Game Day No. 27

The Bucks and the Colorado Eagles will face off in about 20 minutes at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, Colo.

These teams are obviously two perennial contenders in the CHL, and they lead their respective divisions at this point, as usual.

Through 26 games this season, the Eagles are a league-best 21-4-1 (43 points), while the Bucks are 18-7-1 (37 pts.).

The Bucks have lost three of their last five and not played up to Coach Ruskowski's standards in any of those games, while the Eagles have won three in a row since falling to the Oklahoma City Blazers in a shootout.

The Bucks had quite a bus ride to get out to Loveland, and the altitude there is something they are not used to playing in, but Ruskowski is not looking for excuses tonight, just results.

In my preview of this weekend's 3-in-3, I talk about some of the problems he has seen and what he and associate captain Adam Rivet think the team needs to do to fix them and come out on top tonight.

You can also read Adam Dunivan's preview from the Loveland Reporter-Herald, which focuses on the Bucks' top line...which may not be playing together tonight, but we'll see. He also discusses the rivalry between these teams on his blog.

And, of course, there is Bryan Benway's preview and the Pointstreak pre-game notes.

The CHL has a full slate tonight, so I'll keep you updated on the Bucks and the rest of the league, as well as NHL scores.

P.S. The Winter Classic commercial just came on MSG Plus (on which I am watching the Penguins play the Devils), and it has reminded me to share it. I'm so excited for that game, even if only because I can actually watch it on a television.



P.P.S. I almost forgot to mention this, but the Bucks will be hosting a press conference on Tuesday. I was told about this the other day but ordered to keep it to myself until it went up on the team's Web site. Of course, I asked if this had anything to do with some people's favorite topic of rumorous conversation, and I was told "absolutely not." I'll still give him a call, though I assume this is going to be some kind of announcement about ticket pricing or something else that will help "get people back in the building."