Ruskowski's Thoughts

Sorry for the delay in quote posting, but I've compiled Coach Ruskowski's thoughts on everything from last week's road trip to his goalie moves to this weekend's games. These quotes are from conversations throughout this week, including today after practice.

On Darryl Smith being named Player of the Week: He played very well, no question about that. That line, when (Brent) Cullaton was on there with (Jeff) Bes, just complimented each other’s play so well. They were making smart, positive plays. It was great to see those guys, especially Cullaton and Bes, reunite. I'm very proud of my players, and very proud when they get recognition. It's good for the city, good for the organization and good for him knowing that when he produces as well as he did, he'll get recognized.

On Smith's progression this season: I think we put a lot of pressure on him because of injuries, people who left the team and what he did last year. It's a lot to put on his shoulders, but now he's feeling more relaxed. He's an excellent hockey player, and it was only a matter of time before he'd get back in the groove. We hope he stays there because we sure do like him playing that way.

On the team's pressure to score: What happens is a line going well takes pressure off everyone else, and everyone else kind of seems more at ease. I think the reason why we did so well (on the road trip) was because the pressure was off because Smith did it, Bes did it, Cully did it and everyone else fell in line.

On last week's road trip: It was huge. Going into those games, we knew they were No. 1 and 2 in the North division standings and both teams are playing very, very well. To get four points out of six, I'm hoping it's a confidence builder for us and helps things move in a positive way. Everyone is feeling good about themselves.

On Tuesday's practice: I was just trying to get the guys healthy, keep the guys sharp. We didn't go awfully long today, but we got what we had to do, just get the guys' legs underneath them, passing, just the fundamentals back together. Tomorrow, we'll get more into forechecking, defensive coverage, breakouts and power play. We'll work on that the next two days, but today was just a chance to get out there. It was a long road trip, it was a hard road trip, they played very well, so we just want to keep them as fresh as possible, as positive as possible and just keep the rust off them. Tomorrow and Thursday, we get back at it again.

On non-IR players' injuries: I wish I could say things were looking up, but there are still some lingering injuries we have that if they just twist it a little bit, it could be a possible situation where they'll be out for a while, so I have to monitor in a way where it's not going to be a whole lot of physical drills (in practice), but more positional drills.

On Kyle Gajewski (pre-trade): I'll have to talk to Bobby (Moore) on that, he's got to find out how he felt after the practice, if he had a headache or didn't have a headache, then we'll go from there. From there, we'll go and do what we have to do.

On goalie play last week: I thought both our goalies played very well. It was a situation where Pier (Pelletier) went in there, and I think they had three power-play goals, one of them was 5-on-3, and that goal, I don't think anybody could have stopped that goal. But I thought he played pretty steady, and the guys felt the same way. He's a big boy, he's still learning the game a little bit, but I thought he played and I thought (Kevin) Desfosses played well, too, really well. He feels he's playing with confidence right now, so he's going to keep going as long as he can.

On Cullaton's contributions: He's the type of guy that knows the system, I don't have to tell it to him, and handles the puck very well. He's smart with the puck, he's just a smart, good hockey player. It made the people around him a lot better, too. Instead of just dumping the puck in our wrapping it around, he was making that positive pass right on a guy's stick. Instead of having that shot on net on a bad angle, he was giving a guy a shot from a better angle. He's just a smart hockey player that knows how to play the game very well, and he was a great influence on the younger guys, and actually the whole team when he was out there. I think he has a different perspective of the game now, now that he's a coach. He knows what I have to go through and what the players have to go through to be successful, and I think that he gave that and showed that when he was in the dressing room and on the ice.

On Cullaton's possible return for the playoffs: We'll definitely talk. (Said with a large smile, by the way.)

On areas that could still improve: I think our penalty killing was good, but not as great as it should be, and our power play was okay, but not as good as it should be. We have a lot of success shooting the puck from the point, but we don't do it all the time and I just don't know why we don't do it all the time. We're going to try to rectify that tomorrow and Thursday, especially Thursday, to see if we can get more shots from the point, get a little more creative with the power play and have more opportunities to score.

On playing up/down to opponents: I sure hope (we don't start playing down again). As a coach, you're always hoping they go on from playing good to trying to get better and better. What you want to do is have a team going into the playoffs with momentum and confidence. Right now, we have a little bit of that. It's not good and concrete yet, but if we do well this weekend, I think that'll be a huge benefit for the confidence. We just have to worry about playing hard every shift of every game and doing the system as well as we can. That's what we have to focus on, and hopefully if we do that, we will get better.

On this weekend's 3-in-3: How's that for a road trip? Play here Saturday and play in Odessa at 4 o'clock the next day... wow. Tough scheduling there. We just have to play hard, and we have to win. That's it. Texas is who we're fighting to get up there in that third spot, and it's a must-win game for us. We have to play to our potential and better. We have to have not just one effort, but second and third efforts to get the puck in and score or try to get the puck out and make a play. I'm just hoping that we play very hard in front of our home crowd so we can show them we are improving and getting better.

On trying to sell out "Pink in the Rink" night: We were in Rapid City, and they had a sellout, and I was thinking, 'Wow, we used to be that way.' I was kind of envious of them, to be honest with you. To have that kind of response and that kind of crowd come to the game... like I said, we used to be that way, and we hope to get back to that way very soon. It's a huge advantage for us to have a big crowd being vocal and being supportive and yelling and screaming and cheering. I think that just gives our guys more incentive to play the best they can play.

On signing Desfosses to a full-term deal: He certainly deserved that spot. When I picked him up, I really didn't know what I was getting because I hadn't seen him play. I heard a lot about him in the summer time, and actually his name came up more than once, and I tried to see what he was interested in salary-wise and talk to his agent, but we didn't come to any kind of conclusion, so he went to Corpus, but he didn't play very much and he's the type of guy who needs to play to be effective. The good Lord blessed us by bringing him here. We had an opportunity, and he's played very well for us. He seems to be confident, and when things are going his way, he's very good. He seems to be square to the puck all the time. To me, and I'm not a goalie, so I can't critique goalies very well, but I played against enough of them to know that they're always square to the puck and their rebound control is always good. That's the exact kind of goalie he is. His rebounds are always good, he goes to the corner to smother, and he's always square to the puck, to the shooters, not side to side or whatever. I like that, and I think that's very important to be a successful goalie in any league.

On trading Gajewski: I couldn't keep three, it's not healthy to keep three, because you have animosity about who's going to play and who's not going to play, and I had to make room on the roster for guys coming in off the injured reserve. It was just a situation where I thought maybe a bigger goalie would be good. I think Pelletier played very well for us in his last game. It certainly wasn't his fault that we lost in Colorado; he played very, very well. We just thought we had to make the move to keep the two best goalies that we had, or who could be the best goalies down the road. It's not an easy move. I think Juice is a very good goalie, and given the right opportunity again, I think he'll really show that. I just hope we don't play against him.

On his current goalie duo: I think I'm pretty confident. They like each other, they get along with each other. I like to see them, I think it's very healthy that goalies try to push each other on who's the best and who's going to play, who's not going to play. I think if they do that a little bit more, it will push them a little bit more to practice harder even though they practice hard, but to perform better on the ice, especially in the games. But I don't think they need that; they're pretty confident kids, they work hard and practice, and I think that they'll do very well.

On this weekend's starters: I'm sure the plan is to, in back-to-back games, go with Desfosses, then all the way up to Odessa, I'll probably go with Pelletier.

On Maxime Lincourt's status: I was just taking him off the injured reserve list. The doctor gave him the okay to play.

On the effect of Lincourt's return: He'll be very important if he does his job the way he's supposed to be doing it, scoring goals, taking hits, giving hits, being part of the offensive zone but also defensively. He has to play strong defense. If he can get back on track scoring goals, that will definitely help us in the offensive zone, there's no question about it.

On the top line: This week was a situation where the doctor hadn't cleared Lincourt yet, and I didn't know when he was going to come to practice, so I wanted to make sure everyone had a line to play with, so that's why I put (Neil) Trimm there, because he's a left-hand shot. I may put him there in the game; he's smart, good with the puck, so I might put him there in the game, but I'll probably put Lincourt there to start.

On tomorrow night's game against the Texas Brahmas: This is important for three reasons - first of all, to catch them for the playoffs, second of all to build more confidence and show our team that if you work hard good things will happen and you'll win hockey game, and third of all because we'll have a good crowd because we're doing "Pink in the Rink" for WINGS of Laredo. What we want to do is make sure we put on a really good performance to get the people back in the stands again, and that's a huge, huge reason why we have to play well and we have to win and put on a good performance for the fans here.

On sustaining momentum: They have to realize that yesterday's goals don't win today's hockey games and they have to put on their skates, grab their lunch pails and go back to work. Once we understand that and realize that - that it doesn't just come easy for us, you have to work for it - hopefully the confidence will come, and the wins will come with it. We have to realize that no game is easy. Lady Luck can fall on you so many times, the good Lord can bless you so many times, but we have to have him on our side and have hard work, desire and the ability to do what it takes to be successful. That comes with confidence, obviously, but knowing that each day you come to work, you have to work as hard as you can to be successful.

I will post quotes from my player interviews this week - Bes, Desfosses, Smith and Paul Elliott - later tonight or as early as possible tomorrow.