Game Day No. 12

The Bucks (7-2-2, 16 points) play the first of two tough home games tonight as they host the league-leading Odessa Jackalopes (11-2-1, 23 points) at 7:30 p.m.

In my preview that ran today, I focused mostly on the Bucks' objectives during practice this week and their opponent tonight, not tomorrow's game against the Texas Brahmas (6-6-2, 14 points).

The quotes and information I got about tomorrow will run in tomorrow's paper as an add-on to my game story from tonight.

Obviously, the big draw tomorrow night is the return of James Hiebert, a long-time Buck who signed with the Brahmas a few weeks ago.

I spoke to Hiebert, Jeff Bes, Adam Rivet and Coach Ruskowski about this occurrence, but, as you might expect, none of them made too big of a fuss over it. Whether their true feelings are a bit stronger will be seen on the ice tomorrow night.

Hiebert still doesn't want to go on the record about whether or not he wanted to return to Laredo, though he did say at the end of last season that he would do so if Ruskowski wanted him back.

Ruskowski, in turn, is sticking with the facts - Hiebert wanted to be able to play, and Ruskowski didn't want him here, so he gave him his free agency, which resulted in a contract with the defending league champions.

Hiebert's current team defeated the Jackalopes, the team who knocked the Bucks out of the playoffs last season, last night in Odessa, 7-3.

Tonight's meeting is the first between the Bucks and Jacks this season, but last season's playoff series is the last thing on the Bucks' minds considering there are only four players who played in that series around tonight as they go up against the highest-scoring team in the league.

Shutting that team down is going to be a big key tonight, but that is obviously no easy task, as the Jackalopes have already scored 68 goals this season -22 more than their closest competition in that statistic, the Arizona Sundogs.

Confidence, solid defense and discipline were three ideas preached this week at practice, and since I didn't use the discipline quote in my preview, here's what Ruskowski had to say about that:

"We can't take any unnecessary penalties because on their power play, they have personnel that skates well, moves the puck well and shoots well. They're all smart hockey players. When you get a combination like that on the ice at one time on a 5-on-4 opportunity for them to score, they're going to score. So we have to be disciplined and not take any unnecessary penalties."

Because I'm sure some of you are not able to view my stories online, here is the quote I used from Bes about tonight's matchup:

“Obviously we have to shut them down. They’re a high-scoring team, best team right now in our conference. We have to go out there and play a strong defensive game. If we play strong defensively, our offensive chances will come, and that’s what we have to do. They’re a very strong offensive team that moves the puck very well, so obviously we have to hit them and play strong defense. If we do that, we’re going to be in the game.”

Of course, the Bucks would like more than to just be in the game; they want to win it and add to their season-high four-game winning streak. Rivet, being a defenseman, got a bit more specific about how they'll have to approach the Jackalopes' high-powered offense.

"We just have to take away time and space on these guys," he said. "The defense really has to gap up and make sure that we're tight on their forwards, as well. We can't have any odd-man rushes. They have a lot of offense, and off the odd-man rush, they can do some damage. As long as we're playing the system and staying tight on the guys, not giving them much room to make plays, it will still be a challenge, but it should give us a better opportunity to win."

If they are able to grab a lead tonight, they'd also like to do a better job of finishing the game off than they have in the recent shootout wins, and the words "killer instinct" were heard around practice every day this week, including in these quotes from Bes and Rivet:

“We obviously have a long way to go,” Bes said. “We haven’t been able to put teams away in regulation, it’s been shootouts, and obviously we’ve been counting on our goaltender to bail us out at times. So, really, what we have to do is get that killer instinct and, when we get that lead, keep pressing forward instead of sitting on our heels and being content with having a one-goal lead. We have to go out there and try to keep pressing forward and keep working hard to get another goal and keep that going to put teams away.”

“We’ve been working hard and sticking to the systems and doing what we have to do," Rivet said. "We’ve been winning, but we still need to get a bit more of killer instinct. We’ve had teams down and kind of let down at times. If we can bear down more, we can put those teams away. The boys just have to be confident that the defensive game’s going to be there and everyone’s going to be doing their job. Sometimes, when guys fall back on their heels, they just try to pass the time and hopes the game. Instead of doing that and waiting for games to finish, we have to finish the game.”

That need was something Ruskowski mentioned to me on Sunday after the Bucks' second straight 3-2 shootout win over the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees, in which he said the team played the third period on its heels instead of its toes - not a good thing.

"In the third period, we kind of hung on our heels a little bit, especially in the last 10, 12 minutes or so. We held back a little bit. We have to learn to play on our toes, not our heels, go after them. All we have to make sure we do is have a high guy and that our defense plays solid. Get the puck and move it, don't get beat one-on-one.

On Wednesday, he shared what he thinks the team needs to do to fix that problem.

"It's all confidence in their ability to do what they have to do to be successful," Ruskowski said. "That's the same situation when I talk to them on the ice and tell them they have to talk to each other. I think once they talk more, they have more confidence that they can do their own job. If they can't do their own job and say they have their guy, then everybody loses confidence. I think it's confidence in their own play and doing what they have to do to be the best they can be and do the job. When they say something, they need to really mean it, do it. That's where we're kind of at odds."

Another issue Ruskowski noted on Sunday was that his top forwards have not been getting goals. He also admitted the upside to that - the fact that role players have been stepping up to fill those scoring gaps. However, if you take the past five games - four one-goal wins and one nine-goal loss - the Bucks have been outscored 18-13.

Those five games are the contests this season that the Bucks have played without defensive forward Igor Agarunov, who will return to the lineup tonight.

“He’ll be a power-play guy, he’ll be penalty killing, and he’ll be on the zone shift, so it’s pretty important for me to have that type of guy on the ice,” Ruskowski said. “He just brings another dimension; he’s a solid winger who can do the job that we ask him to do. He’s probably one of the best defensive players in the league.”

Getting Agarunov back on the penalty kill is definitely key, but he could also be a boost to a power play that went 13-for-39 (an impressive 33.3%) in games he played and 4-for-22 (18%), including three 0-for games without him.

Agarunov has one goal and two assists in his six games this season, with that goal and one of the assists coming on the power play.

Goaltender Jean-Philippe Levasseur will start again tonight, making it five in a row, with his own four-game winning streak on the line.

Ruskowski said yesterday that Levasseur could also start tomorrow, but that all depends on how he feels at the morning skate.

If you can still stomach more information on tonight's game, check out Bryan Benway's preview and the Pointstreak pre-game notes.

Also, Bucks fan Bill Balzar, who was also featured in our Time Out photo section this week, wrote a letter to the editor that ran yesterday about this weekends' games. Those of you who subscribe to the paper can read that here.

Oh, and those of you who were planning to donate blood tomorrow should know that the drive has been "canceled" (actually postponed to February) due to "unforeseen circumstances."

I'll be back to live blog tonight's game in a couple hours.