Should They Stay or Should They Go?

The Bucks fan who goes by aeb33 has posed to me a question about how I feel about his list of who should stay and go from this season's team.

In case you haven't seen that post on the CHL Forums, you can find it here or view the list below in its entirety.

Keep:
#39 Sebastien Centomo - Enough said, and now that goalies don't count as vets, we can keep him as long as he wants to be here.
#35 Andrew Martin - A hell of a pick up. Excellent goalie, if we keep these two goalies, we'll have a solid keeper night after night. Huge step up from Ryan Gibb.
#24 Steve Weidlich - Unbelievable defenseman, great skater, has been with the team for 7 years, he likely will not play anywhere else for the remainder of his career. Probably the hardest shot on the team. (Veteran)
#28 Adam Rivet - Another solid defenseman, makes very few mistakes. Can blast it from the point.
#20 Matt Miller - I love how this guy plays, very physical player, likes to dig deep in the corners.
#11 Jeff Bes - No explanation needed. (Veteran)
#10 Jason Dixon - Very fast skater, hits hard.
#7 Alex Goupil - Another fast skater, has hit a slump, but always a scoring threat. (Veteran)
#3 Igor Agarunov - Great two way player. (Veteran)
#19 Rick Kozak - Stop taking so many penalties, other than that, we need someone everyone is afraid of.

Maybe:
#4 Shawn Snider - Great speed, great shot. Not a very good puckhandler, if he doesn't get tossed out of the faceoff he usually loses it.
#18 Darryl Smith - Amazing talent, the only reason he's on the Maybe list is because he will likely move on to the ECHL or AHL.
#22 Brent Cullaton - Past his prime, sorry Cully. (Veteran)
#79 James Hiebert - Very good, but probably won't play again. (Veteran)
#17 Devin Featherstone - Really good defenseman, will probably move on.
#5 Jaye Judd - Didn't see him play enough. Can't put him in the other categories.
#44 Vincent Zaore - Solid, but again, didn't see him enough.
#29 Serge Dube - Would love to have him back, but he may be retiring. (Veteran)

There's the door:
#21 Bobby Russell - Huge flop, was supposed to complement Bes, instead he finished with only 36 points. (Veteran)
#13 Ryan Salvis - Fast, but never noticed him on the ice.
#6 Erick Lizon - We need an enforcer, but, at least Kozak put up 44 points, Lizon put up 16.

My take? This is going to take a while, but, let's start with the veterans. As each team can only have four veteran skaters, you need to decide which four you want around.

You are right to say that Bes is a yes with no explanation necessary. In addition to being a great player, he really cares about what he does here. I think he took the loss last night harder than most of the guys who were actually on the ice for it, and that tells you a lot.

Dube did care, too, but I really think he is set on retiring now. He first said he came back to try to bring home another Cup, but then noted that there would be too many vets after this season and he didn't plan to take up a spot next year.

Due to the fact that Cullaton didn't bring his wife and kid(s) out here even though his dad is here, too, I'm guessing he didn't expect this to be a permanent thing and he should possibly be scratched off the list of possible returners.

Russell, on the other hand, did move his wife and sons down, but obviously didn't have the season expected of him. I don't know if calling him a "huge flop" is fair, though, when you consider he barely got to play alongside the guy he was meant to compliment and missed a couple months with an injury.

He is a great guy and a good leader, but I'm not sure Ruskowski's system is one in which he can thrive. Thus, I would have to agree that he might not be one of the vets the team should want to keep around.

Weidlich has been here for every up and down this team has gone through, and I think it's obvious Ruskowski has always considered him a key part of the team whether observers have agreed or not.

He, like the other elder defensemen on this year's squad, had a bit of an off year, but Featherstone likely moving on, having a defensive defenseman stick around will be a necessity.

So that leaves two spots open with Agarunov, Goupil and Hiebert still unaddressed. Assuming Ruskowski doesn't want to bring in any new veteran guys, that leaves him with a tough decision.

Agarunov, as I have noted previously, is good on both sides of the puck and great at contributing to the offense when he's a defenseman and the defense when he's a forward. Plus, the guy is great on the penalty kill. And he has been here his whole pro career, giving him a bit of a bond with Ruskowski. So I'd agree with the yes on that one.

Now, as far as Goupil and Hiebert...oy. Such different players in so many ways. Hiebert is a great guy to have around in so many ways, but honestly, his attitude isn't the greatest. Plus, there are always going to be a few other things on his mind now that he's started his own business. However, the fans here love (or love to hate) him, and that's not something any coach wants to give up voluntarily.

I'd say what it might come down to is how cooperative Hiebert is during contract negotiations if both sides decide they want them. But if he doesn't work out, I see no reason why Ruskowski would want to give up a player with Goupil's attitude, work ethic and skill.

As far as everyone else...

Centomo has been much better than many people have given him credit for most of this season, and he played a lot of games with a nagging injury that he's only going to be able to take care of now that the season has ended.

Martin has also been impressive since getting here, and I honestly don't remember seeing too many goals allowed by either goalie that I thought were even the least bit their fault.

I know Ruskowski doesn't often keep his goalies, but I'd say there's a real chance he keeps both of these ones, as good goalie stats in the past were usually a product of great defensive play and this year was quite the opposite case.

In other words, I'm down with saying yes to both of them.

Rivet...well, no offense to your assessment, but he did make some mistakes this season. He went from being third among the league's defensemen with a plus-29 last season to registering a minus-1 this year...good for 79th.

He still contributed on the offensive side, but not as much as in the past two seasons (and only one point more than his rookie year, during which he was an astounding plus-39), and I don't really like judging D-men on their points.

However, he is obviously a quality defenseman who cares a heck of a lot about this team (I swear he seemed clinically depressed whenever I talked to him about his struggles and those of the defense overall this season), and he's been here and knows what's up. You need guys like that to teach the new ones who come in year after year.

So, again, I'll agree with your yes.

Miller...well, he's a maybe in my book. Yes, he plays hard and loves battling in the corners. But the fact that he was a healthy scratch in Game 4 should tell you something about what Ruskowski was seeing from him in desperate times. I don't know if I'd say show him the door in quite those terms, but I would say you can find guys who can do the things he does well and then some.

Dixon is indeed a fast skater who hits as hard as he can, and if Ruskowski had any intention to get rid of him, I think he'd have done it in a trade to get something back he wanted for this season. The kid works his butt off no matter what line he's on or how much or little playing time he gets and played his best hockey in the playoffs, which is never a bad sign. I'll second another yes for that one.

And then there is Kozak. At his best, he is definitely a force to be reckoned with. But, like Hiebert, he has a bit of an attitude issue. And, while I have nothing against fighting when there is reason for it, earning unnecessary retaliatory penalties can doom a team.

If he's willing to play the part he is needed to play, manage his temper when he needs to and refrain from breaking his hand on other players' skulls, then keeping him around wouldn't be a bad thing. But, because of all those reasons and the fact that he didn't seem to thrive under postseason pressure, I'm going to mark him a maybe on my list.

If what Snider did in the playoffs is any indication of what he's like as a player overall, I'd have to make him a definite yes. Taking faceoffs was not something he should necessarily have been doing, just something he was needed to do because of the lack of true center iceman on the team. But he is aggressive as heck and very accurate when shooting the puck.

He was just starting to find his place on this team chemistry-wise, though, so having the season end the way it did may not make coming back the most desirable thing for him. Keep in mind he was contacted prior to the season and chose to go a different direction.

As I said in my previous post, if Smith comes back, that's just a shame. I know that some guys get sold on Laredo because of how well they're treated down here, but he should not be in the CHL next year. Of course, if he is, I imagine it'll be here.

Featherstone is pretty much the same deal. He needed a year to get used to the professional game, but he has a great approach to the game and is a very solid defensive defenseman who should be able to move up.

Judd was still in Laredo as of a couple days ago, and I imagine you don't let someone hang around that long if you don't like anything about them. Just like you, I didn't see enough of him to make a strong assessment of his play, but I can't think of any terribly negative things to say about him off the top of my head.

Assessing Zaore is a bit of a connundrum. He could be sloppy at times, and I think his biggest flaw was trying to do too much and making things difficult for himself. But he did obviously miss a bit of time, so he might have thought he needed to do more to make up for that. However, I know that what Ruskowski wanted from him was not what he got, and you need to assess each individual player based on how they play their own game, so I'd put him in the no category.

And finally, Salvis and Lizon.

Salvis has a lot of potential and showed it sometimes but was admittedly a bit invisible at others. However, Ruskowski liked the way he played, and he tried to do what was expected of him in this system. Keep in mind the fact that his linemates were changing constantly and this was his first season at the professional level. I'll make him a maybe.

Lizon was tossed around all over the place but didn't seem to fit quite right no matter where he went. He won some key fights but lost a couple, too, and was definitely expected to be more than just an enforcer. Ruskowski put him on the top line a couple times, for goodness' sake. But I will agree with the no for him.

Overall, one of my biggest concerns with this year's team was the fact that a lot of the guys seemed like they couldn't care less about what happened out there.

As Ruskowski often said, there was no surefire way to get them to put their best effort forward, and plain old potential doesn't win games.

As I assume is obvious enough from things I have written previously, I am not allowed into the Bucks' locker room, and because of that, I only saw one player after last year's season-ending loss to the Arizona Sundogs because they were all too upset to come out.

Yesterday, a couple of them were milling around wanting to talk to their buddies on the Jackalopes and genuinely seeming unaffected by the loss their team had just sustained. I'm not going to name names, so please don't ask, but that definitely had something to do with my responses.

Sorry this post is of epic length, but hopefully that answered your question.

About Last Night

Coach Ruskowski is busy today, so I'm not going to be able to talk to him for my season-ending story until tomorrow. Thus, it will run in Friday's paper.

What I can tell you now is mostly what you already know: losing Jeff Bes had a huge impact on this team, Ruskowski does not blame his goaltending at all for his team's shortcomings this season and it is going to be a long offseason.

I had to write two versions of my story last night so one could run early for the out-of-town editions, but I don't think there's any internet proof of that one out there.

My final story, which was the one with quotes, can be found here.

Just for kicks, here's that first one:

Jackalopes end Bucks' season with OT win

Russ Moyer scored 5:48 into overtime during Game 6 of the Southern Conference Semifinals to give the Odessa Jackalopes a 4-3 win and end the Laredo Bucks’ season.

The Jackalopes defeated the Bucks by a series score of 4-2, knocking them out of the playoffs prior to the conference finals for the first time in team history.

It was also the first time Laredo had lost a series in which it got out to a 2-0 lead, as Odessa recovered from two games down to sweep the next four games and win the series.

For the fourth time in the series and third straight time at the LEC, the Bucks and Jackalopes ended regulation tied to bring the game into overtime.

Laredo had led for nearly six minutes late in the third period on a dramatic goal by Alex Goupil, but Odessa kept its chance to clinch alive when Dominic Leveille grabbed the rebound of a shot by CHL MVP Sebastien Thinel and sent it past Centomo to tie the game with just 34.2 seconds left on the clock.

The Jackalopes had jumped out to an early lead in the first period as Leveille grabbed a loose puck and flipped it over Centomo, who was still sprawled out from a previous save on Thinel, just 3:11 into the game. Moyer, a defenseman, had the other assist.

On the next Odessa power play, Brent Cullaton and Shawn Snider took advantage of a bad pass within the Jackalopes’ defensive zone to tie the game on Snider’s shorthanded goal at 12:32.

But before the period ended, another Odessa advantage led to another goal for the Jacks, this time with Phillippe Plante doing the honors and Thinel and Moyer once again assisting.

The Bucks didn’t strike back for that goal until 13:46 in the third period when Jason Dixon scored his first goal at the most opportune time to tie the game and bring some life to the Laredo squad.

Goupil’s goal came 13:46 into the third period when he slammed home a loose puck with Odessa netminder Juha Toivonen out of his net. Matt Miller was credited with the lone assist.

The Jackalopes pulled Toivonen during a late power play created by a tripping call on Steve Weidlich, and Laredo hit the post on an empty-net attempt before Leveille tied it to momentarily silence the crowd of 3,950.

They got right back into it when the overtime began but quickly lost enthusiasm again as Odessa began to dominate play.

As had been the case the entire night, Centomo kept the Bucks alive, setting aside several shots before his team truly threatened in the other end.

Notes: Leveille and Thinel assisted on the game-winner. … Centomo saved 33 of 37 shots to take the loss, while Toivonen stopped 22 of 25 to earn his fourth straight win against Laredo. … The Jackalopes were 2-for-7 on the power play, while the Bucks were 0-for-3, scoring their only special teams goal shorthanded. ... Laredo swept Odessa in the same round last season.

I don't have a whole lot of leftover quotes from last night because Ruskowski obviously wasn't in his most talkative mood and Paul Gillis isn't very talkative in general, but I'll still share what I do have.

Ruskowski on Leveille's game-tying goal:
"Obviously it didn't do anything good for us. If you look back at the last two overtimes, they scored, and I guess in the back of everybody's mind is, 'If we make a mistake, they're going to score again,' and obviously they did. But obviously, if they didn't score that goal, then we wouldn't have had to go to overtime. It's a bitter pill to swallow, and I'm having trouble swallowing it."

On his goalie's play:
"I love my goalies. I think that I have probably the two best combination goalies in the league. They've kept us in more hockey games than I could ever imagine. For him to go out like that is a bitter pill for him to swallow also. But I think he's played tremendous all season long, and I can't say anything but good things about that."

On what he saw overall in the series:
"I think there's parts of our game that have to improve, and we're going to work on that during the summertime."

Gillis on his team's overtime play:
"We really wanted to be aggressive. We wanted to go after them; we didn't want to sit back. The first game in overtime, we lost because we turned the puck over too much in the neutral zone. We just wanted to play aggressively, get the puck deep and go to work on it."

On his team's road success:
"We've always said right from the beginning that no matter where we play we have to put our best foot forward and be ready to go. We never let them off the hook with road games. They have no excuses, and they have to go everywhere and try to win the game. We started right from the first game of the year, talking about that, and it paid off."

Obviously, there are a lot of things I'll be asking Ruskowski about tomorrow, from which vets he plans to keep to what he thinks the team's biggest flaws were this season now that it's all said and done to what type of players he's looking to bring in next year.

Though this is an incredibly early exit for the Bucks, I'd say seven postseason trips in seven years isn't the worst thing on earth.

But, of course, this long summer isn't going to sit well with Ruskowski or the players who plan to stick around. And, though I know his return would be a dream come true for the fans, I really hope Darryl Smith isn't one of those players.

And, as far as those amateurs Ruskowski was looking at...guess they'll have to try to find another place to play when their current teams get knocked out.

No CHL games tonight, and only two in the NHL, so this is more of a basketball and baseball evening, but I'll be sure to keep you posted on anything related to the Bucks that happens in the coming weeks, as well as the rest of the playoffs.

Semifinal Game No. 6

Darryl Smith and Serge Dube were both out for warmups as expected. Sebastien Centomo and Juha Toivonen will be starting in goal. Rick Kozak is the Bucks' scratch tonight.

Starters: Bucks -Igor Agarunov (D), Centomo (G), Jason Dixon (F), James Hiebert (F), Smith (F), Weidlich (D); Jackalopes - Jean Bourbeau (F), Paul Kelly (F), Russ Moyer (D), Ryan Swiniarski (F), Toivonen (G), Dave Van Drunen (D).

First Period: This is the only CHL game tonight, and you can follow it here or in the space to follow. ... Dixon obviously appreciates the chance to be up on what I believe is tonight's top line, and he worked pretty hard on that first 30-second shift, taking the game's first shot. ... Hopefully it's just my imagination, but it kinda looked like the Jacks were going after Smith (in a bad way) during that first shift. ... Brent Cullaton stole one to create another chance for the Bucks early in his first shift, then the Jacks brought the puck back to test Centomo for the first time. He made a kick save on that one. ... Jacks get the game's first power play with Hiebert headed to the box for slashing at 2:10 in the period. ... Dominic Leveille has the Jacks on the board at 3:11 on a pretty goal scored when a shot by Sebastien Thinel bounced loose after Centomo sprawled to make the save on it. Moyer gets the second assist. The crowd is pretty tiny here tonight, and it just got even quieter than it had been. ... And now it's the Bucks turn to go on the advantage with Garrett Gruenke headed to the his favorite place on earth for interference at 3:42. ... Tough breaks for the Bucks there as one shot went just wide, then a loose puck in the crease somehow managed to get knocked away. ... Smith just broke away with someone (Goupil or Hiebert, not sure) and had a great opportunity but had his shot gloved away. ... The majority of the play has been in the neutral zone for the past few minutes as neither team can seem to crack the other. Kinda looking a bit sloppy out there, actually. ... Vincent Zaore-Vanie just managed to stick handle the puck around the net, then tried a wraparound but missed and had no one there to knock his shot in on the open net. Zaore is headed to the box, though, so any goal may have been waved off anyway. Holding stick is the call, at 12:32. ... Well, no harm there. I'm guessing Coach Ruskowski is liking his decision to bring Shawn Snider in here as Snyder has just scored another huge goal, this time on a tricky backhand assisted by Cullaton at 12:56. Very good job taking advantge of a Jacks turnover in their own zone. I think Bryan Benway is hyperventilating. Game tied 1-1, but let's not forget the Jackalopes are still on the power play. ... I really need new contacts, but after nearly 15 minutes, I've finally noticed that Jeff Bes is behind the bench in his assistant coaching capacity. No wonder he's not up here in the press box. Glad to see that; I know he had wanted to be able to get out there. ... Thinel just snuck in with the closest Buck right behind him and took a shot on Centomo that the goalie somehow set aside. Huge save. ... Hiebert back to the box, this time for roughing, at 16:59 in the period. ... The Jacks have a 2-1 lead on a goal eerily similar to their first other than the scorer's position at the time. Phillippe Plante scored from just outside the crease on assists from Thinel and Moyer. Another case of Centomo making a save and needing his defense to clear the puck but having them do nothing of the sort. The goal came at 18:01 in the period, and oddly enough, the Jacks have only scored with Hiebert in the box tonight, and all three goals have come with the Bucks shorthanded. ... The whistle was blown with .9 seconds left on the clock, and the teams are leaving the ice with that still on the clock. Well, the Bucks, anyway. Okay, Jackalopes, too, now. Weird. Jacks lead 2-1 at the first intermission, up 11-9 on shots and 2-for-3 on the power play.

Second Period: Good pace to start this one and a couple good saves already. I know they always say every team has to start with strong goaltending, but perhaps these ones need to stop relying on theirs so very much. ... Matt Miller just had a close breakaway chance and Plante went about stopping that in a very unique way as he threw his own body under Miller to take him down and thus tossed Miller into Toivonen, who took out his own net. Plante will serve two for tripping, putting the Bucks on the period's first power play at 3:42. ... Ruskowski said he wanted more 5-on-5 offense, but he can't be thrilled with what his team has been doing on the power play tonight. ... Well, they get another chance right away as Leveille has been called for hooking at 6:13. Pretty early in that one, Toivonen made a great stop and Van Drunen cleared a loose puck to keep the Bucks from adding to their number on the scoreboard. Then Hiebert had a solo chance but was upended just in time to wrist his shot hight. Better effort overall by the Bucks, but still not great. ... Weidlich has been awfully feisty this series, eh? ... I'm surprised Iliana Davalos was okay with being the villain in that "Anything for Love" skit. ... Bobby Russell is headed to the box for cross-checking, and Van Drunen was kind enough to take out his own net to sell that call. Jacks on the power play at 10:17. ... The Bucks are being outshout 7-1 in this period. I know shots don't equal scoring chances per se, but that's still not good. ... Well, as Brian Rae keeps saying, the Bucks are putting themselves in front of the net, and they were playing pretty hard for a couple minutes there, so it was only a matter of time. Cullaton did a great job grabbing a pass of a turnover, then made a backhand pass when he saw he didn't have time to get the shot off himself, and Smith and Dixon were there. Dixon knocked it in to tie the game 2-2 at 13:16 in this second period. Cullaton and Smith get assists. ... I love it when someone does something that makes me shake my head then they leave the ice only to get screamed at by Ruskowski for the mistake. Not in a mean, but you get me. Hopefully. ... Zaore is headed to the box with 1:13 to play in the period on an interference call for semi-accidentally upending one of the Jacks in front of his own net. ... Lots of close calls both way tonight, but we'll head into the third period tied 2-2 as it stands that way at the end of two. Jackalopes lead 23-14 in the shot department.

Third Period: Bucks killed off the remaining 47 seconds of that penalty without allowing a shot. Ties have often led to things not ending in the Bucks' favor this series, so we'll see how this turns out. ... Hiebert is headed back to the box for the first time since the first period at 7:32 in the third for high sticking. You know what happened the last two times he was in there, so let's see if the trend can be bucked, if you will. ... Very intense few minutes here, and Centomo just stopped play with a save between his pads, one of many impressive ones he's made tonight. Just over seven minutes to play. ... Oh my gosh. The puck was flying all over the Jacks' offensive zone and Centomo just keeps stopping it, then he bounced up from making one save to glove a puck that the Jacks thought was for sure the go-ahead goal. Very impressive. ... This period is seriously nuts. Toivonen got dragged out of his net to make a save and a puck somehow stayed loose for what seemed like an eternity only to get knocked in by Alex Goupil with just 6:14 left in the game. Bucks lead 3-2. That was about as intense as it can get, and the Bucks need to keep that momentum if they want to win this game, much less the series. Wow. ... Toivonen must be getting pretty worked up because Miller just hooked his leg a bit, then Toivonen responded by taking a full-on whack at Miller's leg. ... That wasn't a penalty, but Weidlich just took out Kelly to earn one with 3:07 to play. He'll serve two for tripping to put the Jackalopes on their seventh power play of the game. ... The Jacks have pulled Toivonen, and the Bucks just hit the post on their first empty-net chance. ... Icing on the Bucks with 43.5 seconds to play. ... And Paul Gillis will take this opportunity to use his time out and draw up a play for his team. ... Centomo made a glove save outside the net on the first shot of this 6-on-5 to stop the clock with 38 seconds to go. ... Oh boy. Leveille tied it up with 34.2 seconds to go. Thinel on the assist again. This time it's Rae hyperventilating, and I'd have to say that was a pretty deflating series of events for the Bucks. ... Overtime once again. I have to imagine Ruskowski is giving them one hell of a speech right now. ... I'm being a creep and looking over the Jacks' video guy's shoulder to watch a replay of the goal, which shows Leveille breaking free of the man assigned to him to collect a rebound of a shot by Thinel and snap it right past Centomo. If nothing else, this has been a pretty exciting game. Time to start the first take of my game story...which will hopefully at least get a final score in it! ... Oh, and how big does missing that empty net look right now? Ouch.

Overtime: Agarunov broke up an early pass that could have created a great chance for the Jacks, so kudos to him for proving that playing as a forward sometimes hasn't deteriorated his defensive capabilities. ... The pushing and shoving is back in full effect, but the Bucks might want to be careful to stay out of the box for needless penalties right about now. Just saying. ... Leveille and Thinel just had a 2-on-1, but Centomo positioned himself up against the post to stop it. ... Centomo sure is one busy man. ... Game over, Jacks win. Surprised the Bucks can actually handle shaking their hands right now. Anyone want to go do my postgame interviews for me? ... Ruskowski just wished the Jacks luck in the next series and thanked the fans with all his players on the ice to pay tribute to everyone in the stands.

Game Over: Jackalopes win 4-3, win the series 4-2 and knock the Bucks out of the playoffs. I'm still in the press box as of 11:15 and should probably get out of here, but I'll have my leftover quotes from postgame interviews and such tomorrow. And, of course, you can see some of what Ruskowski and Gillis had to say in tomorrow's Times.

Tonight's NHL Scores: Hurricanes 9, Islanders 0; Capitals 4, Thrashers 2; Rangers 3, Canadiens 1; Flyers 2, Panthers 1; Maple Leafs 4, Devils 1; Senators 3, Bruins 2; Penguins 6, Lightning 4; Wild 3, Stars 1; Blackhawks 4, Predators 2; Kings 2, Oilers 1; Blues 5, Coyotes 1; Canucks 4, Flames 1; Sharks 1, Avalanche 0 (SO).

Semifinal Game Day No. 6

Just got off the phone with Coach Ruskowski, and he said both Darryl Smith and Serge Dube will be in the lineup for tonight's game.

That's obviously good news for the team and for the fans among you, but the Jackalopes have beaten the Bucks with those two in the lineup before.

He also said he plans to start Sebastien Centomo, so I guess the alternating goalies thing has come to an end for now.

For my preview that ran in today's paper, I spoke to Steve Weidlich, the player who has played in the most playoff games in the Bucks sweater, and he made it pretty clear he does not want this year to be the one that breaks the team's tradition of success.

When I asked him if he thinks everyone on the roster understands this game's significance as much as those of them who have been around for a while, this is what he had to say:

"I’d like to think so. I’m pretty sure everybody does. I don’t think anybody wants to go home yet; it’s way too early in the season for me. We’ve been pretty lucky in previous years as far as at least making it to the second round. I don’t want to go home, and I’m pretty sure nobody else does."

And as far as going from up 2-0 in this series to down 3-2:

"I wouldn’t say it was bad luck. They’re a good team; they weren’t in first place for no reason. They’re a skilled team. It comes down to who makes the least amount of mistakes, and I think it’s just a matter of us focusing and playing our game. If we do that, we won’t have a problem."

I asked Ruskowski about the one-on-one meetings he had before the playoffs started and whether or not guys have been living up to their promises, and this is what he said:

"No, and that’s the sore spot that I’m facing. Some guys tell me what I want to hear, but they don’t show me what I want to see."

A short answer like that is a sure sign that he is pretty upset with the guys he's thinking of, but he is never one to call people out via the media, so you can make your own assumptions on that part.

The only other full and relevant leftover quote I have from yesterday's interview is this one about special teams:

"It’s always been a big factor. In every game we’ve played in the series, the power play and penalty killing have been a huge asset either for or against us. That seems to be the turning point, but above anything else, we need to start scoring goals 5-on-5. We have to generate more offense that way."

Obviously having Smith back should help in that regard, and as it has been noted, the Bucks have come back from worse series deficits before.

With their "backs against the wall" tonight, we'll see what the team that has had its ups and downs all year long is really made of...and if it gets to play on for at least one more game.

Don't forget to wear white if you are so inclined.

Northern Conference Final set

Don't know how I forgot to mention this earlier, but Jeff Bes was back out on the ice for the first time since his injury today to handle his assistant coaching duties.

It was nice to see, though the depressing sight of him standing on the outside looking in was replaced by that of Darryl Smith holding the door open for his teammates as they left the ice.

As you may be able to guess from seeing the way he plays, Smith is going pretty crazy not being able to get out there, and if he can't play tomorrow...well, he'll be one upset guy.

Some happy campers tonight are the Mississippi RiverKings, who clinched a spot in the Northern Conference finals with a 3-1 win over the Oklahoma City Blazers, and the Colorado Eagles, who swept the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs with a 4-3 overtime win to accomplish the same feat.

The Mudbugs can't feel good having had their season end because they blew a 3-goal lead.

But anyway, as mentioned earlier, Smith and Serge Dube are both game-day decisions for tomorrow, and the goalie is also yet to be determined.

I was thinking of going to the morning skate to find out but then realized the injured guys will need to talk to Bobby Moore after the skate to make a decision, so I'll probably just give Coach Ruskowski a call in the early afternoon and report back to you on here.

Hope your baseball team had a better start to the season today (or last night...or tomorrow) than mine did!

NHL Scores: Red Wings 4, Sabres 1; Senators 3, Canadiens 2; Flames 4, Kings 1.