that there will be a new player on the ice tomorrow night against the Odessa Jackalopes...the only thing I don't know is when they'll make that official.

The Jackalopes are always a tough team, and Coach Ruskowski does not expect anything different from them tomorrow night.

Through eight games this season, the Bucks are 5-3-0(10 points), while Odessa is 4-2-1 (nine pts.) through seven.

The Bucks are currently on a one-game losing streak, while the Jackalopes have lost two in a row (the latest in a shootout), but both teams have made some changes since then. The Bucks, of course, got rid of rookie forward Ryan Penney yesterday, while Odessa traded forward Mark Johnson to the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, then signed defenseman Ryan Palmer.

The Bucks will be starting a seven-game homestand, which features two games against the Killer Bees and one against the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, the two teams who have beaten them this season.

I'll have a preview running in tomorrow's Times, so I think what I've already said about covers it for now.

Meanwhile, Brian Sandalow has unveiled his first Southeast Division rankings, and I can't say I disagree with them. These rankings, however, have some issues, as Sandalow points out. Unless, of course, the Austin Ice Bats and Youngstown Steelhounds are still playing in the CHL and I just didn't notice.

Tonight, the Corpus Christi IceRays (1-5-0, two points) are in New Mexico to face the Scorpions (3-3-1, seven pts.) in the CHL's only game. In the NHL, the Tampa Bay Lightning are at the New Jersey Devils, the Edmonton Oilers are at the Columbus Blue Jackets and the St. Louis Blues are at the Anaheim Ducks.

Scores: IceRays 6, Scorpions 3; Devils 4, Lightning 3 (SO); Blue Jackets 5, Oilers 4; Ducks 5, Blues 2.