I guess the most important thing to say right now is that if the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees hadn't been docked two points in the standings last week, they and the Bucks would now be tied for second place in the Southeast Division and third place in the Southern Conference.
As it stands, the Killer Bees' 2-1 win in the game that ended just minutes ago moves them to 31-22-5, the exact same record as the Bucks have, but only 65 points to the Bucks' 67.
After Sunday's 4-1 loss to the Corpus Christi IceRays, today's game, which I previewed briefly in my weekly notebook, became even more important than it already had been, but obviously the Bucks came up short once again.
Their 22 regulation losses have this team tied with the 2004-05 Bucks for the most regular season regulation losses in franchise history. And the team only had three overtime defeats this season.
With three games against the Texas Brahmas, one against the Odessa Jackalopes and one against the suddenly Buck-dominant IceRays left on the schedule, I think it's safe to say the team will be setting a loss record this season.
Of course, the 2004-05 team did still make it to the President's Cup finals, but I'm pretty sure everyone involved in or familiar with this team knows they'll need a little something extra to get that far.
Coach Ruskowski and I discussed the importance of getting that No. 3 seed instead of the No. 4 yesterday, and I'm guessing he's not too thrilled to have let the Killer Bees move even closer today.
According to him, the biggest thing about getting the No. 3 is that you know flat-out right away who you're playing, and you get time to prepare for them. Plus, the winner of the No. 4-No. 5 series has to play the Brahmas, and that's not good news this season. But are the Odessa Jackalopes really any better?
Meanwhile, the Brahmas clinched the division with the Bucks' loss on Sunday, but the dethroned Bucks seem to be the only team feeling ill effects from the Brahmas' Southeast debut. After only the Bucks and the currently nonexistent Austin IceBats made the postseason last year, three of the Southeast teams are already in this time around, with the potential for the fourth to join the party.
The IceRays 25-28-5 (55 pts.) are currently two points up on the Arizona Sundogs (24-30-5, 53 pts.) and four up on the New Mexico Scorpions (24-31-3, 51 pts.) for the conference's fifth and final playoff spot with a game in hand on the Sundogs.
But anyway, I just got Bryan Benway's press release in my e-mail, and the fact that his headline is so serious really tells you something about the Bucks' situation right now.
You can read Brian Sandalow's pre-game and running game blogs, as well as his game story for more on today.
Oh, and I should note that Darryl Smith is a finalist for the CHL Rookie of the Year award. He is the only Buck nominated for an end-of-season honor. There's a little more about that in my previously linked notebook.
Smith was also voted Best Rookie in the league's "Best of the Best" polls, which were released this morning.
The Colorado Eagles dominated this season's polls, but the injured Jeff Bes was still able to pick up some votes, finishing first in the "Best Playmaker" category, second in "Best Overall Player" and "Best Leader," and third in "Best Stickhandler" and "Smartest Player."
La Posada was voted "Best Host Hotel," the Bucks' booster club tied for second with the IceRays' as "Best Booster Club," and Bucks' fans were voted third-most annoying in the league. That about does it for the Bucks in this season's voting.
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