Another Title

As most of you have heard by now, Coach Ruskowski has been named president of the Bucks, meaning John Beckelhymer is no longer holding that position.

Sorry to be so late in posting this, but I wanted to talk to Bucks owner Glenn Hart, who was at the LEC this afternoon to speak to the media about this change, before I wrote anything about it.

Basically, it seems Beckelhymer (who had been with the Bucks for 5 1/2 years) had been thinking about leaving for a while but didn't want to leave the team without somebody to handle his responsibilities. When the city decided to take over operating the LEC, that made the idea of him leaving have less impact on the team, and eventually everyone involved decided that would be for the best.

Obviously in any situation like this, people are going to question whether Beckelhymer really wanted to go or if he was forced out or fired...and I can't promise you that I'll be able to uncover the truth in that regard. I do know that Hart never spoke an ill word of Beckelhymer and entrusted him with a lot of responsibilities that had a great effect on his investment in the Bucks, but that doesn't mean everyone there liked him...I guess we all know the fans weren't too fond of the guy.

I'm going to try to get in touch with Beckelhymer before actually writing a story about this situation, and I'll also be talking to Ruskowski, but he's on his way back from Houston right now, so that's going to have to wait a bit.

Hart said the final decision about this was made on Monday prior to some business the team had to take care of at a City Council meeting, and that he always had an intention to promote from within if a job like that opened up with the team. Obviously, Ruskowski is a choice no one else can argue with, and (just as obviously), he will not serve as a president in exactly the same capacity as Beckelhymer did.

To make his life easier, the team also named three vice presidents (not just two, as was originally stated in the press release).

Jennifer Beckelhymer, John's sister-in-law and longtime director of finance for the team, has become the executive vice president.

Nicole Kupaks, who worked with the Bucks for three seasons previously and returned this season as director of public relations after a two-year absence, is now vice president of business operations.

The final vice president is Donald Thomson, who left the Bucks prior to this season to work in corporate sponsorship sales for Texas A&M. He will return to the organization as its vice president of sales, and that should be reflected on the Web site soon enough.

There is obviously more to say about each of these individuals, but I'll save some of that for my story...which I assume will run in tomorrow's Times. Speaking of the newspaper, here is my notebook from yesterday's.

Hart would not get specific as to whether or not this will change anything for the fans but hinted that it may, so I guess we'll see what happens in the near future.

Until then, here are some scores...

Last Night's CHL Score: Rush 3, Rage 2. Nice comeback.

Last Night's NHL Scores: Flyers 5, Avalanche 2; Capitals 5, Islanders 4 (OT); Maple Leafs 3, Devils 2 (SO); Hurricanes 3, Canadiens 2; Thrashers 4, Senators 1; Stars 2, Coyotes 1 (OT); Flames 6, Blues 3; Blackhawks 9, Oilers 2; Rangers 3, Ducks 1.