Game No. 24 - Bucks vs. Killer Bees

Tonight is an experiment with my new laptop, so hopefully everything goes okay...

Starters: Bucks - Sebastien Centomo (G), Jason Dixon (F), Alex Goupil (F), Jaye Judd (D), Joey Olson (F), Adam Rivet (D) ; Killer Bees - Christian Boucher (G), Nic Dumoulin (D), Aaron Lee (F), Zak McClellan (F), Jesse Perrin (D), Evan Rankin (F).

First Period: It took a while for this to get figured out for some reason, but the Bucks are getting the first power play of the game at 1:14 in the period as Lee is being sent to the box for high sticking. Okay, wait, Lee is being joined by one of his teammates. Apparently it was a double minor. And Rick Kozak is in the box for the Bucks serving a too-many-men penalty. But they do still have a power play. ... They didn't score on the power play, but they did not much later, as Jeff Bes sent the Bucks' third shot in a matter of seconds past Boucher. Funny how that chasing rebounds things works out. Kozak had the primary assist, and Darryl Smith gets the other one. It should be noted that Boucher made a pretty incredible split save just a little bit before that goal; his defense just didn't do a very good job clearing the puck after the fact. ... It's weird how players always seem to shoot it wide when they have an open net. Centomo was just pulled out into the front right of the crease on a save, then Brian Bicek missed the net wide to Centomo's left. The Bees took another shot seconds later, and Centomo almost let it slide in but tied it up just before it crossed the line. Both teams have come out pretty aggressive offensively tonight. ... Of course things started getting caught up in the neutral zone once I said that. Daryl Moore just got sent to the box for hooking, though, so we'll see if the Bucks can get anything started on their second power play of the game. ... Grant Goeckner-Zoeller just hooked Dixon to stop him on a scoring chance, so the Bucks will have a 5-on-3 for 47 seconds, then continue on the power play for 1:13. ... The Bucks got a few shots off during that 4-minute advantage but probably not as many as Coach Ruskowski would have liked to see. He has described their power play on off nights as "pass, pass, pass, bad pass, then they clear it," and that try didn't differentiate too much from his words. ... Forgot to mention this before, but rookie defenseman Ryan James Hand is the Bucks' scratch tonight to make room for the return of Serge Dube. I'll assume he's a healthy scratch unless I find out otherwise. ... Smith just took it from center ice and beat Boucher on a breakaway to snap his fairly short Joy-induced goal drought. He had two Killer Bees chasing him, but he was too fast for them and for Boucher's glove. That was something you would expect to see from a team that was shorthanded; nice goal. Not sure if they're giving out assists. ... Okay, sorry; I had to upload my photographer's pictures of the game and missed a roughing penalty against Dixon with 45 seconds to play in the period. Killer Bees didn't score in that period, but will start the second with 1:15 more of the advantage. Bucks lead 2-0 and 10-6 on shots at the end of one.

Second Period: The Bucks (well, mostly Centomo) killed off the end of that power play to open the period, and now these teams are 4-on-4 as Kurtis Dulle and Kozak earned simultaneous slashing penalties at 2:28 in the period. ... The Killer Bees are on the board now, as Jesse Bennefield got the puck past Centomo on a breakaway similar to Smith's score in the first. No assists yet. Bucks lead 2-1. ... Bennefield just ran off on another one, but this time he got tripped up and slid into Centomo following his shot, eventually taking the net out. Centomo had made the save, but now he gets a penalty shot. ... It's tied now, as Bennefield went five-hole and took care of that one. Shots are even at 13. This game sure changed a lot in the first five minutes of the period. ... Oh boy. I'm afraid to even look at Ruskowski right now, as the Bees have taken a 3-2 lead on Stephen Burns' first professional goal. I'm not sure if the defense is on vacation or what, but Centomo was fairly doomed on that one. That's three goals in 2:14, by the way. ... The Bucks finally seemed to get the memo about shooting more, but none of the shots were very high quality, so the score remains 3-2 in the Killer Bees' favor after the puck spent a while in the Bucks' offensive zone. ... Smith just thought he had tied it up by knocking in a rebound, but there must be some sort of electric fence over the goal line, because the puck didn't cross. ... Okay, Goupil broke the fence. He just slapped one from between the circles past Boucher on an assist from Dixon. It's 3-3 at 14:21 in the period. Oh, and the Bucks were on a power play because of a slashing call against Dumoulin, so they are now 1-for-4 on the advantage tonight. ... There are bodies flying all over the ice, mostly as a result of incidental contact and random self-induced tripping. Kind of weird. Meanwhile, the Killer Bees are on their second power play of the game thanks to an interference call against Devin Featherstone. It's funny that happened because I was just about to remark about them only allowing one power play so far when discipline had been so much of a focus heading into the game. Whoops. ... Not long after the power play expired, Dumoulin knocked one in to give the Killer Bees the lead back. Robin Bouchard had the assist on that one. Killer Bees lead 4-3 with a little over a minute in the period. ... The Killer Bees will take that lead to the dressing room, as the score is 4-3 at the second intermission. They outshot the Bucks 16-10 in the period and now lead 22-20 on shots in the game. ... Apparently my fear that these intermissions are longer than usual is warranted, as these ridiculous "re-enactments" necessitate more than 20 minutes per break. I had no idea the Christmas story involved the devil in a Killer Bees' sweater.

Third Period: The top line is out to start this one, with Dube and Mike Gooch (who are fairly offensive-minded) on defense. This is just a guess, but with what is usually a power-play unit on the ice, I think Ruskowski wants a goal. ... Well, they didn't get it, but Adam Rivet did, as he snuck one around a sprawled-out Boucher following a couple botched chances on the Bucks' end. Let's see if this gives them some momentum. Game is tied 4-4. ... Watching the replay of that, it was nice to see Rivet actually take the puck from just outside the circle and go for the goal himself. Passing is all well and good, but I'm sure Ruskowski was glad to see someone take the initiative and actually go for it. ... Are the corn collectors tinier tonight than usual? There are some kids out there who look to be toddlers. Super cute. ... These teams have both missed some absolutely amazing chances tonight, and the Bucks just did it two more times, missing open-net chances on two straight drives. The fact that I can hear the crowd screaming in sync with me shaking my head is a sure sign that there are more people here tonight than usual this season. We'll see how tomorrow works out, with that whole Cowboys' game thing. ... Bes has gotten the Bucks the lead back, as he just flipped the puck over Boucher into the top shelf for his second goal of the game at 8:56 in the period. I just realized how late it is; I may not have time for postgame interviews for the first time this season. Lame. ... Three of the Bucks' goals tonight are currently listed as unassisted. I wonder how many will have assists when everything is said and done. That isn't to say those given assists don't deserve them, just that the scorekeeping in this league is an interesting business. ... Kozak is in the box for charging with 5:34. First penalty of the period and the Killer Bees' third power play of the game. ... Lee just scared someone walking around the stands half to death as he fired the puck out of play in the direction of her head. If she had been paying attention to the game, it may not have been nearly as alarming, but she was pretty terrified. ... The Killer Bees just pulled Boucher, but the puck thwarted their efforts by getting caught in Kozak's pads and halting play. Just under a minute to play. ... Bes was thisclose to the hat trick with what could have been an empty netter, but he chose to pass it to Russell and no dice. 

Game Over: Bucks win 5-4, improve to 17-6-1 (35 points) and thanks to the IceRays have grabbed a couple points on the Odessa Jackalopes (18-6-2, 38 pts.) and kept Ruskowski in the running for All-Star co-coach. ... The Bucks now lead the Texas Brahmas (13-8-3, 29 pts.) by eight points in the Southeast Division and have 11 and 12 over the Killer Bees (11-10-2, 24 pts.) and IceRays (10-10-3, 23 pts.), respectively. Tomorrow night's game against the IceRays should be an interesting one, considering the way things have gone for each team of late.

Three Stars: No. 3 Rivet, No. 2 Smith, No. 1 Bes. Too bad I don't have time to talk to any of them.

Other Scores: IceRays 2, Jackalopes 1; Gorillas 7, Rush 5; Thunder 2, RiverKings 1; Mudbugs 4, Oilers 3 (SO); Brahmas 4, Sundogs 2; Eagles 4, Scorpions 3.

NHL Scores: Devils 5, Senators 1; Sabres 5, Kings 0; Wild 4, Islanders 1; Blackhawks 3, Flames 2 (OT); Ducks 3, Oilers 2 (SO).

Game Day No. 24

In a few hours, the Bucks will take on the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees in their sixth of 14 meetings this season.

There's plenty of reading material about this game: my preview, Brian Sandalow's preview from The Monitor, Bryan Benway's preview, Killer Bees Vice President of Communications Rich Bocchini's game notes and the Pointstreak pre-game notes.

The Killer Bees are still without a few key guys, but the Bucks are more focused on themselves heading into tonight's game after a couple of losses. As I talk about in my preview, Coach (Or should I say President now?) Ruskowski saw a lot of things he wasn't happy with in those games, but they weren't consistent problems.

When I spoke to Ruskowski for my notebook earlier this week, he said that the guys have been playing "stupid" with all the unnecessary penalties they've taken. Those penalties were exactly the problem in the 3-2 loss to the Odessa Jackalopes, as all three Jacks' goals came on the advantage.

I asked Ruskowski what he thinks needs to be done to get the team more disciplined yesterday, and his response was a bit more severe than I expected.

"It's something that I've been regimental in saying all the time," Ruskowski said. "I don't know what the next step is. Do I bench them? Do I fine them? I don't know. I'm hoping that these guys want to win so much that they would take matters into their own hands and say, 'Okay, I'm not going to do this anymore, I'm not going to do that.' They have no discipline. If they can't do it, then I'm going to step in and do something, but I don't know what."

I also talked to veteran forward Bobby Russell about the topic and definitely hit a nerve as he was one of the Bucks' players to take a penalty late in the loss and kind of help seal the win for the Jackalopes, as is noted in my preview.

It should be noted, though, that Russell is clearly not the only one having problems with the new rules. In fact, I'm not sure there is one player who sticks out in that regard; they've all taken unnecessary hooking and slashing penalties at some point.

I asked Russell if he thought it was moreso the new rules that are a problem, or if the fact that a lot of the Bucks' players were in other leagues last season has any effect. He said the stricter calls are probably the issue, but that the team needs to get used to them and move on.

"It's the new rules," Russell said. "But, I mean, it's cut-and-dry. Once you raise your stick up and put your stick on the puck carrier's gloves, that's a penalty. There's so many different rules...it's zero tolerance. Once you do a certain thing, it's a penalty. Everybody should be used to it by now, but in the whole league, penalties are up. We just have to take note of it and try to stay out of the box."

In addition to staying out of the box, the Bucks need to do some other things if they want to get another win streak started tonight, and Ruskowski highlighted defensive coverage and creating scoring chances as a couple of them.

"We didn't score a whole lot of goals," Ruskowski said. "That was a factor, too. I know when we go on the road, (our opponents) play a little better offensively, but we have to play better defense. That's something that we have to improve on. Defense, defense, defense. Then when we get that down, we can start working on offense, try to score some goals, too. Last two games, we were just in a funk. Some teams when they get the lead, they just play a neutral ice trap. It's a boring game, but we have to find a way to crack that and do what we have to do to score goals."

This might sound a little silly, but one thing they're going to need to score goals is shoot the puck. Obvious enough, eh? But one problem that has frustrated Ruskowski to no end is the team's hesitance to shoot, especially during the power play, and also right around the net. Their failure to pick up rebounds and loose pucks around the net was definitely a huge factor in the loss to the Corpus Christi IceRays last Thursday, which even IceRays head coach Sylvain Cloutier noted after the game.

I asked Ruskowski yesterday if their problems with driving hard to the net come from the same kind of fear that makes them drive him crazy with their lack of physicality. He just looked at me for a minute then said that was a great question. I guess only they can be sure.

"I don't know,"Ruskowski said. "I just wish they were more physical. I like a team that's more physical. At times we've shown a little spark, then after it's, 'Oh crap,' we're getting hit again. I really think and really feel that if we want to be a contender, we have to be more physical out there."

The forecheck is one area where he believes the team has been severely lacking, and he is definitely working to incorporate that more. Just in case anyone is unfamiliar with the term, forechecking is when a team goes for checks in the offensive zone with the intention of setting up a scoring opportunity. Backchecking, on the other hand, is checking around one's own goal to try to prevent such opportunities for the other team. Ruskowski would like to be seeing more of both.

"We have to finish our checks," he said. "It doesn't matter how small you are; you can finish a check. That's where we need to be."

So, basically, he wants his team to play better defense, shoot the puck more, improve on the power play, be more physical...oh, and play with heart. That's a big one. As stated previously, the problems aren't any more consistent than the positive things about the team, so we'll see what stands out on the ice tonight.

Of course, there is the fact that the Killer Bees have only 16 active players...but the Bucks aren't looking at that as an advantage at all.

"I don't really think it's an opportunity," Russell said. "Sure, they lost a couple of veteran guys and have a couple guys on the IR, but they have good young players over there, as well. Those guys have been sitting on the bench or not playing very much, so those guys are hungry for their chance to play, and they're trying to prove to the coach. We can't be thinking we're going to win just by how many (players they have). It's not like that at all. Every point counts, every game's a big game for us, being division games, and the bottom line is we have to play hard as a team and get the win."

Obviously the personnel losses haven't affected the Killer Bees' ability to score, as they broke Dustin Traylen's streak of one-goal games with a 6-goal effort last night. We'll see how tonight turns out.

Meanwhile, I guess now is as good a time as any to catch up on things in the rest of the blogging world...

Brian Sandalow had his hands full with the Rob Voltera situation, which was one of the topics covered in his weekly notebook and something mentioned frequently on his blog.

Speaking of Voltera, the aforementioned Rich Bocchini has an interesting post about all that on his Killer Bees' blog, which includes a letter from Voltera to the fans.

Back to Sandman2, though, he also had his weekly Southeast Division rankings and shared his votes for this season's ridiculously formatted All-Star Game.

I was actually given the opportunity to vote for the game myself this season (Apparently I wasn't qualified last year?), but I will not be sharing my votes on the blog for security purposes...just kidding. Kind of. But I'm really not going to post them.

Oh, and in case anyone cares about the NHL All-Star voting even a fraction of as much as I do, Jonathan Toews made a major leap today, and the current Western Conference forward voting has no more Red Wings in the starting lineup. Ironic (but totally okay by me) that this happened immediately following their 6-0 win over the Sharks, who are one of the best teams in the league. Sid is still atop the Eastern Conference voting and quickly approaching a million nods. Woot. Oh, and this is cool, too.

Back in the CHL, Greg Rajan also shared his All-Star votes. So did Adam Dunivan.

This All-Star talk reminds me that the Bucks need to win all three of their games this weekend (and have the Odessa Jackalopes gain three or fewer points this week) if Ruskowski is going to be co-coach with Doug Sauter for the All-Star Game.

Rajan also had news of a new IceRays veteran, more on the Killer Bees' win last night and his take on the Ruskowski as president decision. I wonder if Bobby Moore minds that someone else is getting credit for making the Gatorade.

Bob Przybylo posted a new CHL power poll earlier this week, but his opinion may have changed after what happened between the Blazers and Eagles on Wednesday.

The Eagles moved back to the top of the CHL Coaches' Poll that was released earlier this week. The Bucks fell from No. 3 to No. 4 in the poll, dropping them behind the No. 2 Jackalopes, who were No. 6 last week.

Bob Hoffman had "Shots from the Point" for Monday and today. Oh, and Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs netminder Jon Horrell won Performance of the Week with his 31-save shutout against the Wichita Thunder.

Now that I have covered about a million topics, I think I should probably stop typing. I'll post more about standings and those types of things after tonight's game.

Scores and Stuff

Sorry for the infrequent updates of late; I'm going to get internet at my apartment soon, and that will all change then.

Today was a busy day (not just for me), with the Bucks getting back to practice, nine NHL games, two local kids making the 5A all-state football team, the Colts clinching a playoff spot and so on...

Here is my story from today's Times, which is oddly hard to find around the office, about Coach Ruskowski being named president of the franchise. I think Tanya Ramirez (our designer who usually does sports) did a nice job with it, and I like her choice of pull quote. The fact that the headline is the same as yesterday's blog title was entirely unintentional to start.

Meanwhile, I will have a preview for this weekend's Southeast Division tilts in tomorrow's paper, and I'll be sure to share some leftover material prior to the game against the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees.

Speaking of the Killer Bees, they took on the Corpus Christi IceRays (the Bucks' other opponent this weekend) and came out on top 6-4 in spite of their recent injury issues, which Bobby Russell told me he thinks could actually be an oddly good thing for them...but more on that tomorrow.

In the other CHL game tonight, the Rocky Mountain Rage topped the Rapid City Rush 3-2 in a shootout. Seriously, that team loves OT losses.

NHL-wise, the Red Wings made quite a statement about whether the Sharks have surpassed them as the best team in the West, winning 6-0. Yeesh. Oh, and the Penguins won in their first game since that loss to the Flyers last Saturday. =)

Last Night's CHL Scores: Sundogs 3, Brahmas 2; Blazers 3, Eagles 2 (SO).

Tonight's CHL Scores: Killer Bees 6, IceRays 4; Rage 3, Rush 2 (SO).

Last Night's NHL Scores: Devils 5, Sabres 3; Blue Jackets 2, Sharks 1 (OT); Flames 3, Wild 2 (OT); Rangers 3, Kings 2 (OT); Canucks 4, Oilers 2.

Tonight's NHL Scores: Hurricanes 2, Panthers 1 (OT); Capitals 4, Blues 2; Penguins 6, Thrashers 3; Bruins 8, Maple Leafs 5; Canadiens 5, Flyers 2; Red Wings 6, Sharks 0; Avalanche 2, Lightning 1 (SO); Coyotes 2, Predators 1; Stars 6, Blue Jackets 5 (SO).

Another Title

As most of you have heard by now, Coach Ruskowski has been named president of the Bucks, meaning John Beckelhymer is no longer holding that position.

Sorry to be so late in posting this, but I wanted to talk to Bucks owner Glenn Hart, who was at the LEC this afternoon to speak to the media about this change, before I wrote anything about it.

Basically, it seems Beckelhymer (who had been with the Bucks for 5 1/2 years) had been thinking about leaving for a while but didn't want to leave the team without somebody to handle his responsibilities. When the city decided to take over operating the LEC, that made the idea of him leaving have less impact on the team, and eventually everyone involved decided that would be for the best.

Obviously in any situation like this, people are going to question whether Beckelhymer really wanted to go or if he was forced out or fired...and I can't promise you that I'll be able to uncover the truth in that regard. I do know that Hart never spoke an ill word of Beckelhymer and entrusted him with a lot of responsibilities that had a great effect on his investment in the Bucks, but that doesn't mean everyone there liked him...I guess we all know the fans weren't too fond of the guy.

I'm going to try to get in touch with Beckelhymer before actually writing a story about this situation, and I'll also be talking to Ruskowski, but he's on his way back from Houston right now, so that's going to have to wait a bit.

Hart said the final decision about this was made on Monday prior to some business the team had to take care of at a City Council meeting, and that he always had an intention to promote from within if a job like that opened up with the team. Obviously, Ruskowski is a choice no one else can argue with, and (just as obviously), he will not serve as a president in exactly the same capacity as Beckelhymer did.

To make his life easier, the team also named three vice presidents (not just two, as was originally stated in the press release).

Jennifer Beckelhymer, John's sister-in-law and longtime director of finance for the team, has become the executive vice president.

Nicole Kupaks, who worked with the Bucks for three seasons previously and returned this season as director of public relations after a two-year absence, is now vice president of business operations.

The final vice president is Donald Thomson, who left the Bucks prior to this season to work in corporate sponsorship sales for Texas A&M. He will return to the organization as its vice president of sales, and that should be reflected on the Web site soon enough.

There is obviously more to say about each of these individuals, but I'll save some of that for my story...which I assume will run in tomorrow's Times. Speaking of the newspaper, here is my notebook from yesterday's.

Hart would not get specific as to whether or not this will change anything for the fans but hinted that it may, so I guess we'll see what happens in the near future.

Until then, here are some scores...

Last Night's CHL Score: Rush 3, Rage 2. Nice comeback.

Last Night's NHL Scores: Flyers 5, Avalanche 2; Capitals 5, Islanders 4 (OT); Maple Leafs 3, Devils 2 (SO); Hurricanes 3, Canadiens 2; Thrashers 4, Senators 1; Stars 2, Coyotes 1 (OT); Flames 6, Blues 3; Blackhawks 9, Oilers 2; Rangers 3, Ducks 1.

It's Monday and Raining

Pretty much everyone Bucks-related is out of town for their early Christmas vacation, so I probably won't have much new news to report the next couple of days...at least from Laredo.

The Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees' injury woes have been no secret for a while now, as Rob Voltera got hurt, then Trevor Weisgerber and Travis Banga followed suit, then Ryan Shmyr left their 4-2 loss to the New Mexico Scorpions on Saturday and told Brian Sandalow he felt like something was broken. Yikes.

Somehow, that all led to head coach Chris Brooks deciding to waive Voltera, who came off the IR to play in their games this past weekend. Voltera became only the second player to be waived by Brooks since the regular season began, and he leaves the Killer Bees as their second-leading goal scorer and third-leading scorer (121 points) all-time.

That move added fuel to the fire many Bees fans have tried to start about the return of Dennis Maxwell...which reminds me of people here who constantly ask if James Hiebert will come back this season.

But anyway...weekly honors were announced today, as usual, with former Buck and current Corpus Christi IceRay Dustin Traylen getting the Goaltender of the Week nod and Colorado Eagles forward Kevin Ulanski being named Player of the Week.

In case you were wondering, Petr Sykora's first career hat trick, and a few more points, got him the No. 2 Star of the Week for the NHL.

Oh, and apparently this weird southern weather extends further west than Laredo, as the game that was to be played between the Amarillo Gorillas and New Mexico Scorpions tomorrow has been postponed.

And now, let's catch up on some scores...

Last Night's CHL Score: Jackalopes 4, IceRays 3 (SO).

Last Night's NHL Scores: Blackhawks 3, Blue Jackets 1; Ducks 4, Wild 2; Canucks 5, Panthers 3.

Tonight's NHL Scores: Avalanche 3, Red Wings 2; Kings 2, Sharks 2 (2nd INT).