More Mondays, More Problems

After a long bus ride yesterday, the Bucks were back to work this morning preparing for another Southeast Division showdown with the Texas Brahmas.

The Brahmas (24-10-3, 51 points) currently lead the Bucks (21-11-4, 46 pts.) by five points for first place, while the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees (18-15-3, 39 pts.) have pulled within seven of the Bucks and get a chance to move even closer as they face the Tulsa Oilers tomorrow night.

Practice was a bit off today, with four guys not on the ice due to injury, Sebastien Centomo not there due to baby birthing and Serge Dube dressed as a forward centering the top line with Jeff Bes and Alex Goupil as his wingers.

Supposedly Darryl Smith had been practicing before I got to the arena, and he was wandering around in clothes one would only wear to work out when I was there, so he seems to be okay and said he would definitely play on Wednesday...as well as participate in some floor hockey with schoolchildren tomorrow. Oh, and he had some nice things to say about his coach and teammates in this story, which had to torment me by being right below this one.

Steve Weidlich and Jaye Judd were at the LEC but wearing jeans and not taking any part in practice, while Ryan Salvis was either hiding or not at the arena at all. Coach Ruskowski said he does expect Salvis to play on Wednesday, though.

Devin Featherstone, who took a stick to the face in Saturday's loss, was out on the ice for the full practice, as was Vincent Zaore-Vanie, who Ruskowski said may play on Wednesday for the first time since getting injured in the Bucks' 5-3 loss to the Mississippi RiverKings on Nov. 25.

Ruskowski actually didn't seem too upset with the way his team played on Saturday, other than with all the penalties, but he didn't entirely blame his players for those, either.

I'm going to wait to post quotes until I finish up my notebook, but I'll share the leftovers about this weekend later or tomorrow.

As a 23-year-old New Jerseyan who moved down here about 15 months ago, I obviously don't know too much about who played in this league back in the day, so I was quite unaware of Chris Minard's CHL past until Greg Rajan posted this neat item today. Very cool.

I was hoping I'd get to see a similar story play out when I attend the Phoenix Coyotes' game against the Anaheim Ducks next Tuesday, but turns out David Schlemko got sent back to the San Antonio Rampage before ever actually touching NHL ice.

In other news, the coverage of Claude Lemieux's return to the NHL is serving as my main source of amusement today, as it ranges from this hilariously-titled post on Puck Daddy to an AP story with this lede:

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Nearly six years after Claude Lemieux retired, he's back to pester the NHL again.

As much as people seem opposed to this, they must be making him feel pretty good about himself by giving him so much credit for what he can do to get in other players' heads. If I still lived in Boston, I would have loved to go to Worcester to check out the middle leg of the comeback. Wonder if Andrew Desjardins enjoyed it. Oh, this is fun, too.

Though the callup is probably in part a publicity stunt, there is some method to the Sharks' madness, as Torrey Mitchell's setback during the Worcester team's game on Sunday foreshadowed today's announcement.

Okay, I changed my mind; the lede to this story is much more hilarious (in a bad way) than all the Claude Lemieux coverage:

When Brendan Shanahan last played for the New Jersey Devils, cars did not come equipped with airbags; there was no such thing as a web browser; and Boyz II Men were still boys.

Ummm, 'kay. In less funny but very noteworthy news, the Edmonton Oilers retired No. 9 for Glenn Anderson last night prior to their 6-3 win over the Phoenix Coyotes.

Oh, and the NHL games began early today due to the holiday, so I can already start with those scores. No CHL games tonight, as usual, though the Bucks will play their second Monday game of the season next week, oddly enough.

NHL Scores: Blues 5, Bruins 4 (SO); Capitals 2, Islanders 1 (OT); Lightning 4, Stars 2; Hurricanes 2, Maple Leafs 0; Sabres 3, Panthers 2 (SO); Wild 4, Blackhawks 1.