Game No. 42 - Bucks vs. IceRays

Starters: Bucks - Sebastien Centomo (G), Mike Gooch (D), Alex Goupil (F), Adam Rivet (D), Ryan Salvis (F), Darryl Smith (F); IceRays - John Adams (D), Ryan Bennett (F), Chris Greene (F), Bob Rapoza (D), Chris Richards (F), Kris Tebbs (G).

First Period: Okay, scratch what I said in that earlier post; Martin is here. But I was right to guess that he wouldn't be starting no matter what. ... As I told you would be the case after Friday night's game, Erick Lizon is a scratch again tonight. Justin Quenneville and Mark Tobin are scratches for the IceRays. ... These sweaters are the most obnoxious of the season so far as far as trying to read the numbers. Strange socks, too. ... Ummm, wow. Curtis Huppe sent one past Centomo right around ice level on his left side just 36 seconds into the game to give the IceRays a 1-0 lead. I don't think anyone in the arena saw that coming. ... And make that 1-1 as Smith sent a rebound of a shot by Goupil over Tebbs' left shoulder. Smith was on a 5-game streak without a goal before that one. ... Centomo just got pulled out of the net to save a shot, then the rebound ended up in the crease and when Rivet couldn't clear it out, Chris Shaffer sent it in, IceRays lead 2-1 just 3:31 into the game. The scorekeepers haven't given assists on either IceRays goal yet, but there should be some. ... Rapoza took a holding penalty at 5:30 in the period to give the Bucks the first power play of the period, but that got killed off pretty easily. ... I'm not feeling terribly bloggy tonight, as you may have noticed due to this unusually low textual output, haha. Five minutes left in the opening stanza, the IceRays still lead 2-1, and there has only been that one penalty. ... Rivet  just evened things up at 16:18 in the period on a kind of flukey shot not long after a decent attempt by Matt Miller. Jason Dixon currently has the only assist. ... Mike Gooch just got a nice one-on-one chance against Tebbs, but the goalie made the save then somehow sprawled out with his legs on either side of the goalpost with the puck still loose. That was kind of odd. ... Chris Richards just fought off pretty much every Buck on the ice to take a nice backhanded shot, but Centomo was able to stop it with his chest padding. ... With 1:11 to play in the period, Nicolas Bachand has been called for a high-sticking minor to put the Bucks on their second power play, and only the second of the game. ... Richards just accidentally took Centomo out while the goalie was clearing the puck from the trapezoid. If the Bucks hadn't already been running away with it, that could have been a scary thing for them. ... Heading into the first intermission, game is tied 2-2. Bucks lead 14-6 on shots, at least according to the scoreboard. ... The Bucks will have 49 seconds on the power play to start the second. 

Second Period: Lively first couple minutes, but no scoring, including on the 46 seconds of power play the Bucks had to start. ... Rick Kozak took an abuse of official penalty, and the IceRays took advantage just a couple seconds into the power play, as John Halverson sent the puck from the point right through Centomo. Well, not literally. Richards had the assist, and the IceRays lead 3-2. ... Salvis was just given the second assists on both of the Bucks' first period goals. He has also taken the Bucks' second penalty of this period, this one for hooking at 4:59. ... After a few minutes of delay to solve some minor ice issues, the IceRays will begin their power play against Dube, Goupil, Rivet and Smith. ... Jeremy Leroux scored on that one just a few seconds in once again, beating Centomo on the blocker side and narrowly missing the post. Richards and Bennett had the assists. IceRays lead 4-2, and Centomo is clearly not quite right tonight. Oh, and contrary to what Pointstreak would currently have you believe, the IceRays have actually capitalized on both of their power-play chances tonight. The Bucks, however, are actually 0-for-2 on the advantage. ... The IceRays will get another chance now as Featherstone was called for cross-checking. ... Thirty-five seconds into that one, Greene took a hooking call to make it 4-on-4 for 1:25, then a Bucks' advantage for 35 seconds when Featherstone gets out. ... Bennett just tripped, I think over himself, and flew into the net without disrupting Centomo at all. That was odd. ... Okay, and now another chance for the IceRays as Kozak is headed to the box for tripping at 12:21 in the period, not long after that last power play expired. ... Huppe just nearly made it 5-2, getting the puck past Centomo with some persistence, but the whistle had blown about a millisecond before he netted it. ... Tebbs didn't get that luxury as Smith just used some fancy stick work to get the puck past Jeff Grant with Adams trailing and swiftly net it on a wrist shot to the top shelf. Kozak, who just escaped the sin bin, had the assist. IceRays lead 4-3 with 5:31 to play in the period. ... Grant just made up for getting beaten by Smith with a beautiful pass to Adam Powell, who wristed it from the high slot past Centomo. ... I guess it's a good thing Martin got here tonight (or whenever he did), because he is in the game. Coach Ruskowski is not fond of pulling goalies during periods, so either Centomo said he wanted out or Ruskowski is really mad about those goals.  Obviously, five goals on 15 shots isn't what he wanted to see, but I'm still a little surprised he didn't wait until intermission with just over three minutes to go. ... With 1:26 to play, Ryan James Hand has earned an interference call. Martin has only faced one shot so far, but he'll probably be getting a couple tests right about now. ... Not so much, as the Bucks blocked all but one of the shots taken by the IceRays in the first portion of the power play. They'll have 34 more seconds to start the final period. ... Apparently stopping the puck as it slides to the left of the net is considered saving a shot these days. That's gotta be good for the ol' save percentage. ... Bucks lead 24-20 on shots now, meaning they were outshot 12-11 in the period.

Third Period: The Bucks killed off those seconds, and it's interesting to note that Ruskowski has Dube and Rivet out together at even strength at this point. He normally separates them except on special teams to make sure the young guys have someone experienced to play with, but he must think they're going to have to be the ones who score if the Bucks are going to get back into it. Both have had pretty low production this season compared to their usual numbers, but I can see why he'd still trust them more than some guys. ... Bucks will go on their fourth power play at 2:44 with a hooking call against Greene. ... Salvis completely missed a pass from Dube that followed a lot of other passes, and that allowed the IceRays to get a crucial clear. The Bucks took some time to recover and saw the penalty killed off with only a couple of shots taken. ... Grenne almost took advantage of a penalty box departure to combine with Powell for a scoring chance, but the puck was poke checked away. ... The Texas Brahmas are in overtime, so they'll be picking up a point tonight for sure. ... And they have won it to pick up two. The Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees also picked up an overtime win, theirs coming against the conference-leading Odessa Jackalopes after all the bus-related ridiculousness that plagued them yesterday. Not bad. ... The IceRays are getting another power-play chance now as Mitch Stephens has been called for tripping at 9:32. ... Shaffer now has his second of the game with a beautiful precision shot that whipped past Martin's left arm. That one's going to be listed as unassisted until the IceRay who passed the puck to Shaffer asks someone to fix it. ... Hand has been called for interference with 6:48 to give the IceRays a chance to add to their 6-3 lead on the power play. Considering how Ruskowski talked to me about last night's win, I'm guessing tonight's interview is going to be quite unhappy. ... Ummm, yeah.

Game Over: IceRays win 6-3, first time they've won at the LEC since Jan. 20. The Bucks fall to 24-14-4 (52 points) and are now 12 points behind the Brahmas. ... Well, according to Ruskowski, catching the Brahmas is the last thing on his mind after a performance that left more than a little bit to be desired.

Other Scores:  Mudbugs 2, Thunder 1; RiverKings 4, Rush 0; Killer Bees 4, Jackalopes 3 (OT);  Brahmas 5, Oilers 4 (OT); Blazers 2, Gorillas o; Eagles 5, Scorpions 2; Sundogs 5, Rage 4.

NHL Scores: Capitals 4, Red Wings 2; Bruins 1, Rangers 0; Canadiens 4, Kings 3; Ducks 4, Avalanche 3; Islanders 3, Panthers 1; Maple Leafs 5, Penguins 4; Hurricanes 2, Thrashers 0; Blues 4, Flyers 0; Sabres 2, Coyotes 0; Wild 4, Canucks 3 (OT); Blackhawks 4, Sharks 2.

Game Day No. 42

It's time for Part 3 of the Bucks' Southeast Division weekend, as they will host the Corpus Christi IceRays in just about half an hour.

The Bucks won the first two games, defeating the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees 1-0 at Dodge Arena on Thursday and 3-2 at the LEC last night. The shortness of that game story can be attributed to the game ending literally five minutes before the paper goes to press and the fact that we didn't have much jump space.

Those wins were both big for the Bucks, especially considering that the Texas Brahmas haven't lost since the Bucks beat them in a shootout last week.

Heading into tonight, the Bucks (24-14-4, 52 points) are still 10 points back of the Brahmas (29-10-4, 62 pts.). The Brahmas will host the Tulsa Oilers in their game.

But back to last night, here is what Coach Ruskowski had to say about the game:

"My mother told me a long time ago that if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all...we're just, we're not playing Buck hockey at all. We don't move the puck, we're not playing smart. There's something missing. If you want to be successful, everybody has to grab the rope and pull, and some guys tonight didn't pull the rope at all.

"I thought the first 10 minutes we played pretty well. Obviously we played hard, and they took penalties. We didn't seem to score on the power play as much as we wanted to. I think we missed Jeff Bes in those kind of situations."

As far as tonight, here is Bryan Benway's preview, and here are the Pointstreak pre-game notes. Dang, I had forgotten it's a special jersey night.

The IceRays (17-21-4, 38 pts.) have lost three in a row and are 0-3 against the Bucks at the LEC so far this season. Bucks lead the overall season series 6-0-1.

Bucks Sign Martin

I guess this was fairly expectable, as in if Dustin Traylen wasn't coming back, picking up the guy that the New Mexico Scorpions dropped to add Ryan Gibb to their roster was the logical thing to do.

And thus, the Bucks have signed goaltender Andrew Martin as their new backup netminder.

Sadly, this means the end of Jorge Lopez's very short career and that Matt Brayfield will be waived for the second time in a week.

However, Martin will not be here yet for tonight's game, so Matt gets one more game in gear on the bench before he returns to his post next to it.

Considering the fact that Sebastien Centomo has been incredibly solid and stopped 58 of 60 shots in his last two starts, he'd probably be going tonight even if Martin got here in time.

Game No. 41 - Bucks vs. Killer Bees

As of 7:15 p.m., the word here is that we will not be starting here for quite some time.

UPDATE: Start time will be 8:16 p.m. Sixteen? Oy.

Starters: Bucks - Sebastien Centomo (G), Jason Dixon (F), Devin Featherstone (D), Rick Kozak (F), Bobby Russell (F), Vincent Zaore-Vanie (D); Nathan Ansell (D), Brian Bicek (F), Christian Boucher (G), Kurtis Dulle (D), Evan Rankin (F), Topher Scott (F).

First Period: Evgeni Malkin just scored his 100th career NHL goal. That is totally relevant to this game, I swear. ... Who the hekc is the woman standing behind the Bucks' bench right now? ... Tiny Topher, which is what I feel like calling Scott at the current point in time, was shoving Kozak while the two waited for the faceoff at center ice. He's a snappy little guy. ... Well, Mitch Stephens has his first point as a Buck, as he just sent a pass to Alex Goupil, who fed Igor Agarunov for a goal just 69 seconds into the game. Bucks lead 1-0. ... Grant Goeckner-Zoeller just went in on Centomo and took a shot, then chased his own rebound right into Centomo's body, throwing the goalie back into his net. Centomo gloved the puck to keep the Killer Bees off the board. ... The Bucks will get the first power play of the game now as Dulle was called for slashing Kozak, who shook his right hand around for a while after the slash but seems to be fine now. Penalty came at 2:54 in the period. ... Oh, I see. The woman is Cindy Solis from TCi, and she is tonight's honorary assistant coach. ... The Killer Bees definitely do look bitter, as they are throwing their bodies around quite a bit, but I'm not sure how much effect that'll have. ... Mike Gooch just had a great one-on-one chance but had his shot saved. At least he got it on net, eh? ... Ryan Gibb's first start as a New Mexico Scorpion isn't treating him all too well, as he has already faced 17 shots from the Colorado Eagles and given up three goals as of the 15-minute mark. ... The Killer Bees really do seem to be a tough-luck squad. First, the bus troubles, and now they're going to be at the wrong end of a 5-on-3 early in a game they are already losing. ... Hooking on Stephen Burns at 8:03 + hooking on Jay Hardwick at 8:27 = a Bucks 5-n-3 for 1:36. ... J.P. Sylvain is not a very sympathetic fellow, as he has just called Dulle for tripping at the 9-minute mark. ... Hardwick just came out of the box when Burns was supposed to be doing so. Is that allowed? Okay, they're swapping them. And having a discussion about the situation. I'm not sure if they know whether or not that's allowed, either. ... No further penalties were assessed, so I guess they were okay. ... Serge Dube just sent a pass in front of Boucher directly to the stick of Dan McGoff. Guess he is playing tonight! ... The Bucks are owning the Killer Bees on time of possession here yet only outshooting them 9-5. Intriguing. ... Burns is headed back to the box for holding behind his team's net. If this means the Bucks are going to be called for a lot later in the game in retribution, they might want to score one on of these chances. ... The Bucks get some more 5-on-3 time here as Zak McClellan was called for hooking 1:01 after Burns' latest penalty. ... Goshdarn it. This game isn't going to be ending in any kind of time for me to write a story before deadline, and the Penguins just lost in OT after leading 3-1 with about eight minutes left in the game. I'm thinking this isn't my night. ... The Bucks have finally taken advantage of one of those calls, as Adam Rivet scored his seventh of the season on a slap shot from just behind the slot. He was packing back and forth with another player who should clearly be getting an assist, but it seems no one knows exactly who it was. ... Ummm, seriously bad luck. Boucher was just taken out like nobody's business and flew to the ice facedown. Their backup isn't really in the condition to play right now, so we'll see how they react to that. Dixon is getting a goalie interference call out of that, and Boucher is staying in the crease. ... I guess Boucher is okay, as he stopped a few quick shots to start that 4-on-4. ... The Bucks killed off the Killer Bees' first 46 seconds on the advantage to keep things 2-0 in their favor. ... Other than all the penalties, that was a fairly entertaining 20 minutes. Bucks lead 2-0 at the first intermission, 14-8 on shots. ... Awww, they're doing a little Junior Bucks game during the intermission. ... Jeff Bes is in the press box, and I guess since he's out in public it can't hurt for me to tell you his right leg is braced up, requiring that he sit on a tall chair and rest his leg on a short one to keep it straight. He's still on crutches, too. So yeah, I'm guessing 14 days is nowhere near the truth about how long he'll be out. ... Gibb has been pulled from the Scorpions' game 5:25 into the second period after saving 20 of 23 shots he faced. He hadn't allowed one in a while, I'm wondering if that means he's injured.

Second Period: Just to warn you, there's no way my game story is going to have quotes tonight unless there is not a single whistle blown during the remaining 40 minutes of this game. ... Rivet is headed to the box for hooking Bicek just 49 seconds into the period. That resulted in Bicek tripping Kozak and some very dramatic rolling around on the ice. ... Well, Jesse Bennefield didn't waste much time taking advantage of that, as he sent a slapper in from around the point and had it redirected by Matt Byrnes between Centomo's pads to make it 2-1. First goal for Byrnes since joining the Killer Bees a couple weeks back. ... I just registered how small the crowd is tonight. I guess this is why the Bucks tried to avoid scheduling Friday night games this season. ... The Bucks just passed the puck to Bennefield a couple times, but Centomo did his best to combat his teammates' efforts with a few quick saves before covering up the puck to stop play. ... Goeckner-Zoeller just got close to the equalizer, but Stephens took a somewhat necessary hooking call to keep the Bucks on top. Of course, that means the Killer Bees will be getting a power play after scoring on their only other full advantage of the game. ... I am pretty sure Rivet just blocked a shot with his face. He raised his hand to the area it hit as though he was thinking about showing that he was hurt, but then changed his mind. ... Oh my gosh. I just checked the Brahmas-RiverKings box score, and with about 90 seconds left, Brett Jaeger has saved 44 of 46 shots he's faced. Yikes. Guess he really is a Jaeger Master. I'm going to feel terribly jinxy if they lose now. ... Dube just sent a lose puck from the crease right past Boucher, who was camped out to the left, to give the Bucks a 3-1 lead. Kozak has the lone assist. There was a lot of traffic around the net, so I'm not sure how much Boucher can be faulted for not seeing that, but Dube certainly did a great job tracking the puck down for his seventh goal of the season. Guess he couldn't let Rivet get another without tallying one himself to keep their totals (goals and points) even for the season. At least until Dube gets the assist he deserves on Rivet's goal. ... The Brahmas and RiverKings are going into OT, so the division leaders will be getting a point regardless of the outcome. ... Well, Jorge Lopez just got a few more seconds of fame by being the answer to a trivia question. Too bad they spelled his name wrong! Adorable, no less. ... Jason Deitsch has won the game for the Brahmas, so they are currently 12 points ahead of the Bucks with this game's result pending. ... Bicek just chased a puck a little too close to Centomo's glove for Gooch's liking, so Gooch gave him a shove, then Rivet got in on the action. Those small guys on the Killer Bees are seriously feisty. ... Centomo just saved a flurry of shots with pretty much every part of his body. The way the Bucks were failing to get the puck out, I really thought the Killer Bees had a chance there, but Centomo apparently disagreed. ... The things the Bucks were doing crisply in the first period are starting to get sloppy, and the Killer Bees have definitely controlled the puck a lot more in this period than in the opening one, but Centomo is shutting them down. ... Ryan James Hand just took down a Killer Bee behind the net, then Dube had one shoved into the board with his knee on his back to keep him there. No call, as Sylvain seems to have decided he wants to get home at some point tonight, but that was just weird. ... A few shots on goal and some good saves by each netminder (mostly Centomo) but not much of note other than that and some spiffy defense by Matt Miller in the final four minutes of the second. Bucks lead 3-1 and are now trailing 22-24 on shots. I doubt Ruskowski is thrilled that they got outshot 16-8 in that period.

Third Period: The first thing to happen of major note in this period was Dixon accidentally blocking a shot from Russell in front of the net right in the gut. He looked to be in quite a bit of pain as he dragged himself off the ice. ... The Killer Bees will get the first power play of this period at 6:22 as Featherstone took a cross-checking call and Smith took a holding call at the same time. ... The Killer Bees took advantage of that advantage rather quickly, as Bennefield got one over Centomo with Rankin grabbing the assist. The Killer Bees will stay on the power play. Remember how I said Sylvain might make a bunch of calls against the Bucks later in the game after all the things he called against the Killer Bees in the first? Yeah. ... Smith just slammed Byrnes into the boards and was given a boarding penalty for the play. He was pretty ticked off about that call as he headed to the box. Big penalty kill test here. ... They survived that one, then nearly added to their lead as Dube hit the crossbar. About six minutes left now. ... Everyone's shoving everyone else around now because they really don't want me to get my story in by deadline. Okay, hopefully that's not really the case, but it seems that way. Byrnes and Featherstone took simultaneous roughing calls at 14:39, then more pushing followed the next whistle. ... Boucher is a very theatrical fellow. Every time someone goes near him, he convinces me that he's about to die, but luckily that is not the case. ... Sylvain just called Bennefield for goalie interference with 34 seconds left. The Killer Bees had Boucher out before that and will keep him off the ice. ... Centomo's defensemen tripped him onto the ice, and he was a bit slow getting up but seems to be fine. About ten seconds left with a faceoff coming to Centomo's right.

Game Over: Sorry, had to send my story. Bucks win 3-2, improve to 24-13-4 (52 points). Dube did get that assist, and one was added for Russell on Dube's goal. Part of me wants to go downstairs and talk to Ruskowski even though I can't really use the quotes, but part of me wants to leave after already being in the arena for about five hours. ... Of course, I went with the former option. He was literally (but gently) slamming his head into the wall in frustration, so I guess he wasn't all too thrilled with this one. Understandably, he had a major problem with the two penalties in the same shift that led to the Killer Bees' second goal, and he called Centomo the "backbone" of the team. I'll share the rest of what he had to say tomorrow, but for now, good night.

Other Scores: Blazers 4, Thunder 3 (OT); Mudbugs 4, Rush 2; Jackalopes 4, IceRays 1; Gorillas 2, Oilers 1; Brahmas 3, RiverKings 2 (OT); Eagles 6, Scorpions 2; Rage 6, Sundogs 3.

NHL Scores: Blue Jackets 1, Senators 0; Devils 4, Penguins 3 (OT); Flyers 6, Lightning 1; Oilers 3, Wild 1; Flames 3, Predators 1.

Game Day No. 41

As you may have been able to guess, especially if you read my story, last night's win was pretty huge for the Bucks.

Yes, they only scored one goal; yes, they beat a team whose coach was "embarrassed" by his players' performance; and yes, there were still defensive lapses.

But, when it came down to it, the Bucks were able to win at Dodge Arena for the first time this season, holding the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees scoreless for their first shutout of the season and proving that Coach Ruskowski had finally gotten through to them.

Apparently this was the most boring game ever in the history of the universe, but I have a hard time finding hockey boring, and I was intrigued by the way a couple of things played out.

The Bucks were actually driving to the net and blocking shots and battling in the corners, all those little things that they have failed to do in losses this season.

And, of course, the goaltending was a huge part of the equation, as it usually has in wins this season. Sebastien Centomo was tested a lot more than Killer Bees goalie Christian Boucher and stood up to all of those tests to earn his first shutout with the Bucks, which has been a long time coming.

My story was obviously a little more focused on the importance of the win and what led the Bucks to that point than Centomo's performance, so my apologies to him for not playing up that shutout a little more. Especially in the situation that he's in without a backup (No offense to Matt Brayfield!), stepping up like that was key.

The Bucks didn't really get a heck of a lot of chances, but this time, they tried to take advantage of every one they got. Bobby Russell's goal was a solid shot on net, but it could easily have been stopped. In fact, I was quite surprised that it wasn't, and I think he was, too.

After the game, he and Ruskowski both mentioned that one of the team's main focal points this weekend is just going to be shooting the puck as much as possible because with Jeff Bes out of the lineup, they need to try to score at any chance they get, whether it's a particularly good one or not.

Russell was very honest about the way the individual meetings played out on Wednesday, noting that Ruskowski put all the cards on the table and told everyone exactly what they need to do this weekend to stick around.

Ruskowski said he did see the guys stepping up in the areas which he had addressed, but of course, last night only means so much. Tonight is a whole new story, and everyone is going to have to play the way he expects.

The Bucks are 5-0-0 against the Killer Bees at the LEC this season, but after last night's loss, the Killer Bees are probably going to come into this one a little bitter and intense. If not, then heads will be rolling in that dressing room by the end of the night.

Since I am actually at my desk for a couple of hours for the first time in a while, I guess now's as good a time as any to share some leftover quotes! These are kind of all over the place but will hopefully give you a feel for what Ruskowski has been thinking lately. Up until the stuff about last night's game, everything is from the pregame chat I had with him yesterday.


Ruskowski on last Saturday's 5-3 loss to the Mississippi RiverKings:

"In my honest opinion, the first two goals were very soft goals, and we could not recuperate from that. It just seemed like everything just got bigger and bigger and we had problems all over the place after that. We're a team that when things go well, we play well, but when things start to go not the way we planned it, we have a tendency not to adapt to what we should be doing. We're getting better at it, but we're still not there yet, so that was a huge factor in us not playing well."

On Monday's 4-3 loss to the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs:

"We played very well. In the first period, we played very well, went up 1-0, 2-0...but then we scored three goals for them. Puck off the stick, off the pad and in, then off one of our guys and right in the net, and then, of course, the infamous open netter on the power play. But we played well. I was looking at the tape, and I thought we made our mistakes - we're not perfect - but I thought we played pretty well. Even though I hate losing, and I kind of snapped on the bus, I looked at the tape and I thought the guys played hard, and that's all we can ask for. Hopefully things will turn around and those kind of breaks will go for us instead of against us in the near future."

On the team's recent road struggles:

"It's very disturbing. We've not gone through this in six years, seven years, and now we're going through it, and it's disturbing because we have to get back on board. We have to get into a situation where we start putting some wins together. No ifs ands or buts, it's a must. We have to get the wins back together again, and we have to play hockey the way the Bucks can play hockey. Hopefully with a couple breaks here and there and the Lord blessing us, we'll get back on track."

On what he wants to see this weekend:

"I'm looking for intensity, I'm looking for hard work, I'm looking for heart, I'm looking for productivity and people that want to win, who sacrifice and do what they have to do to be successful."

On needing to finally win at the Dodge last night:

"It's time to change things up. It's time for us to win, and it's time for us to play consistent hockey on the road and at home. The time is now. We can't wait any longer."

On Ryan Gibb:

"I thought he played great. He was a quiet kid, did his job, never a problem. I thought he played tremendous for me. But, again, you have to give up something to get something back. I knew the kid had a bright future ahead of him. He's going to be a starter in New Mexico, which is what he wanted to be anyway. Centomo's here, and Centomo's going to be our starter, so it gives him the opportunity to be in games more, and it gives us an opportunity to get a quality forward in here to do the job for us.

On Mitch Stephens:

With Bes going down, we needed somebody to come in here and give us a shot in the arm and rejuvenate us. I didn't see him as much as I wanted to; only saw him once this year, and we had a pretty good game against that team. He's got great hands, he skates well, and he has good vision of the ice - that's my assessment of him, and that's what we need. He's a great passer, and that's something we desperately need, so hopefully it's infectious and everybody catches that."

On Vincent Zaore-Vanie's first two games back:

"I was pretty impressed just for being off as long as he was, almost two months, and he got right in there and fought a guy. He's got to play physical and make the game simple; when he plays physical and makes the game simple, then he's effective, and that's what I want to see from him."

On the goalie situation:

"I'm hoping it'll happen the next couple days. It's got to happen the next couple days. We're going to see how Centomo feels and read it from there."

On last night's win:

"It was huge. If we lose tonight, we're only four points ahead of them, and all of a sudden the pressure's back on us. It was a huge win, no question about it. To come up with a 1-0...they had some good chances to score, and we had some blocks or would get a stick on it or Centomo would make the save. He played very, very well tonight. It was that one goal that made the difference. We talked about; we said that if we have to win 1-0 or 2-1, we're going to have to do that without Jeff in there scoring for us. This hopefully was a game that we can build on. We still didn't play as well as we should, but it was a situation where hopefully it's a stepping stone to what we have to do."

On the overall performance:

"I thought it wasn't bad. I still think defensively we've got to get a little bit stronger and a little bit better and give them no chances. I'd still like for us to move the puck a little better than what we did. There are times we move the puck really well, and when we move the puck really well, we seem like what I want. But we have to do that not on a one-time basis or a couple-time basis; we have to do that on a full-time basis."

On the effects of the individual meetings:

"I saw some guys playing a different type of game, which I like to see. I'm hoping that it was the start of something that they'll do the things that I want them to do and do them to the best of their ability, success will follow us. We'll find out tomorrow and Saturday whether that's going to be true or not."

On Russell's goal:

"I keep on telling him that he's got a really good shot. He likes to play right wing, but we don't have that spot for him, so he's had to play center or left side. Now he's played left side, right side, center ice, so we just tell him to shoot. He's got a really good shot, and we tell the guys if they have a chance, shoot. If you have a free shot, shoot, shoot, get it to the net, get it to the net. Thank God, I think he blessed us today, for that goal. It was right under the crossbar; it was a tremendous shot, and we'll take it."

On tonight's game:

"Again, it's a must game for us. We have to win as many games as we can to get the snowball rolling. It will be a test, just like today. These guys play as well on the road as they do at home, so we can't take anything for granted."

On Stephens' first game as a Buck:

"I have to take my hat off to him. I thought he played pretty well under the circumstances. He drove for a day and a half, he didn't have any pregame sleep at all, I don't think he even had a good meal. He jumped straight on the bus and slept for maybe an hour then played in the game. It's very tough to do that, drive for 16 hours then not get a chance to practice with your teammates, but I see the potential. He won some pretty good draws for us, so that's a sore spot we've been having and with that, he's a huge asset for us."

Russell on the difference between last night and the losses at the Dodge:

"I don't know. We've had some games where we've played well and just didn't get the chances or give up a goal late in the game. Luckily tonight Sebastien played really well, and we were lucky enough to get a goal halfway through the period and put it away."

On his goal:

"I think Dixie (Jason Dixon) made a nice play to get it to me, and I just put it on net. Terry said to shoot the puck lots tonight, so I threw it on net, and we were lucky enough to get a goal out of it."

On driving to the net:

"That was definitely something that we wanted to do. What little practice we had this week, that was definitely something we worked on, having that middle guy drive to the net. Good things happen when drive to the net and shoot the puck, so that's definitely something we wanted to do tonight."

On getting the win:

"It was huge, not just to put distance between us and them, but from here on out, there's no little game. Every game is huge for us right now. We've got to chase down Texas, and we've also got to put distance between us and Rio."

On tonight and tomorrow's games:

"This is a huge weekend for us. It's our turnaround weekend. It's the point in the season where we've got a lot of division rivals coming up, and we've got to buckle down and we've got to get the points now. We've seemed to squander a lot of points in the past 10 or 12 games, and we had some meetings this week, and we're all trying to get on the same page and get some wins. It's do or die for us right now or else there's going to be changes.

On the meetings:

"For the meetings we had, he didn't lie to anybody. He told them exactly what he wants, exactly what they're not doing and exactly what they're doing. He did the same with me, and it wasn't pleasant, but you know what, he's right. He was right in every one of the meetings, and it was a wakeup call for everybody. We kind of got complacent there, and with Besser out, we've got to buckle down. That's when good teams come together, when they have their better players out. Besser's out tonight, and we came away with a 1-0 win."


Some of those were actually in my story, but I was typing away and didn't feel like cutting stuff.

Apparently the Killer Bees' bus, which caught on fire last week, has had some issues on the way up here, but hopefully the game will be able to start on time.

Tonight's other games involving Southeast Division teams have the first-place Texas Brahmas hosting the Mississippi RiverKings and the last-place Corpus Christi IceRays at the Odessa Jackalopes.

Heading into tonight, the Brahmas (28-10-4, 60 points) lead the Bucks (23-13-4, 50 pts.) by 10 points, while the Bucks lead the Killer Bees (19-18-4, 42 pts.) by eight and the Killer Bees lead the IceRays (17-20-4, 38 pts.) by four.

The IceRays are one point behind the Arizona Sundogs (18-21-3, 39 pts.) for the Southern Conference's final playoff spot but have one game in hand, as the Bucks have two on the Brahmas.

Brian Sandalow stuck with the status quo (and the standings) for his Southeast Division rankings this week and appears to have just posted a bit more on Chris Brooks' reaction to last night's game. From a distance, I thought he was wearing jeans, but if Brian says black slacks, I'll believe him.

But anyway, another game of note tonight would be the New Mexico Scorpions at the Colorado Eagles, as Gibb will be making his first start for the Scorps. Oh, and the Penguins are playing at the Devils with some of my high school friends in attendance, lucky bums. Don't worry; I know that's only notable for me.

The goalies at the LEC will be Centomo and Boucher just like last night at the Dodge, and Erick Lizon will be a scratch once again, as will the Killer Bees' Trevor Weisgerber. We'll see whether or not newbie/new Bee and fellow BU alum Dan McGoff hits the ice for them tonight yet or not.

I just remembered that I had promised to blog about prior games previously, but now I can't even remember which ones other than the Coyotes-Ducks game I went to in Phoenix on Tuesday night, which was neat. The arena feels oddly massive, even for an NHL team, but it's niceand somehow in the middle of a little shopping complex and right next to the University of Phoenix Stadium. Plus, just being in the same building as Wayne Gretzky is cool in my book.

Now that I have provided enough text to make you dizzy and Bryan Benway even more jealous about the incredibly massive amounts of free time I have to blog (ha), I guess I'll head over to the LEC.

But, before I go, here are Benway's preview for tonight and the Pointstreak pre-game notes.

UPDATE: Tonight's game has been delayed due to the aforementioned Killer Bee bus troubles; I'm not sure how much of a delay we're talking, but that is definitely no good considering 7:30 games are usually cutting it close to deadline even without delays.

Game No. 40 - Bucks at Killer Bees

As always, you can follow the game on Pointstreak or here, and I'll be sure to update you on the score of the game between the Corpus Christi IceRays and Texas Brahmas.

Starters: Bucks - Sebastien Centomo (G), Devin Featherstone (D), Matt Miller (F), Ryan Salvis (F), Darryl Smith (F), Vincent Zaore-Vanie (D); Killer Bees - Jesse Bennefield (F), Christian Boucher (G), Stephen Burns (D), Matt Byrnes (F), Nicolas Dumoulin (D), Grant Goeckner-Zoeller (D).

First Period: Newcomer Mitch Stephens is playing with Igor Agarunov and Alex Goupil as his wingers. ... Topher Scott just got a nice odd-man rush going for the Killer Bees with Ryan Shmyr as his trailer, but Shmyr wiped out to kill that chance. Shmyr then got called for hooking to put the Bucks on the first power play of the game at the 3-minute mark. Shmyr is a full foot taller than Scott, by the way. Shmyr's a huge guy at 6-foot-6, but Scott is darn tiny and listed at 5-foot-6, which may be generous. ... Not long after the Killer Bees killed that one off, the Bucks got another on a hooking call against Bennefield. ... Miller just made it 4-on-4 with an interference penalty right in front of the Killer Bees' net. The call came 44 seconds after the call against Bennefield, so the Killer Bees will get their first power play in 1:18. ... Now Adam Rivet is headed to the box for tripping and didn't seem to agree with that call as he threw his arms up in frustration while talking to Zac Wiebe on his way to the sin bin. ... Salvis did some nice work on that penalty kill, and the Bucks were able to take care of it and keep things scoreless with just under half the period left to play. ... Miller and Burns seem to be having a war of words out there so far; we'll see if that erupts into anything more dramatic. ... Jay Hardwick lost his helmet, then that helmet preceded to trip up Stephens in the corner and make the Bucks' clearing attempt a little more difficult. ... Time for another penalty, as Zak McClellan has been called for tripping at 16:24. ... Zaore got called for tripping with just 51 seconds left, so if the Killer Bees don't score here, they'll start the second on a power play. ... That will indeed be the case, as a scoreless first period is in the books, but Smith made it a bit worse by getting called for tripping in the game's final seconds. The Killer Bees will start the second with a 68-second 5-on-3. ... Shots are supposedly 6-5 in favor of the Killer Bees after one.

Second Period: Agarunov, Dube and Rivet are on the ice for the opening faceoff for this period. This is probably a situation that Jeff Bes would be used in if he were available, so let's see if Agarunov can step up and do his part to kill the penalties. ... The Bucks actually got a decent scoring chance on that one, but Boucher made a pad save on a shot by Dube. Rivet and Goeckner-Zoeller had a massive collision around center ice, but both seemed to be fine aftr the fact. One of the Killer Bees had a great chance one-on-one with Centomo but tried to fake him out and seemed to take himself out instead. Both penalties are no more. ... Aaron Lee just made a nice move to send a centering feed to Shmyr, but the latter party shot the puck over the net. ... Bobby Russell just took a nice shot that deflected off a body in front of Boucher, which reminds me to state that the third line is Russell-Jason Dixon-Rick Kozak. ... Salvis just sent Miller a nice centering pass, but Miller couldn't put on the brakes in time to get a shot off. ... Bennefield just went one-on-one with Centomo but sent the puck straight into the goalie's pads. ... Shots on goal currently read 12-8 in the Bucks' favor, which is a fairly low total for the halfway point of a game. ... I just realized that the new lines make Salvis a winger with Smith as his center, and his placement on that line is obviously a reflection of the way he's been playing lately. ... Yeesh, there was just a major wipeout in front of Centomo as Zaore took out a Killer Bee (and got a holding call out of it) and the two of them went sliding across the ice. ... Add another to the killed penalty tally. The Killer Bees are now 0-for-5 on the advantage, while the Bucks are 0-for-3. ... Bucks will get Chance No. 4 now as Shmyr is going to the box for boarding with 5:06 to play in the period. ... Russell is doing a great job establishing his presence in front of the net, but it's not doing the Bucks much good so far. ... Kozak just riled up up the Killer Bees and their fans and earned a charging penalty for railing one of the Killer Bees into the boards near the penalty box. At least it wasn't a long trip. The penalty came with 1:44 to play in the period, so the Killer Bees will have some more power play to start the third unless they score here. ... One of the Killer Bees just appeared to throw his stick straight up in the air, very bizarre. ... Kozak i fighting with the Killer Bees fans in the sections around the box, not so bizarre. ... End of two, this thing is still scoreless. Maybe it's just because I'm a hockey junkie, but I've still been pretty entertained. Both teams seem to be playing like they mean it, and each has had some scoring chances. Killer Bees lead 20-18 on shots. ... The Brahmas seem to like giving teams an idea that they can win then storming back in the third, unlike the way things happened in Laredo last Wednesday. They have just tied their game against the IceRays at 2 after being behind since just 2:18 into the game. Justin Kinnunen has both Brahmas' goals, one on the power play. ... Now the Brahmas lead 3-2 on a Jason Deitsch goal assisted by none other than Kinnunen. Too bad he's not available, eh? ... Apparently I missed a Vandermeer hat trick in Tulsa, as the Blazers' brothers have combined for three goals tonight.

Third Period: Obviously enough, it didn't take long for the Bucks to kill off the last 16 seconds of that penalty. ... The Brahmas have come from behind to win once again, final score 4-2. That means they are 12 points up on the Bucks right now and could stay that way if the Bucks can't win here tonight. ... Dumoulin just got called for tripping Dixon to give the Bucks the first power play of the period at 4:39. ... Agarunov just high-sticked Nathan Ansell to even things up then give the Killer Bees about 50 seconds on the advantage. ... Russell just flipped one right over Boucher's right shoulder. That was so effortless and barely even registered as a goal in this building. Bucks lead 1-0 with 13:30 to play. Dixon had the lone assist, but that was all Russell. ... Salvis just got tangled up with Boucher and shoved him to the ice to earn a goalie interference penalty at 7:31 in the period. ... I doubt Russell was one of the players in danger of losing his job this weekend, but he's certainly playing like it. I guess he wants to make sure he steps up with Bes out of the lineup. ... Make that a hat trick for Bill and one goal for Ted up in Tulsa as the Blazers beat their in-state rivals 6-0. ... Hardwick has major issues keeping his equipment on his body, as he is losing gloves left and right after the helmet troubles earlier. ... Kurtis Dulle just rammed into Miller and sticked him down from behind to earn a tripping penalty with 8:01 to play. ... Featherstone took a wicked slap shot in the final second of that power play but got stopped by Boucher. It seems his stick was feeling it, though. ... Agarunov just got called for tripping with 3:58 to play, putting the Killer Bees on the power play in what I think we could call crunch time. ... The Killer Bees just took a couple quick shots on Centomo, but he stopped them both with his body. Bucks still lead 1-0 with 80 seconds left.

Game Over: Bucks win 1-0 and break their Dodge Arena curse. They improve to 23-13-4 (50 points) to keep the Brahmas' division lead at 10 points.

Other Scores: Brahmas 4, IceRays 2; Blazers 6, Oilers 0.

NHL Scores: Devils 4, Bruins 3 (OT); Hurricanes 3, Lightning 2; Islanders 5, Thrashers 4; Panthers 5, Canadiens 1; Stars 4, Red Wings 2; Senators 3, Blues 1; Maple Leafs 7, Avalanche 4; Kings 5, Blackhawks 2; Sharks 2, Coyotes 0.

Game Day No. 40

Apparently my exhaustion was a little more severe than expected, so I did not make it to the morning skate today, but I am currently in the Dodge Arena press box and have spoken to Coach Ruskowski about a little bit of everything, including Mitch Stephens, who will be in the lineup tonight for sure.

Interestingly enough, he's wearing N0. 9, which may be a hint to everyone who keeps thinking the old No. 9 will be coming back. One thing Hiebert is doing, though, is placing ads in the LMT.

I'm sure a lot of you have noticed that the team has signed stick boy extraordinaire/Vice President of Bench Operations Jorge Lopez to a goalie contract. Don't worry; it isn't a desperation move. The league has some technicalities about being able to sign an emergency goaltender, as in you need to already have two goalies on your roster before you sign one to a 5-game deal. Jorge will not suit up and certainly will not play. But congrats to the kid on being a professional hockey player, even if only on paper and for a few days.

Ruskowski said he will be bringing another goalie in ASAP and is talking to one currently, hoping that he can bring him in here in time to keep Sebastien Centomo from having to start all three games this weekend.

As we all know, the Bucks have yet to win at Dodge Arena this season and currently sport an 0-4-0 record here. They have, however, beaten the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees five times on their home ice at the LEC. If they don't snap their winless streak here tonight, they'll only be four points ahead of the Killer Bees for second place in the Southeast Division heading into tomorrow night's game.

The Bucks are currently 22-13-4 (48 points), while the Killer Bees are 19-17-4 (42 pts.).

Ruskowski told me when I spoke to him before the game that the current state of the team is "disturbing" to him and that the troubles they've been having on the road are something he hasn't seen in seven seasons coaching here. He said that this group of guys needs to step up and start playing "like the Laredo Bucks can play," and he means tonight.

I wasn't able to talk to Stephens because Ruskowski was calling the guys into a team meeting when I arrived, but I'll try to catch up with him after the game if time permits and get an idea of how he feels about the trade and what he thinks he can bring to this team.

Game time's only about 45 minutes away, so I'm going to hold off on blogging about other stuff until tomorrow when I'm back in the office for the afternoon.

For more on this weekend's games, you can read my preview, Bryan Benway's preview, Rich Bocchini's game notes, or the Pointstreak pre-game notes.

Oh, and for the first time this season, there is absolutely no question about which goalies will be starting for either team. Christian Boucher gets the call for the Killer Bees, and Centomom will be between the pipes for the Bucks.

This will be my first time seeing Vincent Zaore-Vanie in a game since his return from the IR, so we'll see how he does. Ruskowski said he was impressed by Zaore's effort in the past two games, especially considering he was out for nearly two months.

Apparently Erick Lizon will be sitting out tonight, as he is standing off the ice in his track suit while the other guys warm up. He and Jaye Judd are the guys who aren't playing but still made the trip; I haven't seen Jeff Bes or Steve Weidlich around.

What a Day

Three flight delays and some other unpleasantness after my last post, I arrived in San Antonio and called Coach Ruskowski to get some more information on everything that went down today because I figured I may as well be on the safe side and not wait to get back to Laredo.

I have to say, he sounded like he was having the same kind of day (week, month, year...) that I was having, as a lot of his responses were preceded by the kind of laughter you only hear from someone who knows they have nothing to laugh about.

Obviously, losing a player like Jeff Bes to the IR for the first time since the start of the 2006-07 season is going to be taxing on a coach, and the other circumstances surrounding this situation just make matters worse.

Ruskowski made it clear that this weekend is do-or-die time for his team, mentioned that Bes will be out "for a while," and even said he's willing to "get people Visas" to bring them down here if that what it takes.

In response to the comments on my post about the trade, here's the deal: equipment manager Matt Brayfield will be suiting up as the backup again this weekend and until Ruskowski finds someone who is currently available and is "worth the money" the team will have to pay him.

As far as Centomo's "slump," Ruskowski made a good point - the guy's own team scored three goals against him last time, one when he wasn't even on the ice. Ruskowski said he has "a ton of faith" in Centomo and is not worried about his ability based purely on the results of a few off games for the whole team. He even said Centomo played very well against the Mudbugs, expecially for someone who hadn't been on the ice in a while.

And as far as Traylen...never say never, I guess. I do know that he is home in Quebec as of the current point in time, but that doesn't necessarily mean he'll stay there and follow through on his plans to go back to school if the Bucks want him back. So far as I know, his girlfriend's family is here, so it certainly isn't too far-fetched to think he may return. But you know what they say about assuming, so I'm not going to do that just yet.

Obviously, bringing in another goaltender is not Ruskowski's only concern, as he has been trying to bring in some new players for a while now. If what he said to me today is any indication, some of the team's current defensemen should not feel all too secure about their job situation.

"Now that I have two D-men hurt, obviously I'm trying to bring some in," he said. "But I've been trying for a while now, and it's almost impossible to find a good, solid defenseman who you can bring in and have help your team. That's why I've kept all these defensemen around. It's very, very tough to find good defense right now."

Speaking of job security, you have to feel for Gibb getting shipped off to a team that purportedly is having trouble paying its staff and taking care of equipment. Hopefully his trip to Colorado (where I imagine he'll be meeting up with his new club) is a pleasant and safe one.

Stephens should be getting here in time for tomorrow night's game, but it's doubtable that he'll be able to attend the morning skate after driving all day today to make it here in time. Ruskowski said he needs Stephens to be here for tomorrow night, and I'm sure being needed by a two-time CHL champion coach is something Stephens is enjoying already.

Anyway, I'm going to head out now because I am completely wiped (Seriously, if the Pens had lost tonight, this would have gone down in bad-day history.), but I will be waking up early tomorrow to head to the morning skate and talk to Ruskowski a bit more in-depth about the losses to the RiverKings and Mudbugs, the trade, Bes' injury and anything else of relevance. If you have any specific questions you can think of before 10 a.m. tomorrow, let me know.

I guess it's time to catch up on scores from yesterday and tonight, and I'll have more details on some of these games when I blog tomorrow. Yes, the Gorillas really did beat the Eagles in Colorado. They really seem to have issues with holding on to leads and winning in regulation, though.

Tuesday's CHL Scores: Mudbugs 2, RiverKings 1; Jackalopes 7, IceRays 2.

Tuesday's NHL Scores: Bruins 3, Capitals 2 (OT); Blue Jackets 3, Red Wings 2 (OT); Rangers 3, Hurricanes 2; Devils 4, Senators 1; Lightning 5, Canadiens 3; Panthers 3, Flyers 2; Wild 6, Maple Leafs 1; Stars 2, Thrashers 0; Ducks 7, Coyotes 3; Sabres 10, Oilers 2; Sharks 3, Avalanche 0.

Tonight's CHL Scores: Rush 2, Thunder 0; Sundogs 4, Rage 2; Gorillas 6, Eagles 5 (SO).

Tonight's NHL Scores: Penguins 6, Rangers 2; Flames 5, Sabres 2; Blackhawks 3, Ducks 2; Predators 5, Canucks 3.

Bes on IR

The Bucks have yet to announce Jeff Bes' injury status, to the public or to me, so I decided to check the Pointstreak transactions page as soon as I got internet reception.

Sure enough, beneath all the trades of the past couple days, it shows that the team has placed Bes on the 14-day injured reserve retroactive to Monday.

No wonder Coach Ruskowski was in such a rush to bring in a scorer.

I guess after 15 months covering this team, it's finally time for me to see what it can do without Bes for more than a game or two.

UPDATE: It is indeed official, as the team sent out an announcement not long after I started this post.

Goalie for a Center

As you may have read in the Bucks' press release, the team has traded rookie netminder Ryan Gibb to the New Mexico Scorpions for center Mitch Stephens.

Coach Ruskowski has been looking to bring some scoring power in here for a while, and as he always says, "You have to give up something good to get something good."

The Scorpions were in need of a goalie, so one like Gibb was definitely something good to them.

Stephens has 46 points already this season, making him the second-leading scorer on the Bucks as soon as he arrives. I'll try to find out later if that will be in time for tomorrow's game or not until this weekend's homestand. If the latter is the case, Darryl Smith could surpass him tomorrow.

Of course, nothing ever happens while I'm sitting at my computer in Laredo, so this had to be announced while I was in the shower in Phoenix getting ready to hop on a plane this afternoon. And, to make matters worse, my Blackberry can't access the internet here.

Due to all that, I will have to post more about this trade and all of yesterday's hockey happenings when I get back to Laredo, hopefully around 7 p.m. tonight.

But, before I go, I'd like to know...what are your thoughts on this move?

Game No. 39 - Bucks at Mudbugs

I wasn't at a computer for this one, so I had Pointstreak open on my Blackberry, and you can imagine my surprise when it said Ken Carroll scored an unassisted goal.

After making sure that wasn't just a complete error on the part of the scorekeeper, I assumed he had somehow touched the puck exactly as the delayed penalty was committed and Sebastien Centomo left the net unaware of the puck heading directly toward it.

However, it seems the Bucks scored against themselves, and it wasn't even the first time in the game that they did so. David Pszeyczny eventually took over the goal-scoring credit; thanks to Travis Huntington for clearing that whole ordeal up in his press release.

You can also read Bryan Benway's press release, but he had to catch a bus before the change was finalized, so it still credits Carroll with that game-winning goal (at least as of when I type this).

That bus ride from Bossier City, La., will be even less fun than usual, and even less fun than after a usual loss (the Bucks have never won at the CenturyTel Center during the regular season, after all) due to the fact that leading scorer Jeff Bes was hurt in the game.

He suffered an injury after being checked into the boards during the second period, and I've been told he was pointing to his knee before being helped off the ice, so that could be very, very bad news for the Bucks.

If you were able to watch that game, I'd love to know what you think about the severity of the injury because sometimes a guy needs to be helped off the ice then comes back later in the game (clearly not the case tonight), and sometimes guys get helped off the ice and miss the rest of the season.

Obviously, most of you will have heard about the injury prior to reading about it here, and it is already a topic of conversations on the Bucks' CHL Forum, where fans seem to be hoping losing Bes could ignite a fire under the rest of the team.

Considering the way they played after the last time they supposedly had a fire ignited under them, I'm not too sure about that, but I guess we'll find out once Bes' status is cleared up.

His injury is also a topic in "The Swamp," where a Mudbugs fan wishes him well and spelled his name wrong, but it's the thought that counts.

The Bucks' next game is against the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees on Thursday at Dodge Arena, where they are winless this season, and they are now 3-7-1 in their last 11 road games.

I'll still be out of town as of Wednesday morning, so I won't be able to attend the Bucks' first practice after they get home, but I will update you on Bes, trades or any other news as soon as I hear about it.

Obviously, losing tonight wasted one of the Bucks' chances to gain a couple of points on the Brahmas (27-10-4, 58 points), so they are still 10 back at 22-13-4 (48 pts.) with the Killer Bees (19-17-4, 42 pts.) only six behind them and Thursday's game looming large.

But losing tonight is obviously not nearly as big as losing Bes if that happens to be the case, so we'll see what happens there. I apologize for leading off with the bit about the goal rather than Bes' injury, but I figured the latter would be more common knowledge than the former once tomorrow morning arrives.

No other scores tonight, so that'll do it. I'll post more about tonight's game, including that extra-attacker goal with 16 seconds to play and the fact that the usually oft-penalized Bucks found a way to lose with only three calls against them, and the other events around the league when I get back to Laredo on Wednesday night.

Best wishes to everyone in Oklahoma dealing with that ice storm.

P.S. Puddinman's avatar is Franklin Delano Bluth, G.O.B.'s puppet extraordinaire with whom he attempted some ventriloquism on "Arrested Development." Am I up for those virtual cool points?

Ten Points Back

The Texas Brahmas beat the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees 4-1 in today's Southeast Division showdown.

As far as the Bucks (22-12-4, 48 pts.) go, the good news is that the Killer Bees (19-7-4, 42 pts.) didn't gain any more points on them...but, of course, the bad news is that the Brahmas (27-10-4, 58 pts.) are now 10 points ahead of them for first place in the division.

The Bucks get a chance to move two points closer when they play one of their three games in hand on the Brahmas tomorrow night against the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs (23-13-3, 49 pts.) at the CenturyTel Center.

But there's bad news there, as well, due to the fact that the Bucks have never won at CenturyTel during the regular season and have been struggling on the road lately regardless of where they play.

Coach Ruskowski told me on Thursday that the most important things his team has to do against the Mudbugs are control the pace and pass well. Defense, of course, is another point he wants to be the focus.

Sebastien Centomo should have met up with the team at some point today while they enjoyed (or maybe not) a day in their casino/hotel and will likely start tomorrow for the first time since his son was born.

I'll have a preview running into tomorrow's Times, and I'll be sure to report back at night with some information about the game. No guarantees as to what time and how much just yet.

Tonight's CHL Scores: Brahmas 4, Killer Bees 1; Rage 5, Rush 4.

Tonight's NHL Score: Eastern Conference All-Stars 12, Western Conference All-Stars 11 (SO). Yes, I did watch that whole game.

Game No. 38 - Bucks at RiverKings

Well, so much for that.

The Bucks really seemed confident that what they had done in their win over the Texas Brahmas on Wednesday would propel them to some wins this weekend, but it appears that they forgot showing up for tonight's game was part of the equation.

As the headline for Bryan Benway's press release states, a poor start doomed the team, as did some penalties that I can't guarantee were the Bucks' own fault considering Tom Steinel was officiating.

I was actually quite surprised when I checked the score to find it was 5-1 during the second intermission. I thought the win the other night had taught these guys something, but apparently they took it to mean starting off the wrong way can be fixed. Obviously, their attempts tonight were too little, too late.

With the loss, the Bucks dropped to 22-12-4 (48 points). That, coupled with the Brahmas' 4-3 win over the Amarillo Gorillas brought the Bucks to a season-high eight points out of first place in the Southeast Division. On top of that, the Brahmas play again tomorrow when they host the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees, which gives them another opportunity to add to their lead.

As it stands, the Brahmas are 26-10-4 (56 pts.) but have played two more games than the Bucks and will make it three tomorrow.

The Killer Bees completed an impressive feat of their own tonight, beating the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs 4-1 and shutting them out other than Brett Smith's penalty shot goal.

With that win, the Killer Bees improved to 19-16-4 (42 pts.), thus keeping their lead for third place in the division intact at four points.

They weren't able to add to it, as the Corpus Christi IceRays also won, 4-2 against the New Mexico Scorpions. The IceRays are now 17-18-4 (38 pts.).

As you may have noticed, that means the Killer Bees are only six points behind the Bucks right now, so tomorrow's game between the Brahmas and Killer Bees is kind of a lose-lose situation for the Bucks.

If the Brahmas win, they move to 10 points ahead of the Bucks in the standings. But, if the Killer Bees win, they'll be only four points behind the Bucks with a game between the two teams at Dodge Arena looming. And, of course, the Bucks have yet to win at Dodge Arena this season.

Additionally, the Bucks will be playing the Mudbugs on the road in their only game between now and then, and they have never won at the CenturyTel Center during the regular season in franchise history.

Funny how that works, isn't it? They won their second President's Cup title on the Mudbugs' ice but have never been able to win there when the pressure isn't quite as intense. We'll see if they can step it up in the fairly dire situation they're in right now.

Of course, the Bucks are 1-6-3 in their last 10 road games, so expecting them to snap that slump against a team like the Mudbugs is slightly unrealistic. But we'll see what happens.

I'm leaving in a few hours to fly to Phoenix, but as you may have noticed, I'm a bit of a workaholic, so I will be updating while I'm away. Don't expect much before 10 p.m. or so on any given day, though, unless anything exceptionally exciting happens. Well, I'll probably post the score from that Brahmas-Killer Bees game when it ends, but other than that...

Tonight's CHL Scores: Brahmas 4, Gorillas 3; Killer Bees 4, Mudbugs 1; RiverKings 5, Bucks 3; Jackalopes 6, Oilers 1; Thunder 5, Blazers 2; Eagles 6, Sundogs 1; Rage 4, Rush 0; IceRays 4, Scorpions 2.

Oh, and in case any of you care about all the NHL All-Star SuperSkills jazz, you can read all about it at NHL.com or watch the events here. I'd love to see a puck going 105.4 miles per hour in person, haha. Chara is a beast. Congrats to Geno for that accuracy win. Sucks that Sid couldn't compete in the Breakaway Challenge, though; he can do some really neat tricks (watch them all if you're bored; seriously awesome stuff).

Game Day No. 38

The Bucks will be back in action tonight as they take on the Mississippi RiverKings at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven, Miss.

Both teams are coming off one-goal wins, as the Bucks came back to beat the Texas Brahmas 5-4 in a shootout on Wednesday night and the RiverKings defeated the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees 4-3 last night.

Last time these teams met up, at the LEC on Nov. 25, my preview focused on the whole former teammates playing against each other thing, so that wasn't as much of a focus for my preview for tonight.

As any of you who attended the game on Wednesday know, the Bucks played better than most of us have seen them play this season in the latter half of the contest, and they were beyond excited to win.

The guys called the win "amazing," "huge," "massive," etc...and said it was definitely going to improve their confidence and bring their "swagger" back. Coach Ruskowski also thought it would help them as far as the trip out to Mississippi on Thursday night.

"I think going on the road trip, guys will be more relaxed on the bus," he said. "It’ll be a situation where they have that self-confidence, hopefully, and we’re hoping that this game will be one that we’ll look back at and say it turned the whole season around for us. I’m hoping that will be the case."

As I mention in my preview, the Bucks have had a bit of a problem with scoring first lately, but Ruskowski is also concerned that when they do score first, they let up a little bit, which is obviously also a bad thing.

"Sometimes if we score first and score two or three goals, we have a tendency not to play hard," he said. "We’d like to score first, then play our game the way it’s supposed to be played – tight defense, and when the offensive chance comes, obviously score. But our frame of mind is defense, to play strong, strong defensive coverage and let the offense take care of itself."

The defense was something that impressed him on Wednesday for one of the first times this season, so we'll see if they can keep that up, especially as the defensive corps will be one man stronger with the return of Vincent Zaore-Vanie.

That win on Wednesday could be especially big as far as rookie netminder Ryan Gibb, who picked up his first professional shootout win, as he will be starting again tonight.

You can read more about tonight's game in Bryan Benway's road trip preview or check out the Pointstreak pre-game notes.

I'm going to go home and pack now, but I'll be back later to update you on all of tonight's scores.

Tonight's Results

Both of the teams who the Bucks were keeping an eye on tonight won, and both by the same score, as the Mississippi RiverKings defeated the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees 4-3, and the Texas Brahmas won 4-3 in overtime against the Amarillo Gorillas.

The Gorillas gave everyone a bit of a tease, pulling ahead 2-0 and leading for the majority of the game, but the Brahmas scored three third-period goals then won in overtime after Gorillas forward Michael Handza tied the game at three with just seven seconds left in regulation.

For the RiverKings, things were a little bit easier, as early power plays led to 3-1 lead after the first period that became a 4-1 lead before the Killer Bees were able to get back on the board.

The Corpus Christi IceRays won their game against the Rocky Mountain Rage 2-1, pulling them within four points of the Killer Bees for third place in the Southeast Division standings.

As of now, the Bucks have played one fewer game than the Killer Bees and IceRays and two fewer than the Brahmas.

The standings are as follows:

All four teams are in action tomorrow night, with the Bucks at the RiverKings, the Brahmas at the Gorillas once again, the Killer Bees at the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, and the IceRays at the New Mexico Scorpions.

In tonight's "marquee matchup," the Colorado Eagles went back to the place where they lost last season's President's Cup Finals and defeated the Arizona Sundogs 5-4 on Erik Adams' overtime goal.

The teams had met twice at the Budweiser Events Center this season, with the Eagles winning both games 7-5. Meanwhile, the Sundogs (17-20-3, 37 points) have just over half as many points as the league-leading Eagles (31-6-1, 63 pts.).

I have the day off tomorrow and need it to pack, but I will stop in to link to my preview in the morning and update about the results of the game at night.

Here are all of tonight's scores...

CHL: RiverKings 4, Killer Bees 3; Brahmas 4, Gorillas 3 (OT); Jackalopes 4, Scorpions 3; Thunder 3, Rush 1; Blazers 5, Oilers 2; IceRays 2, Rage 1; Eagles 5, Sundogs 4 (OT).

Friday Fun

Apparently the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees have decided to join the "sign a staffer to a goaltending contract" party, as they just announced that they have signed Fan Experience Manager Hugh "Trey" Boylan to a 5-game deal.

At first, I thought maybe that was a joke due to previous signings of such nature by the Bucks and Corpus Christi IceRays, but apparently it is legit as Boylan, who was a goaltender for Texas Tech's club team for five years, is backing up Christian Boucher while Wylie Rogers sits out with a minor injury suffered in practice this week.

That press release also states that the Killer Bees have picked up defenseman Dan McGoff, a fellow Boston University alum who was waived by the New Mexico Scorpions yesterday.

I'm not sure if those two will be in the lineup when the Killer Bees take on the Mississippi RiverKings tonight, but they are listed on the pre-game rosters.

As I mentioned earlier, the Bucks will be checking out tonight's game, and I just got off the phone with Coach Ruskowski, who said Sebastien Centomo will not be rejoining the team until after tomorrow night's game.

Due to the fact that some specifics in my preview for tomorrow night's game rest on the result of the one that's about to begin, I'll probably try to listen to some of it if Nifty's feeling nice tonight.

This game is the first part of a tough three-in-three for the Killer Bees, who already played one on the road on Tuesday. Their weekend slate is one of the topics of Bob Hoffman's "Shots from the Point" for today, which also note Rick Kozak has scored four goals in the Bucks' last four games.

Either way, I'll post all the final scores and what they mean to the Bucks later.

More Schedule Changes

As previously stated, the Bucks will not be playing tonight due to some prior rescheduling that was actually probably quite good for the team.

Originally, they were slated to play the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs at the CenturyTel Center in Bossier City, La., tonight and take on the Mississippi RiverKings at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven, Miss., tomorrow, but now they will have tonight off instead.

That allowed the team to leave late last night and arrive in Southaven earlier today, then practice before taking a break then heading out to watch the RiverKings host the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees tonight.

So, not only did they get a chance to get their bus legs taken care of, but they'll also be able to do some scouting tonight.

The game against the Mudbugs will now be played on Monday night, marking the team's second Monday night game of the season, but apparently not the last, as their game at the Corpus Christi IceRays originally scheduled for Tuesday, March 17, has been moved to Monday, March 16.

Additionally, as I mentioned on Wednesday, the game between the Bucks and IceRays at the LEC originally scheduled for Saturday, March 7, has been moved to Sunday, March 8.

News and Notes

This just came through on the AP wire, so I'm going to be a bit weepy for the rest of the night. FYI, I am leaving Laredo at 4:30 a.m. on Sunday to catch a flight at 8:30 a.m. to get somewhere in time for the All-Star Game that was originally scheduled for 1 p.m. EST then moved to 7 p.m. EST before this decision just ruined it all.

Yes, I know it's better to have him sit this out than lose him for regular season games, but he's 21 years old and should be able to enjoy this but instead is missing it in spite of being the top vote getter for the second straight year.

Meanwhile, the Corpus Christi IceRays have have traded right wing Mike Zbriger to the Wichita Thunder in exchange for forward Chris Greene.

As you may remember, the Bucks acquired Alex Goupil from the Thunder a bit past this time last year, and we all know how that worked out for them, so we'll see if Greene can do anything similar for the IceRays.

With 36 games under his belt with the Thunder this season, Greene had four goals and 15 assists for 19 points, while Zbriger had 13 goals and 16 assists for 29 points in his 36 games with the IceRays. Greene has a plus/minus of minus-12, while Zbriger is a minus-10, but it should be noted that Greene played on a team that has only two players in positive numbers as far as that goes.

The things it seems the IceRays were looking for are intangibles that don't show up on the score sheet, as Greg Rajan notes in his blog post about the trade. In his next post, he mentions that the IceRays also got rookie defenseman John Adams back from the Houston Aeros and don't even have to use a roster spot on him just yet, and also shares IceRays coach Sylvain Cloutier's thoughts on his newest addition:

"We get bigger and he's one of those guys who works hard and is a pain I the butt to play against. I think we needed one of those guys and he'll complement some of our other forwards. We're in playoff mode now and need to win games, so we need that (element). And we needed to improve defensively. He's a bigger guy and can battle down (low). I think that's a good pickup for us."

Guys who are a pain in the butt to play against are usually a plus, so I'll keep an eye on his PIMs and whatnot this weekend to get an idea of what he'll be bringing to Laredo next weekend.

The IceRays won their game last night, the first of four straight on the road, without Adams or Greene present as they topped the Rapid City Rush in a 5-2 victory.

Zbriger had a goal in the win, but it was only his third in 19 games.

With the victory, the IceRays (15-18-4, 34 points) pulled within six points of the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees (18-15-4, 40 pts.) for third place in the Southeast Division standings.

The Killer Bees had a chance to pull within six points of the second-place Bucks (22-11-4, 48 pts.) on Tuesday, but they fell in a 4-3 overtime game against the Tulsa Oilers. That coupled with the Bucks' win last night got the Bucks back to eight points ahead.

And, of course, the Brahmas (24-10-4, 52 pts.) are still on top but have played one more game than each of the other three teams in the division.

The Bucks are off tomorrow night due to some prior rescheduling, but they will be practicing tomorrow in Mississippi before watching the Killer Bees take on the RiverKings tomorrow night.

In other divisional action, the Brahmas will be at the Amarillo Gorillas, and the IceRays are at the Rocky Mountain Rage.

Oh, and according to Rajan's notebook, Dustin Traylen shouldn't be popping up anywhere else in the CHL, as he is headed home to Quebec to go back to school.

Tonight's CHL Score: Mudbugs 4, Oilers 1.

Injury Report

I feel so NFL-ish with all this injury talk, but as briefly noted in my previous post, the Bucks have placed defensemen Steve Weidlich and Jaye Judd on the injured reserve.

Weidlich, a seventh-year Buck, is often jokingly called the oldest non-veteran in the league because his very frequent IR stints had kept him from reaching the vet mark prior to this season, and this will be his second break due to injury, though first IR stay, of the season.

The press release doesn't state what Weidlich's injury was, so I probably shouldn't say too much, but I will tell you he was neither limping nor wearing a sling this week...and the second page of Robert Keith's photo album from Saturday night's game can tell you a little bit more.

Judd, on the other hand, is a rookie, and this will be his second IR stint of the season. I was never entirely sure what happened to him last time, and this time is the same case, as he was hurt in Friday night's road game against the Corpus Christi IceRays. I do know a rough check into the boards was the culprit, but I'm not sure about the nature of the injury.

Each has been placed on the 14-day IR, with Judd's stay retroactive to Jan. 16 and Weidlich's retroactive to Jan. 17.

In addition to placing those guys on the IR, the Bucks activated defenseman Vincent Zaore-Vanie, who should play for the first time since Nov. 25 in Saturday's game at the Mississippi RiverKings.

Ironically enough, it was during the Bucks' 5-3 loss to the RiverKings at the LEC that night that he was injured in the first place.

As I had talked about last week, Zaore had been in full practices with the team for a few days before experiencing a minor setback in his recovery, but he told me earlier this week he is feeling much better, so he should be ready to go.

With Zaore coming back, the Bucks will be back up to six defensemen on their active roster. Interesting statistical note: Weidlich has 13 points so far this season after posting only 12 all of last season...of course, he did only play in 28 games during the entire 2007-08 campaign and has been in 34 so far this time around. Oh, and Judd's plus/minus of plus-11 leads Bucks' defensemen and all rookie CHL D-men.

All-Star rookie center Darryl Smith should also be returning for Saturday night's game after missing two in a row with a minor "lower body" injury. He said he really wanted to play last night but was in some pain when he skated earlier in the day, so they decided to hold off on bringing him back.

And last but not least, rookie center Ryan Salvis, who missed both of last weekend's games with an "upper body" affliction that required some icing after a physical third period last night, is said to be doing just fine and also expected to play on Saturday.

Plain and Simple

During the second half of last night's game, the Bucks finally showed exactly what they are capable of doing. With their leading goal scorer in the stands, their top goaltender in Oklahoma City and only five defensemen splitting time, they came back from three goals down against a very tough team and won in a shootout.

That postgame interview with Coach Ruskowski was the best I've had all season; he obviously wasn't thrilled with the way the guys came out, but for them to stick with it after giving up a hat trick in the first 27 minutes impressed everyone, including him.

"I think we've had some pretty good performances (this season), and I think we've won games that we didn't play very well, and I was concerned," he said. "But last night, that second half was one of the better we've had. The thing about it is that we were down and we never gave up. That's a huge factor."

Every single one of the players, including the guys who didn't get to play last night, was thrilled following the game, especially rookie netminder Ryan Gibb, who called the win "massive" and "amazing."

When the Bucks fell to being behind 4-1 in the second period last night, I'm pretty sure everyone gave up on them. As a big NHL fan, I have seen three-goal leads disappear in a matter of minutes this season, so I wasn't entirely convinced, but I did know (as I stated in my game blog) that they would have to score before the second period ended if they wanted any chance to win.

Matt Miller came through with that huge second goal with just nine seconds to play in the middle period, then assisted on Rick Kozak's score that brought the Bucks within one about halfway through the third.

The guys who do all the work never get all the credit from the public in this sport, which is rough, but Ruskowski definitely noticed Miller's efforts and could not stop raving about him, even this morning.

"He's been playing pretty well for me, but I really thought he was unbelievable," Ruskowski said. "I just thought, 'That's the guy I traded for.' He played tremendous; he knocked them off the puck, went and got the puck, knocked them down again, went and did it again then made a shot on net or a pass. He played the way I knew he could and set the bar very high. Now anything less would be a disappointment for me. He's got to play that way to be successful, and for that line to be successful, and I was very impressed with his performance."

Jeff Bes, Serge Dube, Adam Rivet and Bobby Russell were also very impressive last night in the amount of effort they put forth, especially in the second period when the other guys were still lagging behind a bit.

Kozak admitted after the game that they had not come out the way they needed to, and that has been something of a trend lately. But now that they know what they can do, maybe they'll try a little harder to keep doing it.

When I asked Ruskowski this morning if he thought last night would push the guys to always play the way he wanted them to, he looked at me as if to say, "Your guess is as good as mine," because this isn't the first glimpse of this type of play the team has given him this season, just the strongest one with the best end result.

"I sure hope so," he said. "I can only bring it up to them so much. We can always hope and pray that it will happen that way, but time will tell."

Of course, one thing he has disliked about his team all season long is the fact that the players often don't finish their checks, and he mentioned one shift last night during which Kozak and Erick Lizon both completely crushed the guys they were skating with as a turning point.

"I really think that one shift where Kozak hit a guy and hammered him, then Lizon came in and hammered a guy and all the fans got into the game rejuvenated us," he said. "That's what we have to do all the time. At the home or on the road, we have to finish our checks."

For those of you who read my game blog, that would be when I said, "The Bucks are trying to check the life out of the Brahmas at this point, but it might be a little late for that to be a successful course of action."

Apparently it wasn't, and it showed that they are capable of playing the physical style of game that Ruskowski wants to see out of them. Everyone from the always brutal Kozak to Bes to Rivet, etc... was throwing his body around once the game got to the third period, and that is exactly what they need to do to keep Ruskowski from calling them "soft" and searching for guys who fit into his system better than the ones who are here now do.

However, due to the injuries to Jaye Judd and Steve Weidlich, which have landed them both on the IR, Ruswowski is still trying to bring in a fresh body to take the spot that Vincent Zaore-Vanie isn't filling.

"We're working on a couple deals to see if I can get some help in that aspect," he said. "But nothing is for sure, so until I see the whites of their eyes, it's still in the works."

Additionally, Sebastien Centomo might be meeting up with the team a bit later than expected due to some complications his wife Amanda is experiencing after the birth of their son on Tuesday. I don't believe it's anything serious, but keep her in your prayers if you're the praying type and in your thoughts if not.

On the ice, that means Gibb will likely be starting against the Mississippi RiverKings, and Ruskowski is hoping that last night's shootout win, his first as a professional, will give the young goalie some confidence that carries over into Saturday night's game, as well as giving the rest of the players some confidence in him and themselves.

"I'm very happy for him because he was struggling before (in shootouts)," Ruskowski said. "It's definitely a boost, being behind 4-1 and coming back and beating them. I just hope they know what it takes and can do it again if they all work hard. Hopefully, they can carry this on, and hopefully there's bigger and better and stuff in front of us than there is behind us."

Everyone emphasized that the win was huge for morale, and Ruskowski said this morning that he and majority owner Glenn Hart had spoken about the game possibly being the "turning point" as far as getting out of the slump the team has been in of late.

As much as the players said the win was the confidence boost they needed, I think it may have been the kick in the pants they needed. Confidence is one thing; effort is another, and they needed the latter more than the former. If giving their best effort gave them more confidence, great, but they are going to need to keep the effort up if they want to win either of their next games...or any of their next three, for that matter.

By the way, I know hockey purists hate shootouts, but I kinda like them, at least when they don't happen too frequently. Another thing I like is asking coaches why they decided to go with the shooters they chose in the order in which they put them out there.

Last night, Kozak and Alex Goupil were hot and had scored the game's last two goals, making those choices obvious enough, so I asked Ruskowski why he went with Mike Gooch. He laughed a little bit, then said Dube had actually helped him make that decision based on the way the kid fares in practice shootouts.

"I have to give the credit to Dube," he said. "We've been having shootouts, and Gooch is always pretty good at it. But in practice, it's different than in a game. There's a lot more pressure when you've got 5,000 fans watching, where in practice you only have 18 or 19 guys. But he did pretty well; he's good with the puck, he moves the puck really well, and when he made that move, wow. It was pretty slick, caught me off guard a little bit. Hopefully if we get in another shootout, he'll be someone we'll use there again."

Just to clarify, there were actually 3,317 fans at the game...at least according to Pointstreak. Oh, and there are usually more than 18 or 19 at practice, with Bryan Benway, Art Cullaton, Jorge Lopez, Bobby Moore, etc...and myself lingering about, haha.

And now I need to go dummy out pages for today, so I will leave you with something completely unrelated to the Bucks but too sweet and sad and adorable not to share. You can read more about it here or here.