I am breaking my accidental period of silence to shatter the hopes and dreams of those of you hoping that the Bucks would sign Andy Franck as their goaltender for the upcoming season.
Just kidding... but they really won't be doing that, because the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees have locked up Franck's rights for the 2009-10 campaign.
Not only does that mean the Bucks can't have him; it means they'll be playing against him quite a few times during the season.
Most of the Bucks' signings so far, including a couple I didn't get to post here last week, have been rookies who might not even make it past training camp, but I'll be back to post more about them later.
With Franck off the market, who else would you like to see come play in Laredo this season?
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
More on Croteau
Sorry this comes a day later than originally stated, but I'm back to blog some more about David Croteau.
I was already on YouTube looking up something else, so I decided to search for him and discovered this, which seems to have been made by a Mulhouse fangirl:
Interesting music choice. That obviously isn't very informative, but hey, it's something. In case you're like me and are wondering what the French comment says, it roughly translates to "Best player who I have had the luck to play with." I think.
For a bit more live action, you can watch this dizzying clip:
And for a bit more information, you can read my story that ran in yesterday's Times:
By JOY LINDSAY
The Laredo Bucks added to their training camp roster on Thursday, signing 26-year-old forward David Croteau.
Croteau, a native of Gatineau, Quebec, spent the past two seasons with the Mulhouse Hockey Club in France, posting impressive numbers while staying hidden from North American attention.
"He kind of intrigues me," Ruskowski said.
"I was talking to his agent, and he's been playing over in France, so he wants to come make a name for himself in North America.
He's kind of an unknown over here, so this will be a chance for him to prove himself as a Laredo Buck."
The Scorpions compete in France's Division 2 league and play only 18 games each regular season.
In his two seasons with Mulhouse, Croteau played in 35 of their 36 regular season games, scoring 40 goals and handing out 59 assists to fall just shy of 100 points with 99.
In just six playoff games, he had eight goals and 10 assists for an average of three points per game.
"He put up pretty good numbers, but I don't know the quality of the league he was playing in," Ruskowski said.
"But if you look at his stats from over there, it's obvious he can score and play.
He's very fast but has a little bit of grit and will stand up for his teammates."
Ruskowski and his scouts have yet to see Croteau in action, as he had no competitive hockey experience prior to signing with the Scorpions, but the 5-foot-10, 167-pound lefty was recommended by a trusted source.
"I went with an agent who I know, who has brought me some good players before," Ruskowski said.
"He said, 'Take this one here, trust me,' so I'm giving him a shot."
Training camp will be Croteau's chance to prove himself to Ruskowski and maybe earn the right to compete in the Central Hockey League.
"I'm curious and interested to see him play," Ruskowski said.
"This will be a good opportunity for him to earn a spot here, but it will also be a good opportunity for me to see what he can do."
(Joy Lindsay may be reached at 728-2576 or jlindsay@lmtonline.com)
All in all, it seems no one knows too much about this kid other than that he's fast and can score... but probably not nearly as much when he's playing against a different caliber of competition.
For someone to have only two years of competitive experience at the age of 26 is pretty rare in the world of hockey, but I guess Coach Ruskowski trusts his agent and is willing to give Croteau a shot, which is definitely all he has at this point.
As you can see here, Croteau was the second-leading scorer in his conference last season but had a heck of a lot more penalty minutes than any of the other high-scoring guys. The North had four guys who finished up ahead of him in points, but it seems he led the league's high scorers in PIMs.
In other news, former Bucks defenseman Devin Featherstone has been signed by the ECHL's Kalamazoo Wings. What is with everybody losing their stay-at-home d-men this season?
Featherstone was obviously one of the Bucks' best rookies last year, and I guess he believed playing in the ECHL, even with a team that had just left the IHL, would give him a better shot at making it up to the AHL eventually.
Meanwhile, I have finally gotten a working link to the CHL's list of offseason transactions, so I will now post at the end of most of my blogs.
I was already on YouTube looking up something else, so I decided to search for him and discovered this, which seems to have been made by a Mulhouse fangirl:
Interesting music choice. That obviously isn't very informative, but hey, it's something. In case you're like me and are wondering what the French comment says, it roughly translates to "Best player who I have had the luck to play with." I think.
For a bit more live action, you can watch this dizzying clip:
And for a bit more information, you can read my story that ran in yesterday's Times:
Bucks sign forward
By JOY LINDSAY
LAREDO MORNING TIMES
The Laredo Bucks added to their training camp roster on Thursday, signing 26-year-old forward David Croteau.Croteau, a native of Gatineau, Quebec, spent the past two seasons with the Mulhouse Hockey Club in France, posting impressive numbers while staying hidden from North American attention.
"He kind of intrigues me," Ruskowski said.
"I was talking to his agent, and he's been playing over in France, so he wants to come make a name for himself in North America.
He's kind of an unknown over here, so this will be a chance for him to prove himself as a Laredo Buck."
The Scorpions compete in France's Division 2 league and play only 18 games each regular season.
In his two seasons with Mulhouse, Croteau played in 35 of their 36 regular season games, scoring 40 goals and handing out 59 assists to fall just shy of 100 points with 99.
In just six playoff games, he had eight goals and 10 assists for an average of three points per game.
"He put up pretty good numbers, but I don't know the quality of the league he was playing in," Ruskowski said.
"But if you look at his stats from over there, it's obvious he can score and play.
He's very fast but has a little bit of grit and will stand up for his teammates."
Ruskowski and his scouts have yet to see Croteau in action, as he had no competitive hockey experience prior to signing with the Scorpions, but the 5-foot-10, 167-pound lefty was recommended by a trusted source.
"I went with an agent who I know, who has brought me some good players before," Ruskowski said.
"He said, 'Take this one here, trust me,' so I'm giving him a shot."
Training camp will be Croteau's chance to prove himself to Ruskowski and maybe earn the right to compete in the Central Hockey League.
"I'm curious and interested to see him play," Ruskowski said.
"This will be a good opportunity for him to earn a spot here, but it will also be a good opportunity for me to see what he can do."
(Joy Lindsay may be reached at 728-2576 or jlindsay@lmtonline.com)
All in all, it seems no one knows too much about this kid other than that he's fast and can score... but probably not nearly as much when he's playing against a different caliber of competition.
For someone to have only two years of competitive experience at the age of 26 is pretty rare in the world of hockey, but I guess Coach Ruskowski trusts his agent and is willing to give Croteau a shot, which is definitely all he has at this point.
As you can see here, Croteau was the second-leading scorer in his conference last season but had a heck of a lot more penalty minutes than any of the other high-scoring guys. The North had four guys who finished up ahead of him in points, but it seems he led the league's high scorers in PIMs.
In other news, former Bucks defenseman Devin Featherstone has been signed by the ECHL's Kalamazoo Wings. What is with everybody losing their stay-at-home d-men this season?
Featherstone was obviously one of the Bucks' best rookies last year, and I guess he believed playing in the ECHL, even with a team that had just left the IHL, would give him a better shot at making it up to the AHL eventually.
Meanwhile, I have finally gotten a working link to the CHL's list of offseason transactions, so I will now post at the end of most of my blogs.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Quick Note(s)
Don't have much time to blog right now, but in case you hadn't seen, I just wanted to share that the Bucks have signed forward David Croteau, while Sebastien Centomo has inked with the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the IHL.
Guess that means Coach Ruskowski won't be keeping either of the goalies he said he wouldn't mind holding onto for the upcoming season.
Those of you who are concerned by the low number of games in which Croteau has played should know that the French Division 2 team for which he played only has 18 games per season. But, you should also know that the guy is pretty inexperienced, especially for a 26-year old.
More tomorrow.
Guess that means Coach Ruskowski won't be keeping either of the goalies he said he wouldn't mind holding onto for the upcoming season.
Those of you who are concerned by the low number of games in which Croteau has played should know that the French Division 2 team for which he played only has 18 games per season. But, you should also know that the guy is pretty inexperienced, especially for a 26-year old.
More tomorrow.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Bucks Sign Mohr
Yesterday, the Bucks announced that they have signed defenseman Jarred Mohr for the upcoming season. There are so many plays on that last name that can (and have) been made that I think I'll just leave it at that.
As I mentioned in my last post, the suspension of operations by the Rage, New Mexico Scorpions and Oklahoma City Blazers has added some new talent to the free agent pool, and the Mohr signing marks the first time the Bucks have taken advantage of that.
Coach Ruskowski also mentioned being interested in a couple other guys who played for one of those teams but did not name names, and that was included in my story, which I'm just going to paste here in its entirety:
Bucks sign former Rage defenseman Mohr
By JOY LINDSAY
LAREDO MORNING TIMES
The Laredo Bucks announced on Monday that they have signed former Rocky Mountain Rage defenseman Jarred Mohr for the upcoming season.
Mohr, a 24-year-old with three seasons of professional experience, comes to Laredo after being highly recommended by everyone whose path he has crossed.
"I listened to a lot of a people who have played with and against him," Bucks head coach/general manager Terry Ruskowski said."(Former Laredo and Rocky Mountain captain) Brent Cullaton spoke very highly of him, I called (former Rage head coach) Tracy Egeland and he spoke very highly of him... he was one of those players everyone seemed to think was an unsung hero with a lot of potential.He's very steady and very eager to come to Laredo.
"I expect him to be a huge asset to our team and to our community.He seems like that type of person... when I talked to him, he even motivated me."
Mohr played last season with the Rage, scoring three goals and handing out 18 assists while accumulating 52 penalty minutes in 63 regular season games.Prior to that, he spent time in the East Coast and International Hockey Leagues and played four years in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.
In his 2005-06 season with the SJHL's Battleford North Stars, he racked up career highs across the board, notching six goals, 29 assists and 121 penalty minutes in 53 games.Ruskowski sees the 5-foot-11, 185-pound blueliner as someone who will fit very well into the system he wants his defense to play this season.
"He does his job very well, so you don't need to rely on anyone else to do it for him," Ruskowski said."When you know you can count on someone, that helps, especially with defensive partners. He also does a good job moving the puck and getting up on the play, and that's something I want to see from my defensive corps on a regular basis.I want all six of them to move the puck quickly and get more involved on the play."
Mohr became available when Rocky Mountain suspended operations for the 2009-10 campaign in June.Since then, the New Mexico Scorpions and Oklahoma City Blazers have also decided to sit out the upcoming season, leaving various Central Hockey League stars on the open market.
"I've been talking to another guy from Rocky Mountain and a couple from Oklahoma City," Ruskowski said."And a goalie I was talking to kind of pulled the rug out from under me and went to another team from New Mexico."
That bit about the goalie from New Mexico was pretty interesting to me because it doesn't leave much to the imagination, but I guess that doesn't mean much to the Bucks anymore. We'll see if any of those other players end up coming to Laredo.
Mohr is a native of Regina, Saskatchewan, a town that will forever remind of this man and the adorable way he says its name.
I don't usually like to copy and paste stories on here, but since they can no longer be read on our Web site without a subscription, this seemed like the easiest way to get all this information across right now. It won't become a habit, though, and hopefully at least some of you will sign up for one of our online subscriptions, which run $1/week or cheaper.
That'll do it for tonight, as it is time to start taking Little League scores and looking for an MLB All-Star Game picture. Please let me know if there's anything else you'd like to know about currently or if you'd like me to elaborate on anything I mentioned in my last post.
As I mentioned in my last post, the suspension of operations by the Rage, New Mexico Scorpions and Oklahoma City Blazers has added some new talent to the free agent pool, and the Mohr signing marks the first time the Bucks have taken advantage of that.
Coach Ruskowski also mentioned being interested in a couple other guys who played for one of those teams but did not name names, and that was included in my story, which I'm just going to paste here in its entirety:
Bucks sign former Rage defenseman Mohr
By JOY LINDSAY
LAREDO MORNING TIMES
The Laredo Bucks announced on Monday that they have signed former Rocky Mountain Rage defenseman Jarred Mohr for the upcoming season.
Mohr, a 24-year-old with three seasons of professional experience, comes to Laredo after being highly recommended by everyone whose path he has crossed.
"I listened to a lot of a people who have played with and against him," Bucks head coach/general manager Terry Ruskowski said."(Former Laredo and Rocky Mountain captain) Brent Cullaton spoke very highly of him, I called (former Rage head coach) Tracy Egeland and he spoke very highly of him... he was one of those players everyone seemed to think was an unsung hero with a lot of potential.He's very steady and very eager to come to Laredo.
"I expect him to be a huge asset to our team and to our community.He seems like that type of person... when I talked to him, he even motivated me."
Mohr played last season with the Rage, scoring three goals and handing out 18 assists while accumulating 52 penalty minutes in 63 regular season games.Prior to that, he spent time in the East Coast and International Hockey Leagues and played four years in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.
In his 2005-06 season with the SJHL's Battleford North Stars, he racked up career highs across the board, notching six goals, 29 assists and 121 penalty minutes in 53 games.Ruskowski sees the 5-foot-11, 185-pound blueliner as someone who will fit very well into the system he wants his defense to play this season.
"He does his job very well, so you don't need to rely on anyone else to do it for him," Ruskowski said."When you know you can count on someone, that helps, especially with defensive partners. He also does a good job moving the puck and getting up on the play, and that's something I want to see from my defensive corps on a regular basis.I want all six of them to move the puck quickly and get more involved on the play."
Mohr became available when Rocky Mountain suspended operations for the 2009-10 campaign in June.Since then, the New Mexico Scorpions and Oklahoma City Blazers have also decided to sit out the upcoming season, leaving various Central Hockey League stars on the open market.
"I've been talking to another guy from Rocky Mountain and a couple from Oklahoma City," Ruskowski said."And a goalie I was talking to kind of pulled the rug out from under me and went to another team from New Mexico."
That bit about the goalie from New Mexico was pretty interesting to me because it doesn't leave much to the imagination, but I guess that doesn't mean much to the Bucks anymore. We'll see if any of those other players end up coming to Laredo.
Mohr is a native of Regina, Saskatchewan, a town that will forever remind of this man and the adorable way he says its name.
I don't usually like to copy and paste stories on here, but since they can no longer be read on our Web site without a subscription, this seemed like the easiest way to get all this information across right now. It won't become a habit, though, and hopefully at least some of you will sign up for one of our online subscriptions, which run $1/week or cheaper.
That'll do it for tonight, as it is time to start taking Little League scores and looking for an MLB All-Star Game picture. Please let me know if there's anything else you'd like to know about currently or if you'd like me to elaborate on anything I mentioned in my last post.
Playing Catch Up
As tends to be the case, a lot went on in the CHL while I was gone. I had hoped to blog yesterday, but then this happened, and I didn't have a spare second for the rest of the night.
So, now is the time for me to start trying to catch up on everything. Let's start with the two teams that announced their suspension of operations for the 2009-10 season while I was 33,000 feet in the air.
Joining the Rocky Mountain Rage, who made their announcement in June, were the New Mexico Scorpions and Oklahoma City Blazers.
I can't imagine many people were surprised to hear of the Scorpions' fate, but everyone, including the Central Hockey League itself, seemed taken aback by the Blazers' announcement.
These decisions had an effect on two things that the Bucks care about: the free agent pool, and league alignment. I'll get to the free agent stuff in my next post, but let's talk about alignment now.
The CHL announced the alignment and playoff format for the upcoming season soon after the Scorpions and Blazers made their decisions.
Instead of having four divisions, the league will break things up into just the two conferences, with all Texas teams and the Arizona Sundogs comprising the Southern Conference and the Northern Conference losing Oklahoma City and Rocky Mountain and adding the Missouri Mavericks.
The playoff format will remain basically the same with the top five teams from each conference qualifying but obviously will not have to allow for two divisional champions per conference. Full information about the format can be seen here.
There were also quite a few signings and re-signings while I was gone, but the most relevant proved to be the Corpus Christi IceRays bringing back Ryan Bennett, Justin Quenneville and Chris Richards and thus revealing that the league has changed the vet limit to 300 games from the previous standard of 280.
From the release:
Bennett’s signing also comes with the recent news from the CHL office that the parameters for CHL veterans for the upcoming season has changed. The new classification for veterans are players who have played over 300 professional games prior to the upcoming season.
We'll see if that has any effect on who Coach Ruskowski looks to bring to Laredo this season.
Other news and notes from the past couple weeks:
- Bill Lankhof from the Toronto Sun did a great piece about the remarkable recovery of former CHL player Jason Baird, who was injured in that tragic lawnmower accident last year and is now well enough to return to his home in Corpus Christi.
- Former CHL coach Mark French is taking over as head coach of the American Hockey League champion Hershey Bears, and former CHL player Troy Mann will be his assistant. I've been to Hershey a few times; it's probably a very fun place for the coaches' and players' kids, haha.
- The Colorado Eagles will host an NHL preseason game between the Phoenix Coyotes and Tampa Bay Lightning on Sept. 23
So, now is the time for me to start trying to catch up on everything. Let's start with the two teams that announced their suspension of operations for the 2009-10 season while I was 33,000 feet in the air.
Joining the Rocky Mountain Rage, who made their announcement in June, were the New Mexico Scorpions and Oklahoma City Blazers.
I can't imagine many people were surprised to hear of the Scorpions' fate, but everyone, including the Central Hockey League itself, seemed taken aback by the Blazers' announcement.
These decisions had an effect on two things that the Bucks care about: the free agent pool, and league alignment. I'll get to the free agent stuff in my next post, but let's talk about alignment now.
The CHL announced the alignment and playoff format for the upcoming season soon after the Scorpions and Blazers made their decisions.
Instead of having four divisions, the league will break things up into just the two conferences, with all Texas teams and the Arizona Sundogs comprising the Southern Conference and the Northern Conference losing Oklahoma City and Rocky Mountain and adding the Missouri Mavericks.
The playoff format will remain basically the same with the top five teams from each conference qualifying but obviously will not have to allow for two divisional champions per conference. Full information about the format can be seen here.
There were also quite a few signings and re-signings while I was gone, but the most relevant proved to be the Corpus Christi IceRays bringing back Ryan Bennett, Justin Quenneville and Chris Richards and thus revealing that the league has changed the vet limit to 300 games from the previous standard of 280.
From the release:
Bennett’s signing also comes with the recent news from the CHL office that the parameters for CHL veterans for the upcoming season has changed. The new classification for veterans are players who have played over 300 professional games prior to the upcoming season.
We'll see if that has any effect on who Coach Ruskowski looks to bring to Laredo this season.
Other news and notes from the past couple weeks:
- Bill Lankhof from the Toronto Sun did a great piece about the remarkable recovery of former CHL player Jason Baird, who was injured in that tragic lawnmower accident last year and is now well enough to return to his home in Corpus Christi.
- Former CHL coach Mark French is taking over as head coach of the American Hockey League champion Hershey Bears, and former CHL player Troy Mann will be his assistant. I've been to Hershey a few times; it's probably a very fun place for the coaches' and players' kids, haha.
- The Colorado Eagles will host an NHL preseason game between the Phoenix Coyotes and Tampa Bay Lightning on Sept. 23
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Vacation Time
I have been a lot busier the past few days than anticipated, but I wanted to give you all a heads up that I am leaving town tomorrow, won't be back until July 12... and don't really plan on blogging in the meanwhile.
Bryan Benway is also out of town, so there shouldn't be too much Bucks' news to report, and this'll be the first time I see my family in nearly a year, so I think they deserve my attention.
I promise I will get around to typing up leftover Ruskowski quotes when I get back, and I'll be blogging much more consistently after that as signings and everything else pick up.
Hope you're having a nice summer; stay safe on the fourth and enjoy the next couple weeks.
Bryan Benway is also out of town, so there shouldn't be too much Bucks' news to report, and this'll be the first time I see my family in nearly a year, so I think they deserve my attention.
I promise I will get around to typing up leftover Ruskowski quotes when I get back, and I'll be blogging much more consistently after that as signings and everything else pick up.
Hope you're having a nice summer; stay safe on the fourth and enjoy the next couple weeks.
Sample Story
In telling everyone to check out my story in today's Times for Coach Ruskowski's thoughts on recently-signed defenseman Tomas Sample, I forgot about the fact that you have to be a subscriber to view our stories online now.
If you are a subscriber to either the print or online version, you can check the story out here.
If not, you can read Ruskowski's quotes here...
On Sample's style:
"He's very simple, very effective... he doesn't get nervous when he has the puck; he's very calm, cool and collected. I like that a lot, and I'm very excited, very happy to sign him."
On the years off:
I read once that after playing for a certain amount of years, it's actually good to take a year off. There's a lot of wear and tear... hockey is very tough on the body. So now I know his body is in good condition, he just needs to get his mind ready. He's working very hard to get back in playing shape and get the rink rust off."
On Sample's tough side:
"He doesn't take any crap from anybody. He's not going to go looking for it, but he's a very team-oriented guy and will back up his teammates and stand up for himself. Sometimes, it's not whether you win or lose a fight, but just that you show up and let your teammates know you're there to help and protect them. That shows our opponent that if they give anyone on our team trouble, they're going to have to deal with some of our guys. He's willing to stand up for guys... players like that make us more of a team, and that's something we were lacking last year."
On all the young d-men:
"If I can bring in a bunch of young guys with talent, I have no problem with (a lot of rookies). It's not going to be a sprint; it's a marathon. So if we can get stronger as the year goes on, that's what I want."
As you may recall, Sample is the second rookie defenseman to be signed by the Bucks this offseason, following Drew Kivell. The only other d-man signed so far was Cody Hamilton, who will only be in his second professional season.
Obviously, though, this is a league full of young players, and the rookie guys are signing up for a chance to come to training camp, not a locked-down spot on the roster. We'll see what happens.
In other offseason transaction news, former Buck Matt Summers was re-signed by the Mississippi RiverKings today.
You can see the full list of offseason trades and signings on the CHL Web site... which seems to be not working right now. I'll post that link as soon as it is.
And, if you care about NHL free agency, the TSN tracker is one of the best places to follow that. Twitter is also incredibly helpful if you know who to follow... and who to ignore.
Speaking of Twitter, I've been meaning to mention that the CHL has one, as do the Bucks.... oh, and so does the LMT sports department.
If you are a subscriber to either the print or online version, you can check the story out here.
If not, you can read Ruskowski's quotes here...
On Sample's style:
"He's very simple, very effective... he doesn't get nervous when he has the puck; he's very calm, cool and collected. I like that a lot, and I'm very excited, very happy to sign him."
On the years off:
I read once that after playing for a certain amount of years, it's actually good to take a year off. There's a lot of wear and tear... hockey is very tough on the body. So now I know his body is in good condition, he just needs to get his mind ready. He's working very hard to get back in playing shape and get the rink rust off."
On Sample's tough side:
"He doesn't take any crap from anybody. He's not going to go looking for it, but he's a very team-oriented guy and will back up his teammates and stand up for himself. Sometimes, it's not whether you win or lose a fight, but just that you show up and let your teammates know you're there to help and protect them. That shows our opponent that if they give anyone on our team trouble, they're going to have to deal with some of our guys. He's willing to stand up for guys... players like that make us more of a team, and that's something we were lacking last year."
On all the young d-men:
"If I can bring in a bunch of young guys with talent, I have no problem with (a lot of rookies). It's not going to be a sprint; it's a marathon. So if we can get stronger as the year goes on, that's what I want."
As you may recall, Sample is the second rookie defenseman to be signed by the Bucks this offseason, following Drew Kivell. The only other d-man signed so far was Cody Hamilton, who will only be in his second professional season.
Obviously, though, this is a league full of young players, and the rookie guys are signing up for a chance to come to training camp, not a locked-down spot on the roster. We'll see what happens.
In other offseason transaction news, former Buck Matt Summers was re-signed by the Mississippi RiverKings today.
You can see the full list of offseason trades and signings on the CHL Web site... which seems to be not working right now. I'll post that link as soon as it is.
And, if you care about NHL free agency, the TSN tracker is one of the best places to follow that. Twitter is also incredibly helpful if you know who to follow... and who to ignore.
Speaking of Twitter, I've been meaning to mention that the CHL has one, as do the Bucks.... oh, and so does the LMT sports department.
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