Bucks Players Win S.A. Tournament

Bucks players and staff members competed in the Alamo City Classic in San Antonio this week, winning the tournament for the second straight year.

This year, the team went by the name of "Laredo Spicy Peppers" and competed to help raise money for Real Life Therapeutic Center.

Jerseys from the tournament will be auctioned on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Bucket's Bar & Grill on McPherson, and proceeds will benefit that charity.

This year's team consisted of "current" Bucks Igor Agarunov, Jeff Bes, Paul Elliott and Adam Rivet; former Bucks players Serge Dube, James Hiebert and Steve Weidlich; majority owner Glenn Hart and equipment manager Matt Brayfield.

Bryan Benway and Beto Olivares coached the team, and Bobby Moore was the team trainer.

The Bucks organization has not announced the re-signing of any of the players who competed in the tournament, but has made public the returns of goaltender Pier-Olivier Pelletier and defenseman Ryan Lehr, whose re-signing I mentioned on here last Friday.

My story in Saturday's paper had more information on Lehr's return, including Coach Ruskowski's thoughts on his play in Laredo during the 2009-10 season, and also a few updates on the general recruiting situation.

Three signings have been announced thus far, and only one - rookie defenseman Mike Scanlon - is a player coming to Laredo from outside of the organization, so I was wondering if Ruskowski plans to bring back more players for the 2010-11 campaign than he did last time around.

He said he is still not entirely sure what the number of re-signing players will be, but gave "four, five, six, or maybe seven" as a rough estimate.

Ruskowski also opened up a bit more about his pursuit of former Corpus Christi IceRays, as the Central Hockey League is no longer asking coaches/general managers to keep quiet about those who became free agents when Corpus left for the North American Hockey League.

Ruskowski said he was talking to former IceRays captain Justin Quenneville prior to the forward's decision to retire and become assistant coach for the NAHL team, and that he was also in talks with another player who he said has chosen to go to the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees instead.

Only one former IceRay is still on his radar, and though he didn't name names, he did say this player is an "All-Star defenseman" who would be going back to Corpus after visiting his family in Canada.

Back to Lehr, though, here is some of what Ruskowski had to say about him:

"I liked his size and his skating, he has a good shot, and he passes well. Once he gets into the rhythym of being a pro rather than in college, he’s really going to be a strong player. He hits, he has that toughness, he can shoot, and he’s going to get nothing but better.

"If he wants to be successful, he’s going to have to play that tough, aggressive, physical game and take shots on net when he gets them. I liked what I saw, and with more ice time, he’s going to become even better."

Obviously, Ruskowski sees a lot of potential in the young blueliner, and he also noted Lehr's willingness to shoot from the point - and the fact that he has a right-handed shot - as great assets in a defenseman.

"If you saw the NHL playoffs, you know that 85-90 percent of their scoring chances were started by shots from the point that led to rebounds or deflections," he said. "Those chances are very important. With teams playing so well down low, you have to create things from the point."

On a completely unrelated note, I guess it's about time to mention that Wednesday is my last day at the Laredo Morning Times.

I have really enjoyed covering the Bucks for the past three seasons, and my blog has been one of my favorite parts of this job, so I hope that all of you have enjoyed it, as well.

The paper is currently in the process of hiring my replacement, and either that person or former Bucks beat writer Nino Cardenas will cover the team next season.

I don't think there will be much more news in the next couple days, but I will blog at least once more before I leave.