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...