Bucks Sign Sample

That sounds kind of funny, right?

Anyway, the Bucks announced today that they have signed 22-year-old rookie defenseman Tomas Sample.

Sample played four seasons of junior hockey then took two years off to complete his education, so he hasn't played since the 2006-07 season.

He played for four teams in two different junior leagues, the Ontario Hockey League and the Ontario Provincial Junior Hockey League.

I'm guessing that Coach Ruskowski and/or his scouts saw something in this kid they really liked if he's bringing him in after a couple seasons off, so I'll be sure to ask him about that.

For more on Sample, you can check out his OHL profile, his hockeyfights.com profile or this YouTube video:



I honestly have no idea which of the players he is because they're wearing the same number, but both kids throw some pretty big punches in there.

Oh, wait, here's another one:



UPDATE: Ruskowski does indeed seem to like this kid a lot; you can read my story in tomorrow's Times to hear what he had to say. Just a heads up, the numbers on Hockey DB conflict greatly with the ones in the press release and slightly with the ones on the OHL and OPJHL sites. So, in my story, I'm going with the ones from the leagues themselves. That adds up to 38 total points, one more than Hockey DB has given him, and quite a few less than what the press release states. His OPJHL numbers from 2006-07 can be found here, but the only discrepency is with his OHL time, as Hockey DB has him pointless with the Sudbury Wolves in 2003-04 and the OHL site says he had an assist. Sorry if that's confusing; just wanted to explain.

Ruskowski's Thoughts

I had planned to blog a bit today but got caught up doing desk work all afternoon/evening, so I'm just going to link to my story that ran in today's Times for now.

As those of you have seen it know, I talked to Coach Ruskowski about a wide variety of topics, including his time in the NHL, this season's playoffs, the players he's signing and the ones he's let go.

I talked to him for quite a while, so I have leftover quotes I'll be sure to post sometime soon.

Bees Bring Back Rycroft

Sorry for not posting this yesterday, but the Rio Grande Vally Killer Bees took advantage of the hiatus being taken by the Rocky Mountain Rage to sign forward Daymen Rycroft, who spent the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons in Hidalgo.

Brian Sandalow has more on the acquisition via his story and a blog entry.

Obviously, any time the Killer Bees sign anyone, it's going to have at least a slight effect on the Bucks because this is the team they face more than any other, and this signing also takes a pretty big free agent off the market.

Too bad this had to be announced after I spoke to Coach Ruskowski for a Bucks update that will run in Monday's Times.

In other league news, the expansion team in Independence, Mo., has a name, and that name is the Missouri Mavericks.

Another Signing

Is it just me, or does it seem like the Bucks are starting the signings a little earlier this year than last year?

Whatever the case, they announced today that they have signed rookie Drew Kivell for the upcoming season.

Kivell is a 6-foot-2, 200-pound defenseman from Lakeside, Ontario, who played five seasons of junior hockey then spent four years at Lakehead University, but his biggest claim to fame is being one of the eight finalists on the CBC reality show "Making the Cut."

The 26-year old is apparently someone Coach Ruskowski has been trying to sign for a while, so I'm guessing his scouts saw something special there.

The Bucks also announced that they have signed defenseman Cody Hamilton, one of the players acquired from the Tulsa Oilers in the Rick Kozak trade last week, to a contract today.

I'll be trying to get in touch with Ruskowski for a story to run in tomorrow's Times, but my desk is literally covered in Little League photos that wonderful people decided could not be turned in until the last day possible, so I've got my hands pretty full for the rest of the day and might not be able to blog again until tomorrow.

Until then, those of you interested can read a bit more about Kivell in the graduate profile that Lakehead published on April 29.

Bucks' players for WINGS

As a lot of you have hopefully seen on the Bucks' Web site and in the newspaper, several Bucks players and front office staffers participated in the fifth annual Alamo Classic in San Antonio last weekend.

Player/assistant coach Jeff Bes, captain Serge Dube, assistant captain Adam Rivet, defenseman Steve Weidlich, former Buck Paul Elliott, equipment manager Matt Brayfield and "Vice President of Bench Operations" Jorge Lopez (Sorry!) represented the Bucks at the tournament.

Their team, the Keggers, also consisted of Corpus Christi IceRays forward Justin Quenneville and defenseman Chris Mei and John Forbes of Springfield, Ill.

Here's the team photo:

The Bucks' players involved held a press conference at Doctors Hospital on June 10 to reveal the details of their plan, which will culminate with a jersey auction at Reina's Ultra Lounge tomorrow night.

All proceeds will benefit WINGS (Women Involved in Nurturing, Giving, Sharing) of Laredo.

You can read more about that in my story from the presser.

The Keggers won the open division of the tournament, which you can read more about here.

Obviously, though, the big part of all this is the jersey auction, so don't forget about that if you're interested.

As mentioned, it is tomorrow night at Reina's Ultra Lounge (8602 Mcpherson Road) and begins at 7 p.m.

You can read more about the actual event in the story published in our ?Que Pasa? section today.

This is obviously a great cause, and I'm guessing these jerseys will go for a little less than the game-worn Bucks jerseys do during the season, so hopefully some of you will be able to head out there tomorrow night.

Last, but not least, here's the flyer for the event:

CHL Conference/Awards

Okay, now back to catching up...

The Central Hockey League conference was held June 4-6 in Phoenix, and in addition to the Bucks hosting an All-Star luncheon, yearly franchise and front office awards were handed out.

The Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees took the biggest honor, being named Franchise of the Year for the 2008-09 season.

You can find a complete list of winners here.

The Bucks were nominated for four awards, but did not take any home. The team's individual nominees were majority owner Glenn Hart (Leadership Award), Vice President of Business Operations Nicole Kupaks (Ralph Backstrom Soul of Service Award), Director of Media Relations and Broadcasting Bryan Benway (Communications Executive of the Year), while the franchise itself was up for Community Relations Franchise of the Year.

Two of those awards were won by other representatives from the Southeast Division as Cassidy Lange from the Corpus Christi IceRays took home the Soul of Service Award and Killer Bees Vice President of Communications Rich Bocchini earned Communications Executive honors.

I'm sure Bryan and Nicole were happy to see them win; Cassidy and Rich are both very deserving of being recognized for what they've done.

That'll Have to Wait

Coach Ruskowski neither answered nor returned my calls today, so I'm guessing he's busy or traveling or something of the like.

Because I wasn't able to speak to him, we'll be running Bryan Benway's press release in tomorrow's Times, but I will still try to get in touch with him to ask about the new players and his willingness to trade away Rick Kozak ASAP and post quotes on here.

Rocky Mountain Suspends Ops

The league has just announced that the Rocky Mountain Rage have suspended operations for the upcoming 2009-2010 season.

Obviously, this will affect the Northern Conference alignment and not the Bucks' conference or division, but with the new franchises in Independence, Mo., and Allen, not to mention the possibility of the New Mexico Scorpions shutting down, things are likely to be shaken up a bit.

One thing to note is that every player who was with the Rage this past season just became a free agent. Any of them you'd like to see in a Bucks' sweater?

Oh, and while I'm on the topic of other teams, it's worth mentioning that the sale of the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs was approved yesterday, which leaves their future a bit more certain than that of the Rage and Scorpions.

Trade Time

Time to take a break from catching up to focus on the news of the day, as the Bucks have traded forward Rick Kozak to the Tulsa Oilers in exchange for defenseman Cody Hamilton and forward Michael Mullen.

I'm personally intrigued by Mullen because he was born in Pittsburgh and his dad Joe won a couple Stanley Cups with the Penguins (and one with the Calgary Flames) after being born in New York City and going to college in Boston... which is pretty similar to my life story prior to Laredo. Well, other than the Cups, haha.

Meanwhile, both players are expected to sign with the Bucks for the upcoming season, but I'm sure a lot of you are going to be curious as to why Kozak was seen as expendable. I'll be sure to ask Coach Ruskowski about that when I call him later, but I have to deal with something about high school football teams being asked not to do two-a-days in early August first.

If you have any opinions on this trade, feel free to share them here.

McKeown Signing

Another thing that got lost in the Stanley Cup shuffle was the Bucks' first official signing of the season, rookie forward Matt McKeown.

You can read my story (Try to ignore the name spelling errors, ugh.) for a few more details than what his Hockey DB page has to offer.

Basically, McKeown is a rugged forward type who Coach Ruskowski is hoping will be a little less timid around the net than some of the guys on last season's team and also do a lot of hitting.

He had intended to play at Cornell University but suffered an injury setback and eventually transferred to Division III Fredonia State University (also known as the State University of New York at Fredonia), part of the SUNY Athletic Conference.

During one week his rookie (sophomore) year, he earned Rookie of the Week honors for scoring seven points, including his first collegiate hat trick, in two games. Later that year, he helped lead his team to the SUNYAC title game, where he scored a goal in their 6-4 win.

His senior season was his worst statistically, as he had three goals and eight assists, but he had 21 goals and handing out 29 assists to accompany 103 penalty minutes overall in 72 games with the team.

Obviously, he is one of the guys who is getting signed to come to camp and earn a spot on the team, not someone who is guaranteed one, and Ruskowski is looking forward to seeing what the 24-year-old Niagara Falls (ONT) native has to offer. I'm pretty jealous of the hometown, not going to lie.

Anyway, when his Hockey DB page was last updated, McKeown was six feet tall and weighed 195 pounds, but that could have changed by now. Actually, let's see... okay, according to the Fredonia roster, he's only 5-foot-11. Interesting. You can check out his bio on that site for some more info.

McKeown also played five seasons with four different teams in juniors. There are only statistics available for two of those seasons, during which he had 102 points (57-45-102) and 184 penalty minutes in 119 games.

First Things First

As you know, there was a press conference just about two weeks ago to announce the format and details for the 2010 Central Hockey League All-Star Game, which the Bucks will host at the LEC.

In case you've forgotten any of the specifics, I tried to cover most of them in my story, but be warned that the link will be expiring soon.

As previously blogged, the format will feature the three South Texas teams (Bucks, Corpus Christi IceRays and Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees) against the All-Stars from around the rest of the league.

This unique format supposedly played a big part in the Bucks becoming the first team to host the All-Star Game twice at the same venue and is something all parties involved (on the South Texas side, anyway) seem to be very excited about.

Another thing Bucks President/General Manager and Head Coach Terry Ruskowski mentioned at the press conference was that he hoped to be able to reinstate the skills competition but during intermissions of the All-Star Game rather than as a standalone event.

As promised, though not quite when originally planned, here are some quotes, both leftover and used...

Ruskowski to the crowd:

"Thank you Rio Grande for coming here, and Corpus. Davey (IceRays front office staffer Dave Gilmore) was one of my players. My first year, he came down here to play for me, had a tremendous year. He's just a classy individual, his wife is much better looking than him, he's got two wonderful boys and it's a pleasure every time I go to Corpus just to see him. Cassidy (Lange), if it wasn't for you, there wouldn't be hockey in Corpus, so my hat's off to you, buddy. Your father and Pat Dunn have done a terrific job of putting that franchise back on the map again. Of course, Rio keeps on plugging along, keeps the fans coming in there. Your team is an up-and-coming team, you have a great coach, last year was a tremendous year and with leadership like you (owner Troy Nelson) in the background, they're a team for success. Of course, we've always gotten along. In the back room, he and I always get together before the game, and it's always a good relationship, friend or foe. Today, he's a friend."

"The Bucks are the first team in history to have two All-Star Games in the same building in the Central Hockey League. We are proud to say that back in 2005, we had the All-Star Game, and with very much success. Almost 6,000 fans were in attendance at the game, which we were very proud of. We're fortunate enough to get the All-Star Game back here. We had 6,000; we want to have 8,000 next time. That's going to be January 13, we're having the All-Star Game here. We've got a lot of work ahead of us, and I know with your cooperation, we'll get this done, we'll put a first-class game, everything will be run properly like we hope we always do."

"The format is going to be a bit different this year. Last year, it was Colorado against the rest of the league. Colorado always has a really good team, they have that established for the past six, seven years, and they're a pretty dominant team. Not saying that we're not going to be, but what our feeling was is that this year when we have the meetings, corporate always says, 'Oh, South Texas, we have to go down there.' Teams are up in the north part of Texas, Oklahoma, we have them in Colorado, Arizona, and we kind of feel like we're alone down here. Our feeling was if we're going to be on our own and have our own identity as being South Texas, that's what we're going to do. We're going to have an All-Star Game here in Laredo, and we're going to have players from Rio Grande, we're going to have players from Laredo, and we're going to have players from Corpus Christi. All three teams are going to have participants only in Laredo on this team. Then we're going to take the rest of the lowlifes out there and play hockey against them and beat them. You know why? Because we have South Texas pride, and South Texas pride will take us a long way. We'll show the rest of the league what we have to offer, and that's going to be a good hockey game and a couple of fights. Just a couple. You talk to your guys, I'll talk to my guys. We're going to fight them, by the way, not us."

"The special thing for the Bucks' fans, because they've been very supportive we want to do something special for them, we are going to offer season ticket holders a free ticket to the All-Star Game. We feel that's something we can throw back to the fans and say thank you for your support. The Corpus and Rio fans will receive a free... wait a second, I have to make sure I say this right because you guys will be all over me... pirata. They're going to get one of those free. And I tell you what, they make them the best ever in Laredo. Tickets for the game, for anyone else that wants to come in and enjoy the game itself, are going to be $15."

"We always liked the skills competition, but it sometimes takes too long. We don't want to have a two-day affair. So what we're discussing now is having it between periods. We'll have the fastest skater, the hardest shot, the most accurate shot, the best-looking guy, the best-looking coach. We're going to have all that between periods. We'll give you five minutes to get up and grab some food, then come back and watch the skills competition. I think the skills competition is kind of unique and something a lot of people want. They took it out the past couple games, but I think we should bring it back. We just encourage everyone to come out, and tell your friends to come out, because we want to pack this place and show the rest of the world what South Texas has to offer, and that's classy people, great support and three great organizations."

Ruskowski one-on-one:

"I think it's something that we wanted to build on. We're pretty proud of our city, and there was a situation where we talked and said, 'What do you think?,' then we said, 'If we can get it, let's do it.' We're proud of our fans, we're proud of our building, we're proud of what we've established here, so let's go for it. When it came around, we were pretty happy and excited that we'll have the opportunity to host the All-Star Game again, but with a different format, not the same format. We want to see how that works because we want to bring in the Corpus people and the Rio Grande people to come watch their players play on a Laredo Bucks team, which is kind of unusual because we're foes, not friends. But this time we're going to be friends, and we're all going to get together and have a good time. The fans from Corpus and Rio Grande can now meet Laredo fans, and maybe we can all just get together and have fun and fill this place up and watch a great hockey game."

"I don't know really where it stemmed from. Somebody brought it up, and I said, 'That's a great idea.' I really liked it. When I first heard about it, I said, 'Let's do it.' I think it's a great format. It helps to bring more fans in, and it helps the guys that probably sometimes... you're only allowed one or two players a team when some teams have three or four who are capable of playing. So now, there's your opportunity to have a good season and be in the All-Star Game. It gives them an opportunity to play hard and get that opportunity to play in the All-Star Game. So it's a privelege to them, and it'd be a privelege to me to get to coach these fine young men at the All-Star Game. And I intend, if it's okay with them, to have the other two coaches on the bench with me also."

"I would think that they would probably vote for the All-Star Game probably on the other end of it. On myself, I don't know how that's going to work. I think it's me picking, getting with the other coaches and picking the players who are going to come here and help us out. I think that's how it's going to stay, but I think the rest of it is going to be the media picking, and whoever has the most points at the time will be the All-Star coach.

"Hockey players are unique athletes. They're very competitive and they're very loyal to their teams, but another thing that they are is compassionate to the game of hockey. Once they put on the same uniform, they're all brothers and they all play together. They'll put all that (rivalry) aside, and they'll play for the better of the team, I know they will, because the majority of them are classy individuals and that's what makes hockey players unique from other athletes. They'll fight a guy, but then someone gets traded and they're brothers and they'll all play together as one."

"What I intend to do has to be passed with the league, mind you. But last time we did it, we had a day before we did all the skills competitions. And it was fun, but that we had to go the next day and come back for the game. What we want to do is play the first period, flood real quick, let it dry a little bit, then come out there and do the fastest skater and hardest shot. People want to see that. The coaches will know who has the hardest shot, and who's the fastest guy in there, and we see who wins. It's funny how they cheer so much... I think the fans like that. The hardest shot, 'Wow, how hard was that shot? Ninety-two miles per hour. Wow, that's incredible.' The accurate shot where they actually see the target come off so there's no confusion. We want to have that scenario for the fans. We'll do two or three between the first period and the second, have the second period, after that we'll do the rest, then play the third period and thank everybody for coming out and being great like they always do. That's it; have a party, then everybody goes home. The nice thing about Laredo is I can go across the street and be home; I don't have to fly."

"We're going to get word out as soon as possible, try to get group sales as soon as possible, try to get the support as much as possible, try to get things to be different to generate more attention and get more people to attend. What's good about the group that we had in 2005 is that we can learn from the mistakes that we had and correct them, and if that's the case, we'll even be more successful than 2005. The good thing is that city is really behind us on this. They want us to have the All-Star Game, they want to support us, so we're very blessed to have that."

"Our season ticket holders have been great, they've been absolutely great, and we really appreciate them. Sometimes we don't show our love and our appreciation for them, but that and sponsorships are the backbone of our organization. Without them we wouldn't be here. So (majority owner) Glenn Hart was the person who said, 'Let's do something a little bit different. Let's give our season ticket holders a free game.' And I said, 'Hallelujah, let's go for it.' I think that's a great idea, just to say thank you, we love you, we appreciate you, please continue your support of us.

CHL Commissioner Duane Lewis:

"Obviously last year's host vs. All-Stars format was something innovative. This gives the ability for three teams to come together against the rest.More players will get the opportunity to compete, and it puts on geographical area together to display the pride of South Texas. Because we have three teams that close together, more fans will get to enjoy watching the game. It will bring fans together... it's just fantastic."

"This played a great part (in selecting Laredo as a host). It's something rare that we have three teams that close. More fans can enjoy watching the game."

"We're obviously open to the skills competition being reinstated. We've been hoping that would happen for the past few years, but it's difficult to have it as a standalone event. Other leagues have it, and the fans seem to enjoy it, so we're open to however they'd like to do it."

"Obviously five years ago, everything went very well. We had nothing but compliments for the team, building and city, and it got great support from the community. Knowing that some of the same people are going to be involved, it was a perfect fit to host the game and showcase the league's talent."

Nelson:

"I just wanted to say a couple quick words about how excited we are about the format. When I first heard how we were going to do it this coming year, I was pretty excited because I think Laredo's got an All-Star team in and of itself but I think with the three teams, we can put together a really good team and put on a good show. I know it's going to be a good show because Laredo always does things first-class. It's a great organization with great fans and great sponsors, and we just look forward to being a part of it. Thanks for inviting us to be part of it, and we're looking forward to setting aside our differences for a day."

Gilmore:

"Very excited to be back here in Laredo even though it was just the one season; Terry didn't have me back, then Jeff (Bes) came and took my job. I was kind of excited to see this, and I thought, 'Wow, if they had one of these when I was playing, maybe I could have been on the team, too.' I never made it to an All-Star Game. I think it's going to be exciting. Our fans are really excited; I've talked to them on the phone and, in trying to get them signed up for the new season, mentioned the game to them, and they're very excited about going down and finally seeing some of our players and having the game close to us. With it in Colorado, none of our fans get to see it. So we're excited, and we'll do anything we need to from the Corpus standpoint. We want to fill this building up, so whatever we can do to drive all our fans. We're glad to be a part of it, and whatever we can do to help out, just let us know."

Mayor Raul Salinas:

"Today, we're talking about hosting the All-Star Game, and that's really wonderful. We have an opportunity to showcase our city. We try to do that every day, but that sportsmanship, that really working together and bonding, and this is a great opportunity to really show you the Laredo welcome. We'll make sure that all of you, the different teams that will be participating in this great event, get a great welcome to our city."

The mayor and Coach Ruskowski both talked to the crowd a whole lot more than that, including Ruskowski joking that Killer Bees Vice President of Communications Rich Bocchini is still "following me around," but I don't know if that stuff is terribly relevant. However, in case any of you have yet to see the logo, here that is:
















Sorry for the book of a post...

Many Apologies

As those of you who remember my favorite NHL team might have realized, I've been a bit preoccupied the past couple months. Blogging is usually something I do on my own time, not on the clock, so the Stanley Cup playoffs took away from the time I devoted to it.

Hopefully, I did not miss too much, but I will be updating on everything Bucks-related that has been announced in my mega stress-out phase during the upcoming days.

From an objective standpoint, the playoffs were a lot of fun to watch, and the Finals did not disappoint in the least (other than Game 5).

From a crazed fan standpoint, I have bitten off all my nails, broken a pair of shoes, written on my clothing with a Sharpie (Just like this guy.), frightened nearly everyone I know... and Friday ranks up there as one of the greatest nights of my life in spite of the fact that I had absolutely zero fellow fans to celebrate with (And the fact that Sid gave me quite a scare).

Meanwhile, the parade was today, and so I officially have nothing Penguins-related to stress/obsess over for a little while now...

Just wanted to make a quick note about all of that and assure you that I will eventual return to the blogging pace that I had throughout the Bucks' season.

I'm sure there are those of you out there who were unhappy with the results of the Finals or who are taking the Kris Draper/Henrik Zetterberg approach to Sidney Crosby unintentionally not shaking hands with several Red Wings, but I have to share this picture:
























The looks on their faces really made my world a better place, but I don't want to overload you, so I'll just share Sid's. I'm really starting to think he's going to follow the Cup when the other players take it because he never wants to let it out of his sight, haha.

Hope you're all enjoying your summers; check back for more tomorrow.

Oh, and this video (And every one CBC made for the playoffs) is worth watching if you have the time:

South Texas vs. the World

This will be brief, but I just wanted to post that the Bucks have revealed the details behind the 2010 Central Hockey League All-Star Game, which will be played in Laredo on January 13.

This season's innovative format will pit members of the Bucks, Corpus Christi IceRays and Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees against the rest of the league's All-Stars, and fittingly, all three teams were represented at today's press conference.

I am going to have a heck of a lot of leftover quotes from Coach Ruskowski and the others who spoke today, as well as CHL Commissioner Duane Lewis, so I will share those ASAP.

This sounds like it could be interesting, so we'll see how everything works out.

More later (as in tomorrow), I promise.

UPDATE: Okay, maybe tomorrow tomorrow...