Game Day No. 26

The Bucks (13-7-5, 31 points) will play their first home game since Dec. 11 tonight as they host the Corpus Christi IceRays (9-14-4, 22 points) in the first of back-to-back games at the LEC.

The Bucks went 1-2-1 on their season-high four-game road trip, and Coach Ruskowski was none too pleased with the way the team played in those games, particularly the last two.

Here are some excerpts from my story that ran today, which was more of a notebook than a preview:

Another idea Ruskowski has emphasized is taking every opponent seriously, but failing to do that has cost the Bucks more than one game this season, including a 6-3 loss to the Amarillo Gorillas last Saturday.
“I warned them about it,” Ruskowski said. “I knew something was up in the morning; their practice was just awful.
They didn’t do anything I wanted them to do properly, passes weren’t working… it’s not my first rodeo, when I see that kind of practice, I know what to expect.”
To combat that problem, Ruskowski is hoping to keep numbers out of his players’ hands until they know that what they see on paper cannot do anything for them on the ice.
“I don’t want stats in the dressing room,” he said. “Any stats and standings can go directly to my desk. I told them if you’re looking at stats and not looking at the job you have to do, I guarantee you we will not be able to win.
“Call me a liar, but until you prove me wrong, I’ll say what I say.”

Though the Bucks have not made any out-of-team roster moves involving skaters in several weeks, Ruskowski admits he is still not 100 percent sure he can count on his current lineup.
“They tell me what I want to hear, but they need to show me what I want to see,” Ruskowski said. “We don’t have a team of superstars; we need to play hard to be successful.”
Laredo has proven it can do that, but the team cannot seem to do so on a consistent basis, leaving Ruskowski frustrated with some of the players he counts on most.
“The leaders have to lead,” Ruskowski said. “I have to emphasize that to them because my fuse is getting short with some players and how inconsistent they can be. I kind of vented myself after the last game because I really don’t like losing. If this team can’t win, there will have to be some moves.
“I can’t stand losing, and until it gets to the point where they start feeling the same way, playing the same way with urgency, this is obviously not a team that can take us to the Promised Land.”


Ruskowski also noted the fact that defensive lapses, by both forwards and defensemen, have been the team's biggest weakness, saying he "can't blame the goalies much" for any of the losses.

He is expecting to see the team play much better, and for a full 60 minutes, tonight, so we'll see if that happens.

For more on tonight, you can check out Bryan Benway's preview, his blog post for today or the Pointstreak pre-game notes.