Stuck in Second Place

Being in second place in the Southeast Division at this point in the season is not something the Bucks are used to...at least not since their inaugural campaign.

But, with just about half of this one in the books, the Bucks are behind the Texas Brahmas, and moving back ahead of them will not be an easy task.

Prior to the season, everyone knew that having the Brahmas added to the division would be a big deal for the Bucks. What I don't think they expected is that halfway through the campaign, the teams have only played twice, and the Brahmas have already made their way to the top.

Obviously, the Bucks started the season a little slow, then went on a hot streak to move into first in the division. But, in their past 10 games, they are 2-5-3, and that has allowed the Brahmas to jump into the top spot.

The Brahmas have played one more game than the Bucks and stand at 20-9-3 (43 points), while the Bucks are 19-9-3 (41 pts.). But having that game in hand will not help the Bucks any time soon, as the Brahmas also play tomorrow night, then again Wednesday and Saturday, meaning both teams play three games this weekend.

For the Bucks to move back into a tie for first tomorrow, they'll need to do something they haven't done yet this season and beat the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees at Dodge Arena. Don't let the 8-3 win on Wednesday night fool you; the Killer Bees can beat the Bucks, and they know it.

According to Coach Ruskowski, the big key to this game will be getting on the board early and preventing the shorthanded Killer Bees from trapping play on neutral ice for the remainder of the game. Obviously, they didn't score first on Wednesday, but four goals in the second of half of the opening period certainly didn't hurt their chances.

Ruskowski said after Wednesday's game that he was impressed by how hard the Killer Bees played in spite of having so few skaters, and they've proven this season that they play much better at home than they do on the road. Meanwhile, the Bucks do the same, and are 5-5-3 on the road this season, including four losses to the Killer Bees.

As important as winning is to the Bucks, it's even more important to the Killer Bees (13-15-3, 29 points), who are still in the running for a Southern Conference playoff spot just one point behind the Corpus Christi IceRays (13-4-4, 30 pts.) and still ahead of the New Mexico Scorpions (12-18-2, 26 pts.) and Amarillo Gorillas (10-20-0, 20 pts.)

I know I talked up Saturday night's game as being a big one, and it was, but tomorrow night's could be pretty big itself, regardless of how it ends. If the Brahmas beat the Tulsa Oilers, that will make it even bigger.

Speaking of the Brahmas, Justin Kinnunen was named CHL Player of the Week today after scoring a hat trick and handing out an assist in the Brahmas' 4-1 win over the Bucks on Saturday night. Kinnunen also had an assist in the Brahmas' 4-3 shootout win over the IceRays on Friday night and was a key in the Brahmas' 3-0 week against divisional opponents.

This is only the second time this season that a defenseman has earned the weekly player honors.

Arizona Sundogs netminder Marco Emond was named Goaltender of the Week and also earned the "Three-Star Award" for December. This weekend, he saved 110 of the 113 shots he faced to lead the Sundogs to a 3-0 week against the Scorpions, Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs and Oklahoma City Blazers.