Practice Updates

As I guess a few of you found out via Bryan Benway's blog, practice yesterday wasn't exactly what Coach Ruskowski had hoped.

I can't say that was the first time I've seen him stop practice because he was upset, but he definitely was, and he skated the guys pretty hard and lectured them for a while because of it.

When I spoke to him after they got off the ice, he said the attitude and effort just weren't there, and he was disappointed, especially after having what he thought was a really good session on Tuesday (Monday's practice was optional and not very highly attended).

In case you've ever wondered what a coach tells his players in situations like those, here's the abridged version he repeated to me yesterday:

"I brought them aside because they weren't taking it seriously enough. I brought them aside, and I said, 'This is it,' and pointed up to the two championships (banners). I said, 'Those were the two hardest years we've ever had. Nothing good ever comes easy.' I just emphasized that (during those seasons) we practiced as hard as we played. There were altercations in practice because guys didn't want to get beaten. It was just one of those competitive things where they just wanted to be the best they could be, and until we get to that point, we're going to be struggling.

"I just wanted to emphasize that you play like you practice, and if we practice like we did today, we'll play the same way, and that way would not be successful. I told them that people look up to them, kids want to idolize them, and this is what you do? They have the best jobs in the world. They're not getting paid a whole lot, but on non-game days, I only ask for an hour and a half of hard work. I think a lot of guys would jump all over that."

After Ruskowski left the ice yesterday, player/assistant coach Jeff Bes and team captain Adam Rivet continued to talk to the other players for a little while, explaining the difference between practicing like people who don't care and practicing like champions.

When I spoke to Rivet after the practice, here's what he had to say about the problems yesterday and what he feels his role is in taking care of things like that:

"I just always have to be talking to the guys and, particularly, just make sure I'm working hard. If they see the guys who have been around here for a while working hard, they'll follow that lead. We just have to make sure the guys are going. The past few practices had been pretty good, up-tempo. Today started off pretty well, but there were a couple mishaps with some of the systems and I think a little frustration, and obviously we have two good teams coming in this weekend, so Terry's just trying to let the guys know you reap what you sow and on every drill that we're doing, we need to be working hard to make sure we're doing the system right."

Today was definitely a better day in that regard, and the players seemed to have a better grasp of what they'll be up against tomorrow and why they need to take it seriously.

"Today, the guys were a lot more lively and more into the practice," Ruskowski said. "We went over some things that we have to improve on to try to compete against Odessa."

Those things will be addressed in my preview that will run in tomorrow's Times, and I'll post the leftover quotes on here when I get a chance.

Some other notes from practices would include the fact that Neil Trimm, who was placed on the IR on Tuesday, was actually injured during the practice on Tuesday, not in a game prior to the fact.

He's on the 14-day IR, and his injury is apparently a pretty bad one of the "lower-body" nature.

Darryl Smith is sporting a bit of an injury himself but shouldn't miss any time; however, you will probably be seeing him play with a full cage attached to his helmet this weekend to protect his face.

Today's post-practice activities seemed to be an injury in the making as Mike Sgroi was teaching Robin Richards some mixed-martial arts moves... on skates. As we all know, nobody has been willing to fight Sgroi in a game yet, but apparently his teammate didn't feel the need to shy away from some sparring.

Speaking of Sgroi's MMA interests, I'm just realizing I never posted any of his YouTube videos from that arena. Here's one for you:



Meanwhile, I didn't make a post about it yesterday because I had known and stated on here previously that this would be happening, but forward Igor Agarunov was activated from the injured reserve and will play this weekend.

I assume those of you who are fans of the Bucks understand how crucial Agarunov can be to the team's success, so having him back for a weekend like the one approaching should be a big asset.