Another Busy Night

When I went to format the CHL agate about an hour ago, an updated version hadn't yet moved on the wire, so I went to Pointstreak to check the scores and input the new information manually.

My quest was deterred slightly when I saw this:

Now, I understand that hockey is rife with parity these days, but you have to admit that is a bit of a surprise.

In one corner, you have the Southern Conference leaders with two of the top scorers in the league, and in the other, a team struggling to stay afloat on the ice and off it.

Hats off to the Scorpions for pulling that off; looks like the Bucks might have a little more trouble than anyone would have expected this weekend. Well, more trouble than anyone would have expected from their opponent, anyway.

Speaking of the Bucks, yesterday's game is one they want to be moving on from quickly, and today's practice was the opposite of what you'd get from Coach Ruskowski if he were still angry, so I guess they have.

Ruskowski had a meeting with his defensive players prior to the practice this morning and seems convinced that there are bluer skies on the horizon, which is one topic of my weekly notebook, which will run in tomorrow's paper because I was not in any condition to write on Monday.

Another topic I had hoped to get into was the team's newest attempt at a checking line, the Igor Agarunov-Ryan Salvis-Matt Miller group that combined for two goals, two assists and a plus/minus of plus-5 in yesterday's loss.

Here's some of what Ruskowski had to say about them:

"I feel that they're a good checking line. What's a plus for me is that I can try to put them against another team's top line knowing that they can score, also. I like that line; they were very productive last game, and hopefully they can continue to be productive."

I'll talk a little more about that, as well as some other leftover stuff from my interviews yesterday and today, on here tomorrow.

And yes, I know I keep saying I'll talk about stuff tomorrow and not getting to it, but I promise this tomorrow will be a lot less stressful and much more conducive to me blogging. Plus, the Penguins aren't even playing, so I'll still be giddy over tonight's win (which was amazing). Is that style of game blog easier to keep up with? Let me know if you have any opinions about that.

As usual, I'll list the rest of tonight's scores below. Have a good night!

CHL: Eagles 5, Sundogs 3; Rush 2, Gorillas 1 (SO); Scorpions 5, Jackalopes 0.

NHL: Blackhawks 3, Thrashers 1; Devils 4, Islanders 2; Rangers 4, Capitals 3 (SO); Penguins 2, Sharks 1 (SO); Senators 3, Sabres 1; Wild 3, Avalanche 2; Coyotes 1, Stars 0; Ducks 3, Flames 2 (OT); Oilers 7, Canadiens 2.

UPDATE: Apparently the good ol' Colorado Eagles clinched a playoff spot tonight with a win over the team that defeated them in last year's President Cup. Congrats, I s'pose.