LMT Bucks Blog

Evansville Joins New CHL

2010-06-23T23:15:00.001-05:00

A few weeks after announcing the participating teams for the 2010-11 season, the Central and International Hockey Leagues revealed yesterday that the Evansville IceMen will also be a part of their merger.

The IceMen are the 18th team announced for the 2010-11 campaign.

With that bit of CHL news, I leave you in the hands of the league's other beat writers, whose blogs you can follow at the following locations:

Adam Dunivan on the Colorado Eagles

Brian Sandalow on the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees

Justin Cohn on the Fort Wayne Komets

Sorry for any the list is missing; I need to get home and finish packing.

Thanks for your kind words about my departure, and thanks to all of you who have read my blog, whether it was a regular thing for you or not.

I don't know if this blog will stay alive, as most other LMT blogs moved to Word Press recently, but hopefully there will be a blog about the Bucks for the upcoming campaign.

And if I get back into hockey writing, I'll be sure to let you know.

Thanks again!

Bucks Players Win S.A. Tournament

2010-06-21T20:30:00.002-05:00

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.

Bucks Re-Sign Lehr

2010-06-18T17:35:00.003-05:00

Sorry I'm so late to post this, but the re-signing announced this morning was defenseman Ryan Lehr, who will return for his second season in Laredo this fall.

Lehr only played 10 regular season games with the Bucks but picked up six points on two goals and four assists in those games. In seven playoff games, he handed out two more helpers.

At 6-foot-2 and over 200 pounds, Lehr brought some of the size and toughness Coach Ruskowski had wanted to the Bucks' defense and proved willing to block shots while also taking quite a few from the point, and not bad ones at that.

Lehr, who just turned 24, did a lot of things Ruskowski hoped his older defensemen would do this season and didn't get from them, so it's not much of a surprise to see him return.

I still haven't gotten to call Ruskowski today, but I will as soon as possible, so you can read his thoughts about Lehr and the group he is putting together to play next season in my story in tomorrow's paper.

Scanlon Signing

2010-06-10T17:10:00.003-05:00

I just spoke to Coach Ruskowski about the signing of rookie defenseman Derek Scanlon, and, as expected, the fact that the kid was coached by former Bucks captain Brent Cullaton last season definitely didn't hurt his chances of signing with the team.

Ruskowski says he likes what he's heard about Scanlon, likes what he saw from him when he got to see him skate and likes his attitude and what he's pushed himself to accomplish over the summer.

Scanlon was an all-star in the Western States Hockey League last season and put up some impressive stats while serving as an alternate captain for the Boulder Jr. Bison.

As we know because of Cullaton's delay in reporting to the Bucks for the playoffs, the Jr. Bison did very well in their inaugural season, and Scanlon was a big part of that success.

Scanlon scored 18 goals - not bad for a defenseman - and had a team-leading 38 assists for 56 points on the season while accruing 132 penalty minutes.

The WSHL posted a little brief about Scanlon's signing, and though it has yet to be mentioned on the Jr. Bison website, I imagine it will be eventually.

You'll be able to read more about Scanlon, and Ruskowski's thoughts on him, in my story in tomorrow's paper.

On another note, I asked Ruskowski if he could talk about whether or not he had been after Justin Quenneville now that the forward has retired to become the assistant coach of the Northern American Hockey League's Corpus Christi IceRays, and he said that question will have to be answered at a later date because the Central Hockey League had asked coaches and general managers not to talk to former CHL IceRays players until everything about their free agency was finalized.

Speaking of the Quenneville retirement, sorry I didn't mention it sooner, but you can read more about that in several posts on Greg Rajan's blog and in his story for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.

CHL Announces 2010-11 Teams

2010-06-10T16:55:00.002-05:00

After a lot of speculation, the Central Hockey League has finally officially officially announced the teams who will compete during the 2010-11 season.

Here are the key paragraphs from that press release:

Although some material matters still remain to be worked out with the International Hockey League (IHL), the CHL will welcome four teams from the IHL who will join 13 returning CHL teams for the 2010-11 season. The participating teams will compete in two conferences during the season. The four existing IHL markets will be the three-time defending Turner Cup Champion Fort Wayne Komets, the Bloomington PrairieThunder, the Dayton Gems and the Quad City Mallards.

The returning CHL teams for the 2010-11 season are the Allen Americans, Arizona Sundogs, Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, Colorado Eagles, Laredo Bucks, Mississippi RiverKings, Missouri Mavericks, Odessa Jackalopes, Rapid City Rush, Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees, Texas Brahmas, Tulsa Oilers and Wichita Thunder.

Announcements regarding playoff format, conference alignment, additional cities for the 2010-11 season and other team related issues will be made in the very near future and the 2010-11 CHL regular season schedule is slated to be released in July.

I'm a bit perplexed by the "additional cities for the 2010-11 season" when the press release says this is the full list of teams who will participate, but, as with all of this, I'll guess we'll see what happens.

Bucks Sign Scanlon

2010-06-10T10:25:00.000-05:00

The Bucks just made their second signing announcement for 2010-11, revealing that they have inked rookie defenseman Derek Scanlon.

Scanlon's name may sound familiar, as he came to Laredo with then-coach Brent Cullaton during the playoffs.

Coach Ruskowski didn't sign Scanlon to take an amateur spot during the postseason, but I guess he decided the kid is worth a spot at training camp.

Here's the Bucks' press release:

Bucks Sign WSHL All Star ScanlonLAREDO, TX- The Laredo Bucks of the Central Hockey League announced Thursday that they have signed former WSHL All-Star defenseman Derek Scanlon for the 2010-11 season. Scanlon spent last season playing for the Boulder Jr. Bison (WSHL), coached by former Bucks Captain Brent Cullaton. Last season the 21-year-old Scanlon served as the Bisons alternate captain and was named team-MVP as well as a Thorne Cup All-star. He helped lead Boulder to their first-ever WSHL Midwest Division Championship. In 55 games last season Scanlon scored 56 points (18-38=56) to go along with 132 PIM’s. Scanlon led the Bisons in assists (38), power-play assists (17) and shorthanded assists (4), while his 132 PIM’s ranked second on the club. “I had a chance to see Derek skate multiple times last season and we are impressed with his skill level,” said Bucks President/General Manager and Head Coach Terry Ruskowski. “Knowing that he played for Cully (Brent Cullaton) tells me that he’s a quality player.” “I feel Derek will adapt well to Coach Rosco's systems because he is a solid skater,” Cullaton said. “He is eager to learn and wants to win.” The 6’0’’, 180 pound Scanlon helped lead the Bisons to a 40-18-2 record and the teams first-ever trip to Junior A Nationals in Boston, MA. Prior to playing with the Bisons Scanlon, a native of Marlborough, MA, played for the Colorado Outlaws (WSHL) under ex-NHL player Doug Smail. In 2008-09 Scanlon put up 66 points (32-34=66) in just 35 games to go along with 228 PIM’s. Scanlon had 32 goals and averaged nearly two points per game (1.89) for the Outlaws that season. Scanlon is the second Buck signed this offseason, including the first rookie.

Hart Wins Leadership Award

2010-06-07T21:50:00.003-05:00

The Central Hockey League award winners for the 2009-10 were announced at a banquet during the CHL summer conference over the weekend, and Glenn Hart - the majority owner of the Bucks - nabbed the Leadership Award.

Hart won the award once before, for the 2004-05 season, and credited his staff with the success that earned it for him again this season when I spoke to him today.

You can read more about that in tomorrow's paper but for now you can check out Bryan Benway's press release for more on Hart and see the rest of the award winners here.

More on Pelletier

2010-06-01T19:00:00.003-05:00

I'm sure you don't need me to remind you how well recently re-signed goaltender Pier-Olivier Pelletier closed out his rookie season with the Bucks, but I'll give you a brief refresher anyway.

After going 0-4-1 in his first five starts with the Bucks, Pelletier did not endure a single regulation loss in the 12 games he played during the rest of the regular season.

In that span, he went 9-0-2 with one no-decision and improved his goals-against average to 2.88 while boosting his save percentage to .915.

During the playoffs, he started all seven of the Bucks' games, again posting a GAA of 2.88 while boasting an even more impressive save percentage of .920.

All three games that the Bucks won during their series against the Allen Americans were games in which Pelletier faced 35 or more shots.

These factors all played a part in Coach Ruskowski's decision to make Pelletier only the third goalie to re-sign with the Bucks in franchise history (joining 2003-04 CHL Rookie of the Year David Guerrera and Michael Dilorenzo).

Here's what Ruskowksi had to say about the signing:

"He started off without much game experience, and the team wasn’t playing very well in front of him. But when he got more chances to play, he made good of the opportunity and played very well. The more ice time he got, the better he played, and we relied on him a lot there at the end of the season and in the playoffs. We were depending on him, and he did a terrific job. He was a rock for us.

"Knowing how he played for us last season, I wanted to bring him back and go into recruiting knowing I have a good, solid goalie in the stables. If I can find another good goalie, I’ll have two, but now I’m looking for the best young kids I can find, and I wanted to know I had a goalie I can depend on already signed.

“I want to bring in another good goalie. Sometimes if a goalie thinks he has that No. 1 spot, he won’t work as hard, especially with the mental preparation. I don’t think we’ll have that problem with Pelly, but he could still use that challenge to keep driving him. It’s good for my confidence, too, knowing that I have someone else if anyone gets hurt. But if he plays the way he was playing for us, I don’t care if he’s a rookie or a veteran; I’ll ride him as long as I can."

Pelletier will be neither a rookie nor a veteran as he enters his second season of professional play, but he will enter this season knowing that being the No. 1 goalie is in his reach if he continues to play the way he did at the end of his first campaign.

You can read a bit more about the signing in my story that will run in tomorrow's paper, and I could not link the press release about the signing earlier, but you can read that here.

Bryan Benway also blogged about Pelletier's return.

On a slightly different - but related - note, Ruskowski said he is pursuing "three, maybe four" players who were Corpus Christi IceRays last season.

As expected, he didn't name names, though he did mention that he was interested in forward Ryan Garbutt before Garbutt had his rights traded to the Americans. Ruskowski also noted Garbutt is expected to pursue playing in the ECHL rather than in Allen.

Of the players who were on that team last season, who would you most like to see in a Bucks jersey when the 2009-10 campaign begins?

Ruskowski is obviously looking at talent level, but he also wants players who fit into his system; who do you think would meet those standards?

I'll continue to ask Ruskowski about that, and his other recruiting, as time passes, but for now, Pelletier is obviously the only signing the team is willing to confirm.

CHL, IHL Intend to Form "Super League"

2010-06-01T14:50:00.002-05:00

For some reason this isn't up on the CHL website yet, but the league just sent out a release stating that the CHL and IHL plan to merge into a "'AA' level super league" for the 2010-11 season.

Here's what the release says:

Central Hockey League and International Hockey League Make Major Announcement

In a joint announcement that marks a historic day for minor professional hockey, two of pro hockey’s most storied leagues, the Central Hockey League (CHL) and International Hockey In a joint announcement that marksLeague (IHL), have entered into a letter of intent to form a “AA” level super league beginning in the 2010-11 season. We plan to play under the Central Hockey League, CHL, moniker, with the identity of the IHL being maintained through various aspects that will be announced in the near future. Leaders of the CHL and IHL will meet during the week ahead to work out the remaining material terms.

“The arrangement between the CHL and the IHL should create an innovative and exciting "AA" level professional hockey league which is scheduled to start play in the 2010-2011 season,” said Dennis Hextall, IHL Commissioner. “The two leagues each have longstanding histories and share the common goal of solidifying minor professional hockey for our players, our passionate fans and their communities. I believe this arrangement will enable our teams to recruit the best young talent to join our league, with the potential of improving their game and moving up to the higher leagues.”

“This is an exciting day for our teams and markets,” said Duane Lewis, CHL Commissioner. “Both leagues have worked hard to establish tremendous entertainment at a great value for their fans, and by combining our resources we believe we can strengthen those efforts providing greater fan interest as well as a stronger brand.”

Operating guidelines, including the teams competing in the CHL, divisional alignment, the 2010-11 regular season schedule and various hockey operations issues will be discussed at the CHL Summer Conference (league meetings) occurring June 3-5 in Gilbert, Arizona and will continue at the IHL meetings in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 21-23.

The CHL competed with 15 teams during the 2009-10 season with the Rapid City Rush taking home the Ray Miron Presidents’ Cup title, while the IHL competed with seven teams with the Fort Wayne Komets winning their seventh Turner Cup Championship and third straight league title.

This will be the 19th season for the CHL whose teams cover nine states. The league saw close to two million fans attend games in each of the last two seasons and has regularly been the North American professional “AA” hockey league leader in average attendance. This season, the CHL was the top “AA” hockey league in playoff attendance. In the league’s history, a total of 88 players have played in both the National Hockey League and the CHL.

The 2010-2011 season will mark the 60th year of professional hockey for the International Hockey League, which was comprised last season of seven Midwestern teams in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. More than 900,000 fans attended IHL hockey games this past season, and a sell-out crowd of 10,480 fans watched the Fort Wayne Komets win the 2010 Turner Cup over the Flint Generals at the Coliseum last month. Nine players who played on IHL teams this past season had prior NHL experience, while many more have played for their respective national teams and professionally abroad. The IHL's Commissioner, Dennis Hextall, spent more than ten years as a player in the National Hockey League, and serves as President of the Detroit Red Wings Alumni Association.

Certain statements in this release may be "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements may include projections of matters that affect revenue, operating expenses or net earnings; projections of capital expenditures; projections of growth; hiring plans; plans for future operations; financing needs or plans; plans relating to the company's products and services; and assumptions relating to the foregoing.

Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified. Future events and actual results could differ materially from those set forth in, contemplated by, or underlying the forward-looking information.

Some of the important factors that could cause the Global Entertainment Corporation’s actual results to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements made by the company include, but are not limited to, the following: intense competition within the sports and entertainment industries, past and future acquisitions, expanding operations into new markets, risk of business interruption, management of rapid growth, need for additional financing, changing consumer demands, dependence on key personnel, sales and income tax uncertainty and increasing marketing, management, occupancy and other administrative costs.

These factors are discussed in greater detail in Global Entertainment Corporation’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended May 31, 2009 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-QSB for the quarter ended February 29, 2010, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

There had obviously been talks of the CHL taking some IHL teams, but I guess they've decided to do things on a larger scale. I still haven't been able to talk to Coach Ruskowski about re-signing netminder Pier-Olivier Pelletier because of some things I had to do before work, so I guess I'll be asking him about this announcement, as well.

UPDATE: Coach Ruskowski - who is in Colorado, by the way - said he's heard about this merger but has a lot of questions he thinks the leagues have failed to answer to date. Obviously, we'll learn more about what's going on as details are finalized, but the effects of losing two Texas teams and adding several further north will definitely be felt by the Bucks.

Bucks Re-Sign Pelletier

2010-06-01T12:10:00.000-05:00

The Bucks gave fans some good news earlier as they announced that they have re-signed goaltender Pier-Olivier Pelletier for the 2010-11 season.

After not playing much when he first arrived in Laredo, Pelletier came up huge at the end of the regular season and in the playoffs, and he seems bound to keep on improving as he gains more pro experience.

Pelletier is the first signing (and re-signing) announced by the Bucks for next season.

I'll have more on this after I talk to Coach Ruskowski later.

Ruskowski's Thoughts

2010-05-28T23:10:00.000-05:00

Sorry so late on this, but today has been just one disaster after another.

Here is what Coach Ruskowski had to say about the CHL losing Corpus Christi:

"It’s a sad scenario. All those players are out of jobs now. You never want to see that happen. They’ve been in the league since (before) we joined, so them not being there is a huge void. That’s rivalry and tradition down the drain."

On the financial effects on the Bucks:

"It affects our travel schedule. We’re going to have to plan trips smarter; if we’re driving somewhere 10, 12 hours away, we need to play two games, then play somewhere else or hit another team on the way back. If we’re up in Fort Worth (to play the Texas Brahmas), then we can play Allen and Odessa. We need to be more proactive with our scheduling."

On the future of the CHL:

"You worry about the economy, and when that gets better, we’ll get better. When you go into pro sports, it’s always a tight gamble. If you do well, great; if not, sometimes you have to bite the bullet. You’ll always be a bit concerned, but if other teams can survive, we can survive and keep playing."

On the new free agents:

"There are some I’ll be pursuing. I called Amarillo when their players first became available, and a lot are going to Europe or not playing anymore, or just didn’t fit into my system. But from Corpus, there are some guys that I’d like to pursue, lure to Laredo, when they are available for me to do that. They have some good hockey players over there. In two years, with the same personnel, that would have been a team to beat."

Bucks Recruiting

2010-05-28T14:45:00.000-05:00

Today, the Bucks unveiled their new recruiting video, which, unsurprisingly, features smiling girls i, short shorts, dresses and bikinis. Slightly more surprising is the fact that it also features Mayor Salinas talking about homicide.

Meanwhile, the team was already recruiting long before this video made its online debut, and the Bucks are expected to announce their first signing sometime next week.

If you don't want spoilers, you might not want to keep reading, because Robert Keith from the Texas Brahmas Insider sent me this link today, and after some quick research, I found this.

So it seems Zeanan Ziemer and Justin Michaud are going to be two of the players reporting to training camp this fall.

Both are coming off their first seasons with the Dauphin Kings of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (and are both from Manitoba), Michaud only a partial season after being acquired in a trade, and here's a bit of what broadcaster Marlin Murray had to say in that post:

Ziemer, after three years with the OCN Blizzard, came to Dauphin in a trade last November and collected 25 goals and 51 assists to go along with 121 penalty minutes during the regular season. Zeanan Ziemer also had 18 points during the MJHL playoffs and scored the double overtime goal in game two of the Anavet Cup.

I'll post more on this later if I get a chance; just wanted to put it out there now.

Back to everything that was going on yesterday, you can read Greg Rajan's column about the IceRays' move from the CHL to the NAHL here and my story on Coach Ruskowski's reaction and future plans here.

I'll be back to post those quotes as soon as I finish up our weekly Zapata sports section.

IceDiggers are the New IceRays

2010-05-27T23:00:00.002-05:00

Everything is official in Corpus Christi, as the North American Hockey League team from Alpena, Mich., has been purchased and moved to the American Bank Center.

The sale and relocation have been approved by the NAHL, prompting the press conference at the ABC today.

That Alpena team, previously known as the IceDiggers, will become the new IceRays.

As is made obvious by that press release and the webite for the Corpus NAHL franchise, the only people truly losing here are the IceRays' players, as the IceRays staff will be staying on, and fans can obviously stick around, too, if they want.

Coach Ruskowski's first response when I asked him about this move was to note that this leaves players out of jobs - at the moment anyway - which is never a good or fair thing to do, in his opinion.

Ruskowski joked that he had been upset to hear the IceRays may fold before they were purchased by the Lange family only to have them beat up on his team during the 2009-10 season, so his emotions about losing the team are mixed.

On a more serious note, he said that this is not something you want to see and that losing the rivalry and being forced to travel more are both bad things for his team.

You can read more of what Ruskowski had to say in my story in tomorrow's paper or check back here tomorrow for some quotes.

As far as teams joining the CHL, Justin Cohn has more up on his blog.

Couple Quick Things

2010-05-27T15:15:00.000-05:00

Per Greg Rajan, the IceRays were holding a press conference today, during which they likely announced their departure from the Central Hockey League. According to the IceRays' Facebook page, the presser began at 2:15 p.m., so news from that should spread soon enough.

I'll be calling Coach Ruskowski for his reaction to this becoming official, the effect it will have on the Bucks, his thoughts on the future of the CHL considering it has lost two cities in a matter of weeks and to get an idea about whether or not he is pursuing any players who recently became free agents in Amarillo or will soon become available from Corpus Christi.

Meanwhile, one player who Ruskowski did acquire from the IceRays during the 2009-10 season will not be returning to the team - and not just because of the drop in his caliber of play toward the end of the campaign - as Kevin Desfosses has signed with the Neuilly-sur-Marne Bisons in France.

You can read a roughly translated version of the story here; thanks to Robert Keith from the Texas Brahmas Insider for pointing that out.

As far as Todd Griffith, whose Hockey DB page seemed to imply a return to the Newcastle Vipers, a return to the Bucks might be more likely.

Hockey DB might have messed up on that one, as there is nothing official noting a return to the Vipers and the last news from there was of him leaving the club for a second time.

Adding to the idea that he could come back is the fact that I saw Griffith writing his bike down McPherson just two days ago.

Back to the status of the CHL with losing teams and all that, there may be some good news on that front, as Justin Cohn is reporting an interest in turning the IHL team in Fort Wayne into a CHL franchise.

According to Cohn, CHL Commissioner Duane Lewis has confirmed that the league wants at least a few of the IHL teams, and Cohn also links to a story saying the Bloomington Prairie Thunder are already headed in that direction.

If the league is able to add teams, of course it will want to do so, but adding more and more that are quite far away from the Bucks is only going to make the sting of losing Corpus worse expense-wise.

I'll be back with updates as more is announced about all of these situations.

Should They Stay?

2010-05-21T23:55:00.004-05:00

I know this is well overdue, but better late than never, hopefully.

There are a lot of guys to evaluate considering how many suffered season-ending injuries but were never let go by the team, so I just did this in alphabetical order (by last name) rather than sorting by my rating of their value.

Igor Agarunov (Forward/Defenseman) - Yes. Agarunov is a part of the core group that seems to come back every season regardless of performance in the previous season, but I don't think his low point totals during the 2009-10 campaign are necessarily something to hold against him. He only had five goals and 10 assists, but he did miss 11 games, suffer a head injury and get shuffled around from line to line and even to defense on occasion, so it's really not surprising that he was out of sync. In my opinion, Agarunov hustles and plays hard every game despite the fact that he can probably assume his future is safe, which is not always the case for other "core" players for the Bucks. He skates hard, tries to work in his hits and goes after loose pucks around the net, and those are all things Coach Ruskowski likes to see, so I assume he can be expected to come back. Also worth noting is the fact that Agarunov practiced very seriously, which I always think is a good sign in regards to a player's commitment to the team.

Jeff Bes (Forward) - Yes. Say what you will about Bes getting older, getting slower and not being the same player on the ice, because it's all true. However, his mind and his hands make him a valuable asset on the ice even if he were to become practically immobile, so I don't think there's any reason the Bucks should let him go. If he decides he wants to devote himself full-time to coaching, that's one thing, but he says he still wants to play, and as long as he does, the Bucks should try to keep him here. In my opinion, staying here as long as he did was settling on his part to an extent - despite the fact that he obviously wouldn't experience the same success at a higher level - and the Bucks should reward him for that commitment. He also plays an undeniably huge role off the ice, whether as the most recognizable face (player-wise) on the team or the biggest leader in the locker room. Even after missing a large part of last season due to injury and everything else he's gone through, Bes managed to put up a team-high 75 points this season, including nearly 20 goals. From Bucks' standpoint, at least in my eyes, there's really just no reason to let him go anywhere else.

Curtis Billsten (Forward) - Yes. Take pretty much all of the positive things I said about Agarunov and apply them to Billsten, as well. He does not take shifts off like some players did this year, he does not act like practice is a joke, and to add to those similar positives, he is young and eager and willing to learn. Injuries obviously prevented him from playing as much as he could have, but he put as much of his body and all of his heart and soul into every game he did play. Plus, he was a plus-8 on a team full of minus players during the regular season despite having his lines change constantly. Eleven goals and 17 assists might not be big numbers, but if a forward works as hard as he does and is responsible defensively, I don't see why a coach wouldn't want to bring him back.

Brent Cullaton (Forward) - Moot point. Unless he has a really big change of heart, he is not playing as a pro again.

Sylvain Deschatelets (F0rward) - Yes. Deschatelets showed that he can do a heck of a lot offensively with that stunning first week of his and bounced back from being dropped to the second line by being the Bucks' second-leading scorer. All told, he had 25 points in just 2o games, and he seemed to mesh well with several players who will likely return for next season. The only thing about him that could be a slight problem - well, other than the chance of him wanting to go back to Europe for the start of the season - is that he seemed to be put off by that line change, which although understandable, could be a sign of an attitude problem. Obviously, Ruskowski knows if that is a problem better than I do, and if it's not - and the Bucks can afford to keep Deschatelets' salary - I say go for it.

Kevin Desfosses (Goaltender) - No. Even when he was playing well, this guy showed signs of having some problems, and I don't think any team can have him play the way he did during his many meltdown games and expect to do well with him in goal. Honestly, the beating of the goalpost didn't really bother me too much, but there were other things that he did that were just too much. If you're more interested in leering at your ex-teammates and gesturing to the crowd (whether in a good way or not) than stopping the puck, you're not going to be a successful goalie. The fact that Corpus Christi won't have a CHL team next season could very well do him some good, but I don't think he's worth the risk at this point. He allowed four or more goals in his last seven games - and eight of his last nine - and that's no way to end a season with a team and expect to come into another season with them fully confident.

Benjamin Dieude-Fauvel (Defenseman) - Maybe. Dieude-Fauvel definitely has his appeal, whether it be his hat-trick game or his often crushing hits or his willingness to shoot from the point on the power play. But he also has his weaknesses and sometimes proved to be a liability when taking penalties in bad situations. I'm not much a fan of judging defenseman by their points, but I don't think we could really call him a "shut-down" guy, so it is worth noting that he had multiple five-game scoreless streaks throughout the season, including one that lasted 12 games. He was a plus-3, which for this season's team wasn't bad, but he still has some work to do. That said, I know Ruskowski saw a lot of potential in him, and those few really crushing hits might be more memorable than some of his mistakes.

Paul Elliott (Defenseman) - No. Elliott does his thing, and he does it well, but I think he knew it was time to hang up his skates when he did the first time, and now would probably be a good time to follow through on that. No one ever stops talking about how the game has gone to speed, and that is one thing Elliott unarguably does not have. I can't imagine that getting another year older is going to help him in that department, plus he got banged up a lot during the playoffs and does have a day job to attend to, so I think calling it quits and leaving his veteran spot for the Bucks to use on someone else would be his best bet.

Tyler Fletcher (Forward) - Maybe. I didn't get to see the one game that this kid played in, but Ruskowski was positively glowing when he talked about his performance. Ruskowski always complains that his teams don't hit enough, and he said Fletcher "was hitting everybody," so that clearly made a lasting impression. He'll be a rookie if he comes back, and his eagerness in that game - though it cost him a chance to play any others - is a sure sign that he loves what he does and wants to keep doing it. He could be lured over to the ECHL, but if not, I'd say he's worth at least a spot in training camp, and he should be good to go by then because his injury turned out to not be as severe as initially expected.

Eric Giosa (Forward) - Yes. Giosa is a character guy through and through, and I think it shows every time he is on the ice. He makes some really nice plays, and he hustles like crazy, and he kept doing those things even when nursing an injury during the end of the regular season and the playoffs. No one ever wanted to confirm much to me about that situation as it happened, but it was clear Giosa was battling something, and he never once asked to be held out of a game or played like he was hurt when he was out there. Based on those facts, and the one that Ruskowski says all he needs to win a championship is character guys, I think Giosa should be given a chance to return.

Todd Griffith (Forward) - No. I know the guy brings a lot on the ice, but he has a bad attitude. He lets that affect the way he behaves off the ice, so I can't help but think it will eventually harm the way he plays on it. I didn't mention this previously, but there was an incident in a store where one of my friends works that involved Griffith coming in, telling the employees he was a Buck and then expecting them to do everything he wanted and threatening them when they didn't. If Ruskowski didn't want to stand for what Ryan Salvis and Josef Fojtek were doing off the ice, then I hope he wouldn't want to stand for his players treating other people that way or doing anything that would give his team a bad reputation. According to his Hockey DB page, he seems to have returned to his EIHL team, so he probably wouldn't be available to the Bucks for training camp anyway. EDIT: Griffith does not seem to be signed in the EIHL after all, and his demanded departure from that team seems to be an interesting testament to his character of its own, but let's talk about what he did on the ice for the Bucks. Griffith got hot at exactly the right time, so that is what everyone is going to remember about him at this point. However, as Ruskowski often noted, Griffith is a "streaky" player, and eventually the hot streak was likely to end. Griffith had 12 goals and 15 assists for 27 points in his 33 regular season games while posting a minus-2, then lit up for seven goals and two assists for nine points and a plus-4 in seven playoff games. Neither point total is anything to look down on, and if Griffith has found a comfort zone here in Laredo, then maybe his off-ice problems are something that can be resolved. I do worry a bit about his willingness to fight during the playoff series when he admitted that the tension between him and Mike Salekin was carried over from the past and had absolutely nothing to do with the Bucks, especially considering the fact that he was taking his own team's highest-scoring player off the ice for five minutes when he did (during a loss for the Bucks), but I'm guessing Ruskowski talked to him about that after the fact because he didn't do it again despite saying he would be up for it. If that was the case, and he listened, there is hope for his attitude problem. Considering some of the numbers he has posted in the past, and the fact that he never seems to treat fans the way he treated those previously mentioned, he could very well be back if Ruskowski can afford the salary he wants. And Griffith is still in Laredo but does not seem to be nursing any injuries, so that can only say good things for the way he feels about the city.

Ryan Lehr (Defenseman) - Yes. When Lehr came in, he brought something with him that Ruskowski had been looking for all year - a booming slapshot. I haven't mentioned this enough with other guys on this list, but when you find young talent that isn't so overwhelming it requires excessive compensation, it is exactly what you want to keep on a team like this. Lehr had six points in just 10 regular season games - great for a defenseman - and was a plus-4, which also isn't bad. He was very eager to learn and to play, and someone who can take point shots and block them at the other end is exactly what the Bucks need.

Mike Looby (Defenseman) - No. Looby can play when he wants to, but that's just the problem - he often doesn't want to do that, as his -12 shows. He slacked off on the ice, missed practices when the team staff didn't necessarily feel he needed to and overall just displayed a bad work ethic. Players like that - especially if they're wearing an 'A' - can do horrible things for a locker room and for a coach, and I guarantee you he became more of a headache for Ruskowski than he ever wanted to be dealing with. Considering the things I was told about Looby off the record, by more than one person, I would be absolutely shocked if he returned.

Jarred Mohr (Defenseman) - Maybe. Mohr has the tools to be a great player, but something was just off about him a lot of this season. He had 10 goals and 22 assists, with seven of the goals coming on the power play, but more often than not, he seemed to waste his chances on the advantage. I obviously don't get to see every game, but I feel like there was a lot more he could have done in the games I did see. I also feel like turning the puck over may have been a bit of a problem for him, but it's hard to judge that too much in a league that doesn't keep stats like that. Some of the mistakes he made were just not what you want to expect from a guy in his fourth pro season. But, there were some positives to his play, as well, and if he could be convinced to shoot more from the point, he could get better, so he's a tough one to decide on with just a yes or no.

Mark O'Leary (Forward) - Yes. O'Leary is yet another guy who didn't get much of a chance to show what he had with the Bucks, but everything he did show looked pretty good. A team needs to be made up of a lot of guys who can step up on any given night, and O'Leary proved he can be one of those guys on several occasions. He played only nine games with the Bucks, but had three goals and three assists and was a plus-3. If he could play at that rate for the whole season, you're looking at more than 20 goals, more than 40 total points and a pretty good plus/minus ratio. Ruskowski got to see him play when he did some decent work for the Killer Bees, too, so he can rest assured that the scoring wasn't a fluke, and I think O'Leary is worth a training camp invite this fall.

Pier-Olivier Pelletier (Goaltender) - Yes. I know Ruskowski doesn't have a history of keeping goaltenders, but how could he not want to keep a kid who stepped up the way Pelletier did? He had very little pro experience and came in and had some extraordinary games to help the Bucks clinch that third playoff seed and to hang with the Americans for seven games in a series that likely would have been much more one-sided without him in net. I don't think you need me to tell you how well he played, but a .915 save percentage during the regular season followed up with a .920 in the playoffs is just great for a rookie netminder, and he can only get better with more time playing against CHL-level talent.

Robin Richards (Forward) - No. I'm honestly not sure why Richards stuck around all season, though I'm not surprised he didn't play in most of the playoff games. Yes, he plays a rough style of game that appeals to the casual hockey fan, and yes, he has a big body presence that can be useful in front of the net... but what's the point of those things if someone loses most of his fights and takes penalties to cancel out power plays more than he scores goals on them? Plus, as I had mentioned previously, he did not take practice seriously at all. There were even occasions that he would joke around loudly while Ruskowski was trying to give the team instruction and Ruskowski would have to call him out to get him to shut up. That is not an attitude you need on your team, and his carelessness and lack of talent are not liabilities you need, either. He is better suited for a league in which he can be used purely to fight, and even then, he needs to work on that a bit. If Ruskowski plans to keep only 18 guys so he can stay below the cap, he cannot waste one of those spots on someone like Richards.

Adam Rivet (Defenseman) - Maybe. This is a tough one, because Rivet is the captain, a guy who the players get along with well, someone fans recognize, someone who was and is a part of so much this team wants to be... but I just can't bring myself to say yes flat-out. Everything I said about Agarunov not seeming overly comfortable in his situation here, I can reverse and apply to Rivet. Yes, he cares about this team, and yes, he wants to succeed, but he just didn't seem as invested in it this year as he has in the past. After last season, he was emotional and really upset with himself for the way he played. This year, he put up one point more in one more game played and said he was completely satisfied with his play. In my opinion, being completely satisfied with yourself is never a good thing, and being completely satisfied with being the captain of a team that often looked like it did not care definitely can't be good. Ruskowski told me all season long that there were veteran leaders he needed to have step up who were not doing that, and though he refused to name names, I have to think Rivet was often one of them. I know he wants to come back, so I'm not sure a split is in the cards, but I do think Ruskowski needs to question his desire before he lets him have his 'C' back even if he does stay.

Evan Schwabe (Forward) - Yes. Schwabe plays hard and plays a position that not every forward can handle, and his presence was obviously missed when he could not play due to the injury he suffered in the All-Star game. By my count, he won't be a veteran just yet, but he definitely has plenty of experience, and he put up good numbers with the Bucks but wasn't quite at career highs, which could mean he will do more with a full season to play. I'd say the biggest question here would be how much he wants to be paid, but if you can get 50 points out of him for every full season he can play, it doesn't seem like bringing him back would be a bad idea.

Darryl Smith (Forward - Yes and no. Smith is an even more complicated situation. On the one hand, of course Bucks fans should want him to stay here. On the other, why does he really want to stay? Of course he didn't play poorly this year, but I don't think he necessarily played up to his potential. He is comfortable in Laredo knowing that he will always be top-line talent here and that he is dating the coach's daughter. But is there really a good reason to keep him around? Maybe being rejected by teams at higher levels has led him to believe he's better off staying, but if he were to try playing for an ECHL team with an affiliation, his chances of getting called up and staying up could improve. Plus, sometimes teams within the same organization play the same systems, and going up to the AHL with a knowledge of what is expected of him there, rather than by his CHL team, could also benefit his chances. I told Smith at the end of his rookie season that I hoped for his sake he wouldn't be back, and I meant it. But he came back, and now I can't help but hope the same thing. But if I'm supposed to be analyzing what is best for the Bucks, not for the players themselves, then I guess I'd have to say it would be best to keep him here. A 35-plus goal scorer and 70-plus point man is not one you want to give up.

Justin Styffe (Forward) - Yes. Styffe brings the two most exciting things to see in a hockey game - speed and fighting. He may not have the best hands, but he is a sparkplug who can skate with the best of them (at this level) and win fights against guys a foot or more taller than him. Especially in a non-traditional market, players like Styffe are an incredible asset. And there's no denying the similarities between Ruskowski as a player and Styffe, so I think that gave him a soft spot for the guy even before he started producing. If he left, I think there would be some unanswered questions about how big of a draw he could become in Laredo, and what kind of player he could have become now that his game was not as focused on fighting as it was in the IHL. I have to admit that it's not necessarily exciting for me to watch a lot of CHL players after being jaded by too many NHL games, but Styffe was a lot of fun to watch, right up to the play that ended his season.

Jeremy Swanson (Defenseman) - Yes. Other than goaltending, playing solid defense can be the hardest thing to do, and he did it well for the games he did play. He was willing to shoot the puck, willing to block shots and willing to ask questions in order to improve. He got better and better every game, and Ruskowski always says the game in which Swanson got hurt was the best he had seen from him so far. It's optimistic to assume that he will just keep on getting better, but it also seems pretty logical, so having him come back and try to get better in Laredo - especially considering all the money invested in his injury rehabilitation - couldn't hurt.

Neil Trimm (Forward) - Maybe. He plays hard, and he had to deal with a constantly nagging injury, but I'm sorry, a minus-22 season on a winning team is not something you want to see. He can obviously do some things well, but I don't know if he did them well enough or often enough for the Bucks, and I think it might be best for all parties involved to let him try to bounce back elsewhere. However, if you can look at a season with .7 points per game as a bad one for a third-liner, the assumption that a good one could be coming might be reason enough to keep him around.

Of course, whether these guys meet my standards are not, it's ultimately up to them if they want to come back or not, even if Ruskowski does want them here.

Speaking of Ruskowski, I'm sorry I never got to mention that he would be featured during the ESPN Friday Night Fights event at the LEA tonight.

Not sure if any of you saw it, but he did a little segment about fighting with boxing analyst and trainer Teddy Atlas.

IceRays Moving to NAHL

2010-05-21T17:15:00.003-05:00

I don't have much time right now, but just wanted to acknowledge the fact that the Corpus Christi IceRays are moving to the North American Hockey League, the same junior league that is putting a franchise in Amarillo.

Not all of the details have been confirmed, but Greg Rajan from the Corpus Christi Caller-Times has the scoop and will likely provide more info on his blog later.

I am in the middle of editing two sections while also dealing with a bunch of other work, so I can't really make calls about this right now, but Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees beat writer Brian Sandalow has some initial remarks from coaches and other league figures, including Terry Ruskowski, on his Twitter account.

UPDATE: You can read Sandalow's story on the situation here. This is what Coach Ruskowski had to say to him about it:

"It’s going to hurt both of us, Rio and us. It’s a situation where cost and travel is going to go up. The rivalry won’t be there. Now there’s only two in (South Texas) and scheduling-wise it’s going to be tougher to have people coming down here just to play two teams."

I will only be able to use a blurb about the situation in sport shorts for tomorrow's paper because the front page is already full of local stuff, but I'll try to follow up on everything ASAP.

Catching Up

2010-05-19T19:45:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posts lately; I've been pretty busy with desk work and a few stories here and there, so I haven't had much time to get on the blog. I am working on that "stay or go" post, but I figured I would try to catch up on some news for now.

First things first, the Bucks have lost a Southern Conference opponent, as the Amarillo Gorillas announced today that they will be suspending operations for the 2010-11 season.

The move was somewhat expected, as the North American Hockey League announced plans to open a franchise in Amarillo for next season a while back and apparently will officially announce that franchise's existence tomorrow.

Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees Vice President of Communications Rich Bocchini has all the info about that, as well as his take on how it will affect the Killer Bees (which is similar to how it will affect the Bucks) on his blog.

The Gorillas join the New Mexico Scorpions and Rocky Mountain Rage as "suspended" CHL franchises, while the Austin Ice Bats, who are owned by Gorillas owner Randy Sanders, are considered defunct but supposedly still looking to relocate after the Texas Stars took over the Austin scene.

Meanwhile, the Bucks are currently holding a Bucks pride contest for their fans. All you have to do is submit photos of yourself and your family wearing Bucks gear and showing your team pride to fans@laredobucks.com. Entry deadline is June 4.

Prizes include tickets to Six Flags Fiesta Texas, Sea World and Schlitterbahn.

Staff members and players who are still in town have been making appearances at local events, which you can read about every week in the team's community update.

On a more hockey-oriented front, Bryan Benway posted an interview with 2009-10 captain Adam Rivet the week before last. You can listen to that here.

Yesterday, Benway posted on his blog, saying the team is close to making its first (re-)signings for the 2010-11 season and will likely do so next week. When they will announce them, though, is likely a different story.

The Corpus Christi IceRays sent a few players to different teams this week to complete prior trades, and you can read about who went where on Greg Rajan's blog.

That should about do it for now. I'll get back to work on that "stay or go" post, which will be up here before I leave the office Friday night. And if any other Bucks news surfaces, I'll be sure to blog about it ASAP.

Rush Win Presidents' Cup

2010-05-05T17:05:00.000-05:00

The 2009-10 Central Hockey League season came to a close in dramatic fashion last night as the Rapid City Rush rallied to a 4-3 double-overtime win over the Allen Americans in Game 6 of the Ray Miron Presidents' Cup Finals.

The Americans jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period, but could not hold on, and with just 32 seconds left in the second OT period, Scott Wray scored to give the Rush the CHL title in the franchise's second year of existence.

You can read more about Wray here, the game here and here and the finals as a whole here and in today's "Shots from the Point."

Though the Bucks do not get to say they lost to the eventual league champs, they did lose the eventual conference champions, so that's something.

Did any of you watch the game last night? I was not able to for a variety of reasons, but it seems to have been quite a thriller.

LMT Sports Page On Facebook

2010-05-02T13:40:00.000-05:00

Though this isn't the biggest season for Bucks news, I just wanted to let those of you who read this blog know that the LMT sports section now has a Facebook page.

You can find it here, and "like" it to receive Laredo sports news updates in your Facebook news feed.

We will post all Bucks news on that page, as well as to our Twitter account, and sometimes, those pages may be updated before this blog.

Additionally, Facebook allows for us to have photo albums; I have already uploaded a lot of the Bucks JPEGs we have from this season, and I will upload more from this season and years past as I find them.

You can also upload your own fan photos, whether they be game action shots, pictures from team events or photos of you with your favorite Bucks players.

I have been working on this page for the past few days, and I think it's actually pretty neat, because it gives us a lot more freedom than the LMT 956 Sports website, and we can tag photos and stats/results to the players participating in games.

If you have a Facebook account, check out our page, and "like" it if you'd like to receive our updates and be able to share your photos or opinions. Thanks!

Rush Take Series Lead

2010-05-01T22:20:00.002-05:00

The Rapid City Rush continued their trend of winning every game in the Ray Miron Presidents' Cup Finals during which they score more than two goals with a dominant 7-2 victory over the Allen Americans in Game 5 tonight.

They now lead the series 3-2 heading back to Rapid City, where they will have a chance to win a title in Game 6 on Tuesday.

The Rush were outshot 26-22 tonight but managed to get seven of those 22 shots into the back of the net to take their first lead of the series.

You can read more about the game here.

Finals Tied Again

2010-04-30T23:30:00.001-05:00

The Rapid City Rush tied the Ray Miron Presidents’ Cup Finals up 2-2 with a 4-2 win over the Allen Americans in Game 4 tonight.

You can read about that game here.

Home ice has not been much of a factor so far, as each team has won in the other's arena, and the only consistency so far seems to be that the Rush win when they score more than two goals.

Game 5 will be played in Allen tomorrow night.

Allen Out in Front

2010-04-28T23:40:00.000-05:00

The Americans took a 2-1 lead in the President's Cup Finals with a 5-2 win over the Rapid City Rush in Game 3 tonight.

Game 4 will be played in Allen on Friday.

Ruskowski a Paul Harris Fellow

2010-04-28T18:05:00.000-05:00

The Laredo Rotary Club announced its Paul Harris Fellow honorees for 2010 yesterday, and Coach Ruskowski is one of them.

These awards honor people who have contributed to the Laredo community, particularly to the youth in the area, and there will be a ceremony to acknowledge the honorees on June 3 at the Texas A&M International University Fine Arts Recital Hall.

You can read more about the honor here or in Bryan Benway's press release, which focuses on Ruskowski's career and contributions.

Finals Under Way

2010-04-24T23:15:00.002-05:00

Sorry for yet another delay in posting, but the Ray Miron Presidents' Cup Finals are under way, and the Allen Americans and Rapid City Rush are tied 1-1 in the best-of-seven series.

The Rush knotted the series tonight with a 5-4 overtime win, while the Americans earned a 4-1 win in Game 1 last night.

Prior to the start of the series, Greg Rajan shared the predictions of players, team staff members and writers from around the league.

Brian Sandalow, meanwhile, shared a Q&A with Jim Holland from the Rapid City Journal.

In non-finals news, Kollen Long reported yesterday that the Wichita Thunder have hired head coach Kevin McClelland, who was recently let go by the Colorado Eagles when they put Chris Stewart back in that position.

Bucks Keeping Season Ticket Prices

2010-04-21T10:00:00.001-05:00

The Bucks just announced their season ticket prices for the 2010-11 season, and those prices will not be changing for the fourth straight season.

I think it's fair to say season ticket holders are the ones who keep the Bucks going, and this is one of the ways the team has shown their appreciation for that fact.

Checking In

2010-04-20T16:00:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the delay between posts, but I managed to get sick yet again, leaving me away from a computer for the majority of last week.

At this point, the Southern Conference Finals between the Allen Americans and Odessa Jackalopes are tied 3-3 after the Jackalopes managed a 4-3 overtime win last night to keep their season alive.

The Rapid City Rush hold a 3-2 advantage in the Northern Conference Finals and could clinch a spot in the President's Cup Finals in their second season of existence with a win over the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs in Game 6 tonight.

As always, you can catch up with all the league news on the CHL website or on Our Sports Central page.

On the Bucks' front, Bryan Benway has posted an interview with Coach Ruskowski that you can listen to here.

Benway has also written a couple blogs since the end of the season, including one about the Bucks' "needs and wants" and another about who should stay from this season's team.

I will write my own "stay or go" post eventually, but that's going to have to wait until a day when I'm not busy tracking down regional golf and tennis results.

Meanwhile, for those of you interested in game-worn Bucks jerseys, bidding will begin on eBay on Monday.

A Few Links

2010-04-12T23:00:00.000-05:00

Both conference finals matchups are now tied after the Northern Conference teams went to OT again yesterday, this time with the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs earning a 4-3 win to hand the Rapid City Rush the franchise's first playoff loss.

The Mudbugs and Rush are tied 1-1, as are the Allen Americans and Odessa Jackalopes in the Southern Conference.

Both series will resume on Wednesday.

In the meantime, you can read more about the playoffs in today's Shots from the Point.

As far as non-playoff news goes, the biggest story is the return of Chris Stewart as head coach of the Colorado Eagles, who let Kevin McClelland go after his team was swept in its first playoff round by the Mudbugs in his second season behind the bench.

Obviously, there is a lot of reaction to this move around the league, and you can check out Eagles beat writer Adam Dunivan's blog and Greg Rajan's blog for more info and their takes on the situation.

Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees Vice President of Communications Rich Bocchini also blogged about the firing/hiring, prior to its occurrence, and also mentioned a cruel little thread that popped up on the CHL Forums recently.

Speaking of those forums, it seems Brent Cullaton has left a message for Bucks fans to thank them for their support, which was also the purpose of tonight's season ticket holder party.

I wasn't able to attend the party because I was alone on desk tonight, but we did have a photographer there, and there is quite a massive photo of Evan Schwabe running on tomorrow's sports front page, haha.

That'll do it for me for now, but I will try to keep posting updates until the CHL season is over and, of course, if anything Bucks-related happens anytime soon.

Coach Ruskowski's Thoughts

2010-04-12T22:25:00.001-05:00

And now, here is what Coach Ruskowski had to say on Friday:

On where the Bucks fell short against the Americans: It's really tough to say because I think in the series, the home team had a huge advantage. We went up there and took a game out of there, they came here and took a game out of here early then we won the last two. I think it really was a factor that whoever had the home-ice advantage was going to win the series because two teams were very close. Yes, they outplayed us at times, but we outplayed them at times. It was a tough series. It was a chess match between coaches. They'd change systems, we'd change systems, then when we'd change, they'd come back and counter that. It was just back and forth, back and forth. It was a good series. We needed to win one of those last two games to be effective, and we couldn’t pull it out. Unfortunately, that was the case.

On the season as a whole: It was a successful year, but it was also a disappointment. The disappointing part was wanting to go longer, to go higher in the playoffs, but the thing I was really proud of the guys for the adversity that went through. In training camp, two guys that were going to be on the team, we sent home because of things they did off the ice. We had guys going to Europe, guys quitting because they wanted to stay closer to home, our goalie getting called up and staying up, all the injuries that we had... We were playing with four defenseman and eight or nine forwards, which you shouldn’t ever play with, but we did, and we won. We brought in guys who flew in one day and played that night. That's really unheard of, and we did that more than once, I guarantee you. The adversity that we had to go through, new players we had to bring in here and change, show them the system and teach them the system all over again, I'm sure the guys who were here last year, the last couple years or even the start of the season, they were probably pretty bored because I had to re-teach everything over and over and over again because of new people coming in.

On whether problems from the regular season carried over to the playoffs: I don't think in the playoffs it did. It's momentum, it's the willingness to do what you have to do to be successful. We had guys playing with injuries, there's no question, and I think that hampered some of their ability. But they (the Americans) won 16 more games than us in the regular season. They weren't in second place because they were lucky, they were there because they're very good. I thought we played well, but just not well enough to beat them in a seven-game series. We took a team that had 16 more wins than we did, and we took them seven games, and I’m proud of the guys, they should be pretty proud of that. But I'm hoping next year that we can be the team that’s ahead by 16 games and have the opportunity for home-ice advantage and start winning those ones and go on to the third or fourth round and be competitive, really competitive. Even though we were competitive this year, but more competitive next year. It's going to be a tough summer, but I'll be trying to get players in here to play. We have to change things up. We have to have speed, we have to have skill, and we have to have toughness. That's where it's going now. We have to bring young kids here who are willing to do what they have to do to be successful. There are a lot of things you can't teach - you can't teach speed, and you can't teach skill. You can teach them systems, but you can't teach size, either, so those are the things we are going to look at this summer and try to bring more speed in here, more physical presence. I like the guys hitting, and we didn't hit a whole lot. Again, we had a team that didn't hit a lot, like last year. We want to change that up, to be more physical, so that every time they come into our building, they think, 'Gosh, we have to play Laredo at home tonight. You've got to be kidding me.' That's the kind of sense of urgency that we have to have again to get back to the lead.

On taking the series seven game: Taking them seven games really showed their character. The only thing I was a little disappointed in was how we played the sixth and seventh games. We had an opportunity to, even though we didn't play as well as we should, in the sixth game, all we had to do was win one period. All we had to do was win one period, and we'd beat them, and we let it slip away. I think it affected us the seventh game.

On whether the team put its best effort into the last two games: Some players, yes; some players, no. That's what kind of bothers me, and it's going to bother me all summer. Some players really went above the level of what they had to do, and some didn't reach their potential, and it bothers me a little bit.

On what the team could have done differently during the regular season: Here's the scenario - we had all this, not turmoil, but turnovers and different things happen to us, and we ended up third on our power play and fourth on penalty killing. That's pretty darn good for a bunch of guys that were hurt, battered and whatever. That was pretty good, and I thought that was a huge key for us. Other than that, I don't know what I could have done differently, and what the players could have done differently. Defense is a priority with me, and I think in some games in the playoffs we didn't play a very good defensive game, and I think that kind of hurt us. But then you're playing against guys who are just really talented, too. I think the majority of the guys played hard, and there were a couple who didn't meet their potential.

On who impressed him this season: I look at my goaltenders, and (Kevin) Desfosses came in here and was hot and played great for us. But he kind of cooled off a little bit, and then (Pier-Olivier) Pelletier came in and played pretty well, too. I was really fortunate and blessed, and the good Lord blessed me with goalies who came in here and played really well and hot. Obviously, JP Levasseur, when he was here, he did a tremendous job for us, also. Then in the playoffs, Pelletier played great, and you look at the numbers and you look at (Todd) Griffith, he almost scored a goal a game, which is good, and some of our defense stood up and did a pretty good job. I don't want to segregate the other players from the guys that obviously did unbelievable in the playoffs, but they all participated and some did a little better than the others.

On the Americans' postseason potential: The other lines have got to participate. They have (Bruce) Graham's line that is so talented, and they work so well with each other, but it's the other lines that are going to have to come up and be accounted for. Before the last game, they scored 17 or 18 goals, that line and that defensive corps that plays with them scored 12 of their goals. We knew that, but we just couldn't seem to stop them. If they're going to go on to the finals or win, they have to have better participation from the other lines, for them to score and obviously play good defensive hockey, too.

On his pick to win it all: You're talking the four top teams point-wise that are in it. I haven't seen Shreveport play, but they have to be playing pretty well to beat Colorado four in a row. Rapid City has got a very strong team, a veteran team, a very good team. Odessa is the No. 1 team overall. Allen, obviously, is a good team. I don't know if I can predict one, I really don't. I'd like to see the first game live on both of them, then I'd have a better idea, but all four of them are capable of winning.

On whether the returning core of players will be back next season: That's why I'm having the interviews with all the players to see where their interests are. They may retire, they may want to go somewhere else; I can't predict that, I just want to make sure I get a feeling of where they're going to be and contact them in the summer time. If they're interested in coming back, and I feel that they're going to improve my team or be a solid participant on my team, we'll discuss a contract. Other than that, then we'll just part ways.

On new players who are a priority to bring back: There are some guys I'd be interested in calling back and talking to them and see if they're in a place to come back and some guys, if they've improved, if they want to come back to play. But it's interesting. I'll have a better idea of it after I talk to everyone and see where we're at.

On what he wants to bring into training camp next season: It's just like every other year, I try to get captains, assistant captains, because they're leaders on their teams. They know how to win, you know they have character. Other than that, I want speed, I want guys who have skill, good hands, who can score. And if I can get a guy who's tough who can do that, obviously I'll bring as many of those as I can. Those are the priorities. Defense that have good size, that can skate well, move the puck really well, defensively they'll be strong, but also when they get the puck, they'll make that first pass to the forwards or bring the puck up themselves. Those are priorities. Good teams that are successful, they have that.

On the team's goals for next season: Our goals are to try to get as high as we can, try to make first place and try to bring in kids that are good, try to get some older guys that will teach them and blend in with the young kids and play as a team. We can't have individuals, we have to have a team effort. It's all in who's coming in, if they want to come in here, and how they want to play.

Final Player Quotes

2010-04-12T20:15:00.001-05:00

I'm going to break my quotes from the Bucks' final media availability up into two posts so this isn't too overwhelming.

First off, player quotes, starting with some brief thoughts from Brent Cullaton:

On where the Bucks fell short against the Americans: They just came to play, and they were ready to play, and they're a good team. They were No. 2, and we were the No. 3 seed, and that's the way it played out.

On the Americans' postseason potential: I don't know. They're really defensively sound, but Odessa's a good team, too, so I think it's going to be a good battle to see who goes to the finals.

On how coaching helped him as a player: I just practiced really hard, because I stand behind where he (Coach Ruskowski) stands, so I know how it feels to be back there. And I just wanted to give it everything I had.

On his future plans: (I'll be coaching). One hundred percent. That's it (for playing). I don't want to train anymore.

And now, player/assistant coach Jeff Bes:

On where the Bucks fell short against the Americans: They're a very talented team, and we were right there with them. A few lucky breaks or a bounces here or there... I don't know. We could have won, but obviously we didn't, and it's unfortunate. You can go through all the clichés, go through everything and say we could've, should've, would've, but the fact of the matter is we didn't. Unfortunately.

On whether or not that end was a disappointment: Are we disappointed? Absolutely. We want to play hockey, and we want to win, and we felt that we had the opportunity to win, so obviously we're disappointed. But I also believe in each one of the guys in that room, that we went out there and each guy did the best that they could do, and certainly the effort was there. It was just a struggle that we didn't win. But the effort was definitely there. It was just that we came up a little bit short.

On the Americans' postseason potential: They're a talented team, Odessa's a talented team... I just wish them the best. Obviously, the team that beats you, you want them to go on beat everyone else and think to yourself, 'Well, at least we got beat by the champions.' But it's going to be a good series, I think a high-scoring series, and I wish both teams the best of luck, but I wish I was there and wish our team was playing instead of them.

On overcoming adversity this season: You know what, we went through a long season. We played shorthanded for most of the season with guys quitting the team, injuries... I'm proud of the guys in the room that we banded together and did what we had to do. We had the opportunity to win in Game 6, and I wish we would've, but even going to Game 7 was a testament to the pride and the character of the players that we have to battle the way they did all throughout the season and in the playoffs.

On whether he expects to play next season: Yep, I would. I still love playing the game. We'll see where the chips fall, obviously, but I still love the game and still love playing the game, and I would love to still keep playing.

On what the team can build on next season: There's always something that you want to build on and keep on, but I think the one thing that you can take away is that you want to have players who have character and have heart. We had that, and we showed that we'll do anything to compete and try to win, which we tried to do in the playoffs. You want to bring in players like that, and you also want to bring in skilled players and speed because that's where the game is going. You want to have the skill and the speed to bring in to have a quality team. You look at the teams now, Odessa and Rapid City and Allen and Bossier, and they're all fast and skilled teams that are still playing in the playoffs, so obviously that's the way the game is moving.

And finally, 2009-10 captain Adam Rivet:

On where the Bucks fell short against the Americans: They just came out hard against us, and I think that we kind of fell back on our heels and never really got things rolling in the right direction. We had flashes of it, but we just gave them too many opportunities. They're a good team, credit to them, they have some good players, and they're well-coached and stuff. They just came out, and they took it from us, unfortunately. It's disappointing, and you always wish you could have another crack at it, but that's just sometimes the way it goes.

On the Americans' postseason potential: I think right from the get-go, the beginning of this season, they were picked that they'd probably do pretty well. It's going to be a pretty big battle between them and Odessa. Odessa's a strong team, and so are they. It's hard to say right now because those are two really good teams, but I'm sure it will be a great series between those two. From there, who knows; there's two teams that are playing really well in the North, as well. I think this playoffs was up for grabs from the beginning, to be honest with you. I think anybody could have won.

On overcoming adversity this season: I think the guys have a lot of character. Through most of the season, we had a lot of injuries and played shorthanded, had guys coming in and coming out. I think the guys showed a lot of character throughout the season and same with the playoffs. Regardless of what other people thought, we believed that we could win, and we played well, we played strong, we played hard, and we took a really team to a seven-game series. In seven games, you never know what can happen. Unfortunately, it went their way, but the guys played hard and played strong all year. You just leave it out there, leave it all on the ice, and that's all you can ask for.

On whether the season as a whole was a disappointment: Absolutely. For myself, in my first year here, I was fortunate enough to win a championship, so any time we haven’t won, it’s been a disappointment. You can say it was an accomplishment to take a team seven games against a really good team like that, but in reality, to me an accomplishment is winning a championship. The guys played hard, and I don’t think anyone has any regrets on the way they played. In the end, that’s all you can ask for, but as far as accomplishments, the guys wanted to win a championship, and we came up short.

On his own play and leadership this season: I was pretty happy this year. I felt pretty comfortable. There are always ups and downs throughout the season, but for the most part I felt pretty comfortable on the ice and even in the dressing room. We had some other leaders in there, as well; even the young guys knew what they had to do and knew what it took. There are always times here and there when you have to step up and say something, and that's normal in any sport, but for the most part the guys knew how to carry themselves, as well. I was just there helping them out as much as I could. I'm very happy with the way things went this year, just unfortunately we didn't win, and that's what I was hoping for. But I have no regrets.

On whether he wants to return next season: Laredo's been like home to me, and I love playing here. If I play, this is definitely the place I want to be. Right now, obviously the season just finished, and I'm going to take a step back and reflect on things and go from there. But, like I said, I love Laredo, and I've been here for five seasons now, and it's like a home. There's definitely no other place I'd rather play than Laredo.

On what the team learned this season: I think just the experience alone. We had some younger players throughout the season, and I think the guys went through the bumps and the bruises we went through this year. I think every year it's all about experience and learning from the mistakes you made the season before and trying to correct them the following season.

Playoff Update

2010-04-10T23:20:00.001-05:00

Both of tonight's conference final games went into overtime, with the Odessa Jackalopes collecting a 3-2 win over the Allen Americans to tie their series and the Rapid City Rush getting a 5-4 win over the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs to jump out to a 1-0 lead.

Just out of curiosity, do those of you who are Bucks fans still follow the CHL playoffs once the Bucks are out, or do you move on to something else or start waiting for next season?

As far as the Bucks go, my "season recap" in tomorrow's paper isn't quite as in-depth as I was hoping it could be due to spacial limitations, but I did try to touch on the team's thoughts on the season as a whole, why they lost in the playoffs and some of what will be needed next season.

Obviously, there was a lot more to say, but print isn't always the place for excessive amounts of information.

I will post all of the quotes from my final interviews on here by some point Monday.

Packing It Up

2010-04-09T23:05:00.002-05:00

The Bucks held their final media availability this morning at Laredo Energy Arena as Coach Ruskowski conducted player evaluations with everyone on the team.

I talked to him, Jeff Bes, Adam Rivet and Brent Cullaton about a variety of topics, including how their season ended, their thoughts on the season as a whole and their plans for next season.

Cullaton said that he will without a doubt be a full-time coach next season, as another retirement comeback is not in his future.

Bes and Rivet, of course, both do plan to return.

Everyone was both disappointed by the season and happy with the character the team showed throughout an adventure of a campaign.

The players I spoke to all said they felt they and their teammates had left it all on the ice, but Ruskowski did not seem to agree with that statement entirely.

He did not name names, saying he did not want to segregate his players that way, but he did say that some rose to the occasion and others disappeared when they were needed most.

Today was a busy day in the office, and I was told to hold onto my stuff from this morning for a story to run in Sunday's paper, so I don't have quotes typed up yet.

I'll do a massive blog post with all of those once my story - the final one I'll be writing this season - has been printed.

The Southern Conference Finals opened up tonight, and the team that eliminated the Bucks - the Allen Americans - jumped out to a 1-0 series lead with a 4-3 win over the top-seeded Odessa Jackalopes.

Just for kicks, I asked everyone I spoke to this morning who they thought would win this series, or win it all this season, but no one gave me a finite answer.

Bes said he hopes the Americans win it all, of course so the Bucks can say they lost to the eventual champs, and Ruskowski said that the Americans will need more scoring that doesn't come from their top line.

Seems they got a bit of that tonight, but we'll see how the series plays out.

Semifinal Game 7 - Americans 4, Bucks 1

2010-04-07T23:15:00.000-05:00

A rally was not in the cards for the Bucks, as they scored one goal but then allowed two more en route to a 4-1 loss to the Allen Americans in what will now stand as their final game of the 2009-10 season.

Pier-Olivier Pelletier did not appear to have his best night, allowing four goals on 34 shots, but the team needed to be doing a lot more in front of him if they wanted to win this series.

The Americans are now in the Southern Conference Finals during their first year of existence and will face the top-seeded Odessa Jackalopes in a series set to begin Friday night.

Todd Griffith had the Bucks' only goal tonight to finish the postseason with a team-leading six tallies and nine points.

The Bucks' other leading point getter in the series was Sylvain Deschatelets, who had one goal and seven assists for eight points.

You can see complete individual stats for the playoffs here.

I think it's safe to say that the Bucks did a lot more than everyone expected of them by taking this series to a Game 7, but I'm sure that's not of much comfort to them as they make the long bus ride home.

Considering the time they'll arrive back in Laredo, I doubt the Bucks will be available to the media tomorrow, but I'll be sure to follow up on the end of this series, and the season as a whole, soon.

You can read more about tonight's game in Bryan Benway's press release.

Semifinal Game 7 - Second Intermission

2010-04-07T21:15:00.001-05:00

The Bucks are one period away from elimination, as they trail the Allen Americans 2-0 in the second intermission of Game 7 of their Southern Conference Semifinal series.

If the score remains the same, the Bucks will miss the Southern Conference Finals for only the third time in franchise history, and the second time in a row.

We can all take our guesses as to what is going on in the Bucks' dressing room right now, but all of you who are fans of the team better hope some leaders who did not step up every time they were needed during the regular season are doing so now.

The Bucks will need to score at least two goals in the third period if they want their season to last any longer than 20 more minutes of clock time, and they will need to provide some support for goaltender Pier-Olivier Pelletier, who has faced twice as many shots as Chris Whitley has at the other end of the ice.

Taking penalties has not been something the Bucks have avoided tonight, as they've already been called for six minors, and an elbowing penalty on captain Adam Rivet is what put the Americans on the power play during which Tobias Whelan scored the team's second goal.

Nino Musitelli had the first, at even-strength, with 3:19 to play in the first period.

The Americans only outshot the Bucks 7-6 in the first period but held a 15-5 advantage in that category during the second, so I think it's fair to say if the Bucks can't bridge the shot gap in the third, they'll be coming home to Laredo tonight.

Semifinal Game Day No. 7

2010-04-07T19:20:00.001-05:00

The Bucks will face off against the Allen Americans with their season on the line in Game 7 of the teams' Southern Conference Semifinal series in about 10 minutes.

Whoever wins tonight's game will drive over to Odessa to take on the top-seeded Jackalopes in the Southern Conference Finals, and whoever loses will be done until training camp.

The Americans won last night to tie the series up 3-3 when they were on the brink of elimination, now it's time to see which team comes out on top when they are both in the same situation.

You can read more about tonight's game in Bryan Benway's preview, Benway's blog and the Pointstreak pre-game notes.

I'm sure some of you are at the watch party at Hal's, but everyone else can watch the game on CHL-TV, listen on Imagen 94.1 FM or follow on Pointstreak.

I will be posting during the game, but I don't know how often I'll be able to update.

Semifinal Game 6 - Americans 3, Bucks 2

2010-04-06T23:25:00.002-05:00

The Bucks could not capitalize on their first chance to clinch a spot in the Southern Conference Finals, as they suffered a 3-2 loss to the Allen Americans in Game 6 of their conference semifinal series tonight.

The series will be decided in Game 7 tomorrow night.

After a scoreless first tonight, the Americans took a 1-0 lead only to have Todd Griffith tie the game with his team-leading fifth playoff goal, but then Matt Radoslovich and Bruce Graham scored in succession in the third to put the Americans up 3-1.

Darryl Smith scored a power-play goal for the Bucks later in the period, but even another power play and an empty net behind them was not enough to let them tie up the game in its final minute.

Pier-Olivier Pelletier made 40 saves on 43 shots but still suffered the loss, while Chris Whitley made 22 on 24 for the win.

Unless Pelletier is completely exhausted, I assume we can expect to see him and his .915 save percentage getting a seventh straight start in Game 7 tomorrow.

The Bucks have referred to several games in this series as the "most important" or "biggest" game of the season, but obviously that title now goes to tomorrow night's game.

With their season on the line, what do you expect to see from the Bucks tomorrow night?

Semifinal Game Day No. 6

2010-04-06T17:00:00.001-05:00

The Bucks and Allen Americans will square off in Game 6 of their Southern Conference Semifinal series at the Allen Events Center in a couple of hours.

With a 3-2 lead in their possession, the Bucks could clinch the series, and a return to the Southern Conference Finals, with a win tonight.

Of course, they know that won't come easy, and I think everyone involved with the Bucks organization is expecting to see a much stronger Americans team tonight than the one the Bucks captured a 5-1 win over in Game 5.

The Bucks arrived in Allen early last night after practicing in Laredo early yesterday morning, and they hope to be both well-rested and well-prepared for tonight's matchup.

Defenseman Paul Elliott, the only player with an injury of any real concern for the Bucks, will be in the lineup, leaving the Bucks to make a scratch for the fourth straight game.

Matt Radoslovich will be back in the lineup for the Americans, or at least he's available to be, after serving his one-game suspension for his hit on Elliott in Game 4.

You can read more about tonight in my previous blog post, my notebook from today's paper, Bryan Benway's preview and the Pointstreak pre-game notes.

The best way for those of you in Laredo to take in tonight's game would probably be to head over to Hal's Landing for the watch party.

If you can't or don't want to do that, you can watch on CHL-TV in the comfort of your own home, listen on Imagen 94.1 FM or follow it on Pointstreak.

I will try my best to update on here during the game, but I'm alone on desk with a full slate of high school baseball and softball games to be called in, so I make no promises.

Notes and Quotes

2010-04-06T16:10:00.004-05:00

Sorry I didn't have time to blog yesterday, but I did make it out to the Bucks' early practice before they left for Allen.

There was a new player in the arena - one who was apparently at the games last week - but he will not be signed.

Derek Scanlon, a forward for Brent Cullaton's Buffalo Jr. Bison, made the trip to Laredo with his coach so Coach Ruskowski could see him play and decide if he'd like to make him part of the team.

With the current roster situation not leaving any openings for new players to actually play, Ruskowski has decided not to sign the kid, but it should be clear that he is not the defenseman Ruskowski had been scouting.

There is no official word as to whether or not that defenseman will be signed, but Ruskowski said it would only be a priority if Paul Elliott was too injured to play, and that is not the case.

Elliott did not suit up for yesterday's practice, but he was in attendance and did go out on the ice when the team huddled up to watch Ruskowski draw out plays.

Ruskowski said there is no doubt Elliott will play tonight; yesterday was just an extra day of rest for him because he has been taking a lot of hard hits in the series.

Back to Scanlon, though, you can read more about him and his trip to Laredo on the Boulder Jr. Bison Web site.

Scanlon's coach, Cullaton, seems to think things are going pretty well since he came back to Laredo, and I doubt many would argue with that.

"I think he’s done a very good job," Ruskowski said. "He makes positive plays in our end, their end and in neutral ice; he helps on the power play; he’s smart with the puck – he’ll shoot it, he’ll pass it, and it keeps the other team not knowing what to do. That split-second is a factor in making a good pass or a good shot on net or them interfering or intercepting that pass.

"He’s been a big factor, not just on the ice but also in the dressing room."

Cullaton is a talkative guy in conversation but the farthest thing from that in interviews, so I'm not going to post his quotes the way I normally do things like that on here.

You can read some of what he had to say, along with some quotes from Ruskowski and goaltender Pier-Olivier Pelletier, in my notebook in today's paper.

Cullaton said that when he re-joined the Bucks, he wanted to "come in and contribute and be a part of a team that can win."

The team has won two of the three games its played since he came back, so that goal seems to have been met, and Cullaton's three goals and one assist in those two wins certainly didn't hurt.

He thinks things are going "pretty well," and he says he's "feeling better each day that (he) skate(s)," so he wants to "just keep going."

Cullaton said the key to the Bucks' offensive success in their wins - including his first playoff goal since April 26, 2006 - has been "shooting the puck, driving the net for rebounds; just keeping it simple."

On a slightly random note, Cullaton said that gold stick he's been using in games has no story behind it; it's just another stick. He was not using it at practice yesterday, though, so I'm not sure if he broke it or was just saving it up for the next game.

He also said that in his mind, tonight's game is "the most important game of the year" because it would be "huge" to win the series before ever giving the Americans a chance to clinch it.

Obviously there's no way around that fact, as winning tonight is the best course of action for the Bucks if they want to get back to the Southern Conference Finals after missing out for the first time in seven seasons last year.

Since even before Game 5, Ruskowski has been very focused on the fact that the Bucks having two chances to win the series puts all the pressure on the Americans.

However, that doesn't mean he wants to waste the first chance his team has.

"All I can say is it’s a lot better for us going into their building with it being 3-2 for us than 3-2 against us," Ruskowski said. "It puts a lot of pressure on them because now it’s two games they must win, and for us it’s must win one. But it is a must-win, and nothing is going to be easy. They have a very good hockey team, and we’re very lucky and fortunate to be where we are. I thank God for it, because I think he's been on our side.

"I’d rather have it (tonight) instead of Wednesday if it’s going to happen at all. It would be huge. Momentum is a huge factor in any sport and any situation. Momentum, momentum, momentum. And if you have momentum on your side, it’s a huge factor.We have to keep it on our side, get to them as quickly as possible and score a couple goals and put them on their heels instead of their toes."

Pelletier had similar thoughts.

"We’re pretty happy about (where we are)," he said. "We knew we had to take one over there first, and then our plan was to win all three here, but we let one slip. But with the lead, we have to go in and take one of the two over there, and I think it will be really hard because they’re tough to beat at their home, but I think we can do it.

"The quicker we can win it, the better it will be for resting. In Game 7, you never know what’s going to happen, so we sure want to win that sixth game. But they’re going to be coming out flying, so we have to match their intensity and see what’s going on.

"We have to play the same way, just keep playing hard and leave everything on the ice."

Pelletier and the other players seem pretty pleased with their effort in the 5-1 win over the Americans in Game 5 on Saturday, but Coach Ruskowski said he thought there was a drop-off in their play toward the end of the game.

"The first part of the game, the first half or three-quarters, I thought was pretty good," he said. "We were moving the puck, we were getting timely goals. But we have to play a little bit better defensively. They're a really strong team, and if you don't play really good defense against them, they'll get numerous opportunities. They out-shot us pretty bad, mind you, but it came more or less in the second half where they were just throwing everything at us.

"We just have to be a patient hockey team, and if they throw a lot of things at us, we have to be patient and strong on our position and hopefully catch them in a 2-on-1 advantage."

With that in mind, defense was the main focus when the team watched tape and practiced yesterday. But that isn't the only thing Ruskowski thinks could be better.

"There are a couple things we needed to improve," he said. "We need to improve in the neutral ice area, we need to improve our breakouts and our penalty killing a little bit. We went over that, just to make sure everybody's on the same page and we're doing the right things at the right times."

Even when they haven't been doing things right, the Bucks have been able to count on Pelletier to bail them out more often that not, and Ruskowski thinks that his rookie netminder will need to keep playing just as well if the Bucks are going to win this series.

"He’s the guy that we’ve been counting on,” Ruskowski said. "I’ve said that every time you look at a team that’s successful in the playoffs, the first thing you look at is the goaltending, and he’s been pretty good for us and hopefully he can keep it.

"We need him to play brilliant for us to beat this team because they are a very good hockey team."

Pelletier, of course, doesn't take all the credit for his success, saying that his teammates have been doing a great job in front of him, even on nights that he faces 42 shots.

"They’ve been playing great," he said. "Even if I get a lot of shots, there’s a lot from the outside, not dangerous shots. The d-men always block them; even forwards step in and block the shots lie down, it’s really playoff hockey. The shot count doesn’t really indicate the score. It was 5-1; we scored five goals, but they were on really dangerous shots. We took advantage of our scoring chances."

As far as his own objectives, Pelletier says he just tries to compliment the game his defensemen are playing.

"I try to stop every single shot," he said. "My defensemen check a lot, they hit pretty hard, too, so I try to stop the puck and make plays so we step in front of their forecheckers and we don’t get hit as much as they do."

Obviously stopping every single shot is a very lofty goal, and one Pelletier has not been fortunate enough to achieve in his professional career. However, if he keeps the Americans to one, he can hope that the Bucks can get a couple to give themselves the win, and the best way Ruskowski thinks they can do that is on the power play.

"I'd like to have a lot of power-play goals," he said. "It's going to be a huge factor, that and penalty killing, because we've done a good job killing penalties, but we have to do a better job because they're going to change things around. They move the puck around really well, so we have to make sure we're taking the passing lanes away and try to take away time and space from them and make sure the front of the net is taken care of."

It's worth noting that the Bucks did not have a single power-play goal in the first three games of the series, then went 4-for-11 on the advantage between their Game 4 and Game 5 wins.

They have killed 88 percent (22-of-25) power plays they've faced.

Moving right along, whoever wins this series will be facing the Governors' Cup champion Odessa Jackalopes as they completed their series comeback by rallying to a 5-4 overtime win over the defending President's Cup champion Texas Brahmas last night.

Lee Scheide from the Odessa American has the story from that game, complete with a celebration photo.

The story includes some information that could affect the Bucks:

The Jackalopes now await the winner of the Laredo-Allen semifinal series. Laredo holds a 3-2 advantage heading into tonight’s Game 6 in Allen.

Either way, Odessa will open the Southern Conference Finals at 7:05 p.m. Friday at the Ector County Coliseum. Game 2 is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Saturday.

If the Bucks do beat the Americans, tonight or tomorrow, the matchup with the Jackalopes will create quite a few scheduling conflicts at Laredo Energy Arena, which will be using its ice for Disney on Ice events next Thursday through Sunday and may also be hosting some other events earlier in the week.

Obviously, this isn't something the Bucks want to focus on before they've actually clinched a spot in the Southern Conference Finals, but it is a scheduling concern for them, and for us at the paper, if things work out that way.

It also begs the question as to whether or not the Bucks will stay in North Texas after facing the Americans so they don't have to drive back to Laredo then up to Odessa for the weekend if they have a series starting against the Jackalopes on Friday.

I doubt anything about that scheduling past Game 2 will be revealed until after this series has ended, but I'll keep you posted if I get any information.

For more information about each conference semifinal series and the conference finals to come, you can check out today's CHL Shots from the Point.

Semifinal Game 5

2010-04-03T19:10:00.033-05:00

Starters: Bucks - Igor Agarunov (F), Curtis Billsten (F), Eric Giosa (F), Benjamin Dieude-Fauvel (D), Ryan Lehr (D), Pier-Olivier Pelletier (G); Americans - Erik Adams (D), Jordie Benn (D), Christian Gaudet (F), Liam Huculak (F), Nathan O'Nabigan (F), Chris Whitley (G).

First Period: Defenseman Paul Elliott is in the lineup for the Bucks, and forward Robin Richards is the team's scratch for the third straight game. ... The start of the game is being delayed, but I'm not exactly sure why. ... Other players have joined the starters on the ice to skate around and stay loose. I'm still a bit perplexed as to why this is happening. ... Here we go. ... These three Americans fans and their drum are undoubtedly louder than all the Bucks fans in the arena combined right now. ... Evan Schwabe has been setting up Todd Griffith throughout his current hot streak, and this time, Griffith returned the favor. Schwabe gained the zone, neatly skated a circle around an Americans defender, passed the puck to Griffith then drove to the goal to knock Griffith's pass into the net. That hit the wrong part of Schwabe's stick, and he's actually kind of lucky he got enough of it to send it as far as he did; actually, maybe that's why he was able to beat Whitley in the first place. But whatever the case, the Bucks lead 1-0 just 1:16 into the game. ... That was Schwabe's first goal and fifth point of these playoffs. ... The Americans got their first shot off at 2:40, and Pelletier gloved it away. ... Whitley just came out of his net to try to clear the puck and barely missed hitting teammate Tyler Wooddisse in the face. ... Matt Radoslovich just walked up to take a seat by the drumming fans, reminding me that he has been suspended for tonight's game because of his hit on Elliott Thursday night. ... Decent chance for the Bucks with the top line on the ice, as Jeff Bes passed to Adam Rivet, who tried to pass back but lost the puck, only to have it end up on the stick of Jarred Mohr. Whitley made the save on Mohr's shot. ... Elliott and Colton Yellow Horn just got tangled up and went into the boards together, and Elliott came away without his helmet, which is still in the corner to Pelletier's left. ... Horrible turnover in the Bucks' zone could have been trouble, but Pelletier moved up to cover the puck and stop play. ... Whitley's net was just overturned right on top of him. ... Darryl Smith's backhand attempt off a pass from Brent Cullaton went wide on another decent chance for the top line. ... The Americans get the game's first power play at 9:06 with Brent Cullaton headed to the box for slashing. ... Smith just tried to get right around Fairbarn on a shorthanded chance, but Fairbarn stood his ground and got the puck away. ... Griffith and Mike Salekin just went flying into Pelletier together, and Pelletier did not seem all too thrilled about it. ... Adams to the box for hooking at 13:04 to give the Bucks their first power play. ... Smith and Cullaton both missed the net - high and wide, respectively - on the first shift of the advantage. ... Well, someone just scored, but my view was being screened just as much as Whitley's was, so you'll have to give me a minute to figure out who. ... Okay, it was Smith. Sylvain Deschatelets and Neil Trimm get the assists, and of course, the first goal I couldn't see myself (at home) this series is the first one for which they are not showing a replay. Several players were right around the crease, including Smith, and I guess he jammed home a rebound. Bucks lead 2-0 at 13:50 in the period. That was a power play goal. ... Deschatelets, Griffith and Mike Looby just broke into the zone on a decent chance, and Deschatelets connected with Griffith, who then passed back and had his pass nearly bounce off Looby's stick into the net. Just missed, though. ... Justin Bowers just missed the net wide on one of the Americans' best chances of the game so far. ... End of the first period, Bucks lead 2-0, shots tied 10-10. As the teams skate off the ice, the Bucks fans are finally louder than the Americans fans in front of the press box. ... They have changed the second goal to Deschatelets from Smith and Looby.

Second Period: I do not know how Pelletier dove in front of a shot headed straight for the net when he had been pulled out of it, but he did. His best save of the night, no doubt, and a big one to keep the Americans from scoring early in the period. ... Deschatelets and Griffith just broke into the offensive zone together, and Griffith faked a pass to Deschatelets, then took the shot himself. Whitley stopped the shot, then had some trouble covering the puck, but eventually did. ... Benn to the box at 2:03 to give the Bucks the first power play of the period. ... The Americans just committed way too heavily to a shorthanded chance, turned the puck over and gave the Bucks a 4-on-2 the other way. Bes was carrying the puck and appeared to be passing to Smith, but the puck missed him and ended up right on Cullaton's stick. He wound up and fired a shot top shelf for his second goal in as many games. Deschatelets got the puck after the initial turnover and passed up to Bes, so he'll get the second assist. Bucks lead 3-0 at 3:06 on their second power play goal of the contest. ... Wow. The Americans just pulled Whitley, and the Bucks will now see David McKee for the first time in this series. ... The Bucks scored those three goals on 14 shots, by the way. The Americans have gotten 13 on net. ... The last, and first, time the Bucks faced McKee was in their 6-1 win over the Americans on March 4. He just made his first save of the game, and a pretty big one at that. ... Someone just skated into Pelletier and left their stick caught up in his equipment. He seemed a bit confused as to what he should do with it but dropped it eventually. ... Griffith heading to the box to serve a too many men bench minor penalty committed on the ensuing rush. Americans on the power play at 6:23. Just a bad change for the Bucks. ... Penalty killed. The Bucks had better chances on that than the Americans did. ... Looby just dropped to the ice to block a shot by Yellow Horn on a 2-on-1, and Pelletier gave him a pat on the back for his efforts. ... The refs just whistled a puck dead when Pelletier did not really have it under control on a lucky break for the Bucks who were struggling to settle that one down. ... McKee just made a big save that sent Schwabe flying and kept the Bucks from getting No. 4 on the board. ... Smith just chose to pass to Bes on a 2-on-1 where it seems shooting might have been the better idea, then he was leveled into the boards by Wooddisse. The two players battled a bit along the wall, and Wooddisse's stick caught Smith in the face before Smith's did the same to Wooddisse. Wooddisse put a hand to his face and tried to get a call from that, but the refs ignored it all. ... Americans have jumped out to a 24-20 lead on shots with a recent surge around the Bucks' net, but they're still down 3-0 where it counts. ... Looby just followed up his first goal at home this postseason with an Alexander Ovechkin-esque celebration. I won't comment on how I feel about that. Nice goal, though; just a sharp wrist shot that beat McKee high glove side. Cullaton has what is currently the lone assist, and the Bucks lead 4-0 at 15:57 in the period. ... Rivet going to the box at 16:12 to serve a slashing penalty for his work on Bruce Graham, who then got an earful from Pelletier, who seems to believe Graham interfered with him on the play. ... Graham has added insult to injury - for Pelletier, anyway - by breaking the shutout at 16:59 in the second period. Bucks now lead 4-1. ... Pelletier just leaped into the air to grab a puck that deflected high after a shot by the Americans. ... Things getting a bit feistier now with less than a minute to go in the period. We'll see if that carries over to the third. ... Mohr is the only one being sent to the box for a scrum behind Pelletier's net, and he will serve two for roughing, only 13 seconds of which will take place during this period. ... End of the period, Bucks lead 4-1, Americans up 30-22 on shots. ... The Odessa Jackalopes and Texas Brahmas are in a scoreless tie entering the third period. ... And now the Jackalopes lead 1-0 on a goal by Sebastien Thinel at 5:32 in the third.

Third Period: Americans on the power play. ... Penalty killed. ... Graham looks so tall next to all the Bucks out there, and he is going to the box at 2:29 for hooking Schwabe to put the Bucks on a power play of their own. ... Penalty killed. ... The Americans are taking a lot of shots, but they've only gotten one on net so far this period. ... Jacks up 2-0 now. ... The Bucks just got a 3-on-1 and somehow managed to mess that up. Shots 34-24 right now. ... Elliott just lost his stick, got into a verbal altercation, then realized the play was coming back his way and sprawled out and grabbed Tobias Whelan's leg to try to defend him. That was odd. ... Halfway through the final period. ... Cullaton just got his second of the night on a flukey play I'm sure McKee would love to have back. That was a pretty simple, not very hard shot from the top of the circle that just got around McKee and into the net. Bucks lead 5-1 at 10:55 in the period, meaning there are 9:05 to play in regulation. ... That goal is unassisted, while Fairbarn and Justin Bowers got assists on Graham's last period. Oh, and Deschatelets got the secondary on Schwabe's goal in the first. ... Americans nearing 40 shots, but Pelletier isn't cracking. ... The Jackalopes beat the Brahmas 2-1 to take a 3-2 lead in their series. ... Just FYI, it is already past the deadline for me to go downstairs, so I will not be able to get quotes tonight, which really stinks. I am told there will be a practice on Monday, so hopefully I'll be able to get some thoughts on tonight's performance then. ... Pretty sure Bowers just took himself out into the wall and then skated over to the Bucks bench and slapped the helmet right off of Mohr. Well, I'm definitely sure about the second part. Guess he's not fond of the current score. He'll serve two for unsportsmanlike conduct with 2:46 left on the clock, giving the Bucks a late power play chance. ... Cullaton just ripped one from between the circles to try for the hat trick but missed the net. ... Salekin joining Bowers in the box with 1:45 to play. He's off for abuse of officials. The Bucks have a 5-on-3 here for 59 seconds and will finish the game on the power play. ... Mohr just fired off a nice slap shot that got on net but was stopped. ... Thirty seconds to go. ... The Americans appeared to have gotten the puck across the goal line with 14.2 to go, but the play was whistled dead and devoid of goals. ... Guys are still jumping each other after the final whistle, and Dieude-Fauvel and Wooddisse appear to be having it out.

Game Over: Bucks win 5-1, take a 3-2 series lead heading back to Allen for Game 6. They were outshot 42-28, so Pelletier deserves a lot of credit for another win and will almost definitely start again on Tuesday. I wouldn't say the Bucks played perfectly in this game - their passing can definitely still use some work - but that was a pretty strong effort in a huge game. ... Arena stars are Deschatelets (3), Pelletier (2) and Cullaton (1). Anyone else feel like Pelletier should have maybe been No. 1?

Semifinal Game Day No. 5

2010-04-03T18:50:00.004-05:00

The Bucks will be on the ice for warmups for Game 5 of their Southern Conference Semifinal series against the Allen Americans in a matter of minutes.

Defenseman Paul Elliott is a game-time decision but is expected to be on the ice for warmups no matter what.

If he does not play, Robin Richards will get to play in his first home playoff game, and Igor Agarunov will likely move back to the blue line.

Coach Ruskowski said he will be starting Pier-Olivier Pelletier in goal for the fifth straight game, so we can expect to see him lead the Bucks onto the ice.

There are no new players on the the Bucks' roster in the pre-game notes, so it seems if they are getting an amateur defenseman, they will be waiting until at least Game 6.

You can check out those notes, my notebook from today's paper and Bryan Benway's preview for more on tonight's all-important matchup.

Those of you not in attendance can follow tonight's game here or on Pointstreak, watch on CHL-TV or listen on Imagen 94.1 FM.

Teams just skated out, and Pelletier did indeed lead the Bucks, and Chris Whitley expectably did the same for the Americans.

Elliott is out there, but I guess Ruskowski will want to see how he feels when he comes off the ice before he makes a decision about his status for tonight.

The other Southern Conference Semifinal game on the schedule tonight, Game 5 between the Governors' Cup champion Odessa Jackalopes and defending President's Cup champion Texas Brahmas, will begin at 7:05 p.m.

Somehow, the Americans fans with a drum got tickets for seats right in front of the press box. I am not a fan of this.

UPDATE: Elliott will play, and Richards is again the scratch for the Bucks.

More Quotes

2010-04-03T15:45:00.001-05:00

Time to share more of the quotes I have, some of which you can read in context in my notebook from today's paper.

First off, the two from Todd Griffith I held because they are in that notebook:

On his play in the postseason: I'm just getting the bounces. My teammates are getting me the puck, and I’m just getting lucky. During the regular season, I struggled a little bit, but things are going my way right now and hopefully they keep going that way for the rest of the playoffs.

On tonight's game: (Today) is huge. Winning (today) gives us a 3-2 edge going back into their rink, and that means we just have to steal one and then it’s all over. (Today) is a big, big game, and I have confidence in our guys.

And now, a lot from Coach Ruskowski:

On Griffith's play in the postseason: He's hot right now. He's a streaky player, so if he gets hot, he gets hot. Right now, he’s hot, so I’m going to keep on playing him as much as I can. He has that knack for scoring goals.

On taking yesterday off: I was watching the guys (Thursday) night, and they looked like they were tired and a little bit slow. I’m just going to give them the day off. We’ll just relax, watch a little game tape and come back (today) for the (morning) skate.

On current injuries: Obviously, (Paul) Elliott, from (Thursday) night's hit, he didn't play the rest of the game. But he says he feels better. There are always going to be aches and pains. My feeling is, if there are 10 or 15 ice guys who have ice bags on, now I know they're playing hard. It's the time that they don't put ice bags on that I don't know if they're playing hard enough.

On Elliott's status: It's questionable. It's questionable if he can play or not. We'll find out later (Friday) or (Saturday) morning.

On the chances of a new player being in the lineup tonight: Maybe. And maybe not. We just have to feel it out. We'll find out how Elliott feels; there's no sense in bringing a kid in here who's not going to play, bringing him in here just to sit the bench. We may fly him into Allen to meet us there if he can play to give us a little more strength in that area up there. But it's pretty hard to fly and play the same day. It's really tough. Obviously, we had to do it this year because we were short players, but we have enough players right now. It's a luxury even having 19 players; I never had that this year. We'll just play it by ear.

On what improved in Game 4: The thing is what we did is that we lost some battles, we won some battles, but we were in better position to, if they did win, to compensate their powers. We were just in a better position that way, which was good. But I can't believe how many shots these guys block. It's absolutely incredible. I just don't see a puck gets to the net because there are like three, four guys blocking shots. They're incredible. I've never seen a team block as many shots as this team. They do a good job, a really good job.

On what still needs to improve: My feeling is we have to be a little more physical. Not dirty hits, but finishing our checks – we have to do that better. And, in their zone, we have to play a little better defense. That's my thinking on how we need to improve our game. And having patience with the puck, making positive, good plays.

On being in the team's current position: I am impressed, I really am. All the adversity that we went through with injuries, guys getting called up and staying up, guys going to Europe, guys actually quitting because they wanted to play closer to home; the adversity these guys played through, it was absolutely amazing. And how we got as far as we've gotten, it's really a show of character on their behalf. They willed it, they played hard enough to do what they had to do to make the playoffs, and here we are, tied 2-2 with a great hockey team in Allen. We're very fortunate and blessed to be in the situation we're in. I thank God for it, to tell you the truth.

On what it would mean to win the series: I would love to see us win, obviously, because I just want to win. But for all the adversity these guys went through, it would be a huge jolt of adrenaline rush for them to know that if you play hard through the adversity they went through, you still can come up to win. It would be a tremendous, tremendous boost for their morale knowing that they played hard and if you do good things and play hard, good things will happen for you. It's a long road to get to that place, though, against this team.

On who will start in goal tonight: Pelletier played so well (Thursday) there’s no way I can not play him.

On the keys to winning tonight: Again, power play and penalty killing are going to be a huge factor. Us being more physical, passing better - if we pass well, we play well, and that's something we had to do better (Thursday) night; we weren't a very good passing team again. I don't know if it just wasn't on, or if they weren't giving us a whole lot of alley ways to pass through.

On the importance of tonight's game: This is obviously the biggest game of the year. When I say big, I mean gigantic. It’s not the seventh game, but it’s like the seventh game because this is a huge game for us. If we can win this one, if the good Lord blesses us and we can win this fifth game, the pressure’s back on them. We'd have to go in there, and just win one out of two games there. I know it's not an easy task, but hopefully we can pull it off.

On what a 3-2 series lead would mean: It puts a whole lot more pressure and stress on them than on us. Obviously they have home-ice advantage, and they played the way they did all season long to get that advantage. But it’s a very different scenario to be up 3-2 than it is to be down 3-2. Either they have two chances to win at home, or we have two chances to beat them in their own building. It's a different feeling, a little more pressure and stress on them because it's a must-win every game. For us, obviously it's a must-win, too, but the second game is more of a must-win for us if we don't lose the fifth game. But, again, it's a long road home because this Allen team is good. Very, very good.

Some Quotes

2010-04-02T19:25:00.000-05:00

These are actually from last night, but I promise the ones from today will be on here well before game time tomorrow:

Coach Ruskowski last night on getting the win: This was a huge win. It’s absolutely huge. This really sets up for a big game Saturday, and we have to come up with a big game.
Pelletier played unbelievably incredible. The puck got deflected three or four times on one shot, and he still made a save on it. He was phenomenal. And finally, our power play came alive and scored two goals for us. That was very important, to get those and obviously kill the penalties as much as we could. Scoring those power play goals and having the opportunity for my goalie to play as well as he did was absolutely tremendous.

On improvements he saw in Game 4: In the third period, I thought we played a little bit better defensively. We have to take away the point shots a little bit more; they’re creating a lot of chances from there, and we have to take that away from them. I’m hoping we can, but it’s an ongoing scenario we have to be faced with. Hopefully we can take that and the rush – they rush four guys, so if we’re not prepared, they’ll come back hard and they’re going to have a lose guy who’s ready to score, so we have to be aware of that, also.

On playing Game 5 at home: The fans were great tonight (Thursday), and hopefully they can come out Saturday and root us on. If we have a lot of crowd, we seem to play a lot better, and hopefully we can do that and we can play that way and get the guys motivated to play because each game gets bigger and bigger, and Saturday night is huge. Huge.

On getting a home playoff win: I didn’t even think about (the fact that it had been so long), but it’s very important to have that happen and have confidence that if the guys play hard and well, and they play disciplined, we have chance. They have a very good team. Let’s call a spade a spade; they have a very hockey team. If we don’t play to the best of our ability, then we’re not going to win.

Todd Griffith on the reasoning behind his confidence the Bucks would win: I thought we had a good day of practice; the guys talked to each other and just really wanted to persevere. We said we’d get pucks to the net, and that’s what we did. I’m confident in our team, and I expect the same thing for next game.

On what the team did right last night: We worked a lot harder, guys were skating both ways tonight, our defense was strong, and our goaltending was terrific. Whenever guys are doing that kind of work, you’re going to win games.

Friday Update

2010-04-02T11:00:00.003-05:00

I'm already back the arena because it turns out the team was only scheduled to practice today.

Coach Ruskowski decided that the guys looked tired after last night's game, so he canceled today's practice to give them a day to rest.

Because of that, players were told to arrive to the arena at 10:30 to watch tape instead of at 9:30 to get dressed and on the ice.

They were still getting to the arena in small groups when I left, so I only spoke to Coach Ruskowski this morning.

I'll post some quotes from that interview later on, but for now it's worth noting that Paul Elliott's status is currently "questionable."

He is apparently feeling better after being shaken up by that hit from behind by Matt Radoslovich last night, but he isn't a sure thing to play tomorrow.

It's unlikely, though, that he will be replaced in the lineup by an amateur, as Ruskowski said he would likely fly the defenseman he is looking at into Allen for Tuesday's Game 6 if he brings him in at all.

Speaking of Game 6, the Bucks will be hosting a watch party at Hal's for that on Tuesday.

While the Bucks were tying up their series with the Americans last night, the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs were knocking off the Colorado Eagles with a 4-2 win to sweep their Northern Conference Semifinal series.

The Northern Conference Finals could be set tonight if the Rapid City Rush can beat the Missouri Mavericks to sweep that series.

In the other Southern Conference Semifinal series, the defending league champion Texas Brahmas hold a 2-1 lead over the Governors' Cup champion Odessa Jackalopes with Game 4 between the teams set to be played tonight at the NYTEX Center.

You can read more about all the playoff matchups in today's Shots From the Point.

Oh, and you can find my story from last night's game here.

UPDATE: Forgot to mention this earlier, but Jean-Philippe Levasseur has been reassigned to the Springfield Falcons after one game on the bench for the Anaheim Ducks, who have now called up Joey MacDonald from the Toronto Marlies.

Semifinal Game 4

2010-04-01T18:45:00.021-05:00

Pre-Game: Pier-Olivier Pelletier will continue his streak of consecutive playoff starts for the Bucks with a fourth tonight. He'll be wearing his black and yellow pads from the start this time, though. ... Robin Richards is again the Bucks' scratch. ... You can get more info about tonight in my notebook from today's paper, Bryan Benway's preview and the Pointstreak pre-game notes. .. You can follow tonight's game here or on Pointstreak, watch on CHL-TV or listen on Imagen 94.1 FM.

Starters: Sylvain Deschatelets (F), Paul Elliott (D), Todd Griffith (F), Mike Looby (D), Pelletier (G), Evan Schwabe (F); Americans - Erik Adams (D), Jordie Benn (D), Jarret Lukin (F), Tobias Whelan (F), Chris Whitley (G), Colton Yellow Horn (F).

First Period: Schwabe draws a penalty right off the bat, with Adams being sent to the box for hooking him up just 36 seconds into the game after Schwabe broke away from the pack after a shot by the Americans and streaked down the ice toward Whitley. Let's see if the Bucks are able to set up on a power play tonight. ... Not so much. Lukin has made it 1-0 on a shorthanded goal. Pelletier stopped the first shot thrown at him on that play, but Lukin was there to flip the puck over his shoulder while he was down trying to cover it up. Americans lead 1-0 at 1:05. ... Seems the Bucks were using four forwards and just one defenseman - Looby - on that power play shift. Wonder if that was the new thing they're trying. ... Two defenseman on the points now that the second unit has come out. ... Bucks finally creating something as the power play expires. ... The Americans were just able to clear it after a close call that saw Whitley flopping around in his crease and struggling to get back into position. They iced the puck, though, so the Bucks will get a faceoff back in front of Whitley. ... Brent Cullaton has gotten his first point back with the bucks on a pretty nifty goal that rang off the post into the net and back out. He and his linemates were entering the zone when Cullaton decided to just shoot the puck instead of passing. Well, technically, he passed the puck to himself off his skate. Nice move. Jeff Bes was open for a drop pass right behind him but seemed pretty content with the end result of him not getting the puck. Game tied 1-1 at 3:19 in the period. ... Looby to the box for elbowing at 4:41 to put the Americans on their first power play. ... Bruce Graham just deflected a pass right out front of Pelletier into the post, and the loose puck seemed to evade the goalie until he turned around entirely and got his glove over it with his back to the rest of the players on the ice. ... Penalty killed. ... Bucks seem to have taken note of what the Americans did to them on Tuesday because they are blocking a lot of shots and breaking up plenty of passes. ... Benjamin Dieude-Fauvel in the box now for a slashing call 1t 6:36. Americans back on the power play. ... Americans helping the Bucks' cause by missing the net on at least half of their shot attempts so far. ... Third time really was the charm for the Bucks as they just scored their second goal with Griffith banging home a third-chance attempt after Whitley stopped the first two shots. No way he was going to miss that, with Whitley down and out in his crease. Bucks have the lead at home for the first time in this series, up 2-1 at 13:27. ... It was pretty non-stop back-and-forth in the minutes leading up to that, with very few stoppages in play. ... Griffith's goal is currently listed as unassisted, but I imagine they'll add a couple of helpers there eventually. Cullaton's goal might stay unassisted, though. We'll see. ... Benn just made a great individual effort to gain the zone, get behind the net, then wrap around and out a bit to take a shot on Pelletier, but Pelletier made the save. ... The top line just entered the zone pretty strongly, but Darryl Smith missed Bes on a pass that ended up behind his back to kill the play. ... Agarunov and Dieude-Fauvel just got a 2-on-1 break against Brandon Straub, and Dieude-Fauvel carried the puck into the zone and shot it only to have Whitley make the stop. ... Matt Radoslavich just took down Paul Elliott from behind, and Elliott is still lying on the ice. The only movement his body has made is Bobby Moore moving him a bit. Okay, now he's sitting up. Deschatelets was the first player to come over and check on him, and a few guys are going back and forth from the corner now. Elliott has stood up and is skating on his own, but you have to wonder if he got knocked out for a second after the way he stayed on the ice like that. He went back to the bench, so I'll monitor his playing time from here on out. ... Radoslavich has been given a five-minute boarding major and a game misconduct. The Bucks will use the first 1:41 of that power play now and the other 3:19 on a fresh sheet of ice at the start of the second period. Let's see what they can do with it. ... Nothing so far. ... End of the period, Bucks lead 2-1, Americans up 15-12 on shots. ... As expected, assists are being added for the Bucks' goals. Smith and Bes get them on Cullaton's, and Schwabe and Deschatelets get them on Griffith's.

Second Period: Elliott is not on the ice or the bench to start the second as far as I can tell. ... Bucks still on the power play. ... And 80 seconds into the period, they have taken advantage of that advantage. Neil Trimm just scored after re-directing a shot by Adam Rivet past Whitley into the net. I guess that could technically have been a pass, but whatever the case, the puck got to the net, and Trimm put it in there. They're announcing assists as Schwabe-Rivet, but Schwabe definitely passed the puck to Rivet, who then got the puck to Trimm. Whitley is losing it with all the corn being thrown in his direction. Bucks lead 3-1 at 1:20. ... The Bucks will get a huge 1:50 5-on-3 advantage now with Straub heading to the box for tripping in the neutral zone at 1:29. ... Jarred Mohr and Rivet made a couple nice touch passes, and Rivet hit a post, but no goals so far with the first 58 seconds of that expired and a puck now out of play. The Americans have yet to clear, and a new unit is coming out for the Bucks now. ... Both penalties killed. The Bucks didn't score, but they did keep the puck in the Americans' zone, get set up and take some shots, so that's an improvement. ... Americans hit a post on their ensuing rush. ... Adams just sent a nice slapper from the top of the circle into the net to cut the Bucks' lead to one goal. They aren't giving out assists now, but they will. Bucks lead 3-2 at 4:57. ... Cullaton just took an elbow to the face, and as a result, Fairbarn is headed to the box to serve two for elbowing at 8:18. ... Penalty killed. ... Tyler Wooddisse just took a stick to the face in a scramble around the Americans' net and tried his best to get a call but did not. ... Cullaton to the box for slashing at 12:56 to put the Americans on a power play. ... And now the Americans get their 5-on-3 for the game, with Mohr joining Cullaton in the sin bin to serve two for hooking at 13:19. The 5-on-3 for them will last 1:23 or until they score. ... Radoslovich just trudged up the steps to take a seat with his teammates who have been in the stands since the start of the second, and his face looked familiar, so I checked his Hockey DB page, and sure enough, he was on the Boston University hockey team my first two years there. Random. ... Bucks get a bit of a break now with Nathan O'Nabigan headed to the box to serve a too-many-men bench minor at 14:32 and make this 4-on-3, then 4-9n-4, then a power play for the Bucks for 1:13. ... Somehow, the Americans managed to stay the aggressor on the ice for the first half of the Bucks' advantage, but now the Bucks get a faceoff in the Americans' zone and a chance to set up. ... I wouldn't say they really set up, but they definitely scored. A wicked wrister from Griffith between the circles ripped past Whitley into the net to make it 4-2 Bucks at 16:21 in the game. He won the (minimal) battle along the wall to get the puck out to where he shot it from, but I'm sure someone will ask for an assist on that eventually. When Griffith told me yesterday he didn't see the Bucks losing tonight, I was wondering if he was a bit over-confident, but I guess he decided to do as much as he can to make sure they don't. ... Griffith now has two goals tonight and four in the series. Game 1 was the only one he didn't score in, but he did have an assist. ... End of the period, Bucks lead 4-2, Americans up 26-23 on shots. The Bucks are getting a standing ovation from mostly everyone in the crowd other than Eric Giosa's brother (his family was at practice yesterday, and I can see them sitting over in 118) as they leave the ice. ... The assist on Griffith's second goal is going to Schwabe. Both goals for the Americans remain unassisted. ... Okay, the refs finally insisted that the off-ice officials give the Americans a couple assists. Mike Salekin and O'Nabigan get them for the goal by Adams.

Third Period: Elliott still not out there. Guess I'll be asking about his status after the game. ... Wooddisse is in the box for hooking at 3:35 to give the Bucks a chance to add to their lead on the power play. ... The Bucks' goal horn has been blown for no reason once again, as a shot by Looby thought to be inside the net was actually on the outside of it, which no one seemed to realize until Deschatelets started jabbing away at it in attempt to give his team a chance to score an actual goal. ... Penalty killed. ... Schwabe just tried to give Griffith a chance for the hat trick, but Griffith couldn't quite get his shot off, and the puck was deflected out of play. ... Whelan just got a couple chances on a loose puck but couldn't elevate it above Pelleterier's pad. ... Smith and Cullaton just had a good chance, but an attempted centering pass was broken up by a diving Whelan. ... Mohr going to the box for slashing at 11:51 to give the Americans a crucial power play chance. ... Very short shifts were apparently the way to go on that penalty kill, because the Bucks have taken care of it with ease. ... And right after I type that, Yellow Horn buried a great pass from a teammate whose number I did not catch. He beat Pelletier top shelf from the left corner of his crease. Just to make things interesting, we have a 4-3 game with 6:02 to play. ... Of course, they are listing that goal as unassisted. It was not, I promise. ... Okay, they had to ask the Americans broadcaster who had the assists, but at least they got them. Lukin and Whelan. ... Griffith and Straub just got tangled up in the neutral zone, and Griffith wanted a call but got nothing. ... Americans taking their time out with 1:39 left on the clock. Whitley will be on the bench when they take the next faceoff, which will be in the Bucks' zone. ... Oh man, the puck just cleared the length of the ice with Griffith all alone chasing it but he couldn't get his stick on it in time to score the empty-netter. So close. ... Those of us in the press box have been forced to stand due to the fact that several of the fans in attendance just had to be placed in the row right in front of us. ... Another faceoff coming with 45.7 seconds to go. ... Bucks using their time out now. ... The Americans players in the stands are on their feet, as well. ... Despite not clearing the puck past the neutral zone a single time, the Bucks held on to that one-goal lead.

Game Over: Bucks win 4-3 despite being outshot 40-30 and have tied the series 2-2. This is their first home playoff win since April 26, 2008.

Quote Post

2010-04-01T18:30:00.002-05:00

Sorry to post these so close to game time, but here are the quotes from yesterday, typed up in the order of interviews:

Darryl Smith on the difference between Games 1 and 2 and Game 3: Just the intensity part of it. I think (Tuesday) night we came out a little flat, and they got two kind of lucky goals. You don’t want to say lucky, they worked hard for them, but they got some bounces early. I think our team just has to really realize that it’s a long game; it’s 60 minutes for a reason. If there’s 50 minutes left in the game, it’s still a lot of time. We just have to really come out, and I think the first goal is huge.

On the third period of Game 3: I don’t know if there was really a drop-off, but I just, I don’t know what it was (Tuesday) night. But I think all the guys in the room know we have to play better if we’re going to win a championship. Everybody in the room knows it, coaches know it, players know it, trainers know it – everybody. We just have to come out with a better effort. In playoffs, it’s a 10-minute rule; win or lose, you enjoy it or dwell on it for 10 minutes, then you turn the page. So I think that’s what we have to keep doing.

On working around the Americans’ defense: I think we just have to move the puck a little bit quicker, and when the puck’s on our stick, shoot it right away. Instead of letting them get in the shooting lanes and things like that, we really just have to move it. The puck moves a lot quicker than a person, so if we can just move the puck and get guys to the net and crash the net hard, I’m sure we’ll get some goals like that.

On the Bucks’ defensive play: I think so far our defense has been all right. We’ve played pretty well, and to limit a team like this, with that many skill players to the amount of goals that we have allowed, I think we’ve been doing a pretty good job. But there’s always room for improvement, especially in playoffs. If we could shut them out every game, that’s our goal, but something that we really take pride in is our defense, and I think we really just have to keep working at it and keep talking down low – that really helps everybody.

On needing a win tonight: It’s huge. Either we’re one game away from elimination, or we tie the series back up. I think (tonight’s) going to be a really pivotal game, and I think everybody in the room knows it. We talked about it on the ice today in practice, and everybody just has to come ready to work. I think everybody knows the importance of the game. It would be a lot better having Game 5 here at home, too, tied up at 2 instead of being down 3-1, so I think that’s what everybody’s looking forward to.

Todd Griffith on whether the team’s intensity dropped in Game 3: Not really. Sometimes when they get those two quick goals, it’s a little hit to the ego, but we did come through, and we did try to get back into it, scoring a goal and guys were hitting and stuff like that. You run into those kind of games coming off a long road trip, but I think we’re going to be fine. We’re going to persevere these last two games (at home) and come out on top.

On how the Bucks can score in this series: Just get pucks to the net. The puck that came to the slot just happened to go in for me, so we’re going to need our defense to shoot more and get our big bodies in front of the net and get some screens and get some goals.

On whether the hostility between the teams will carry over: I hope so. You always want the intensity. It brings your heart rate up, and it helps out down the road when you come into the third period if you get guys fighting and guys playing the rough stuff. Usually, they’re the guys who are going to score the goals. I’m pretty sure it’s going to carry over. Obviously, me and (Mike) Salekin really don’t like each other too much, and that’s not just from playing here – we’ve hated each other for the last couple years. Everyone’s going to be into the game, everyone’s going to be hitting and trying to fight and play whatever they have to do. Fighting is part of the game, and if it happens out there, it happens, so it’s going to be a good one.

On winning Game 1 on the road: It’s huge when you go into a rink and steal a game. Obviously, it doesn’t really mean anything now that they’ve come in and beaten us in our rink. Right now, we’re on an even keel, and we’re just trying to take one game at a time. We’re going to play (tonight), and we’re going to win tonight, and then we’re going to play Saturday and hopefully win Saturday, then go into their rink, and we’ll have to steal one.

On the importance of winning tonight: It’s really important. Going down 3-1 is really tough, so winning (tonight) is really, really big for us. Our guys are ready, our guys have been working hard; we’ve gone over quite a few things, and I don’t see us losing (tonight). So we’re going to bear through it, and we’re going to come out on top.

Coach Ruskowski on working around the Americans’ defense: I think we have to be more conscientious when we get the puck back at the point. It doesn’t have to be a blistering slap shot; we just have to get the puck to the net. If it’s a wrist shot, then let’s do a wrist shot. If you have a chance to really wind up and crank it, then we wind up and crank it, shoot hard. But our point men have to be more conscientious; they have to shoot with their heads up, see where they’re shooting. Instead of burying their heads and just hoping it gets the puck to the net, we have to make sure it does get to the net.

On problems with the power play in Game 3: Our passing was off again. When we pass well, we play well, and when we don’t pass well, we struggle. We struggled last night because we didn’t make any good passes. If you want to have a good power play, or if you want to have a good breakout, that first has to be on the stick, it has to be handled, and everybody else has to play the right position to get the puck out and get it in the offensive zone. We didn’t pass very well last night. Every time we pass well, we play well, and every time we don’t, we struggle, and that’s what happened last night. It seems like we were always a step behind. Instead of going right after the guy, we hesitated, and by the time we decided to go, the puck was already going out and we were going in. That’s kind of bothersome, worrisome for me. I don’t know why they did that. They hesitated. They have to read and react quickly and make good passes.

On passing in the neutral zone: It’s crucial. A bad pass makes for a bad play, a good play makes for a good play. The flow is there, you’re forechecking well, everything just falls into place when you pass well. You look at the NHL, you watch their games and how they pass and how they can control the pass when they get it, and it seems like guys are always in position – boom, boom, boom, they’re making offensive chances to score. When you make bad passes, you seem like you’re in your own zone more than you should be, and that was kind of the scenario (Tuesday). We had chances last game, we just couldn’t bury them. When they had chances, they buried them. They’re just a good hockey team.

On the effect of the Americans scoring twice early: It definitely took away from our game plan, no question about that. We had to change game plans and try to now instead of making sure we do something, we had to try to create some offense. So it took us out of our game plan. Those two goals didn’t help at all. It’s tough to score against a team that’s as good as Allen, so we’ll just have to make sure we’re more conscientious (tonight).

On how the defense is playing so far this series: We’ve got to win the 1-on-1 battles in our zone. We have to win them in their zone, too, but it’s crucial to win the 1-on-1 battles in our zone. We say to the guys, ‘If you win the little battles, you’ll win the war,’ and we didn’t win the little battles anywhere on the ice. We did sometimes, but not on a consistent basis, and we have to win those little battles. We have to win those little battles.

On the Bucks’ mentality going into those battles: If I knew the answer to that, I’d probably bottle it and be a millionaire. I don’t know what their mentality is. Their mentality is, ‘This is what we’re supposed to do, let’s do it every time,’ but when they get away from it, I don’t know what they’re thinking. Maybe they’re thinking something different from what I’m thinking. Maybe they’re trying to take away a pass or block this, but they should be doing this – this is what they’re taught to do. Sometimes I walk away kind of scratching my head and go, ‘Huh. That’s not what I taught them.’ It’s frustrating as a coach.

On trying to get on the same page in Wednesday’s practice: We changed around a couple things, and hopefully it’ll work. We’ll see. But again, you can teach it, but they have to execute the game plan. The game plan is what they have to do, they have to execute it to the best of their ability, knowing what they have to do and how to do it. So we changed things up a little bit, and I said, ‘When you have a second today, just go over what we did today, what we went over and what I taught you. That way, when it comes to the game, you’ll be so prepared it will come naturally to you.’

On tonight’s starting goalie: I really haven’t made that decision. I’m really not totally convinced what I’m going to do yet. I really haven’t, I don’t know.

On tonight’s game significance for the entire season: We’ve fought adversity all year. Just look at the weight chart. We had to put another weight chart because we had so many guys come in and leave, either hurt, in here for a short while or gone somewhere else… it’s been a very trying year. We’ve gone through a lot. And we’re going to have to persevere. Knowing that we’re down two games to one, we’re going to have to persevere, come back and win the hockey game (tonight). All I ever ask my players is to give me their best. Do our system and give me your best. If the best isn’t good enough, then we’ll walk away saying, ‘Oh well, we have to improve for next year.’ Our good players that are going to be healthy staying here all year. You take our No. 1 goalie away, (Lance) Monych leaves, bring another goalie in here and he wants to go back; it was just a year that the good Lord really trusted my patience. He really did. It was a difficult year, a lot of ups and downs, and we persevered. We just have to persevere again.

On getting a win at home: It was big (Tuesday); if we could have won that, momentum would have come to (tonight). But it’s huge. Our fans have been there with us through thick and thin. They saw us play badly, they saw us play well, they saw us play inconsistently, and they saw us play consistently. We just need their help. Right now, we need their help. The more we have in here, the louder they are, the better we play, the more consistent we are, and the more energy we have. It’s a big part of our success having people come in here. I sure wish we had won (Tuesday) because then I know momentum would have built for (tonight’s) game, but I just hope people will realize that we need their help and come out and support us.

On the amateur situation: I'm waiting for a number right now on a defenseman. We'll see. Hopefully get that number soon. He's an American kid, so I don't have to worry about visas and all that kind of stuff. So I'm just waiting right now to get a text message to get a number and see if we can bring him in.

Wednesday Update

2010-03-31T11:30:00.001-05:00

I'm just leaving practice, and I won't have time to write a full blog post until later, so I just wanted to give a brief update for now.

No one is hurt - at least not enough to sit out, no one new has arrived, and practice was about an hour of drills, mostly focused on defensive coverage and crashing the net.

I forgot to mention Brent Cullaton's gold stick last night, but seeing it again from a much closer vantage point reminded me. It is quite shiny, maybe even a bit distracting. Anyone else notice that last night?

Coach Ruskowski said last night he wasn't sure which goalie he would start Thursday, and Kevin Desfosses and Pier-Olivier Pelletier got equal practice time today to help him make a decision.

Lines at practice were the same as last night, leaving Neil Trimm and Robin Richards as the two guys without a definite spot to play and the possible scratches for tomorrow.

I talked to Ruskowski, Todd Griffith and Darryl Smith after practice and will share some of their thoughts on here later and the rest in my notebook in tomorrow's paper.

UPDATE: I got caught up pulling wire stories, formatting some stuff, editing swim results and writing my story, so I wasn't able to transcribe the leftover quotes from my interviews today just yet. I'll type everything up at home, but as I do not have Internet there, that means posting them will have to wait until I get to the arena tomorrow. In case anyone was wondering, Jean-Philippe Levasseur did dress tonight but did not get any playing time. Additionally, Ruskowski was looking to get in touch with the amateur defenseman he was looking at today, and I should have an update on that situation tomorrow. He is an American player, so if Ruskowski can get him down here, there should be no paperwork problems or anything like that.

Semifinal Game 3 - Bucks vs. Americans

2010-03-30T18:45:00.028-05:00

Starters: Bucks - Jeff Bes (F), Brent Cullaton (F), Jarred Mohr (D), Pier-Olivier Pelletier (G), Adam Rivet (D), Darryl Smith (F); Americans - Erik Adams (D), Jordie Benn (D), Jarret Lukin (F), Tobias Whelan (F), Chris Whitley (G), Colton Yellow Horn (F).

First Period: As mentioned in the previous post, Robin Richards is the Bucks' scratch tonight. Not a very surprising starting lineup Coach Ruskowski chose. My only question is who Sylvain Deschatelets will be paired with now that Cullaton's return has knocked him off that top line. ... The answer to that question is that he is one of Evan Schwabe's wingers on the second line, along with Todd Griffith. Very sloppy passing by the latter two led to that line spending most of its time in the Bucks' defensive zone on its first shift. ... Paul Elliott has been called for the game's first penalty, hooking at 3:20. ... Americans have set up pretty well, and Adams just missed the net on a great chance from the circle. ... The Bucks were able to clear not long after that, and an offsides call against the Americans has set up a neutral-zone faceoff with 15 seconds left on the advantage. ... Penalty killed. ... Both teams creating some decent chances, but both goalies answering the call so far. ... I am such a jinx. Justin Bowers just deflected a shot by Nino Musitelli past Pelletier into the net to give the Americans a 1-0 lead at 7:37. Eric Giosa, in attempt to defend Bowers, might have been blocking Pelletier's sight of the puck a bit, but it took good coordination on Bowers's part to get his stick on it. ... Bruce Graham just went five-hole on Pelletier, and I'm pretty sure neither party knew he scored until Ryan Fairbarn reacted to seeing the puck trickle into the net. Americans lead 2-0 at 11:13. ... Smith somehow just flipped the puck off the faceoff right at Whitley, who calmly gloved it aside. ... Lukin to the box at 16:18 for holding to put the Bucks on their first power play of the game. ... Right after Lukin came out of the box, Mike Looby knocked the stick out of the hands of one of the Americans. The officials seemed willing to ignore it until said Americans player threw his hands up in the air looking for a call. Looby off for slashing at 18:30. The Americans will get 90 seconds of their power play now and 30 when the second period begins, unless they score before then. ... Smith just had a great shorthanded chance and got a shot off but was stopped by Whitley. ... End of the period, Americans lead 2-0, shots tied 11-11. ... The refs have taken Graham's goal away and given it to Fairbarn, who apparently touched it on the way into the net. Fairbarn also got the second assist on the goal by Bowers, and Bowers has what is now the second assist on the goal by Graham.

Second Period: Pelletier must not have liked those new pads because he is back in his old ones now. ... A lot of puck movement right in front of Whitley could not get the Bucks their first goal, as the closest chance went right behind Whitley across the crease, but ahead of the goal line. ... Both teams generating chances again early. ... Bowers just hit the post, then the puck bounced up to between Pelletier's legs, and one of the Americans tried to chase it, which resulted in a scrum over in the corner. Everyone has been broken up, and it appears no one will go to the box. ... Just as I was getting ready to type that the Bucks missed out on another opportunity, Griffith proved me wrong. The Bucks had Whitley down and out with the puck in the crease but couldn't knock it into the net, but then Griffith got it after Whitley had gotten back into position and whipped it right around the netminder at ice level. Deschatelets and Ryan Lehr get the assists. Americans lead 2-1 at 6:53. ... Griffith and Mike Salekin have been sent to their respective penalty boxes for unsportsmanlike conduct at 7:35. ... The puck just found its way inside the net behind Whitley, and the Americans were not very happy about it, resulting in some shoves after the fact. However, the refs decided soon thereafter that it was not a goal. For some reason, they showed footage of Kevin Desfosses beating the post in Corpus Christi after the goal was called off, and he looked rather shocked, and not in a good way, about it on the bench. ... Griffith and Salekin dropped the gloves right off the ensuing faceoff, and though Salekin landed the majority of the punches, Griffith made the crowd happy by landing the last two and getting Salekin down to the ice. They'll both serve five for fighting at 11:30. ... Deschatelets headed to the box at 14:56 for slashing to put the Bucks down two forwards and on the penalty kill. ... Agarunov now joining Deschatelets and Griffith in the sin bin after tripping Tyler Wooddisse at 16:42. The Bucks will be two men down for 14 seconds, then on a regular penalty kill for 1:46. ... Whitley just absolutely robbed Smith by reading a 2-on-1 play for him and Agarunov perfectly. ... Pelletier was not as lucky with his team giving up an even better scenario the other way, as Adams grabbed a pass from Lukin and got it behind Pelletier to put the Americans up 3-1. Adams tripped over Pelletier's leg after scoring and did a very excited little celebration on his back. That goal came with just 36 seconds left in the period, and you know what goals like that can do for momentum. ... End of the period, Americans lead 3-1, up 26-21 on shots.

Third Period: Bucks going on an early power play with Wooddisse headed to the box just 51 seconds into the period to serve two for hooking. ... No luck on that one. ... Bucks got called for too many men at 3:30, and Neil Trimm will serve that penalty, putting the Americans on their first advantage of the period. ... Penalty killed. ... Ten minutes left in regulation. ... Only two shots for each team so far this period, by the way. And this with nine minutes to go. ... Nathan O'Nabigon is headed to the box at 11:01 for roughing to put the Bucks on their second power play of the period. They are 0-for-2 on the advantage so far tonight. ... Pelletier just made the best play of the period by the Bucks so far stopping Musitelli on a breakaway. ... Deschatelets and Liam Huculak just did some shoving that landed them both in the penalty box. Scratch that, only Deschatelets is being penalized. The Bucks will be shorthanded for two minutes of the last 2:32 with Deschatelets serving two for cross-checking at 17:28. ... Appears that another goal for the Bucks will be called off, as this one never even made it onto the scoreboard. This time, the puck did not cross the line, but Curtis Billsten definitely thought it did. ... Not long after Pelletier left the ice, Bowers has scored an empty-netter to seal the win for the Americans with 32.8 left on the clock. Musitelli gets what is currently the lone assist. Obviously scoring on an empty net isn't a huge deal, but that top line sure gave the Bucks a lot of trouble tonight. ... The final whistle has been followed up by some very violent shoving over behind Whitley's net and a crowd cheer of, "Let them fight." Yeah, pretty sure the refs don't want to do anything like that knowing Wayne Bonney is in the building. Just a guess. ... The Americans are being showered with corn as they celebrate their second playoff win in franchise history.

Game Over: Bucks lose 4-1, fall into a 2-1 series deficit with Game 4 set to be played on Thursday night here at Laredo Energy Arena. Final shot total is 32-25 in favor of the Americans, which means the Bucks only took three in the final period. We'll see what Coach Ruskowski has to say about that.

Semifinal Game Day No. 3

2010-03-30T18:20:00.003-05:00

Thanks to some very strong antibiotics, I am at Laredo Energy Arena for Game 3 of the Southern Conference Semifinal series between the Bucks and the Allen Americans tonight.

The series is tied 1-1 heading into tonight's matchup.

Players just skated onto the ice for warmups, and, as expected, Pier-Olivier Pelletier and Chris Whitley are the starting goaltenders.

Pelletier is wearing some new plain white pads that I suppose he may have debuted in Allen over the weekend.

Brent Cullaton is on the ice for warmups and will play in tonight's game, as promised.

I'll have to wait until we get lineup cards to see who tonight's scratch is for the Bucks.

You can get more info on tonight's game from Bryan Benway's press release and the Pointstreak pre-game notes.

The Bucks will also be hosting a charity event during tonight's game.

In other news, the Anaheim Ducks finally took Jean-Philippe Levassuer away from the Springfield Falcons, but not to send him back to the Bucks, as he will be with the NHL franchise in place of the injured Jonas Hiller.

The story is front-page news on the Ducks' site.

It isn't often that a player starts a season with a CHL team and ends up in the NHL later in the same campaign, so good for him.

I follow most NHL games anyway, so I'll be sure to note it on here if Levassuer gets a start while he's with the Ducks.

Back to the Bucks, you can follow tonight's game here or on Pointstreak, watch on CHL-TV or listen on Imagen 94.1 FM.

UPDATE: Robin Richards is tonight's scratch.

Semifinal Game 2 - Americans 3, Bucks 2

2010-03-27T22:45:00.004-05:00

This is going to be brief because I've been working all day with a fever of about 105, but despite scoring first in Allen for the first time this season (and technically ever), the Bucks could not get past the Americans in Game 2 tonight, as they suffered a 3-2 loss.

The Bucks now return to Laredo with their series tied 1-1 and three straight home games to be played.

Todd Griffith and Ryan Lehr had the Bucks' goals tonight, while Pier-Olivier Pelletier stopped 21 of 24 shots faced to suffer the loss in net.

You can read more about tonight's loss in Bryan Benway's press release.

In the other Southern Conference Semifinal series, the Texas Brahmas jumped out to a 2-0 lead over the Odessa Jackalopes with a 3-2 overtime win tonight.

I likely won't be able to post anything tomorrow, not that there will be much to post, but I will be at practice on Monday to report on any news that comes up by then.

Brent Cullaton will be heading to Laredo this week, but I'm not sure if he'll make it by Monday's practice.

Semifinal Game 1 - Bucks 4, Americans 3

2010-03-26T23:05:00.003-05:00

The Bucks didn't do a lot of things they said they wanted to do tonight, but they did do the most important thing - win Game 1 of their Southern Conference Semifinal series against the Allen Americans.

The Bucks rallied to a 4-3 victory after being down 3-2 following two goals against in a matter of a minute early in the second period.

Neil Trimm scored the game-winner, Mike Looby knocked in two goals, and Darryl Smith had the Bucks' other tally.

Pier-Olivier Pelletier stopped 33 of 36 shots, including all 12 he faced in the decisive third period, so I imagine he will get the start again in Game 2 tomorrow night unless he decides he wants to sit.

This win is obviously huge for the Bucks, who will now have a chance to win the series at home regardless of what happens tomorrow night, but it's just the first step toward advancing through the postseason.

You can read more about tonight's game in Bryan Benway's press release.

Semifinal Game Day No. 3

2010-03-26T17:30:00.002-05:00

The Bucks begin their Southern Conference Semifinal series against the Allen Americans tonight in Allen at 7:30 p.m.

The Bucks are making their eighth consecutive playoff appearance, while the Americans are looking to start a similar streak by making their first in their first season of play.

During the regular season, the Bucks went 1-2-2 against the Americans, who finished in second place in the Southern Conference, never losing by more than two goals and winning 6-1 in the most lopsided game of the season series.

The Bucks have had almost an entire week to rest up and get ready for the Americans, but the Americans have had the same to prepare for them, and I think everyone agrees the Bucks are going to have to play their best, most consistent hockey to have a chance in this series.

In order to win the series, the Bucks will obviously need to win at least one game on the road, as the Americans have home-ice advantage and will host four of the games in the series if it goes all seven.

Coach Ruskowski said he believes it's necessary to win one before coming home to make sure the team is on the right track when it gets back to Laredo Energy Arena, especially because the Americans have been a strong team on the road.

You can read more about the matchup in my preview in today's paper and Bryan Benway's preview for the series.

I'm not going to copy and paste all the quotes I used in my story this time, but here is what Ruskowski had to say about the team the Bucks are up against:

"They didn’t get to that position where they won over 40 games because they’re lucky; they’re a very good hockey team. They’re very talented, they move the puck, they have experience., they have great goaltending, really good defense and guys up front who can score. It’s going to be a handful, trust me when I say it’s going to be a handful, and I just hope that we can compete against them."

Ruskowski and his players seem to agree that if the Bucks are going to do that, they are going to need to play great defense and special teams, but Ruskowski said the series will likely come down to battles like the ones the Bucks lost during many of their problem stretches in the regular season.

"I really think it’s going to come down to the 1-on-1 battles in each of the zones," he said. "I really think it’s going to come down to that. Plus, like every series, it’s going to be the goaltending, and it’s going to be power play and penalty killing – those are going to be the factors. But I really think the 1-on-1 battles down low in our end and their end, whoever wins them is going to win the series."

As far as goaltending goes, Pier-Olivier Pelletier will get the call for the Bucks tonight and is likely to start most of these games as long as he is playing well and feeling well throughout the series.

The Americans will also be relying on a rookie netminder in Chris Whitley, who has been playing the way Pelletier has the past few weeks all season long.

The watch party for tonight's game begins in an hour and a half, and those of you not attending can follow the game on Pointstreak, watch on CHL-TV or listen on Imagen 94.1 FM.

Notebook Quotes

2010-03-25T09:00:00.001-05:00

For those of you who aren't LMT subscribers, here are the quotes I used for my notebook that is in today's paper, with a few others I won't need for my preview thrown in:

Coach Ruskowski on preparation: The only thing I didn’t get too much involved with the video is if they change things up, then boom, all of a sudden we’re caught saying, ‘What’s going on here?’ We watched some of their tendencies, what they showed us in not just one game, but two or three games, and we put that in perspective and we tried to get to where we can neutralize their powers and jump on their weaknesses. I didn’t go one basic play. I watched tape, so I wanted to go after if they do it three or four times, then we kind of focused on that. We’re focused on that, we changed our practice up a little bit to go against their strengths, so I’m hoping that helps .The only thing is we have a tendency to, when we have a long rest time, we don’t have a tendency to come out sharp. We have to come out strong and hard and sharp right off the bat because we can’t let them come at us, we have to go after them.

Adam Rivet on getting this week to prepare: It’s obviously important to get the third spot and not play that extra series. I don’t think anybody in the league wants to play the extra series. It’s pretty demanding; you get a day off on Sunday, and then you’re right back at it, so it’s pretty important and the guys are pretty happy with where we are right now.

Jeff Bes on the week: It was a huge benefit, just to prepare and get set to play Allen, which is a very talented and strong team. We’ve taken advantage of that, and we’re in the right frame of mind.

Ruskowski on having 10 healthy forwards: That’ll be an ‘If you work hard, you stay in the lineup, if you don’t work hard, you’re out of the lineup’ kind of deal. It gets their attention a little bit more, the guys who aren’t playing very well, they’re saying, ‘Geez, I better pick up my game if I want to be playing next game,’ so it helps in that aspect. When Cullaton gets here, I think it will really move things around. If he plays the way I think he’s capable of playing, that I know he’s capable of playing, then I know he’s going to be a huge asset for us.

Ruskowski on his amateur search: There’s probably an amateur that I want to bring in here the next three or four days. Right now, I’m looking for a defenseman, a right-handed shot defenseman. We only have one on the team; if I can get another one, that would be a huge asset. I’m trying to go for that right now. I think I have one on the line, but we’ll see how his playoff performance goes as they’re playing up in Canada right now.

Ruskowski on the goalie situation: I’ll start with (Pier-Olivier) Pelletier because he’s wielding a hot hand right now, and we’ll just ride him until he gets cold. After every game, we’ll talk to him and before practice, we’ll talk to him; we’ll just keep in close contact with him and (Kevin) Desfosses, and we’ll decide the day before who’s going to play.

Ruskowski on the team's confidence in Pelletier: I think they’re very confident, and I think they’re confident with both guys. It’s just that Pelletier handles the puck a little bit better behind the net and sometimes ices the puck for us and passes the puck so we don’t have to work for it. So he’s good in that aspect, but I think they’re comfortable with both goalies, but Pelletier right now will hopefully continue to wield a hot hand for us.

Rivet on the goalies: I think the guys are feeling really good. He’s really settled in and kind of taken over the reigns there. He plays the puck really well, and the boys are playing for him, so that’s a big thing right now. Kevin’s working hard behind him, as well, so I think he’s ready for the challenge, too. We have two really good young goalies who are working hard and battling, trying to give us an opportunity to win.

I'll post more of their quotes tomorrow after my preview for the game/series comes out in the paper, and I'll be back later today if there is any news to report.

Getting Ready

2010-03-24T21:45:00.001-05:00

Nothing new to report from practice today other than the return of Robin Richards, which means the Bucks will have 18 players in the lineup when they face off against the Allen Americans in Game 1 of their Southern Conference Semifinal series on Friday.

I talked to Coach Ruskowski, player/assistant coach Jeff Bes and captain Adam Rivet after practice today, but a large majority of the quotes I got will be used in either my notebook running in tomorrow's paper or the preview to run on Friday, so I'm going to hold off on posting them here.

The Bucks are already up in Allen after departing immediately following an early practice this morning, so they'll be well-rested and ready when it comes time to play.

Coach Ruskowski skated them a bit extra at the end of practice just to loosen them up and get the blood flowing, as they say, before the long bus ride.

The Bucks and Americans now know that the winner of their series will face the winner of one between the Odessa Jackalopes and Texas Brahmas, as the Brahmas earned a series-clinching 2-0 win over the Corpus Christi IceRays tonight.

I doubt either team is looking ahead to that quite yet, though, but if the Bucks do make it out of Round 1, odds are there will be an amateur defenseman on their roster before then.

Ruskowski is looking into one junior player in particular, but he is still playing with his other team.

You can read more about that in my notebook tomorrow, along with some info about what the team has been focusing on this week and how they feel about their current goalie situation.

I need to finish up some office work now, and without practice tomorrow, there won't be much new news to post, but I'll set up my account to auto post the quotes from my notebook and be sure to update if any news breaks.

Tuesday Update

2010-03-23T13:25:00.000-05:00

After attending practice this morning, I can safely answer a question asked yesterday by letting you know Brent Cullaton is not in Laredo.

Turns out the loss the Buffalo Jr. Bison suffered last week was not of the season-ending variety, so Cullaton's team is competing at the Junior-A Nationals in Massachusetts this weekend.

Coach Ruskowski said Cullaton will be here "shortly" and that he is excited about what the veteran forward can bring to his team.

"Brent has a different perspective of the game now," Ruskowski said. "Just by him coaching in the juniors in Colorado, we talked a lot during the summer and the winter time, and we threw different ideas at each other, and I think he has a different perspective of the game now as a coach, and I'm excited for that because when Brent Cullaton wants to play like Brent Cullaton can, he's a dynamite hockey player. Any line he plays on is going to be a whole lot better."

Lines are something I was wondering about with Cullaton rejoining the team, as playing him on the top line would require breaking up the Jeff Bes-Darryl Smith-Sylvain Deschatelets trio that has been doing fairly well since Deschatelets arrived.

The three of them are still together in practice, but Ruskowski said he's not sure what he'll do when Cullaton gets here.

"I don't know," he said. "I'm going to have two games to decide who's playing well with who and do I change things around. Obviously, if we're winning, I don't know if I'll do anything, to tell you the truth. But if we're not playing as well as we should, then obviously the changes will be effective."

Robin Richards was also not at practice, but Ruskowski said he will be arriving in Laredo this afternoon after flying into San Antonio earlier and practicing tomorrow.

As far as adding amateurs goes, Ruskowski has a few specific players he is looking into, but they are still playing for their respective collegiate and junior teams at this point.

The Bucks considered themselves lucky to capture the third seed for two reasons - to rest injured players and to get extra time to prepare for the Allen Americans.

As far as injuries go, Ruskowski says things are looking better than they have in a long time.

"Some guys still have sore groins or whatever from playing so many games in a short period of time, but in general, we're not bad," he said. "It's one of the better scenarios we've had. Hopefully the good Lord doesn't say, 'Okay, time for Wave 15 to come in of injuries.' But we're also looking at a couple junior players, amateur players to maybe come in and help us out. But they're still in the playoffs, the guys that I'm interested in, so we'll find out probably within the next week or so if they're available. If they are, I'll probably like to bring them down to start getting them familiar with our systems so if they do get a chance to play, they're familiar with what we do and can step to the plate for us."

Preparation is something he believes they'll need a lot of after allowing four goals to the league's worst team in that 7-4 win over the Wichita Thunder in Saturday's regular season finale.

"Nothing away from Wichita, but they didn't really want it, and we didn't play our best hockey," he said. "Sometimes we have some bad habits, and that's the part I didn't like a whole lot. We scored seven goals, which is nice, but these last couple days, it hasn't been a really hard practice, but it's a scenario where we went over a lot of things that we need to go over and changed a couple things up. Any little advantage that we can get, we'll take, and at this point, getting seven goals and winning the game was great, but I don't think we should have allowed four goals. I'm hoping that we can prevent the other team from doing that. They struggled a little bit in Wichita the whole season, so allowing them to four goals was something that I didn't want to happen. But it did, so we have to rectify that problem."

Those problems stem from defensive coverage, which Ruskowski has had an issue with all season long.

"We're working on our defensive coverage, what our third guy high does, having more patience with the puck," he said. "Sometimes we're so regimental with what we do that we don't play the game by feeling and by seeing and adjusting to it. Just, 'This is what we have to do, and we can't get away from that.' But if they take it away, we have to have options. We're trying to get more options for the puck carriers, for them to move the puck and create more chances to score."

Conversely, Ruskowski liked a lot of what he saw the night before in a 4-3 overtime loss to the league-best Odessa Jackalopes on the road.

"I saw character in Odessa," he said. "We were down 3-1, and obviously the game didn't really mean anything, but we came back to tie it and lost in overtime. We took a penalty, and obviously we have to be more regimental and conscientious about taking penalties, especially in the playoff scenario, because any goal could be the game-winning goal against you. I thought they showed character there."

The team was on the ice for an hour and a half today, and Ruskowski was immediately looking over notes as soon as they came off. They have been watching tape every day and will continue to do so for the rest of the week.

"We're watching video more than we ever have before, especially against this team," Ruskowski said. "Today, we'll watch more of it, to make sure we're prepared and know exactly what they do, or what they have done, against us. They may change it, but if they didn't, then we're hopefully going to be prepared to see what they have."

One thing the Americans have is a great transition game, and Ruskowski wants his players to be able to take that away during this series.

"They flood the one side, and we have to be conscientious about that," he said. "Their transition from defense to offense is terrific, it's terrific. As soon as they get the puck, when it's turned over between the blue line and the red line, they're on the offense right away. We have to make sure of our changes, make sure that there are no turnovers and be prepared, if there is a turnover, to jump on defense as quickly as possible because these guys are dynamite from defense to offense. They have talent, they pass the puck well, they're strong in the corners, and we just have to be stronger or outnumber them in the corners to get possession of the puck."

Tomorrow's practice will be the last one at the LEC before the series against the Americans begins on Friday, as the team will depart for Allen tomorrow afternoon.

There will be a watch party for Friday's game at Hal's.

The two first-round series began last night, with the Texas Brahmas getting a 5-4 overtime win over the Corpus Christi IceRays and the Missouri Mavericks earning a 4-2 win over the Mississippi RiverKings.

Former Buck James Hiebert scored the game-winner for the Brahmas, who now only need to win one of two straight home games to close out the IceRays.

Back to the current Bucks, goaltender Pier-Olivier Pelletier earned the Performance of the Week award for his efforts in the Bucks' all-important 3-2 shootout win over the Brahmas on March 14.

Speaking of awards, here are the links to the other CHL honors that have been announced recently:

Most Outstanding Defenseman

Most Outstanding Goaltender

Most Valuable Player

Bucks Announce Playoff Roster

2010-03-22T17:45:00.003-05:00

The Bucks announced their playoff roster earlier today, making the return of former captain Brent Cullaton official and releasing Maxime Lincourt.

Cullaton's return was fairly expectable, and obviously something everyone wanted, but do you agree Lincourt was the guy who needed to go?

The roster at this point is as follows:

No. 3 Igor Agarunov (Forward/Defenseman)
No. 6 Benjamin Dieude-Fauvel (Defenseman)
No. 9 Neil Trimm (Forward)
No. 10 Brent Cullaton (Forward)
No. 11 Jeff Bes (Forward)
No. 12 Curtis Billstem (Forward)
No. 15 Evan Schwabe(Forward)
No. 18 Darryl Smith (Forward)
No. 19 Ryan Lehr (Defenseman)
No. 21 Todd Griffith (Forward)
No. 22 Paul Elliott (Defenseman)
No. 23 Eric Giosa (Forward)
No. 27 Jarred Mohr (Defenseman)
No. 28 Adam Rivet (Defenseman)
No. 33 Pier-Olivier Pelletier (Goaltender)
No. 35 Kevin Desfosses (Goaltender)
No. 39 Mike Looby (Defenseman)
No. 41 Sylvain Deschatelets (Forward)
No. 52 Robin Richards (Forward)

Mark O'Leary was moved to the season-ending IR with the roster needing to be cut, making him the fourth Bucks player to go that route this season.

Two amateur players can be added to the roster if and when Coach Ruskowski finds them.

Sorry for the delay in posting this, but I didn't have Internet access earlier in the day.

I was unable to attend practice this morning for personal reasons, but I will be there tomorrow and will post on here as soon as I leave the arena.

In the meantime, you can read Bryan Benway's blog for some info on today's practice and more on the roster situation.

The two first-round playoff series begin tonight, with the Corpus Christi IceRays hosting the Texas Brahmas and the Missouri Mavericks hosting the Mississippi RiverKings.

You can follow those games on Pointstreak or watch on CHL-TV.

Game No. 64 - Bucks vs. Thunder

2010-03-20T19:20:00.019-05:00

Starters: Bucks - Curtis Billsten (F), Kevin Desfosses (G), Paul Elliott (D), Eric Giosa (F), Maxime Lincourt (F), Mike Looby (D); Thunder - Kevin Cooper (F), Joel Hanson (F), Bobby Hughes (F), Ian Keserich (G), Tomas Klempa (F), Jason Woll (D).

First Period: Sorry for the lack of game day post; I got stuck at the office until a lot later than expected. ... Desfosses will start tonight, though there is a checkmark scratched out next to Pier-Olivier Pelletier's name on the lineup card. ... Well, it took them a whole 80 seconds, but the Bucks have jumped out to a 1-0 lead over the worst team in the league on a goal by team goal-scoring leader Darryl Smith. Completely individual effort to beat Brent Ottman and then snap the puck over Keserich's right shoulder for his 35th of the season. It's listed as unassisted now, but I'm guessing an assist or two will be added later. ... Now that I'm done typing that, make it 2-0 Bucks at 2:24 in the period. Neil Trimm knocked that one in on a slapshot-esque one-timer from right outside the crease. Todd Griffith drew Keserich to the other side of the crease and passed the puck to Trimm, who basically had an empty net to shoot into for the goal. I think Evan Schwabe is getting the secondary helper on that. ... That's two goals on two shots for the Bucks, by the way. ... Bucks going on the penalty kill now with Looby in the box for holding at the 3-minute mark. ... The Thunder kept the puck in the Bucks' zone for most of that but did not take a single shot. Penalty killed. ... A disappointing five minutes between goals later (joking), the Bucks are up 3-0 on a wicked shot by Lincourt, giving each line one goal tonight. He was wide open in Keserich's right circle and got a nice clean pass from Billsten that he whipped past the goaltender. That shot is the reason Ruskowski wanted Lincourt here, but not something we've seen a whole heck of a lot of this season. That was the third shot on goal, making it a perfect 3-for-3 for the Bucks tonight. Goal scored at 7:27, with the second assist apparently going to Adam Rivet. Could've sworn Giosa was involved there somewhere. ... Thunder just took their second shot of the game, which was deflected away by Desfosses. ... Keserich's first save of the night was a beauty, robbing Jeff Bes on a great chance. ... Second one wasn't bad, either, stopping a point-blank shot by Griffith, who was left all alone in front of Keserich with the puck after a defensive-zone turnover by the Thunder. ... Now he's made five in a row. Bucks are controlling play, in case you couldn't guess. ... Bucks get their first power play at 11:19 with Woll headed to the box for tripping Smith. ... Looks like the Bucks are testing out a new power play setup. Guess this as good a team to experiment against as any. ... Just as I was thinking the Bucks are still missing a lot of their passes, Giosa came on the ice for Schwabe on a change, went straight to the net and banged a pass from Trimm over Keserich's left shoulder into the net. Griffith gets the second assist for his pass to Trimm, which was pretty nice itself. Bucks lead 4-0 at 14:56. ... As I expected, an assist for Bes has been added to Smith's goal. ... Giosa's goal broke a streak of seven straight saves for Keserich. Bucks are up 11-4 on shots. ... Looby back in the box at 19:10 on a tripping call. ... Schwabe just left the puck behind for Trimm on a shorthanded chance, but Trimm couldn't quite get it under control. That was an odd play. ... End of the period, Bucks lead 4-0, up 14-6 on shots. ... I'm not sure who is doing plus/minus tonight, but it seems a bit off that someone who assisted on an even-strength goal in a game in which his team has not allowed its opponent to score would be a 0.

Second Period: Thunder took a shot on the tail end of that power play, but it was stopped. ... One of the Bucks just took a shot that appeared to bounce off the post into Keserich's glove, where he was barely able to hold onto it and keep it out of the net. ... The Bucks were just stopped on a couple chances, but it is worth noting how well Smith and Deschatelets can work together. The latter just dropped a beauty of a pass to the former, who got the puck up to Looby crashing the net. Looby's shot bounced over Keserich to the other side of the crease, though, and the following shot was gloved out of the air. ... Bucks have had to play a bit of defense in the past few minutes after not scoring for more than 10, but they have held the Thunder off the board. ... Bucks get their second power play of the game at 8:31 with Jason Reese going to the box for tripping. ... Things will even up for a bit with Giosa going to the box for hooking at 9:38. Amusingly, the game live box has him taking a shot several seconds later. ... Bucks on the PK now. ... Penalty killed. ... Keserich just made two saves in less than half of a minute that each almost bounced off him into the net. ... Bucks have broken through again on their 11th shot of the period, as Griffith got a loose puck past Keserich at ice level. It's funny how excited he was by the goal compared to how lethargic the guys on the ice with him were in congratulating him. Smith had to make some nice moves to get off an initial shot that Keserich gave right over to Griffith for the goal. Bucks lead 5-0 at 16:51 in the period. ... Igor Agarunov is going to the box for tripping at 17:51 to put the Thunder on the power play. ... Billsten escaped on a good shorthanded chance then lost the puck, then shot it when he got it back and missed the net. He's definitely playing like this game means something, even if he can't quite find the net. ... Anders Strome did, though, at 19:07 to cut the Bucs' lead to 5-1. I imagine this was supposed to be a confidence builder for Desfosses, but not shutting a team that can't even win 10 games out might not help much. ... Allowing two goals can't help any more helpful, but the Thunder will end the game with at least two now that Ryan Campbell has knocked one home with less than 10 seconds in the period. ... End of the period, Bucks lead 5-2, up 26-18 on shots. They were outscored 2-1 in that period, though, and only outshot the Thunder 13-12.

Third Period: No whistles through the first 4:30 of the period despite several chances for Keserich to cover the puck or hang onto it. ... Desfosses ended up being the one to cover it first, and the Thunder get a faceoff in front of him at 4:47. ... Ryan Lehr has just added to the Bucks' lead, and not with a booming shot from the point. He was trailing Lincourt, who gained the zone and tried to stickhandle around a couple Thunder players only to lose the puck right in front of Keserich and have Lehr pick it up and shoot it into the net. That was actually really neat to watch, and poor Keserich had no chance. Bucks up 6-2 at 12:08. ... Billsten finally found the net, on a loose puck right in the crease, to make the Bucks' lead 7-2 at 8:38. ... The Thunder just added two more goals, but I am sadly being forced to handle something that is not being taken care of at the office, so I'll just tell you Hughes and Cooper scored them.

Game Over: Bucks win 7-4, end the season 32-20-12 (76 points) and get nearly a week off before they begin their playoff series against the Allen Americans. The Thunder have tied the record for fewest wins in a Central Hockey League season with nine. The Bucks stayed on the ice to salute the fans after the game, and Coach Ruskowski thanked them for their support.

Game No. 63 - Jackalopes 4, Bucks 3, OT

2010-03-19T22:45:00.001-05:00

The Bucks rallied with two goals in a span of a minute in the third period but eventually suffered a 4-3 overtime loss to the Governor's Cup champion Odessa Jackalopes.

It's worth noting that Sylvain Deschatelets scored his eighth goal in 12 games with the Bucks, making it five in a row with a goal, Darryl Smith notched his team-leading 34th, and Todd Griffith scored the game-tying tally shorthanded.

Kevin Desfosses suffered a loss in his first start in a while, but he stopped 43 shots, so it seems he probably did a pretty good job.

You can read more about the game in Bryan Benway's press release.

In other news, the Corpus Christi IceRays wrapped up the Southern Conference's fifth and final playoff spot with a 5-2 win over the Allen Americans tonight.

That just give the Bucks one more reason to be happy they're the third seed.

The Bucks will close out the regular season tomorrow night with a 7:30 game against the league-worst Wichita Thunder at Laredo Energy Arena.

Playoff Series Set

2010-03-19T16:25:00.003-05:00

We already knew the first few dates for the Bucks' upcoming playoff series against the Allen Americans, but now all of the games have been finalized.

The schedule will be as follows:

Game 1: Laredo at Allen on Friday, March 26, at 7:30 p.m.
Game 2: Laredo at Allen on Saturday, March 27, at 7:30 p.m.
Game 3: Allen at Laredo on Tuesday, March 30, at 7 p.m.
Game 4: Allen at Laredo on Thursday, April 1, at 7 p.m.
Game 5: Allen at Laredo on Saturday, April 3, at 7:30 p.m. (if necessary)
Game 6: Laredo at Allen on Tuesday, April 6, at 7:30 p.m. (if necessary)
Game 7: Laredo at Allen on Wednesday, April 7, at 7:30 p.m. (if necessary)

The games in italics are, of course, the ones to be played at Laredo Energy Arena.

Playoff tickets are on sale now.

Updates and Links

2010-03-18T17:55:00.002-05:00

Since there seem to still be some questions about injuries and things of that nature, here is the update on the roster situation I had in the notes for my notebook in yesterday's Times:

Forward Eric Giosa missed practice on Tuesday but is expected to play tonight.

Defenseman Mike Looby is also expected to return to the lineup after suffering a setback in his recovery from an upper-body injury and missing Sunday’s game.

Defenseman Jarred Mohr is day-to-day with his own upper-body ailment.

Forward Neil Trimm, who has been on the 14-day IR since was back on the ice for Tuesday’s practice and is expected to play Saturday, as is forward Robin Richards, who has been on leave from the league since before the weekend’s games.

Forwards Justin Styffe and Tyler Fletcher were placed on the season-ending IR on Tuesday retroactive to the games in which each suffered injuries.

Styffe broke his leg on Jan. 16, and Fletcher broke his wrist in his lone game with Laredo, a 3-2 shootout win over the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees on Friday.

Obviously, some of that is no longer applicable, but I wanted to note that Fletcher's injury was a broken wrist because there seemed to be some questions about that.

Trimm is now expected to play tomorrow night, while according to what Coach Ruskowski said last night, Richards will not be back with the team "until after the weekend, if at all."

Mohr will sit out this weekend, so Igor Agarunov will move back on defense with Trimm back in the lineup.

Meanwhile, you can check out my story in today's Times or Bryan Benway's press release for more on last night's win.

The playoff series against the Allen Americans will obviously start in Allen, with the first two games being played next Friday and Saturday, then move to Laredo for Game 3.

For more on the other Bucks news yesterday, you can read my hockey-focused story and Joe Rutland's business-focused story from today's Times.

And, since I had previously failed to link to any of the awards being given out, here those are:

CHL Man of the Year

All-Rookie Team

All-CHL Team

Rookie of the Year

Coach of the Year

UPDATE: Comments aren't publishing for some reason, but one that was left reminded me that I forgot to mention the Bucks left for Odessa at 9 this morning and will be spending the night there before playing tomorrow. Kevin Desfosses is expected to get his first start since last Wednesday. And Mohr should be ready to play once the series against the Americans begins.

Game No. 62- Bucks vs. Jackalopes

2010-03-17T18:55:00.025-05:00

Starters: Bucks - Igor Agarunov (F), Benjamin Dieude-Fauvel (D), Todd Griffith (F), Ryan Lehr (D), Pier-Olivier Pelletier (G), Evan Schwabe (F); Jackalopes - Kenny Bernard (F), Alex Dunn (D), Garrett Gruenke (D), Joel Martin (G), Troy Ofukany (F), Mike Ramsay (F).

First Period: The Bucks are playing their fifth game in seven days and going with 14 skaters. At least that's better than 13, I guess. ... Bucks actually got a chance on the first shift, but Agarunov couldn't get his stick on a backhand attempt of a rebound quite hard enough. For some reason, the first shot hasn't been registered yet. ... Jackalopes just got a 2-on-0 chance on Pelletier, but the shot went wide. ... A Bucks player, I believe Lehr, was just down on the ice for a minute and had to be checked on by Bobby Moore before heading over to the bench. He seems to be okay. ... Pelletier just made a couple quick saves on the Jacks. ... After a couple more quick saves by Pelletier, Philippe Plante gave the Jackalopes an early lead with a wrist shot from the top of the circle through a lot of bodies that went top shelf on Pelletier. Dave Van Drunen and Dominic Leveille get the assists. Jackalopes lead 1-0 at 4:02. ... Bucks just got a chance and were able to get Martin out of the net chasing a puck but couldn't capitalize. They will go on the power play now, though, with Collin Circelli going to the box for roughing at 4:45. ... Bucks will get a very brief 5-on-3 now with a tripping call against Plante at 6:38. They've only managed one shot in 1:52 of power play time so far. ... Sylvain Deschatelets a way of being in the right place at the right time to one-time the puck past pretty much any goalie, and he just did it again, beating Martin top shelf from right outside the crease. Jeff Bes made a nice pass from the opposite circle to set that one up. Game tied 1-1 at 7:37. ... Lehr just took a mighty slap shot from the point during a nice 5-on-5 rush by the Bucks, but Martin made a glove stop on it. Eric Giosa was the one who got the puck in the zone for the Bucks, taking on three Jackalopes fearlessly despite the injury he's been nursing. Reminds me that I forgot to mention Coach Ruskowski calling Giosa a "character kid" and saying he'd be playing today no matter how much pain he was in, not always the case for some players. ... Griffith just missed the puck on a shot attempt on a 2-on-1. Schwabe tried to follow in and take the shot but couldn't quite do that. ... Martin just made a great save on a point-blank shot by Maxime Lincourt. ... Billsten just backhanded the puck on a wraparound attempt and flipped it over the net rather than into it. Very close chance there. ... And now Billsten has drawn a penalty, and the Bucks will go on the power play with Van Drunen in the box for hooking at 16:42. ... Lincourt just stopped the puck with his skate and tried to take a heavy shot but had it blocked. ... Right after that power play ended, the Bucks have jumped out to their first lead of the game on a great garbage goal by Agarunov, who was one of a couple players hanging around the net with Martin practically doing the splits on a save attempt. Giosa and Billsten get the assists. Dieude-Fauvel was the other player in Martin's face and probably helped out a bit on keeping him from stopping that puck. ... Pointstreak has the assists on Deschatelets' goal as Mike Looby and Bes, in that order, so I may have been wrong about Bes making the pass to Deschatelets. I really wish they were consistent about showing goal replays here. ... Lincourt and Schwabe just got a bit of a break, but Schwabe could not settle down Lincourt's pass to take a shot. ... End of the period, Bucks lead 2-1, up 13-7 on shots. That was a pretty fast-paced period, and the Bucks have been pretty lively for a team in their current situation. We'll see if they can keep it up.

Second Period: Lincourt made a great play early to get the puck away from Dunn and race in on Martin, but Martin made the poke check, and Schwabe, the man trailing Lincourt, couldn't quite get his stick on the puck. ... The Bucks have done a decent job keeping the puck away from their goalie since early in the first, and Pelletier has done a good job stopping it when it does make it to him. ... Looby is headed to the box for slashing at 2:38 to put the Jackalopes on their first power play. This unit was not something Ruskowski wanted to see tonight, but a kill here could be big for his team. ... Great sprawling save by Pelletier to keep the Bucks in the lead. ... Penalty killed. ... Nice defensive play by Darryl Smith to keep one of the Jacks from taking a shot on a nice tic-tac-toe play. ... Martin just made a beautiful save on a shot by Bes on a 2-on-1 with Smith. ... Pelletier just made a pad save on Brian Swiniarski only to have Swiniarski grab the puck and slip it behind him to tie the game. Game tied 2-2 at 9:34. ... And now the Jacks are going on a power play, with Adam Rivet headed to the box for hooking at 10:15. I'd say this might be a crucial two minutes. ... Smith just got a shorthanded chance and whipped the puck high and wide. ... Jackalopes back in the shot lead at 20-19. ... Billsten and Giosa are working hard down in the Jackalopes' zone, and Giosa just took a shot that got caught on the outside of the net. A lot of people thought that was a goal, but no such luck. ... Well, that was. Griffith just snapped a shot past Martin, who was being screened, right off the power play to give the Bucks back their lead. Giosa getting what is currently the lone assist. Bucks lead 3-2 at 12:43. ... The Brahmas and Rush are in a scoreless tie at their first intermission, by the way. ... Jackalopes getting another power play with Dieude-Fauvel headed to the box for hooking at 15:57. ... Bucks just missed out on a big opportunity with Martin out of the net and Billsten and Smith rushing the zone. Smith held the puck just a little too long deciding whether to pass or shoot and eventually passed only to have it intercepted. ... Everyone wants a tripping call on the Jackalopes for a play out front of Martin, but no such luck. ... Pelletier just made another great save. He has now faced 24 shots tonight. ... Circelli just wrestled the puck away from Schwabe on what looked to be turning into a great shorthanded chance. ... Penalty killed. ... The Bucks just benefitted from some odd bounces and a bad clearing attempt by one of the Jackalopes but could not get the puck home. ... Shot attempt broken up on a late scoring chance for the Bucks. ... End of the period, Bucks lead 3-2, down 26-22 on shots.

Third Period: Laredo Energy Arena is not full by any means, but it is very loud tonight. ... Just got a little quieter, as the game is tied again on a deflection by Swiniarski. Ramsay and Bernard get the assists. Game tied 3-3 at 2:13. ... Bucks get a power play at 4:17 after Kory Karlander hooked Bes in front of the net. ... Give the Bucks credit for actually setting up and keeping the puck in the offensive zone for most of that power play, but only getting a couple shots and failing to score probably doesn't make them feel so great about it. The Jackalopes got a big break when Korlander got out of the box, but Pelletier made a great save to keep it tied. ... Bucks get another power play now with Van Drunen headed to the box for for hooking at 7:59. ... Penalty killed. ... After being badly outshot early in the period, the Bucks are finally putting some on Martin. ... Looby headed to the box for slashing at 14:32 to give the Jackalopes another power play. ... Pelletier made a big save to start that one out. ... And another big stop not much later. The Bucks might want to try clearing the puck eventually. ... Lucky break for the Bucks as Pierce whiffed on what would have almost definitely been a goal for the Jackalopes right outside the crease. ... Pelletier just gloved the puck and tossed it out to Deschatelets, who couldn't quite win a battle along to boards to get a breakaway, but did get the puck out of the zone. ... Penalty killed. ... One minute left in regulation. ... Brahmas are leading the Rush 1-0. ... Leveille was just all alone with the puck in front of Pelletier and somehow did not get a shot before one of the Bucks took the play away from him. ... End of the period, game tied 3-3, Jackalopes up 39-27 on shots. They outshot the Bucks 13-5 in the third.

Overtime: Pretty crazy play halfway through the OT period with Pelletier stopping multiple shots only to have one of his teammates come close to putting the puck behind him. No such luck for the Jackalopes, though. They are now up to 43 shots. ... Deschatelets just hit the crossbar on a backhand attempt off a rebound on a shot by Rivet, and he thought he had ended the game. Very close. The Jacks returned with a chance of their own, but Pelletier got the puck under control, setting up a faceoff to his left with 34.9 seconds left in OT. ... Icing on the Bucks brings the faceoff back in front of Pelletier with 13.2 on the clock. ... Ruskowski has taken his timeout. ... The puck got caught up on the back of the net to give the Jacks yet another offensive-zone faceoff with 6.1 to go. ... Bucks got control off the faceoff, and Rivet tried to take a last-second shot but missed the net way wide. ... End of OT, game tied 3-3, Jackalopes up 44-30 on shots.

Shootout: The Bucks will shoot second. ... Leveille up first. ... And he snapped the puck past Pelletier to score the first shootout goal against Pelletier in at least eight tries. ... Griffith tried a backhand that was gloved by Martin. ... Ramsay whipped a wrister, and Pelletier made a nice glove save. ... Bes hit the corner of the left post. ... Swiniarski either missed wide or had his shot deflected into the boards. ... Deschatelets couldn't get the shot he wanted as Martin held him off and shot it into the back of the net. ... Pierce lost the puck over the Bucks' bench, then hit the left post with his shot. ... Smith faked Martin out but missed the net on his backhand. ... Sebastien Thinel can win it. ... And he did, beating Pelletier on almost a mirror-image shot of the one taken by Leveille. Jackalopes are the Governor's Cup champs, and the Bucks will have to wait until the game between the Brahmas and Rush is over to see if they have clinched the third seed. ... As if on cue, the Rush just took a 2-1 lead on two consecutive goals. ... The Bucks have clinched thanks to a 4-1 win by the Rush.

Game Day No. 62

2010-03-17T18:50:00.002-05:00

The Bucks will face the Odessa Jackalopes at 7 p.m. with an opportunity to clinch the third seed for the Southern Conference in the upcoming Central Hockey League playoffs.

The Bucks (31-20-10, 72 points) can clinch with a win, a loss by the Texas Brahmas (31-24-7, 69 points) or an overtime loss and an overtime loss by the Brahmas.

The Jackalopes (45-11-5, 95 points) are fighting to clinch the Governor's Cup ahead of the Rapid City Rush (42-13-6, 90 points), who host the Brahmas tonight.

There are plenty of benefits to getting the third seed for any team, but for the Bucks, that extra week off and a chance to avoid a possible matchup with the Corpus Christi IceRays is even more appealing.

You can read more about the importance of finishing third and the weekend that got them where they are now in my notebook in today's Times.

Teams just came out for warmups, and Eric Giosa and Mike Looby are both out there, so it looks like they should play tonight. Jarred Mohr is not on the ice, so it seems he will miss his third straight game. Pier-Olivier Pelletier (9-4-2) will get his fourth straight start in goal.

The Bucks are wearing special St. Patrick's Day jerseys for the final jersey auction of the season, so we'll see how well the off-ice officials can keep up with the numbers tonight.

As Joe Rutland reported in Tuesday's Times, today's press conference was held to announce the purchase of the naming rights of the LEC, which will now be known as Laredo Energy Arena.

Laredo Energy CEO Glenn Hart, also the majority owner of the Bucks, made a point of the fact that this investment is solid proof that the Bucks are here and not planning on leaving anytime soon.

Back to tonight, though, you can read more in Bryan Benway's preview or the Pointstreak pre-game notes.

You can follow the game here or on Pointstreak, watch on CHL-TV or listen on Imagen 94.1 FM.

Note: Sorry for the delay in this being posted; the Internet at Laredo Energy Arena went out for a while.

Ruskowski's Thoughts on the Weekend

2010-03-16T17:50:00.001-05:00

Just in case I get caught up answering high school calls by the time I finish transcribing later, I'll post some quotes from Coach Ruskowski about this weekend first.

I talked to him about the games in reverse order of occurrence, because I wanted to ask about the way things went against the Texas Brahmas first, so bear with that as you read:

On winning all three games over the weekend: Especially after the way we played against Corpus on Wednesday – it was just kind of disgraceful how we played then – the guys just bounced back. It seems the more adversity we get, the better they play. It’s just amazing because we played really shorthanded against Arizona and really shorthanded against Texas, in their own building, and I thought they played really well. They played smart, moved the puck well, they conserved their energy; it was one of those times they skated a mile and got 100 things done so they didn’t have to skate 100 miles to get one thing done. They played a little bit smarter, they moved the puck, we had great goaltending and timely goals. It was just a good combination.

On the play of goaltender Pier-Olivier Pelletier in the wins: I was really impressed. The accolades he got, being Goalie of the Week, I think he totally deserves that. He’s been playing really solid hockey for us, game in and game out as of late. He’ll start tomorrow, we’ll give him two days off, then he’ll come back against Wichita. I don’t want to kill him, but I still want him to stay sharp.

On Sunday's 3-2 shootout win over the Brahmas: It was incredible. We had big saves to start, and we just played one of those solid, smart games. It’s a game of mistakes, and when we made a mistake, we had Pelletier bailing us out or the defense making a good play. When they made a mistake, a couple of them, we capitalized on them. It was nice to see that one because I really didn’t think on the better end of the stick, especially with nine forwards and four defense playing against a team as good as Texas. That was a tough, tough game, and the guys came through. I’m very proud of them.

On the play of the Curtis Billsten-Eric Giosa-Maxime Lincourt line in Saturday's 5-3 win over the Arizona Sundogs: It’s pressure off me, but it’s also pressure off other lines when a line can do that when it’s maybe more pronounced as a checking line. For them to score four goals, it’s a huge asset. Any time you go into playoffs, you find one line or one guy who people usually don’t look to to be a hero come up as a hero, and we’re hoping we have two or three of those people going into the playoffs who step up and be heroes for us. It’s huge to have three lines that are capable of scoring but also capable of playing good defense. They have to play good defense, then the other end will take care of the goal-scoring opportunities. I thought they played very well, and I was proud of that line.

On Friday's 3-2 shootout win over the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees: It was kind of a chippy game. We had that Fletcher kid out there, and he was hitting everybody. Actually, he hit Bennefield, and I think he hurt him again. But he kind of got them off their game a little bit; they were more trying to get after him, get after that physical part instead of playing the game the way they should. Then (Jeff) Bes just made a nice play, passed across to Smitty in the goal mouth with a wide-open net, and Sylvain (Deschatelets) made a nice play behind the net, it was just a nice bam-bam goal. Then we just hung on from there. The amazing thing is, we scored three shots, three times in a row against (Andy) Franck (in the shootout), which is kind of unheard of. It was nice to see that happen; we hadn’t had that happen in a long time. Then, going into Texas and doing the same thing, scoring in the shootout, it was a good week. It was a fun week, it was a nerve-racking week for a coach to see what’s going on, but I’m proud of the guys. They played pretty well, I just hope that now they don’t think that the season is over. We still have three more games left, and so does Texas, so we’re going to have to make sure we win at least two of these games out of three to make sure we stay in the third spot.

Pelletier Named Goalie of the Week

2010-03-15T16:45:00.000-05:00

For his rather remarkable efforts in leading the Bucks to a 3-0 weekend when they needed it most, rookie Pier-Olivier Pelletier has been named the Central Hockey League's Goaltender of the Week for games played March 9-14.

Pelletier, who missed practice time earlier in the week while battling a cold and flu symptoms, started three straight games in less than 70 hours and won them all.

He made 37 saves on 39 shots in regulation and overtime and stopped all three Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees he faced in the shootout for a 3-2 win on Friday, stopped 26 of 29 shots faced in a 5-3 win over the Arizona Sundogs on Saturday and stopped 34 of 36 shots plus in regulation and OT and all four he faced in the shootout for a 3-2 win over the Texas Brahmas yesterday.

In total, that is 97 saves on 104 regulation and overtime shots for a save percentage of 0.933 and seven saves on seven shootout attempts for a perfect 1.000 save percentage in those situations.

Considering how few games Pelletier was playing just a month ago, those numbers are pretty staggering, as is the fact that he is 9-0-1 in his last 10 starts. I don't think anyone could argue this honor isn't well-deserved.

Pelletier and his teammates got a much-needed day off today, but they'll be back on the ice tomorrow to prepare for the first of their final three games in the regular season, a Wednesday matchup with the Odessa Jackalopes.

Game No. 61 - Bucks 3, Brahmas 2, SO

2010-03-14T19:20:00.001-05:00

Somehow, despite playing three men down on less than 17 hours of rest in a building they had not won in previously this season, the Bucks pulled off a 3-2 shootout win over the Texas Brahmas today.

Though giving up a point was not ideal, being able to take two was quite a feat for the Bucks playing against a Brahmas team that had all 16 skaters and a full day of rest heading into the game.

Sylvain Deschatelets scored for the Bucks for the second straight night, Eric Giosa got one for the line he centers that did a lot of damage last night, and Jeff Bes scored the game-winner in the shootout. Deschatelets also scored in the shootout, but Bes's goal decided the game.

Maxime Lincourt followed up his two-goal performance last night with two assists today, and Paul Elliott and Adam Rivet picked up a helper apiece.

Pier-Olivier Pelletier, making his third straight start on very limited rest after battling a cold this week, stopped 34 of 36 shots he faced in regulation and overtime and all four shooters the Brahmas sent his way in the shootout.

There were plenty of penalties in this one, with 21 minors called between regulation and overtime, but neither team scored on the power play.

The Bucks were 0-for-9 on the advantage and held the Brahmas 0-for-6.

Of course, the most important thing about all of this is that the Bucks (31-20-10, 62 points) are now three points ahead of the Brahmas (31-23-7, 69 points) for the Southern Conference's third seed with three games left on the regular season schedule.

The Bucks have to play the best team in the league, at least record-wise, in the Odessa Jackalopes (45-11-5, 95 points) twice, at home Wednesday, on the road Friday, but close out the regular season against the league's worst, the Wichita Thunder (9-27-5, 23 points), at home on Saturday.

The Brahmas play the Northern Conference's top team, the Rapid City Rush (41-13-6, 88 points), on the road on Tuesday and Wednesday and host the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs (35-21-4, 74 points) on Saturday.

If the Rush can beat the Brahmas in both of their games and the Bucks can get a point against the Jackalopes on Wednesday, they should have the third seed to themselves by that night after finishing the season series with the Brahmas with a 4-3-0 record.

Anyway, you can read more about the game in Bryan Benway's press release.

The team will take a well-deserved day off tomorrow after getting home from North Richland Hills, but they'll practice on Thursday, so I'll be there to get updates on the status of injured players and everything else.

Game No. 60 - Bucks vs. Sundogs

2010-03-13T19:25:00.016-06:00

Starters: Bucks - Jeff Bes (F), Sylvain Deschatelets (F), Ryan Lehr (D), Pier-Olivier Pelletier (G), Adam Rivet (D), Darryl Smith (F); Sundogs - Marc Belanger (F), Torren DelForte (F), Linus Fagemo (F), J. F. Perras (G), Evan Shaw (D), Andrew Winnik (D).

First Period: First shot of the game on Pelletier taken just seven seconds in and calmly set aside. ... Igor Agarunov is playing as a forward tonight despite the missing defenseman and just took the Bucks' first shot on net. ... Pelletier just made a nice glove save on a backhander from a Sundogs player all alone in front. I believe it was Joey Sides, but I'm not sure I caught the right number. ... Another turnover in the Bucks' zone gave Fagemo the puck all alone, but his shot missed the net high. ... Maxime Lincourt just chipped the puck up to Curtis Billsten, who got it as he gained the zone and skated past the Sundogs' defense to put the puck five-hole on Perras. The goal light didn't go off immediately, and it took a split second for both players to react, so I wasn't sure that was a goal right away, but it definitely was. Bucks lead 1-0 at 4:57 in the period. ... Darryl Smith, who gave the puck to Lincourt on the half-wall, got the second assist on that goal. ... Another great save by Pelletier on a fast play out front his net keeps the Sundogs off the board with about seven minutes down. ... After Perras fell down making a save and lost the puck, Billsten shoved Kevin Jarman to the ice right beside his goaltender. The Bucks weren't able to recover the puck on that play, though, and the score stays 1-0. ... Close call for the Bucks as another chance for the Sundogs trickled through Pelletier's pads. Luckily for him, it went to the outside of the net. ... Sundogs get the game's first power play at 8:33 with Paul Elliott in the box for two minutes for high sticking. ... Only one shot was taken by the Sundogs as that penalty was killed. ... The Bucks got a break right as Elliott came out of the box and seemed assured to go up 2-0 but the player who went to take the shot on the loose puck out front missed, and that gave the Sundogs a breakaway, on which Pelletier made another great save. ... A shot just hit Pelletier's left post on a very close call for the Bucks. ... Sundogs back on the power play at 14:58 with Lehr in the box for holding. ... Penalty killed. ... Deschatelets has made this a 2-0 game with just 1:24 to play in the period on a point-blank one-timer that beat Perras glove side. Smith passed the puck to him from just behind the goal line to Perras's right. Not sure if they're giving a second assist. ... First power play for the Bucks comes with just 44 seconds on the clock with Shaw headed to the box for holding. ... That will carry over to the second period, as the Bucks did not score in the first 44 seconds of their advantage. ... End of the period, Bucks lead 2-0, up 11-10 on shots. That is their first shot lead of the game.

Second Period: The Bucks were not able to set up very well on that carried-over power play, only taking one shot before it was killed. ... A couple big hits have been handed out along the boards in the first couple minutes of this middle period. ... The Sundogs have taken back the shot lead at 13-12. ... A little bit of a scrap ensued behind then net after they took their 14th, but no penalties are being assessed. ... Not much later, Adam Smyth is headed to the box to give the Bucks their second power play of the game. He'll serve two for interference at 5:19. ... Lehr rang a slap shot off the crossbar with not much time left on that one, but the Bucks were unable to get a shot on goal. Penalty killed. .... Another penalty has been called against the Sundogs after a bit of a delay, and now there is some shoving going on around the net. Matt Hanson will go to the box for this one, slashing at 8:07. ... The Bucks just missed a series of chanced with Perras down and out, as they couldn't seem to get a stick on the puck in close, then Benjamin Dieude-Fauvel missed the net wide on a slap shot, then Deschatelets missed a loose puck right out front. Penalty killed. ... An interesting series of events as Kevin Jarman crushed Agarunov into the boards, then started shoving him while he was down. Shoving ensued, and Dieude-Fauvel eventually dropped the gloves with Smyth. ... Dieude-Fauvel and Smyth will each serve five for fighting, and play will be 4-on-4 with Agarunov in for holding and Jarman for boarding. ... Lead cut to 2-1 as the Sundogs scored on their 18th shot of the game. Defenseman Nick Biond0, who was trailing on the play, scored it after getting a drop pass from Kyle Hood. That goal came at 12:37. ... And, just like that, the Bucks have their two-goal advantage back. Billsten scored his second of the night, 10th of the season, from between the circles. Eric Giosa nearly tackled him in celebration. Giosa gets an assist for his pass out to Billsten, but I think Rivet touched the puck, so he might get one, too. Bucks lead 3-1 at 13:18. ... With 3:39 left on the clock, the Sundogs have cut the lead to one again on a goal by Belanger. Bucks lead 3-2. ... And the Bucks have answered once again, this time on Lincourt's first goal since Dec. 8, a flukey wrister that beat Perras stick side. Bucks lead 4-2 with 2:43 to play in the period. ... Pelletier has much of the crowd on its feet after making an unbelievable behind-the-back save on a second-chance attempt by the Sundogs. Keeping them from getting within one with so little time left in the period could be crucial for the Bucks, and doing it in dramatic fashion just gets the fans that much more involved. ... End of the period, Bucks lead 4-2, up 23-22 on shots.

Third Period: The final period has started a little slow, with far less hitting and shooting than the opening minutes of the first two. ... Jeff Bes just missed the net wide on a 2-on-1 chance with Deschatelets. Deschatelets carried the puck up the ice, then sent a long pass across to Bes, who couldn't quite get his shot on net. ... And now Lincourt has his second goal of the night, and he looked awfully happy to get it. He has given the Bucks a 5-2 lead at 4:17 by knocking a loose puck past Perras stick side while the goalie was a bit out of position. Billsten has what is currently the lone assist. The Bucks have picked up the shooting a bit in the past couple minutes and now lead 27-22 in shots, having held the Sundogs to zero in that category so far this period. ... Bucks going on the power play at 6:15 after Mike Nesdill interfered with Smith. ... Penalty killed. ... Bucks going on another power play at 10:58. Well, they were going to be, but now that Rivet and Smyth got tangled up and Rivet held Smith face-down to the ice, maybe they won't. Nope, they still are, with Jarman in the box for high-sticking. Of course, the Rivet-Smyth thing happened on the one part of the ice I can't see over my laptop, so I'm not sure exactly what went on there, but I guess nothing the refs think was worth penalizing. ... Belanger just hit the crossbar on a shorthanded chance. ... Checking has picked up again, and Billsten was just shoved to the ice trying to get in position in front of Perras. ... Penalty killed. ... The Sundogs just got the puck into the net behind Pelletier, but the net came off its moorings before it crossed the goal line, so the score remains 5-2. ... Deschatelets is headed to the box for tripping to give the Sundogs their first power play in quite some time at 16:46. ... It's interesting how physical parts of this game have been considering how infrequently these teams see each other. Another tussle has Sides going to the box. Wait, his number was just taken off the board, while Dieude-Fauvel has joined Deschatelets in the Bucks' box. Okay, now Sides' penalty is back up, but as a five-minute major. That is for spearing, while Dieude-Fauvel has been called for roughing. ... Ouch. Just as he made a stunning save with his back earlier in the game, Pelletier just allowed a goal that has stunned the crowd by bouncing off his back into the net. Only 15.6 seconds left on the clock, so the Sundogs' chances of tying this up are basically nonexistent, but that still stings. ... They're giving that goal to Fagemo, by the way. ... Pelletier had to make one more save, but this one is done.

Game Over: Bucks win 5-3, improve to 30-20-10 (70 points) and take over third place in the Southern Conference with a huge game against the Texas Brahmas just 17 hours away. That Billsten-Giosa-Lincourt line really came through tonight. Arena stars are Deschatelets (3), Lincourt (2) and Billsten (1).

Game Day No. 60

2010-03-13T19:15:00.003-06:00

The Bucks are about to take on the Arizona Sundogs in their second of three games this weekend.

Coming off a 3-2 shootout win that definitely seems to have had them playing their best hockey in the third period, the Bucks (29-20-10, 68 points) will try to win tonight to take over third place heading into a matchup with the Texas Brahmas (31-23-6, 68 points) tomorrow.

The Bucks can also move ahead of the Brahmas with an overtime loss.

Pier-Olivier Pelletier (7-4-2) will make his second straight start for the Bucks, while J.F. Perras (7-7-2) is starting for the Sundogs for the first time since suffering an injury on Dec. 13.

Jarred Mohr is a scratch for the Bucks, with his name literally crossed off the lineup card. Mike Looby is finally back in the lineup, but the Bucks will be two men down tonight.

You can read more about the matchup in Bryan Benway's preview and the Pointstreak pre-game notes.

You can follow the game here or on Pointstreak, watch on CHL-TV or listen on Imagen 94.1 FM.

Game No. 59 - Bucks 3, Killer Bees 2, SO

2010-03-12T23:20:00.000-06:00

The Bucks were able to rally from a third-period deficit to get a 3-2 shootout win tonight, and apparently they only needed a victory, not one in regulation, to clinch a playoff spot, because they have.

That answers the question as to whether or not they'll make the playoffs, now we'll see if they can get past the Texas Brahmas, with whom they are again tied, for the third seed.

More on everything tomorrow.

Game No. 59 - Bucks 3, Killer Bees 2, SO

2010-03-12T19:35:00.002-06:00

The first game of the Bucks' seventh straight 3-in-3 weekend is about to begin as they are set to face the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees in Hidalgo.

You can follow the game on Brian Sandalow's blog or Pointstreak, watch on CHL-TV or listen on Imagen 94.1 FM.

The Bucks can clinch a playoff spot with a regulation win tonight and move back into a tie for third place in the Southern Conference with a win and a regulation loss by the Texas Brahmas, who are playing the Mississippi RiverKings.

Bucks Ink Fletcher

2010-03-12T11:30:00.001-06:00

The Bucks have signed 24-year-old rookie forward Tyler Fletcher to help out during yet another shorthanded period.

Fletcher has been at the University of Wisconsin-Superior for the past three seasons and finished his college career on Feb. 20.

You can view his college profile here, college stats here and find his junior stats on his Hockey DB page.

Fletcher has been in Laredo since Wednesday, but Coach Ruskowski wasn't sure he'd be getting signed because there's no guarantee the Bucks will want to keep him around once injured guys come back and Fletcher was exploring other options.

I guess he decided this was his best bet, though, and he will be in the lineup tonight against the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees.

UPDATE: I wrote this post yesterday, so I did not read Bryan Benway's press release before I published it, so the comment on the previous post was the first I heard about Robin Richards going on leave. I'm honestly not sure why he has done that because usually leave is granted to players dealing with family tragedies and things like that, but Richards was in the stands at practice yesterday and seemed fine. I'll let you know if I hear anything about that.

Quotes and Notes

2010-03-11T20:40:00.000-06:00

This is a bit belated because I had assignments most of the day, but as promised, here are Coach Ruskowski's quotes on last night's 4-1 loss to the Corpus Christi IceRays from my story in today's paper:

On the Bucks' effort: I think somebody put it pretty well in the dressing room, that nobody showed up tonight. I just don’t understand why. If they can’t get up for such an important game like tonight, then I’ve got major problems. How do you not get motivated for a game like this? It’s an important game for both teams. This was our building, our fans, and we didn’t give them anything to cheer for. It was very disappointing to have that kind of result.

On the IceRays scoring first: I think the first goal took us out of it. We’ve had a hard time scoring against this team, and when they scored that first goal, I felt it was a big goal for them. Of course, when they scored the second goal, it was a huge one to really take the air out of our balloon.

On the 3-on-5 goal: We didn’t get many chances to score, and when we did we shot it right into the goalie’s belly, we didn’t make him work for it at all. It was nice to see that goal go in, don’t get me wrong, but it was just too little, too late.

On the power play: Our power play was nonexistent today. We tried changing it around a little bit, but the guys didn’t seem like they wanted to. We changed it up after the second period, but they didn’t do it. That was disappointing. They didn’t do the job overall.

On the performance of Kevin Desfosses: I don’t think he played badly at all. I can’t put the blame on him at all; I put the blame on defensive coverage, picking up guys and not doing their job properly. We just didn’t have anybody attacking. We didn’t have anybody winning those battles along the boards to make plays. It was very frustrating to watch the team play the way they did.

I asked Ruskowski about Desfosses again today, as far as whether or not he believed his confidence could be wavering after losing four straight decisions, and he said he doesn't see that as the case.

Pier-Olivier Pelletier was back on the ice for practice, but he was coughing through most of it, so he might need to stay on the bench for another game or two.

Ruskowski said that decision will be made tomorrow.

As mentioned in response to a prior comment, defenseman Jarred Mohr and forward Robin Richards sat out of today's practice to rest nagging injuries.

Mohr's is an upper-body affliction, but I'm not all too sure what's wrong with Richards.

They are both expected to play tomorrow, while defenseman Mike Looby, who has missed the past two games, is still day-to-day.

Igor Agarunov, who moved back to defense late in last night's game, was suited up as a d-man for practice today and may have to play on the blue line tomorrow against the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees.

The Bucks' next two opponents faced off this morning, and Killer Bees picked up a 6-2 win over the Arizona Sundogs to keep themselves in a hunt for a playoff spot.

The Bucks (28-20-10, 66 points) can clinch their own spot with a regulation win over the Killer Bees tomorrow but will still be fighting for position even if they manage that.

Obviously, the top two teams in the Southern Conference are worlds away from their competition, but the four battling for the other three spots are just nine points apart from top to bottom.

Heading into tomorrow's games, the standings are:

Texas Brahmas: 31-22-6, 68 points
Bucks: 28-20-10, 66 points
IceRays: 27-24-8, 62 points
Killer Bees: 25-25-9, 59 points

The Bucks have a game in hand on the other three teams but are the only team with three games on the schedule over the next three days.

Speaking of that schedule, Ruskowski is not very thrilled with it, and you can read what he had to say about that in my story in tomorrow's paper.

Keep in mind two things: 1. This is the seventh straight 3-in-3 weekend for the Bucks. 2. They will get on the bus on Saturday night after hosting the Sundogs at 7:30 p.m., drive over seven hours to North Richland Hills, lose an hour to Daylight Savings Time, then play at 4 p.m. in a building they have yet to win in this season against a team that doesn't even play the day before.

Okay, I guess that turns out to be more than two things. But any way you look at it, the schedule is pretty tough for the Bucks.

Adam Rivet said he thinks sometimes the team steps up in the last games of those 3-in-3 situations, but any group of players is bound to be tired after four games in less than five days.

Meanwhile, for more on yesterday's game and what the win meant for the IceRays, you can check out Greg Rajan's blog and his game story, and for more on the Killer Bees' win today, you can read Brian Sandalow's blog and his game story.

I have to run for now, but I'll try to find some time to post before tomorrow night's game.

Game No. 58 - Bucks vs. IceRays

2010-03-10T18:45:00.026-06:00

Starters: Bucks - Jeff Bes (F), Sylvain Deschatelets (F), Kevin Desfosses (G) Jarred Mohr (D), Adam Rivet (D), Darryl Smith (F); IceRays - Kevin Beech (G), Chad Costello (F), Jesse Dudas (D), Kyle Peto (D), Justin Quenneville (F), Chad Woollard (F).

First Period: Neil Trimm limped into the press box just before the Bucks' starters skated out for the game. He will be doing color commentary for Bryan Benway tonight, taking over for Jeremy Swanson, who has been doing that job for a while. ... United boys' basketball coach Archie Ramos dropped the ceremonial puck tonight, and I believe his regional semifinalist team is sitting over in Section 112. ... IceRays won the opening faceoff, then play was pretty back and forth until they took the first shot on goal of the game a little under two minutes in and Desfosses covered the puck for the first stoppage in play. ... Bes took the Bucks' first shot on net a couple minutes after the first one for the IceRays. Both teams have just one so far. ... Eric Giosa got the Bucks their second shot of the game, and now Dulle has given them the first power play by taking a tripping call at 5:09 in the period. ... That advantage has been cut short by a hooking call on Deschatelets at 6:37. Bucks will have to kill 1:28 of a power play after 32 seconds of 4-on-4 here. ... Penalty killed. ... Seems to be a problem with the ice along to the boards to Beech's left, and the linesmen and a couple of IceRays have been scraping away at it for a minute or two. One of the linesman just poured some more water on it, and now things seem to be good. ... One of the IceRays just took a shot that was deflected up into the Mexican flag. Despite the lack of netting on that side of the ice, you don't see that every day. ... Ryan Garbutt just took a shot that seemed to bounce off the post at ice level, just seconds after one of his teammates missed a pretty open net wide. ... Another IceRays shot was barely held in front of the goal line by Desfosses, who then had Mohr come flying into the net over his leg. ... And now the IceRays have hit the crossbar, too. ... Ryan Lehr just took some sort of hit to the face that was originally ignored by the officials. Once his bleeding required Bobby Moore to leave the bench to take him to the dressing room, Rivet argued the Bucks' case, and now Garbutt is in the box. Two minutes for roughing at 12:38. ... Penalty killed. ... Desfosses just stopped a shot by Dulle that one of his teammates nearly took away from him after he had made the stop. ... Moore is back behind the bench, but Lehr is not out there. That leaves the Bucks with just four defensemen, so I imagine Coach Ruskowski will need to move a forward back at this point. ... The Americans have taken a 1-0 lead over the Brahmas 10:50 into their game. ... Evan Schwabe and Todd Griffith just got a 2-on-1 break created within the IceRays' zone, but Beech was able to read the play pretty well and stop Griffith's shot. ... Couple iffy offsides calls against the Bucks in the past few minutes. Deschatelets was definitely not happy about the most recent one. ... Bucks just missed the net way wide on a good chance. ... Turnover by the IceRays just gave Griffith another chance, but Beech made the stop. ... Decent chances for each team in the final minute, but some just-off passes messed things up for both of them. Mohr took a shot from outside the blue line as time expired that ended up right in Beech's chest. ... End of the period, game tied 0-0, Bucks up 9-6 on shots. ... That United boys' basketball team is on the ice to be honored by the Bucks and those in attendance. ... Americans still have that 1-0 lead at the end of the first in North Richland Hills.

Second Period: Swanson is in the press box to take over the color commentary for the second period. ... Lehr is back out for the second period. ... Lots of back and forth and missed shots for the Bucks before Costello got the scoring in this one started at 4:47 with a goal from the slot, assisted by Quenneville and Garbutt. IceRays lead 1-0. ... Worth noting the Bucks have yet to register a shot on goal in this period, while the IceRays' goal came on their fourth of the period. ... Another late offsides call against the Bucks, who have not been doing a great job entering the offensive zone tonight. ... Giosa just missed a couple chances on a loose puck right out in front of Beech as he failed to elevate the rebound from a shot by one of the linemates after the IceRays absent-mindedly dropped it back into their own zone. ... Richards and Garbutt just got a 2-on-1 with Dieude-Fauvel chasing them down and Desfosses made the save on Richards' shot. ... Schwabe was just slammed into the boards backwards by Quenneville as he attempted to turn around to grab the puck. ... Another shot has been deflected near the flags, but this one hit just above the American flag, not the flag itself. ... Players seem to be getting tangled up with each other inadvertently quite a bit the paste few minutes. ... The IceRays are going on the first power play of the period as Griffith heads to the box to serve a too-many-men bench minor at 13:57. ... Smith got a breakaway across nearly the entire sheet of ice with one of the IceRays right on his back but didn't seem to get quite the shot he wanted as he pushed the puck right into Beech's pads. ... Another shorthanded break about 30 seconds later gave Deschatelets and Schwabe a 2-on-1 chance. Schwabe elevated the puck but put it on the back of the cage. ... Nice glove save by Desfosses with six seconds left on the advantage for the IceRays. They'll get a faceoff to his right for one last chance. ... Chris Richards won the faceoff, but the IceRays allowed the puck out past the blue line, and the penalty has been killed. ... With 3:12 left in the period, Chris Richards' wrist shot has given the IceRays a 2-0 lead. Assists go to Ryan Bennett and Dulle. ... An interesting series of events, which included the Bucks missing quite a few chances and Rivet moving in on offense with Igor Agarunov back at the point, Costello got an odd break then dropped the puck back to one of his teammates, possibly Quenneville, who had a great chance to increase their lead. Desfosses was able to deflect the puck over the net, but it nearly hit the crossbar and fell in behind him. ... The post-whistle shoving on the final one of the period had four or so Bucks gang up on Garbutt, with Dieude-Fauvel eventually throwing a punch. Rivet is angrily talking to referee Dan Dreger, so I'm guessing the IceRays might be on a power play to start the third. For some reason, the goal light went off with about six seconds left, but there was no goal scored. ... End of the period, IceRays lead 2-0, up 17-16 on shots. ... The Americans hold a 2-1 lead over the Brahmas at the end of their second period.

Third Period: Desfosses' net has been knocked off its moorings just 18 seconds into the final stanza. ... Griffith almost walked one past Beech, but the goalie sprawled back to keep it out of the net. ... Bucks back in the shot lead for the first time since early in the second, 18-17. ... Brahmas have tied their game at 2. ... Smith and Bes just got a 2-on-1 break, and Peto, the man back on defense, bought a fake-out play by Smith to be taken out of things, then Smith opted to shoot rather than pass and Beech robbed him with a glove save. Can't say the Bucks aren't getting their chances. ... R.G. Flath to the box for hooking at 5:06 to give the Bucks their first power play in quite some time and Robin Richards one of his first shifts in just as long. ... The Bucks just cannot hold the puck in on the power play. ... Another nice save by Beech keeps the Bucks off the board. ... Penalty killed. ... Nice kick save by Desfosses on another close call for the Bucks. ... Some more misfires by the Bucks and a save by Beech thrown in there sent the IceRays back on offense, and, despite changing while the Bucks had a chance to regroup, they have made it 3-0 on Chad Costello's second of the night. Quenneville and Dulle with the assists on that score at 8:55. ... Giosa just got his helmet knocked off and tapped it with his stick, accidentally sending it behind Desfosses into the net. That sets up a lot of jokes, but I'll refrain. ... Less than 10 minutes left in regulation. ... Agarunov is staying back on defense now, meaning Robin Richards is out with Giosa and Curtis Billsten. ... Matt Smyth just missed Powell with his pass on a 3-on-1, giving Dieude-Fauvel, the one guy back, and Desfosses a break. ... Not long after he starts playing regular shifts, Robin Richards is headed to the penalty box for holding. IceRays get the power play at 13:05. That might be the reason Ruskowski was hoping to stick with five d-men tonight. ... IceRays getting a 5-on-3 now with a delayed call on Smith, who heads to the box for high sticking at 13:33. IceRays get the two-man advantage for 1:22. Not an ideal situation for the Bucks down 3-0 to a team they didn't want to take penalties against in the first place. Paul Elliott, Mohr and Bes out for the Bucks. ... Mohr stayed out after the first change and is now joined by Rivet and Schwabe. ... Well, that was a bit of a surprise. Bucks got a 2-on-1 break still killing that 5-on-3, and Schwabe passed to Rivet, who beat Beech just above the pad stick side and break up his shutout bid. I must admit, I was thinking the Bucks shouldn't commit to that too much and get caught with only one man back on defense, but for the first time tonight, that risk paid off for them. The IceRays' lead is 3-1 with 5:44 on the clock. Peto was the lone man back to defend for the IceRays and nearly broke up that pass but just missed to give Rivet that chance. ... And now the Americans are back on top of the Brahmas, 3-2. ... Desfosses just deflected a shot that was wide of the net out of play with six seconds left on the first penalty. IceRays get the faceoff to the right of Desfosses. ... Penalty killed. ... Richards got a lead pass not long after coming back to the box but couldn't beat Peto to the puck or get it away from him on the boards. ... Both penalties killed. If the Bucks weren't already down 3-0 before then, that kill could have made this game. Well, I guess it still could. Technically. ... Griffith just missed a pass right at his feet, allowing the IceRays to clear. ... Brahmas have tied their game again. ... Bennett just whipped a wrister over Desfosses' shoulder on a nice pass by Chris Richards, and that might be the end of this one. Still 2:18 on the clock, but it's not nearly as appealing to pull your goalie down 4-1 as it is down 3-1. Garbutt getting the second assist on that. ... Garbutt out again just attempted a wraparound that Desfosses shoved away then went after the loose puck, forcing Desfosses to make another save. That puts the IceRays back on top in shots, 25-24. ... Icing with 4.5 seconds to go gives the Bucks a faceoff to Beech's left. ... Desfosses could not skate off the ice fast enough.

Game Over: Bucks lose 4-1, fall to 28-20-10 (66 points) and keep their magic number stuck at four. ... To make matters just a little bit worse for the Bucks, the Americans and Brahmas are heading into overtime, meaning the Brahmas get at least a point tonight. ... That game went to a shootout, and the Brahmas lost, but they still pick up a point on the Bucks in the race for third place. ... As I'm sure you could guess, Ruskowski was not very pleased with the effort tonight. He said someone in the dressing room said no one showed up, and he agreed. I got almost all of his quotes into my story for tomorrow's paper, so check that out or check back here tomorrow for them. There is practice tomorrow before the ice gets covered for the George Lopez event on Friday, so I'll be here.

Game Day No. 58

2010-03-10T18:25:00.004-06:00

The Bucks will be on the ice in a few minutes to warm up for their game against the Corpus Christi IceRays.

Both teams are still battling for a playoff spot, but the Bucks (28-19-10, 66 points) are a bit closer than the IceRays (26-24-8, 60 points) right now.

They still can't clinch tonight, though, as Bryan Benway's press release explains, because the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees (24-5-9, 57 points) have gone on a bit of a hot streak as of late and need to lose a game before a single Bucks' win can get them into the postseason.

Heading into tonight's contest, the "magic number" for the Bucks is four, meaning if they win tonight and the Killer Bees lose tomorrow, they're in, and if they can string together two straight wins, they can get in on their own.

Coach Ruskowski and Jeff Bes said yesterday that special teams will be the key to tonight's game and that staying out of the box is a big priority for the team.

Bes also explained just how important it is that the team not just make the playoffs, but make sure they beat out the Texas Brahmas (31-22-5, 67 points) for the Southern Conference's third seed:

"That’s our focus right now," he said. "I’m sure it is for Texas, too. It’s our playoffs right now. We’re playing off for that third seed. We’re doing everything we can, but we have to take it one game at a time.”

Bes actually broke it down a bit further than that, saying the team needs to try to win every period, and even every five-minute segment, of every game left on the scheduled. Obviously, that starts (again) tonight.

The Brahmas are also in action tonight, hosting the second-place Allen Americans (38-15-5, 81 points). I'll update on that game in addition to the one at the LEC in my game blog tonight.

As I mentioned would probably be the case yesterday, Kevin Desfosses (10-11-2) will be in net for the Bucks tonight. He just led the team onto the ice for warmups, as Kevin Beech (9-5-2) did for the IceRays.

Despite the cold that kept him out of practice yesterday, Pier-Olivier Pelletier (6-4-2) will be on the bench as the backup for Desfosses tonight.

Defenseman Mike Looby, who is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, is not on the ice.

Ruskowski told me yesterday that if Looby was not able to play today, he would just use five defensemen unless they got too tired. He actually thinks they play a bit better when they're getting more time on the ice like that, so we'll see how things work out tonight.

You can read the aforementioned press release and my notebook from today's Times for a little more on the game, and for the stats and all that jazz, you can check out the pre-game notes.

Once the game begins, you can follow it here or on Pointstreak, watch on CHL-TV or listen on Imagen 94.1 FM.

Some Quotes

2010-03-09T20:30:00.000-06:00

I spoke to Coach Ruskowski and Jeff Bes about a few things, including the losses to the Texas Brahmas and Odessa Jackalopes over the weekend, after practice today and just wanted to share some quotes.

I don't have time to transcribe them all right now, but here's the stuff Ruskowski had to say about those games:

Ruskowski on the loss to the Brahmas: We just haven't played our best game up in Texas. It's a tough place to play. They don't have much of a crowd - maybe 2,000 - but they're very noisy. They're rink is really small, and it's hard... you really have to have a clear mind when you go in there. Never mind what's going on around you, just go out and play the game. And we did that at the start, we played pretty well, and then they started hitting is pretty hard and took us off our game a little bit. But then we came back and scored the goal to make it 2-1, but then we never could catch up. We were always a step behind, and it was unfortunate because that was a big game for them and a big game for us, and we didn't meet the challenge the way we should have.

Ruskowski on the loss to the Jackalopes: Obviously, we made a couple of mistakes, and when you make a couple of mistakes against Odessa, they will make you pay for it. Then we took a penalty right after that, and they had momentum, and they scored a power-play goal, which they usually do because their power play is an excellent power play - probably No. 1 in the league. They move the puck around so well, and they've got such great goal scorers. The players they have on the ice have such great vision, they'll see guys open that other guys can't, that other players back here can't see. But they'll see it and find the open guy, and when they have an opportunity, they don't miss a whole lot. But we hung on, we went to 11 shooters, and they finally scored. I thought the guys worked a lot harder and a lot better against Odessa than they did against Texas. Hopefully we can continue that effort with guys coming back to play for us off the IR and the guys that are going on the IR. We have an opportunity to get on track again.

I also asked Ruskowski what he thinks of Ryan Lehr so far.

"I think he's fitting in just fine," Ruskowski said. "I think he's a kid who cares, who wants to learn to get better. He's definitely getting the ice time now with the situation we're faced with, and I think he's doing fine. I think he's going to be a really good hockey player for us. He's got good size, he skates well, moves the puck well, he has a really good shot. I like him. I think once he gets more games under his belt, he'll even be more effective, but I like him and I think he's going to be a really good defenseman for us."

I'll post the rest, and what Bes had to say, as soon as I can.

Best of the Best

2010-03-09T14:20:00.000-06:00

The Central Hockey League's "Best of the Best" poll winners were announced today, and three Bucks were honored in four categories.

Player/assistant coach Jeff Bes finished second in voting for Smartest Player and Best Leader, reigning Rookie of the Year Darryl Smith finished third in voting for Best Stickhandler, and defenseman Benjamin Dieude-Fauvel finished third in voting for Best Bodychecker.

The Bucks did not earn any off-ice recognition this year.

Riley Nelson dominated the individual honors, as focused on in Lee Scheide's story being used on the CHL Web site, and he quoted Coach Ruskowski about the Colorado Eagles star:

"He's a player that going to make everyone around him better," said Laredo coach Terry Ruskowski, who is very familiar with Nelson's abilities. "Good stickhandler, very smart with the puck and on the penalty kill, great on the forecheck and if there's a turnover, he's gone and you're not going to catch him.

"I would love to have him on my team, just like every other coach would."

I guess he must have spoken to Ruskowski when the Bucks were up on Odessa on Saturday, but the official results were released during practice so neither Ruskowski nor any of the players knew who had won anything until I spoke to them about it.

The full results, votes included, are in an Excel document, so I'm just going to copy and paste the player honorees without the votes below:

1 Best Overall Player
Riley Nelson - Colorado
Kevin Ulanski - Colorado
Justin Bowers - Allen
2 Fastest Skater
Justin Kinnunen - Texas
Riley Nelson - Colorado
Ryan Garbutt - Corpus Christi
3 Best Stickhandler
Ed McGrane - Colorado
Sebastien Thinel - Odessa
Darryl Smith - Laredo
4 Best Playmaker
Sebastien Thinel - Odessa
Riley Nelson - Colorado
Jeff Christian - Missouri
5 Smartest Player
Riley Nelson - Colorado
Jeff Bes - Laredo
Jeff Christian - Missouri
6 Best Goaltender
Joel Martin - Odessa
Danny Battochio - Rapid City
Brett Jaeger - Texas
7 Most Underrated Player
Collin Circelli - Odessa
Chad Costello - Corpus Christi
Bruce Graham - Allen
8 Best on Power Play
Sebastien Thinel - Odessa
Aaron Schneekloth - Colorado
Mike Ramsay - Odessa
9 Best Penalty Killer
Riley Nelson - Colorado
Kevin Ulanski - Colorado
Louis Dumont - Mississippi
10 Hardest Shooter
Chad Woollard - Corpus Christi
Joe Blaznek - Bossier-Shreveport
Derek Landmesser - Mississippi
11 Best Defensive Forward
Brett Smith - Bossier-Shreveport
Marty Standish - Tulsa
Brian Swiniarski - Odessa
12 Best Offensive Defenseman
Aaron Schneekloth - Colorado
Alex Dunn - Odessa
Simon Mangos - Bossier-Shreveport
13 Best Defensive Defenseman
Dave Van Drunen - Odessa
Chris Kaufman - Allen
Gio Flamminio - Rapid City
14 Best Player on Face-Offs
Kory Karlander - Odessa
Chris Richards - Corpus Christi
Bruce Graham - Allen
15 Best Bodychecker
Colt King - Rapid City
Jean Bourbeau - Odessa
Benjamin Dieude-Fauvel - Laredo
16 Best Fighter (Heavyweight)
Brett Clouthier - Rio Grande Valley
Carlyle Lewis - Missouri
Alex Penner - Colorado
17 Best Fighter (Pound for Pound)
Fraser Filipic - Colorado
David Simoes - Mississippi
Chris Cloud - Amarillo
18 Best Power Forward
Colt King - Rapid City
Ryan Tobler - Colorado
David Nimmo - Amarillo
19 Best Leader
Riley Nelson - Colorado
Jeff Bes - Laredo
Chris Bartolone - Arizona
20 Most Gentlemanly Player
Riley Nelson - Colorado
Craig Minard - Texas
Justin Quenneville - Corpus Christi
21 Most Annoying Player
Karl Sellan - Missouri
James Hiebert - Texas
Konrad Reeder - Arizona
22 Best Rookie
Ryan Garbutt - Corpus Christi
Danny Battochio - Rapid City
Nick Sirota - Missouri
23 Best Coach
Joe Ferras - Rapid City
Paul Gillis - Odessa
Brian Pellerin - Amarillo
24 Best Training / Equipment Staff
Colorado Eagles
Allen Americans
Rapid City Rush
25 Best Fans
Rapid City Rush
Colorado Eagles
Missouri Mavericks
26 Most Annoying Fans
Wichita Thunder
Texas Brahmas
Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs
27 Toughest Building to Win In
Budweiser Events Center - Colorado
NYTEX Sports Centre - Texas
Rushmore Plaza Arena - Rapid City
28 Hardest Working Team
Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs
Texas Brahmas
Odessa Jackalopes
29 Best Arena
INTRUST Bank Arena - Wichita
BOK Center - Tulsa
Budweiser Events Center - Colorado
30 Best Locker Rooms
INTRUST Bank Arena - Wichita
BOK Center - Tulsa
State Farm Arena - Rio Grande Valley
31 Best Ice Surface
Budweiser Events Center - Colorado
Rushmore Plaza Arena - Rapid City
CenturyTel Center - Bossier-Shreveport
32 Best Team Logo
Allen Americans
Corpus Christi IceRays
Colorado Eagles
33 Best Team Uniforms (Overall)
Allen Americans
Rapid City Rush
Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees
34 Best Broadcaster
Josh Bogorad - Corpus Christi
Brien Rea - Odessa
Travis Huntington - Bossier-Shreveport
35 Best PA Announcer
Reed Saunders - Colorado
Sugar Ray Quinn - Rapid City
Steve Garrett - Missouri
36 Best Press Box
Colorado Eagles
Corpus Christi IceRays
Wichita Thunder
37 Best Game Notes
Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees
Corpus Christi IceRays
Arizona Sundogs
38 Best Team Website
Arizona Sundogs
Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees
Corpus Christi IceRays
39 Best Mascot
Sir-Sting-A-Lot - Rio Grande Valley
ThunderDog - Wichita
Stomp - Amarillo
40 Best On-Ice Promotions
Colorado Eagles
Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees
Missouri Mavericks
41 Best Cheerleaders/Dance Team
Eagle Chicks - Colorado
Ice Angels - Allen
Rushettes - Rapid City
42 Best Arena Music
Rushmore Plaza Arena - Rapid City
Independence Events Center - Missouri
Amarillo Civic Center - Amarillo
43 Best Arena Concessions
Ector County Coliseum - Odessa
BOK Center - Tulsa
Allen Event Center - Allen
44 Best City
Allen - Allen Americans
Independence - Missouri Mavericks
Prescott Valley - Arizona Sundogs
45 Best Host Hotel
Courtyard by Marriott - Allen
Fort Collins Marriott - Colorado
MCM Elegante - Odessa
46 Best Booster Club
Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs
Texas Brahmas
Odessa Jackalopes

Injury Report

2010-03-09T14:15:00.002-06:00

As you may have noticed on the Pointstreak transactions page, forward Maxime Lincourt has been taken off the injured reserve and Neil Trimm has replaced him there, going on the 14-day IR.

Lincourt originally suffered an upper-body injury on Dec. 27, then came back on Jan. 29 and played 10 games before re-aggravating the injury and being placed back on the shelf.

He has been skating with the team the past couple weeks and in full-contact practice the past couple days, so he is expected to be ready to go for tomorrow's game against the Corpus Christi IceRays.

Trimm, who suffered a lower-body injury in the Bucks' 5-2 loss to the Texas Brahmas on Friday, is going on the IR for the third time this season. All three have been with lower-body ailments. There is no immediate timetable for his return.

Mike Looby was also injured in Friday's game, but his injury was an upper-body one. He is day-to-day and is being evaluated at some point today to see if he'll be available tomorrow.

Looby was held out of practice today, as was goaltender Pier-Olivier Pelletier, who is battling a cold. Matt Brayfield suited up to fill the second net during practice, and Kevin Desfosses will likely get the start tomorrow night to give Pelletier more time to rest.

Benjamin Dieude-Fauvel was wearing a no-contact yellow jersey today after being banged up a bit over the weekend, but he is expected to play tomorrow.

Obviously other guys are dealing with a little wear and tear, as well, but yesterday's practice was optional, giving everyone a chance to rest up if they needed it.

Forward Mark O'Leary was not in the stands today because he has begun rehabbing the lower-body injury he suffered on Jan. 29. He won't be back in the lineup soon, but if the Bucks can get a round or two into the playoffs, he might be able to get out there.

No one has given me an update on Justin Styffe, who suffered that gruesome lower-body injury on Jan. 16, but he still has not been moved to the season-ending IR.

Game No. 57 - Jackalopes 5, Bucks 4, SO

2010-03-06T23:57:00.003-06:00

Obviously my plans to post before the Bucks' game today did not work out... if you see tomorrow's paper, you might understand.

The Bucks gave up a lead in the third period and eventually fell in the 11th round of a shootout to suffer a 5-4 loss to the Odessa Jackalopes.

The Bucks picked up a point, moving to 28-19-10 (66 points) but dropped to fourth place in the Southern Conference as the Texas Brahmas picked up a 7-3 win over the Rapid City Rush to improve to 31-22-5 (67 points).

The Bucks will get their next chance to clinch a playoff spot when they host the Corpus Christi IceRays (26-23-7, 59 points) on Wednesday.

You can read more about tonight's game in Bryan Benway's press release and Lee Scheide's story for the Odessa American.

Game No. 56 - Brahmas 5, Bucks 2

2010-03-05T23:30:00.001-06:00

Sorry I didn't get a chance to post today, but I just wanted to acknowledge the fact that the Bucks suffered a 5-2 loss to the Texas Brahmas, dropping them to 28-19-9 (65 points) and back into a tie for third place in the Southern Conference with the Brahmas (30-22-5, 65 points), on whom they hold a game in hand.

You can read more about the loss in Bryan Benway's press release, and I'll try my best to work around everything going in Laredo this weekend to post something before they play the Odessa Jackalopes (41-11-4, 86 points) tomorrow night.

Game No. 55 - Bucks vs. Americans

2010-03-04T18:50:00.027-06:00

Starters: Bucks - Igor Agarunov (F), Curtis Billsten (F), Eric Giosa (F), Jarred Mohr (D), Pier-Olivier Pelletier (G), Adam Rivet (D); Americans - Erik Adams (D), Justin Bowers (F), Ryan Fairbarn (D), Jarret Lukin (F), David McKee (G), Matt Radoslovich (F).

First Period: Twelve seconds into the game, the Bucks have taken a 1-0 lead on a goal no one expected less than McKee. Wow. Billsten gets the goal, Rivet and Agarunov pick up assists. ... Pelletier has passed his first couple tests of the night, making a good save on Bowers and on the shot one of his linemates took off the rebound before covering the puck. Those were actually the second and third shots for the Americans, but the first quality chances. ... With the Bucks pushing hard on offense, the puck got blocked out to the point, where Ryan Lehr made his first play as a Buck - allowing the puck to go offsides and killing his team's chance of scoring on that surge. ... Todd Griffith just leveled Mike Salekin into the corner boards behind his own goalie's net. The refs didn't like that nearly as much as the fans, resulting in an interference penalty on Griffith to put the Americans on the game's first power play at 3:44. ... Pelletier just tried to cover the puck and had it yanked out from under his glove by an Americans player, who dragged Pelletier out of his crease. No harm for the Bucks, though, as they soon cleared the zone. ... The Americans got a good chance right after that advantage ended, but the player who took the shot backhanded it right over the net. ... Oddly enough, Salekin has been called for an interference penalty of his own, putting the Bucks on the power play at 6:54. ... And now it is 2-0 Bucks after Darryl Smith benefitted from an awkward bounce to tally his team-leading 30th goal of the season. Might just be my poor eyesight, but I swear I saw an American flip that into the net. That goal came at 8:24 - 1:30 into the power play - and was assisted by Mohr and Sylvain Deschatelets. ... Another odd bounce almost made it 3-0 when Mohr's shot from the point got blocked by an Americans defenseman but almost skipped off him right past McKee. ... Griffith headed to the box again at 10:11, this time for slashing. I thought he had gotten away with it, and so did he, but I guess the ref just waited a bit to raise his arm. Americans on the power play. ... Giosa just got a decent shorthanded chance breaking away on a 2-on-1 with Rivet and put a shot on net, but it was deflected into the netting by McKee. ... The Bucks just missed the net by a couple inches twice in a very short span, and at least a few guys on the ice thought those were goals. ... Some shoving, and a few punches, followed the coverup that ended that chance, but no penalties are being assessed. ... Is it just me, or do the Americans look a tad sloppy tonight? ... Adams headed to the box for tripping at 18:07 to give the Bucks their second power play chance of the night. They're 1-for-1 so far. ... Talk about an awkward bounce! I'm pretty sure the ice just scored a goal as the puck skipped around the players who were looking for it and past McKee to give the Bucks a 3-0 lead with 50.3 on the clock. Mike Looby is getting credit for the goal, with Billsten and Giosa picking up assists. I'd really like to see that again, but it seems the Bucks are no longer showing goal replays on the Jumbotron. ... End of the period, Bucks lead 3-0, up 15-7 on shots. This is exactly what Coach Ruskowski says the Bucks need to do against strong teams, so let's see if they can play well enough to hold onto this lead.

Second Period: Bucks seem to be having some problems with the bench door nearest the goalie seat, and play has halted at 1:21 for everyone to look at that. ... A hard one-timer by Deschatelets was barely gloved by McKee, who couldn't hold onto it but steered it just wide of the net. ... Agarunov just missed a pass at the blue line coming from Billsten behind the Americans' net; that could have been a really big break for the Americans if they had any players hanging out in the neutral zone. ... Lehr just very literally crashed the net, and McKee, chasing the rebound of a shot by Neil Trimm. What followed was more of a line hug than a line brawl, but Salekin did go after Lehr and Lehr fought back, so they are headed to the box. The trainer for the Americans is out on the ice tending to McKee. ... Lehr gets a roughing minor, and Salekin gets a double-minor for the same offense. ... Right off the power play created by two men serving two minutes at once for that double-minor, Robin Richards has taken a board checking penalty to put the Americans on the power play at 8:17. ... Smith got a good break and got a shot off despite the American practically attached to his side, but McKee made the stop. ... Penalty killed. ... Not much to speak of for a while now, though Pelletier has been tested quite a few more times this period than in the first. Shots now 25-23. ... As soon as I said that, the Bucks got a couple more on a chance right out front that eventually resulted in McKee being tangled up with a couple Bucks. Their shot lead is 27-23 now. ... Giosa is headed to the box for tripping at 17:48, immediately following that last chance. Americans on the power play. ... On their 25th shot of the game, the Americans have broken through, on yet another awkward bounce. Bruce Graham deflected that one past Pelletier at 18:49. Fairbarn and Tyler Woodisse get the assists. ... End of the period, Bucks lead 3-1, up 29-25 on shots. Now the question is whether or not the Bucks can keep that goal from throwing them off their game plan in the third. ... Corpus Christi IceRays lead the Brahmas 3-1 after two at the American Bank Center.

Third Period: Bucks have kept the puck away from their own zone for the first couple minutes, getting some decent chances in the process, but no goals. ... Great open-net chance for Deschatelets was thwarted by a diving body that prevented him from getting a shot off. ... Past the five-minute mark, the Americans have yet to take a shot this period. ... Odd series of events as Bes was wiped out then jumped up to get the puck that was given up by an Americans player who had fallen then had his pass attempt toward Smith broken up. Brandon Straub gets a tripping penalty for knocking Bes down, putting the Bucks on the power play at 8:13. ... And at 8:47, this is a three-goal game again. Mohr got the goal, rushing in toward the net, and Trimm and Evan Schwabe get the assists. Bucks are now 3-for-4 on the power play tonight. ... Trimm just took a shot that went five-hole on McKee but was stopped between his legs. He had to turn around to make sure he hadn't let it come out the other side. ... Americans have finally gotten a couple shots on net. Bucks lead 36-28 in that category. ... Incredible defensive play by one of the Americans, I think Salekin, to prevent the Bucks from taking a shot off a 2-on-1 chance for Griffith and Schwabe. ... Under five minutes to play in regulation. ... Doesn't look like the Bucks are going to let this one go, as it is now a 5-1 game. That one was knocked in by Lehr, with Richards and Dieude-Fauvel getting the assists. Now 4:03 on the clock. ... Richards has made it 6-1 by knocking in Smith's rebound at 17:11. Smith and Deschatelets get assists, and everyone is getting fist bumps from Ruskowski on the bench. That doesn't happen often. ... Salekin hasn't been a happy camper for much of this game, and he and Deschatelets just dropped the gloves to give this crowd one more thing to cheer for with under a minute to go. Not too many punches thrown, though.

Game Over: Bucks win 6-1, improve to 28-18-9 (65 points) and for at least the moment take over third place in the Southern Conference outright. ... IceRays leading the Brahmas 4-2 as I head downstairs to talk to Ruskowski. ... Ruskowski said letting Jay Holladay go was "heart-wrenching" but he thinks Lehr has more of an upside for this team. He was rather subdued but happy with the team's performance tonight. I'll post the quotes tomorrow.

Game Day No. 55

2010-03-04T18:45:00.003-06:00

This will be brief because it took me way longer to get from my assignment at Cigarroa to the arena than I expected.

Pier-Olivier Pelletier (5-4-1) will start in goal for the Bucks tonight.

New defenseman Ryan Lehr is wearing No. 19.

The Bucks (27-18-9, 63 points) can take over third place in the Southern Conference outright with a win and a loss by the Texas Brahmas (29-21-5, 63 points) tonight.

You can read more about the game, and this weekend as a whole, in my notebook from today's Times and Bryan Benway's preview.

The Pointstreak pre-game notes have been updated to reflect the addition of Lehr and departure of Jay Holladay.

If you're not in the arena, you can follow tonight's game here or on Pointstreak, watch on CHL-TV or listen on Imagen 94.1 FM.

Bucks Add Defenseman Lehr

2010-03-04T15:20:00.006-06:00

The Bucks just announced that they have signed defenseman Ryan Lehr, who is expected to play tonight against the Allen Americans.

No one has been waived yet in reaction to this move, which could mean Lehr's cap hit is minuscule but could also mean Coach Ruskowski has not yet decided who to let go.

His Hockey DB page implies that he has not been playing the past few seasons, but that is not the case, as he has been a member of the hockey team at St. Thomas University, which ended its season in February.

I'll be back with more, about Lehr and tonight's game, when I get to the arena later.

UPDATE:Jay Holladay has been waived.

Couple Quick Things

2010-03-01T23:05:00.003-06:00

I didn't get time to type up all the quotes today, but just wanted to share a few things quickly before I run away from the office after an absolutely horrible deadline rush.

First of all, as you may have guessed, Sylvain Deschatelets' cap hit is quite a bit higher than that of Ryan Ford, so the Bucks will now only be able to carry 18 players on their active roster at a time.

I assumed that would be the case, but Coach Ruskowski confirmed it today, saying only players taking pay cuts would change the situation.

With that in mind, someone's going to be leaving Laredo when Maxime Lincourt comes off the injured reserve, if Ruskowski doesn't choose to let go of Lincourt to prevent cutting a guy who has been playing.

Lincourt was eligible to come off the IR as of yesterday but will not actually be doing so anytime soon, as his upper-body injury is still nagging away at him.

He did skate at practice today, though, as did every member of the team who isn't on at least the 30-day IR.

First time I remember that happening in a while, honestly, as Jeff Bes and Paul Elliott usually take healing days alternatively, and Adam Rivet missed practice last week.

But they were all there, they all skated a lot, and they practice a lot of passing.

Today was mostly technique drills, nothing too game-like, and Ruskowski said he'll get more into that stuff tomorrow.

I will not be at practice tomorrow, but I'll let you know if I hear of anything happening.

As Bryan Benway mentioned on his blog, a couple of the players' parents are in town and were at practice this morning, and apparently Curtis Billsten's folks took him and Eric Giosa up to S.A. for the afternoon. Guess that is a pretty popular Laredo travel destination.

One last, rather random thing, before I go: The Bucks ended practice today with a shootout, as is usually the case at least once during a full practice week, and I kept track of the goals just in case anyone would be curious about them.

They were scored by Igor Agarunov on a wrist shot that rang off the post past Kevin Desfosses, Jeff Bes on a floater that beat Pier-Olivier Pelletier glove side, Jarred Mohr on a slapper from the left circle past Pelletier, Bes on a nice toe drag move to beat Desfosses and Mike Looby on an ice-level shot that creeped by Pelletier glove side.

Ironically, Bes scored on both goalies in the shootout but could not do so in juice boy, and though I had to leave the stands to talk to Deschatelets before the game ended, his reaction coming off the ice leads me to believe Bes lost in his first time participating in quite a while.

Oh, and Ruskowski was just as pleased with the performance in Saturday's win over the Texas Brahmas as fans seem to be; he thinks that's the way the guys need to play the rest of the year if they want to get back to where this franchise has been.

Deschatelets is Player of the Week

2010-03-01T15:55:00.002-06:00

Not surprisingly, Sylvain Deschatelets has been named the CHL's Player of the Week for Feb. 23-28, nabbing the honor with a strong performance in his first three games with the Bucks.

Deschatelets signed with the Bucks last Wednesday, then scored three goals and handed out four assists to help them to a 2-1 weekend, notching the game-winning tallies in each of the Bucks' two victories.

His three-point performance in Saturday's game against the Texas Brahmas proved to be a catalyst for a huge 5-1 win for the Bucks, and he posted a plus/minus ratio of plus-6 in his first week, proving to be responsible at both ends of the ice.

Deschatelets had been playing in the North American Hockey League, a low-level league of teams that rarely practice and play just once a week, so even Coach Ruskowski has been impressed with his ability to get back to playing at this level so quickly.

Turns out he wasn't there for lack of teams wanting him, though; it was just a step he had taken to stay home with his family after his wife found a good job in Quebec.

He's happy to be back playing full-time, though, and the Bucks are definitely happy to have him.

I talked to Deschatelets and Ruskowski today, about the newest Bucks' weekend and several other topics, so be sure to check out my story in tomorrow's Times for more on this honor.

I'll post the unrelated quotes on the blog as soon as I can.

UPDATE: You can read the Bucks' press release about Deschatelets here.

Game No. 54 - Bucks 5, Brahmas 1

2010-02-27T23:05:00.002-06:00

The Bucks came up big under pressure tonight, earning a 5-1 win over the Texas Brahmas to improve to 27-18-9 (63 points) to move back into a tie for third place in the Southern Conference with the Brahmas, who fell to 29-20-5 (63 points).

The Brahmas will have a chance to take back third place outright when they host the Missouri Mavericks (27-23-4, 58 points), but the Bucks will then have a game in hand on them.

Sylvain Deschatelets is certainly proving to be good find by Coach Ruskowski, as he scored twice and handed out an assist tonight to move his point total with the Bucks to seven in three games.

Darryl Smith had the first four-assist night of his professional career, and Jeff Bes handed out three helpers.

As if chasing the reigning Goaltender of the Week from his net and posting five goals against a team that averages under three goals-against per game, the Bucks apparently got another puck in the twine that was called a no-goal.

You can read more about the game in Bryan Benway's press release, and I'll be sure to ask Coach Ruskowski about it at practice this week.

If there is anything those of you who were there would like to share, please feel free. The best I could get was the game live box because I can't get the radio feeds on my work computer and didn't have my laptop today.

Game Day No. 54

2010-02-27T20:35:00.003-06:00

So sorry for the delay in posting today, but I've been swamped with baseball, golf, softball, soccer, track and field... well, you get the idea, since I got here.

Hopefully some of you are at this game so you can let me know anything the box score doesn't, but those of you who aren't can follow it on Pointstreak, watch on CHL-TV or listen on Imagen 94.1 FM.

Due to a shortage on time, I'm just going to copy and paste my story from last night, which focused a lot on tonight, below:

Bucks win, set up key game

The Laredo Bucks picked up two crucial points in the standings with a 3-2 win over the Rio
Grande Valley Killer Bees on Friday, setting up another battle for third place with the Texas Brahmas tonight at the LEC.

Laredo (26-18-9, 61 points) jumped out to a lead in the first period that was quickly lost but regained it in the second and held on to improve to 10-0-3 against Rio Grande Valley (21-25-8, 50 points) this season.

“It was huge,” Bucks Head Coach/General Manager Terry Ruskowski said. “We need to keep people behind us and try to catch Texas. (Tonight) is a big game for us.”

Laredo stands two points behind the Brahmas (29-19-5, 63 points), who defeated the Corpus Christi IceRays on Friday night and will face Texas tonight with third place in the Southern Conference on the line.

“It’s huge,” Ruskowski said. “This is our building. We have them one more time back in their building, which is a very hard place to beat them. Coming in here, we have to show ourselves.
We have to show that we’re capable of playing with a very good hockey team.

“We just have to continue to play the way we’re capable of playing and trying to improve. When we move the puck and come at them with speed, we’re a different hockey team. When we sit back, we’re not effective, so we have to stay on our toes instead of our heels.

“We’ll have to come out, and hopefully we can match them and trump them. It’s going to be a
hard battle, but I think the guys know that, so we’ll bunker down and see what we can do.”

Tonight’s game would not provide the Bucks with the same opportunity had they lost on Friday, and some late defensive stands, especially during a two-man advantage for the Killer Bees, were crucial to that victory.

“That 5-on-3 was the difference in the hockey game,” Ruskowski said. “(Goaltender Pier-Olivier) Pelletier made the great saves, but the guys in the front did a really good job
of containing them, getting sticks on the shots. They did a tremendous job.

“That was really the turning point of the third period, and probably the whole game.”

No goals were scored in the third, making Sylvain Deschatelets’ first tally for Laredo at 6:36 in the second the difference in the game.

Deschatelets scored off a feed from a faceoff win just 26 seconds after Neil Trimm gave the Bucks a 2-1 lead.

Eric Giosa scored Laredo’s first goal at 16:05 in the first when he backhanded a rebound past Wylie Rogers (8-8-2), who was making his first start against the Bucks this season.

“I thought at the start of the game we were going to have trouble scoring because we had some really good chances and never scored, “ Ruskowski said. “But when Gio scored at the end of the first period, then I thought the guys got more relaxed.”

Grant Goeckner-Zoeller scored Rio Grande Valley’s first goal to tie the game at 1 at 2:10 in the second period, and Stacey Bauman’s slap shot with under a minute left in the middle frame led to the final 3-2 score.

Pelletier, in his first start at the LEC since Dec. 31, made 23 saves on 25 shots to improve to 4-4-1.

Not trying to jinx them, but as of when I am typing this, the Bucks lead the Brahmas 3-0 after one period on two goals by Deschatelets and one by Todd Griffith with Pelletier in net.

I'll update again after the game.

Game No. 53 - Bucks vs. Killer Bees

2010-02-26T19:15:00.029-06:00

Starters: Bucks - Jeff Bes (F), Sylvain Deschatelets (F), Jarred Mohr (D), Pier-Olivier Pelletier (G), Adam Rivet (D), Darryl Smith (F); Killer Bees - Jay Hardwick (D), Aaron Lee (F), Zak McClellan (F), Sean Muncy (F), Wylie Rogers (G), Tom Sawatske (D).

First Period: Guess the Bees are giving Andy Franck a break for the night. This is the first time the Bucks will face Rogers this season. ... Bucks have taken the first three shots of the game. ... First shifts by the enforcer types taken without any confrontation. ... Bucks get the game's first power play with Daymen Rycroft headed to the box for hooking Todd Griffith at 3:35. ... Nice glove save by Rogers on the Bucks' fourth shot of the game. Only one they got on the power play, which has expired. ... Pretty decent shift by the Neil Trimm-Evan Schwabe-Todd Griffith line, who got the Bucks' fifth shot on goal. ... The Bucks just had a completely empty net with Rogers down and out, and Eric Giosa's shot missed the net high. May have hit Mike Looby's stick on its way toward the goal. ... Another power play for the Bucks with Andrew Davis in the box at 8:27. The penalty was on Rogers, who was called for goaltender interference after being run into by Deschatelets. Don't think anyone who has anything to do with the Killer Bees is all too thrilled with that call. ... Penalty killed. ... Pelletier faced only one shot in the first 10 minutes, by the way. ... Deschatelets has drawn another penalty via another incident that he started and got away with his part of, this one against Muncy for hooking at 13:06. ... Some sloppy passing by the Bucks gave Topher Scott a shorthanded break, though Mohr was pretty close to him, and Pelletier had to make his second save of the game on Scott's shot. ... Penalty killed. ... Bucks have broken through at 16:05 in the period, as Trimm got a shot on net that bounced of Rogers back to Giosa, who banged it in almost effortlessly. Griffith gets the second assist. Bucks lead 1-0 with 3:55 to play in the first period. ... Nathan Ansell just got a shot off right between Benjamin Dieude-Fauvel's legs. The Killer Bees are up to five now. ... I just realized that the Bucks have gotten more than a third of their standings points from the Killer Bees. They are 9-0-3 against the Killer Bees, which adds up to 21 of their 59 total standings points. ... End of the period, Bucks lead 1-0, up 13-6 on shots. ... The Corpus Christi IceRays lead the Texas Brahmas 2-1 after scoring early in the second period of their game.

Second Period: Killer Bees got a good chance early, take two shots but couln't find each other with Pelletier out of position. ... Smith just led Griffith down the lane and set him up for a shot that missed the net wide. ... Tie game on Grant Goeckner-Zoeller's long wrist shot, set up by Rycroft at 2:10. ... First penalty on the Bucks at 3:52, with Deschatelets headed off for tripping. ... Bucks got a great shorthanded chance, but Rogers made a good save on Schwabe. ... Penalty killed. ... Bucks have taken back the lead on a goal by Trimm, who sure has been getting in on the offense a lot lately. The Bucks were able to score that one cleanly right off a breakout. Dieude-Fauvel gets what is currently the lone assist. Bucks lead 2-1 at 6:10. ... For some reason, the primary assist on Giosa's goal is listed as Griffith on Pointstreak. That makes zero sense. ... Bucks just scored a blink-and-you'll-miss-it goal right off a faceoff in the Killer Bees' zone. Smith won the faceoff, and Deschatelets banged it home for his first goal and fourth point with the Bucks. They lead 3-1 at 6:36. ... Griffith gets the second assist on the Deschatelets goal, and Joel Irving has been given the second on Goeckner-Zoeller's score. ... Killer Bees just got a 2-on-1 break but tried to get too fancy with their passes and missed each other on what would have been the last one. ... Ansell to the box for holding at 11:05. Bucks get their first power play of the period. ... As the "one minute remaining" announcement was being made, the Killer Bees scored on a crazy slap shot by Bauman that seriously went through about five bodies to get to the net. Bucks lead 3-2 at 19:01. Matt Sweazey and Irving get the assists. ... Bes took a slap shot just seconds before the period ended, breaking his stick and missing the net high. ... End of the period, Bucks lead 3-2, up 23-13 on shots.

Third Period: The Brahmas lead the IceRays 3-2 with under 10 minutes to play in regulation. ... Very close call for Rogers there with the Bucks in his face, but the Killer Bees were able to clear. ... The Bucks get the period's first power play with Irving headed to the box for slashing at 2:20. ... Penalty killed. ... Teams just exchanged good scoring chances, but neither got a goal. ... Bucks get another power play with Goeckner-Zoeller headed to the box for hooking at 7:11. ... Killer Bees got an excellent shorthanded chance, and Pelletier made probably his biggest save of the game while flipping over in the crease. ... Penalty killed. ... The Brahmas have beaten the IceRays 4-3 to improve to 29-19-5 (63 points). ... Trimm to the box for tripping at 11:11. Killer Bees on the power play. ... Killer Bees will get 1:06 on a 5-on-3 now with Looby joining Trimm in the box at 12:05. That reminds me, Looby was given an assist on Deschatelets' goal. He'll serve two for tripping. ... Trimm got the puck on a long pass right out of the box for a perfect breakaway chance, but Rogers made a good glove save. Trimm got another shot just seconds later and missed the net. ... Penalties killed. ... Another big chance for Trimm right out front a couple minutes later was stopped, and everyone on the ice immediately started pushing and shoving each other. ... Another good save by Pelletier has kept the Bucks in the lead with just under three minutes to go in regulation. ... Under a minute now, and Rogers is on the bench. Time out for the Killer Bees with 57.3 on the clock. ... Icing on the Bucks with 34.4 to go, bringing the faceoff back to their zone. ... A block on a shot by Bauman late was pretty key.

Game Over: Bucks win 3-2, improve to 26-18-9 (61 points), two behind the Brahmas (29-19-5, 63 points), who will visit the LEC tomorrow night. ... Coach Ruskowski said the kill on that 5-on-3 was the key to the game for the Bucks. He was also surprised to hear the Brahmas closed out the IceRays in regulation tonight, said that worried him a bit because the IceRays have been playing great hockey. Additionally, Pelletier's performance in the third may have earned him another home start, as Ruskowski said he is considering straying from his original plan to have Kevin Desfosses in net tomorrow. You can check out my story in tomorrow's Times (on Page 6) for more, and I'll post the quotes up here tomorrow afternoon.

Game Day No. 53

2010-02-26T17:15:00.002-06:00

Coming off their 6-4 road loss to the Allen Americans last night, the Bucks are back home to host the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees tonight.

The Bucks (25-18-9, 59 points) have not lost to the Killer Bees (21-24-8, 50 points) in regulation this season, posting a 9-0-3 record against them, and tonight would not be a good time to let that happen with the Texas Brahmas (28-19-5, 61 points) coming to the LEC tomorrow night.

Though the only way the two teams will be tied for third place when they face off tomorrow is if the Bucks beat the Killer Bees and the Brahmas lose their game against the Corpus Christi IceRays tonight, tomorrow's contest promises to be pretty crucial for the Bucks.

With that said, I guess I should give you all a heads up that I will not be allowed to cover that game because there are several high school Border Olympics tournaments going on this week, and due to a wedding being attended by my co-worker, only two people will be working for sports, meaning I need to stay in on desk.

Meanwhile, I guess it wouldn't be too much of a surprise to see the IceRays (24-21-7, 55 points) beat the Brahmas tonight considering they've won five of six, including their last three by five goals each.

That might be even worse for the Bucks, though, with the IceRays creeping up on them in the standings. If they have to face a team that has done so well against them this season in the play-in round of the playoffs, I imagine they'd prefer to do so with home-ice advantage.

Anyway, tonight is "Rivalry Night" at the LEC, resulting in some promotions you can read more about in Bryan Benway's preview.

Pier-Olivier Pelletier is expected to start in goal for the Bucks, marking just his second home start with the team and first since a 5-3 loss to the IceRays on Dec. 31.

I'll be at the arena to live blog tonight, and you can also follow the game on Pointstreak, watch on CHL-TV or listen on Imagen 94.1 FM.

Game No. 52 - Americans 6, Bucks 4

2010-02-26T01:00:00.001-06:00

The Bucks suffered a 6-4 loss to the Allen Americans tonight, dropping them to 25-18-9 (59 points) with 12 games left in the regular season.

Neil Trimm and Jeff Bes each scored a pair of goals, and Sylvain Deschatelets had three assists in his Bucks' debut.

The last goal for the Americans was an empty-netter, meaning Kevin Desfosses allowed five. He faced 36 shots.

You can read more about the game in Bryan Benway's press release for now, and I'll post more when I get to the office tomorrow.

Game Day No. 52

2010-02-25T13:05:00.000-06:00

The Bucks begin their fifth straight 3-in-3 tonight in Allen against the playoff-bound expansion Americans.

Though they have had an odd habit of beating the best teams they face, the Bucks have yet to get a win against the Americans, against whom they are 0-1-2, including 0-1-1 on the road. Both of those OT losses were actually in overtime, not shootouts, by the way.

Anyway, the Bucks are 25-17-9 (59 points) overall heading into tonight's game, while the Americans are 35-12-4 (74 points).

The Bucks stand two points behind the Texas Brahmas (28-19-5, 61 points), who play three games this weekend beginning tomorrow. So, as seems to be the case a lot lately, the Bucks could move into a tie for third with a win tonight but might not stay there for long even if they do.

This will be the last of three straight road games for the Bucks, who then play three in a row at home, starting tomorrow.

This weekend's promotions/events include rivalry T-shirts tomorrow, when the Bucks host the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees (21-23-8, 50 points) and the Give Blood, Play Hockey drive on Saturday, when they host the Texas Brahmas.

After practice on Wednesday, I talked to Coach Ruskowski about the three teams the Bucks will face this weekend and the importance of the weekend overall.

Here's what he had to say:

On what he expects to see from the Americans: A quality team that moves the puck, that can score, play defense and their goalie plays very well. He's a pretty good goalie. We just have to make sure our specialty teams work efficiently because their power play is pretty good. They have talented players, and if we frustrate them, stop them before they get started, it's going to be a huge advantage for us. Frustration, on a skill team, could play a pretty big role for us. We frustrate them, and now they're trying to make different passes, we intercept them and get goal-scoring opportunities, and if we score on them, it's a huge advantage for us. But we just have to be a good, patient team. Hopefully they make mistakes, and hopefully we can make their mistakes count as goals for us.

On continuing to get points against the Killer Bees: We just have to keep working hard against them knowing that if we work hard, we have an opportunity to win, and if we have an opportunity to win, we have to because points are hard to come by, and points right now are very important for everybody. We have to concentrate and focus on what we have to do. We can't worry about what happened in the past, we have to worry about what's happening in the present. That means working hard and preparing ourselves to do the best we can.

On trying to beat the Brahmas: It's huge, it's absolutely huge. This weekend is very important because all of the teams are either two points ahead of us, which is Texas, so we have to make sure we do a good job against them, then of course we have Rio down and trying to go against Allen, a really good team. It's a very tough weekend for us, there's no question. We have to be focused, make sure we're rested up, and we have to do the things for us to be ready to play the best we can play. That means my job is to make sure they're rested - that means they work hard during the games - and prepare them to play the best they can each shift of each period of each game we play.

On what they worked on in practice this week: I wanted to go over, to make sure everybody's on the same page on our traps, our neutral ice forecheck, and our forechecking period. We added a little bit different to our power play breakout just to throw a little curveball to see how exactly they respond to what we have to do, what we can do, to change it up anyway.

On this weekend's expected goalie situation: I'll probably start Kevin (Desfosses) on Thursday, then Pelts (Pier-Olivier Pelletier) on Friday, then Kevin on Saturday again against Texas. We'll see how that works. We'll do it that way, but if things change, then they change. It changed last weekend because I put Kevin in against Corpus. I wanted to see exactly how Pelletier would react to me pulling him, and he reacted in a positive way and played pretty well against Rio and I was happy with those kind of results.

I will not be able to get to a computer during tonight's game, but I will try to post at least the score and stuff when it is over.

As noted previously, there is a watch party tonight at Hal's Landing. Those of you who don't feel like watching the game there can follow it on Pointstreak, watch on CHL-TV or listen on Imagen 94.1 FM.

And for now, you can get more info on the weekend from Bryan Benway's preview and the Pointstreak pre-game notes, which say new center Sylvain Deschatelets will be wearing No. 41.

About Last Weekend

2010-02-25T11:18:00.005-06:00

This is already belated enough, so I'm just going to get right to the quotes from Coach Ruskowski and several players about the incidents of last weekend.

First up, goaltender Kevin Desfosses. In case you need a reminder as to what he's talking about, you can go back to the box score for the 9-4 loss against his former team, the Corpus Christi IceRays, or watch this video again:

Here's what Desfosses had to say:

On his actions: We were playing against my former team, that was the first time I went back to that building, and things didn't go right at first, and I got pretty annoyed. I was trying my best, and I know my teammates were trying their best, too, but things just fell apart and I got caught up in it. Being a little bit impulsive, in the impulsiveness of the moment, things like that happen sometimes. I mean, it's no big deal for me. I've done it before, and it might happen again. I'm not proud of it, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do to make sure you're ready for the next game or for the next day. It was a way for me to get my frustration out.

On why he was frustrated: I was frustrated with the way I was playing, I was frustrated with the way the team was playing. Obviously, we win as a team, and we lose as a team, and that was a big thing about losing all together, so I was really upset about everything. Also, the day before, we were winning 6-1 or 6-2 or whatever, and they came back to make it 6-5, so maybe it transferred over a little bit to the next day. Sometimes, there's a glass, and there's something always dripping in it, and maybe that was the last drop that made it explode. I'm over that now, and I'm looking forward to this weekend, to be ready for the big weekend.

On how he feels about the IceRays: I got along well with a few of the guys on that team, so off the ice, I can call my former captain or my former roommate or whatever, but on the ice, I really hate those guys because I don't think they gave me the right opportunity over there. I never got to play a lot, and when I first got over here, I got to play a lot and played well, and I got welcomed in by my teammates, so I was really looking forward to beating my former team, obviously. Right now, we would face those guys in the playoffs, and I think that would be fun, but obviously our goal is to finish third to have that bye, but otherwise, we'll face them.

On how he left the IceRays/came to the Bucks: Around the fourth or fifth of January, I asked for my release, called my agent up to see what was around. At first, they didn't want to release me, but then the GM over there, Pat Dunn, really treated me well in all my time over there. He's a class guy. I really loved him, and he really liked me, too. He's a class act, and so he kind of forced the way of the coach, and they released me on a Friday. On Saturday morning, I'm standing in my apartment waiting on my agent's call, then I got a call from Maxie. Max Lincourt called me, and I'm just thinking he's got some news for me because we were really good friends, good buddies, before I came here. But no, he was calling, and he was like, 'My coach would like to sign you.' So I was really, really happy about that, fortunately, so I signed right away. That was the All-Star break, so I got to be a little bit at home and stuff and prepare my stuff and get ready. I've really enjoyed my opportunity over here, so I'm really looking forward to the rest of the season.

On how he feels heading into this weekend: I'm working hard this week. Sometimes, we say that we need to fall to go back higher, so obviously this weekend was a big fall for me, so I'm looking forward to redeeming myself this weekend. Thursday's going to be a big challenge, and I don't know what the plan is for this weekend, but I'll be ready for this weekend. Me and Pier (Pelletier) have been going back and forth, and it's fine with me, because he's a good goalie, and I'm a good goalie, so everything is fine.

Just figured I'd get his exact words on how he left the IceRays because it seems as though there has been some confusion about that. I thought everyone knew he had asked to be released so he could get a starting role somewhere (which begs a question or two about how he'd react if Jean-Philippe Levasseur did return), but if you didn't, now you do.

Moving right along, here's what Robin Richards had to say about his incident with Brett Clouthier, which was originally reported by Brian Sandalow:

On Thursday night's events: There was a little melee, and I was pretty rattled about the way I played. He said a couple things, and I said a couple things, then I kind of got mad so I said I'd meet him in the parking lot if he wanted. He was there when I was driving away, and we just talked, nothing really happened, but I guess it transferred over to Saturday's game. I respect the guy, he's a really tough guy, and you have to watch out for those big boys. But I'm not going to back down from him, I'm not going to be nervous; well, I am nervous, but I'm not scared of him. I'm not going to back down from him. Take all callers, you know.

On what happened Saturday: Both fights were pretty anticipated. The second fight, he asked me to go, and I said no, I didn't want to go, and he was like, 'Come on, we have to go,' so I got him first. That's hockey. If you give me the opportunity, I'm going to put the ball in my own court. He's a tough guy, and you really have to watch out for those guys, like I said.

On Clouthier's desire to 'knock his block off' soon: Like I told him out there, if he wants to knock my block off, he's going to have to do it twice because I'm not just going to let that happen. I'd be surprised if he does that once, let alone twice, so bring it on. I don't mean to sound overconfident or anything, but I've been doing this a lot of years. I'm sure he has, too, and for him to make a bold statement like that, he's probably not going to knock my block off, so let's not get ahead of ourselves there. I guess we'll find out come Friday.

On whether things will carry over to this weekend: We’ll see how it is. We can’t just turn this into a gong show. We’re both in the playoff hunt, so we’ll see how this goes, but I’m sure we’ll share a couple words. We have two more games between us before the end of our season, so I’m sure our paths will cross again.

On whether or not all this is a distraction: It’s part of my game, and I know it’s part of my role. But if he wants to go and jump me, I’ll let him take a penalty. You have to play within the means of the game, you can't just go out there being an idiot because I can be an idiot, too, and just say no and get the power play and go out there and score a goal. Because, to tell you to the truth, I like scoring goals probably just as much as I like fights, so I can do a little bit of both.

On taking on more than just the enforcer role: I'm not as good with the puck as some guys, so I'm sure they could just throw anybody out there (on the power play), but I hope Terry believes in me. I'm trying my best out there and learning new stuff every day, and basically my job is just to get my big body in front and hopefully pucks bounce in off me from wherever it is, whether it be my teeth, my elbows, anything.

On staying focused this weekend: We just have to come out and play to our level and not let any distractions get the better of us, be it with these fights or the playoff spots or skates. We just have to come out hard. We have a big road game against a guy in our conference, so it's pretty big, then Rio, which is obviously a huge game because they're always tough to play against, so it's a big 3-in-3, and hopefully we can get six points.

In case you need a reminder, here's what Clouthier said about Richards in Sandalow's aforementioned story:

“Out here today we went a couple times and he jumped me. That’s unacceptable between two tough guys. I haven’t jumped another tough guy in a long, long time unless he runs someone from behind,” Clouthier said. “If that’s how he’s going to do it, try to get the upper hand… next time hopefully we square up and I’ll knock his block off.”

Now here's what Coach Ruskowski had to say, about these incidents and some other things last weekend:

On whether he's worried about distractions: They're professionals, and they have to know that our No. 1 issue is to win hockey games, to play as hard as we can to win hockey games. So no, I'm not worried about that.

On Desfosses' actions last Friday: I understand where he was coming from. Actually, he did what I was wanting to do. If a guy doesn't care, that bothers me more than a guy who does care - about his goals-against, about whatever. That shows he cares. He doesn't want to get beat, he doesn't want those goals scored against him. I like that attitude. He took frustrations out like I wanted to do.

On the Richards-Clouthier incident: I don't know a whole lot about what happened, to I can't really comment, but I think that's just lying dogs and we should just leave lying dogs lie. Let's talk about what's on the ice, not after it. They almost had a little altercation before the game in warmups... that's hockey.

On what went wrong in Friday's loss: Right from the start - we took two penalties, and they scored, and it was just downhill after that - it was Murphy's Law. Anything that could go wrong did go wrong. Our defense wasn't quick enough, they weren't making good plays, good passes. I thought we had a chance to come in after the second period we scored bang, bang, two goals, but then they came right back and scored. So for just a short period of time we had momentum, and when they came back and scored, they took the momentum right back away from us. That's discouraging. It happened again in the third period - we scored, and they came right back to score again against us. That's very discouraging for any player, any player, any goalie how that situation happens. It's frustrating, very frustrating, but we just have to be more committed to being a better team and a more disciplined team. We can't take penalties against good teams and expect to win hockey games.

On whether four of six points each weekend is enough: We always shoot four three of three, but if we can take two out of three, I'm happy with that. I'm happy with that. But we need to get points, we have to continue to get points, so obviously three of three is the best scenario we could be faced with, but if we take two out of three each weekend, that's pretty good numbers. I'll take that effort every week.

And finally, captain Adam Rivet, on everything previously discussed and the turn play takes toward the end of the season, considering he got in fights in two consecutive games over the weekend:

On whether he's worried about distractions for the team: No matter what, you always want to keep your focus on what's going on on the ice as far as playing with the team and stuff, so you just kind of look forward and keep going and practicing and going up for the games.

On tensions boiling over: Teams are competing for playoffs, and so are we. It's definitely not my job, but there were a couple hits, and you just have to make sure they're not crossing the line. You want to protect the guys and just say that's not right. Whether they're good fights or bad fights, whatever, sometimes it's just part of the game, and coincidentally I had two fights last weekend. I don't go into this weekend expecting the same thing to happen, but we are battling for a playoff spot, trying to get third position and keep winning. We want to go into the playoffs on a roll, and we have to keep working hard and battling, so that's the mentality.

On what the team needs to do every weekend: I definitely think all six (points) is better. It seems to be that maybe we’ll start off with a pretty good win, then we'll kind of get lackadaisical, then we'll get ourselves back and up and get a win in our Saturday or Sunday game. Guys know that right now, we want to get all six points. We know Allen’s going to be a big challenge, and Rio’s battling, trying to keep their playoff hopes alive, as well against Texas. It’s going to be a tough weekend, but it’s an exciting challenge. I know the guys feel the same way as I do, that we want to get all six points. It's one game at a time. Every point is valuable right now, so we don’t want to let them slide away.

On whether last week's struggles were a wake-up call: You hope so. I think we did let it slide on Thursday, then Friday we came out a little slow, then we came back and made it a 5-4 game, then they scored the next shift. You can't let that happen. When that happens, that takes the momentum away. A lot of people don't realize that the next shift after a goal is a big one, and we didn't capitalize on maybe taking advantage of them being a little bit down after a goal, and they took it to us and were able to score. I think those were goals for them that maybe changed the momentum of the game. Though we started off slow and finished slow, we had our opportunities to come back in the game, and we just can't let those opportunities slide. Hopefully the guys realize from the Thursday and Friday game that our Saturday game was a 60-minute performance, and that's what we need from every game.

Hopefully that about covers everything for now.

Levasseur in Bakersfield

2010-02-25T11:10:00.002-06:00

The Bucks just confirmed that Jean-Philippe Levasseur has been sent to the Bakersfield Condors, the AHL affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks with which he was initially intended to play this season.

Levasseur will not be coming back to the Bucks, at least not now, and he is more than likely going to return to the Springfield Falcons when the Condors are done with him.

I'm not sure where the Falcons got the impression that Levasseur was returning to Laredo, but it seems they got Bucks' fans hopes up for nothing.

UPDATE: Bryan Benway's blog is updated with the team's take on this whole ordeal.

Not So Fast

2010-02-25T00:30:00.001-06:00

Seems like the person who puts together the Springfield Falcons' game night notes may have been misinformed about Jean-Philippe Levasseur's destination upon being called back from his loan by the Anaheim Ducks.

Those notes, as mentioned earlier, said that Levasseur is coming back to the Bucks, but the Bucks have heard no such news and the story from the Falcons' game tonight begs to differ:

Stepping in at the last moment to serve as Dubnyks backup was Bryon Lewis, a 42-year-old former player at American International College.

Lewis has never seen professional action, but has had two prior stints with the Falcons, the first one coming eight years ago. He resides in Monson with his family. He was the backup becasuse No. 2 goalie J.P. Levasseur, who had been on loan from the Anaheim Ducks, was recalled and sent to Bakersfield (ECHL) under emergency conditions.

Thanks to Greg Rajan for the heads up on that.

I'll update this post and share anything else I may have learned by then tomorrow.

Levasseur Returning?

2010-02-24T20:30:00.005-06:00

According to the AHL Transaction Page, the Anaheim Ducks recalled Jean-Philippe Levasseur from his loan to the Springfield Falcons today.

According to the Falcons' game night notes for their contest tonight, Levasseur is headed back to Laredo.

Here's what they say on the subject:

The Springfield Falcons signed goaltender Bryon Lewis to an Amateur Tryout Agreement on Wednesday afternoon after J.P. Levasseur was reassigned by the Anaheim Ducks back to the Central Hockey League's Laredo Bucks.

The team has not given me any information about any possibility of Levasseur returning, and it would be rather ironic if he does just a few weeks after finally retrieving his possessions - and his dog - from down here during the AHL All-Star break.

Levasseur has not been playing much since Devan Dubnyk got sent back to the Falcons early this month and hasn't started since Feb. 16, two days after a stunning 49-save shutout.

Getting Levasseur back would obviously be huge for the Bucks, but it would also force them to get rid of one of their current goalies and probably put them in a salary situation where they could only carry 18 guys and stay under the cap.

We'll see how this all plays out; I'm trying to get in touch with the Bucks to see what they can tell me about the situation.

UPDATE: The Bucks say they have not heard anything about Levasseur's status, and it seems I am incapable of getting a long blog post done while I am working on desk alone. I will transcribe quotes when I am home, and I promise you will get a lot of them tomorrow morning. Sorry for the delay(s).

Bucks Sign Deschatelets

2010-02-24T14:45:00.000-06:00

The Bucks have signed center Sylvain Deschatelets to fill the forward absence on their current roster.

This move was awaiting league approval, and some immigration paperwork, but is now official.

Deschatelets played nine seasons of professional hockey everywhere from the ECHL to Italy before joining the North American Hockey League (LNAH) for the 2009-10 campaign.

His "Drop Your Gloves" profile offers some information as to what he's done in that league this season, as does his LNAH page.

Coach Ruskowski knew of Deschatelets and went after him knowing that he had no contractual ties to sever before he could play for the Bucks, unlike some players currently in the European leagues.

Ruskowski said he likes Deschatelets' size, his numbers and the fact that he won't back down from the "rough stuff," a part of the game he feels Robin Richards has been forced to deal with on his own too much since Justin Styffe went on the injured reserve.

Deschatelets will be in the lineup when the Bucks face the Allen Americans tomorrow night.

A Couple Moves

2010-02-23T17:45:00.003-06:00

Before I write a longer post, I'd just like to note that the Bucks have placed Maxime Lincourt on the 14-day injured reserve retroactive to Feb. 14 and waived Ryan Ford for the second time.

Lincourt has not played since the Bucks' 4-3 shootout win over the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees on Feb. 14 but has been participating in practice. His injury is of the upper-body variety, which allows him to skate though he has been avoiding contact.

Lincourt will be available to come off the IR following this weekend's games.

Ford, who was signed by the Bucks on Feb. 6, waived on Feb. 13, then re-signed on Feb. 16, is now gone for good.

He played six games with the Bucks, contributing one assist, and was a minus-3.

Ford participated in practice today but obviously will not make the trip to Allen, which has been postponed to tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. due to weather conditions.

These moves put the Bucks down a forward, so don't be surprised to hear some more roster news tomorrow. I'll be sure to post as soon as anything like that becomes official.

Defensemen Paul Elliott and Adam Rivet did not skate in practice today, but neither is expected to miss time this weekend.

Lincourt and Robin Richards, both forwards, dressed as d-men in their absence.

UPDATE: Powerlifting and high school basketball playoffs took over my evening, so I haven't had a chance to transcribe any quotes from practice today. Not much breaking news to report anyway, but I did talk to Richards, Kevin Desfosses and Ruskowski about their take on this weekend's events, as well as team captain Adam Rivet. My first post tomorrow will likely be a roster move, but after that, I'll get some quotes and other info up on here.