Another Busy Night

When I went to format the CHL agate about an hour ago, an updated version hadn't yet moved on the wire, so I went to Pointstreak to check the scores and input the new information manually.

My quest was deterred slightly when I saw this:

Now, I understand that hockey is rife with parity these days, but you have to admit that is a bit of a surprise.

In one corner, you have the Southern Conference leaders with two of the top scorers in the league, and in the other, a team struggling to stay afloat on the ice and off it.

Hats off to the Scorpions for pulling that off; looks like the Bucks might have a little more trouble than anyone would have expected this weekend. Well, more trouble than anyone would have expected from their opponent, anyway.

Speaking of the Bucks, yesterday's game is one they want to be moving on from quickly, and today's practice was the opposite of what you'd get from Coach Ruskowski if he were still angry, so I guess they have.

Ruskowski had a meeting with his defensive players prior to the practice this morning and seems convinced that there are bluer skies on the horizon, which is one topic of my weekly notebook, which will run in tomorrow's paper because I was not in any condition to write on Monday.

Another topic I had hoped to get into was the team's newest attempt at a checking line, the Igor Agarunov-Ryan Salvis-Matt Miller group that combined for two goals, two assists and a plus/minus of plus-5 in yesterday's loss.

Here's some of what Ruskowski had to say about them:

"I feel that they're a good checking line. What's a plus for me is that I can try to put them against another team's top line knowing that they can score, also. I like that line; they were very productive last game, and hopefully they can continue to be productive."

I'll talk a little more about that, as well as some other leftover stuff from my interviews yesterday and today, on here tomorrow.

And yes, I know I keep saying I'll talk about stuff tomorrow and not getting to it, but I promise this tomorrow will be a lot less stressful and much more conducive to me blogging. Plus, the Penguins aren't even playing, so I'll still be giddy over tonight's win (which was amazing). Is that style of game blog easier to keep up with? Let me know if you have any opinions about that.

As usual, I'll list the rest of tonight's scores below. Have a good night!

CHL: Eagles 5, Sundogs 3; Rush 2, Gorillas 1 (SO); Scorpions 5, Jackalopes 0.

NHL: Blackhawks 3, Thrashers 1; Devils 4, Islanders 2; Rangers 4, Capitals 3 (SO); Penguins 2, Sharks 1 (SO); Senators 3, Sabres 1; Wild 3, Avalanche 2; Coyotes 1, Stars 0; Ducks 3, Flames 2 (OT); Oilers 7, Canadiens 2.

UPDATE: Apparently the good ol' Colorado Eagles clinched a playoff spot tonight with a win over the team that defeated them in last year's President Cup. Congrats, I s'pose.

Game No. 46 - Bucks vs. Killer Bees

Starters: Bucks - Igor Agarunov (F), Devin Featherstone (D), Andrew Martin (G), Matt Miller (F), Ryan Salvis (F), Vincent Zaore-Vanie (D); Killer Bees - Nathan Ansell (D), Jesse Bennefield (F), Christian Boucher (G), Grant Goeckner-Zoeller (F), Jay Hardwick (D), Topher Scott (F).

First Period: Josh Bonar has become the latest player to wear No. 9 this season. We'll see if he can hold onto it a little longer than the rest of them, much less live up to it. ... Bucks are on the power play 11 seconds into this one as Bennefield is in the box for hooking. No, Steinel is not officiating. ... And they are now 0-for-1 on the advantage. ... Featherstone just took one of the weakest shots on net I have ever seen. I'm all for respecting defensive defenseman, but yeesh. ... Stephen Burns is in the box at 3:34 for cross-checking. If this is going to be one of those games where one team gets all the calls early and the other gets them late, the Bucks might want to try to score here. ... Erick Lizon, who started the season as a bench warmer who made it on the ice mostly only if someone was hurt in a game is now out with the top power play unit. If that doesn't tell you everything about how injury depleted the Bucks are right now, I don't know what could. ... In keeping with "Kids Day," they are playing random popular songs with kids singing along in the background. Kind of disturbing when you consider some of the lyrics and what they mean. ... Oh, right, lines for today: Alex Goupil-Darryl Smith-Brent Cullaton, Agarunov-Salvis-Miller and Lizon-Dixon-Bonar. ... The Bucks did Bennefield a favor turning the puck over inside the blue line and he went one-on-one with Martin and won (five-hole) to put the Killer Bees on the board at 8:53 in the period. ... I'm pretty sure Bonar just scored his first goal with the Bucks, but the scorekeeper says it was Lizon...okay, nope, Bonar. That didn't take long. Lizon and Dixon are getting assists, and I guess not everyone is convinced that it was Bonar. Game tied 1-1 at 11:21. ... Goupil got called for slashing 12 seconds after that goal, so the Killer Bees are now on their first power play of the game. ... Evan Rankin just drove hard to the net to chase a rebound and was promptly attacked by most of the Bucks on the ice, eventually having his helmet removed and being thrown to the ice with an angry crowd above him. Obviously you need to defend your goalie if you think opposing players are taking liberties with him, but be careful, please. The last thing anyone wants on Kids Day is a cracked skull. At least I hope so. ... Ryan Shmyr just put the Killer Bees back on top at 14:44 with a top-shelf goal. The Bucks are more than doubling the Killer Bees on shots (13-6) but still losing 2-1. When is Sebastien Centomo coming back? ... The Bucks just had a 3-on-2 and a great scoring chance, but Adam Rivet sent Agarunov's centering pass wide. ... Bennefield to the box for slashing at 15:51, and I guess Lizon was just out with the top power play that one time because someone else couldn't be, because it is now back to its usual setup. Dube and Cullaton on the points, with Agarunov, Goupil and Smith down low. ... No longer, as Smith has gone off for tripping 34 seconds into that advantage. 4-0n-4 for now, then a Killer Bees' power play for 26 seconds when Bennefield gets out of the box. ... A hand pass call broke up a decent chance for Smith in the Killer Bees' zone. ... End of the first period, Killer Bees lead 2-1. Bucks are up 17-7 on shots. Both teams are scoreless on the power play, with the Bucks going 0-for-3 and the Killer Bees 0-f0r-2. ... That goal has been switched back to Lizon, with Bonar and Dixon picking up assists. Additionally, Hardwick and Goeckner-Zoeller have been given assists on Bennefield's goal.

Second Period: Scott flew into the boards mostly by his own doing 51 seconds in or so, and the Killer Bees were looking for a call and rightfully didn't get one. ... Rivet is in the box for tripping at 1:31 in the period on an unrelated call, putting the Killer Bees on their third power play of the game. ... Mike Gooch just blocked a shot that appeared to hit his hip bone, and that obviously hurt a little. He got up right away and skated off on his own and all but looked to be in some pain. ... Brian Bicek has put the Bucks on their first power play of the period with an interference penalty at 3:54. ... I really wish the CHL kept time on ice stats because I'm pretty sure neither Dube nor Cullaton comes off when the Bucks are on the power play unless a whistle allows a change with less than 10 seconds left on the advantage. Keep in mind those are the two oldest players on the active roster, though that certainly doesn't imply they aren't in good enough shape to handle it. ... I guess Cullaton finally got tired of his passes to other players being wasted because he just brought the puck pretty much all the way down the ice and tried to beat Boucher with a backhand but couldn't find the net. ... Martin seems a little off, I have to say, as he just made two saves that he seemed to have complete control of but let both go. The first got cleared to the blue line, but the second resulted in a Killer Bees' shot getting juggled around and eventually landing behind Martin. I thought that was Bennefield, but they're giving it to Goeckner-Zoeller for now. Bennefield has the assist. Killer Bees lead 3-1 at 8:11 in the period. I guess now's as good a time as any to note that Burns and Dan McGoff have been given assists on that Shmyr goal. And that makes it as good a time as any to smile about this, even though I was sadly unable to watch the game. ... Salvis and Miller just got a 2-on-1 but the main result of that was Miller plowing into and upending Boucher. ... Aaron Lee is in the box for tripping at 11:29, and I guess Coach Ruskowski can read my mind because neither Cullaton nor Dube is on the ice to start this power play. ... Just seconds after Cullaton whiffed on a rebound right in front of the Killer Bees' net, Scott scored a shortie on an assist from Goeckner-Zoeller to make it 4-1 Killer Bees at 13:14. Oh boy. ... After ignoring what appeared to be an obvious trip on Miller by Goeckner-Zoeller, Tudor Floru acknowledged a cross check by Lee behind the Bucks' net. I'm not sure if he's like that all the time, but for a not-too-big, high-scoring guy, Lee seems to love starting trouble with the Bucks. ... There was only so much Boucher could do with the Bucks crowding his net for a while on that advantage, and Cullaton finally broke through top-shelf to pull the Bucks within 2. Rivet has what is currently the lone assist, and the Killer Bees lead 4-2 with 2:14 to play. That shot came from the high slot and may have been touched by Miller, who is currently being given the second assist but may have the goal by the end of this. ... End of two, Killer Bees lead 4-2; Bucks are up 28-18 on shots, meaning each team took 11 in that period. ... Am I alone in finding Ronald McDonald mildly frightening? ... The Brahmas have lost their second straight, so if the Bucks can come from behind here, they'll gain a couple points on the division leaders. ... Miller has indeed been given that goal; Cullaton and Salvis on the assists. UPDATE: The goal went back to Cullaton, with Rivet and Salvis getting the assists. Funny how Salvis finished with three points and a plus-three rating, yet Miller was the Buck who got a star.

Third Period: Just as I was about to say there wasn't much going on a few minutes in, Salvis brought the puck in from the blue line, went one-on-one with Boucher, seemed to have gotten stopped...but then the puck got through. Killer Bees now lead 4-3 just 3:20 into the final period. ... Due to my superstitious nature, I haven't brought this up yet, but everyone else has, so I may as well. The Killer Bees are 0-15-2 at the LEC since Nov. 28, 2006. ... Gooch is headed to the box for hooking at 5:06 in the period to put the Killer Bees back on the power play, their first of this period and fourth of the game. ... The Bucks have tied the game, thanks in large part to a player who was literally on top of Boucher's stick and completely distracting him from play. Boucher is not at all happy with the lack of call on that play, but Miller seems pretty glad to have scored that goal. Thanks to the replay, we know Salvis was the offending party on what should have been a goalie interference penalty. Game tied 4-4 with 10:42 to play. ... Call it karma, or call it Jesse Bennefield, but the Killer Bees are back on top after Smith's attempt at a centering pass for Cullaton hit Goeckner-Zoeller's stick, then Goeckner-Zoeller sent it way up for Bennefield, who was all alone with Martin. That took the Killer Bees all of 77 seconds to recover. ... Bennefield nearly had a hattie from just inside the point after Daryl Moore sent him a nice drop pass off a fake shot, but Martin just barely managed to glove it away. ... Rivet just got called for slashing after a series of non-calls by Floru. Killer Bees are on the power play with 6:31 to play. ... Do you ever get annoyed when a game is in the balance and a guy who hasn't even been out for that long of a shift seems more concerned with getting off the ice than getting the puck up the ice for his team? Yeah, me, too. ... Ansell just blocked a pass, possibly with his face, and is keeled over behind the Killer Bees' bench. ... Getting in fights on top of goalies doesn't seem to be the wisest thing a group of players can do, but Miller just lost his...temper... and went off on Burns, who had shoved him away from Boucher. Both players will leave the ice as there are only 3:09 left to play. That might come back to bite the Bucks considering Miller had two of their goals so far in this game. ... You know something's up if Rivet's picking fights, and he just did exactly that, but at least he took the Killer Bees' leading scorer out of the game in the process. Not in a bad way, but Bennefield will also get five for fighting, so he's out of the equation, as is Rivet. That was weird, as everyone was shoving around the Boucher's net, but Rivet and Bennefield were having words up the ice then finally made it physical around center ice. Guess we won't be seeing any hat tricks, barring a scoring barrage, as both two-goal scorers in this one are out. ... Martin has been pulled with 1:05 to play. ... They got very close quite a few times, but no go. Sorry, kids.

Game Over: Killer Bees win 5-4, improve to 24-19-4 (52 points). Bucks fall to 26-15-4 (56 pts.). Lest you forget, that is the Killer Bees' first win here since Nov. 26, 2006. ... Coach Ruskowski isn't usually big on blaming one part of his team for a loss, but this time, the defense is bearing the brunt of his frustrations. Oh, and apparently doctors will be deciding whether or not Jeff Bes will be healthy in time to play in the playoffs sometime this week.

Other Scores: Blazers 4, Brahmas 2; IceRays 3, Mudbugs 1; Rage 4, RiverKings 3 (SO); Thunder 5, Oilers 4 (SO).

NHL Scores: Sharks 5, Bruins 2; Kings 4, Islanders 3 (SO); Blue Jackets 3, Avalanche 0; Panthers 5, Maple Leafs 4 (SO); Thrashers 3, Lightning 1; Red Wings 5, Predators 3; Canucks 6, Blues 4.

Note: Things got a little busier tonight at the office than I had anticipated, so talk about the trades and all that jazz will have to wait until tomorrow.

At Least One Trade

The Bucks just announced that they have sent recently acquired forward Mitch Stephens and rookie defenseman Ryan James Hand to the Rapid City Rush for Josh Bonar (Yes, that Josh Bonar) and the rights to Mickey Gilchrist.

According to the press release, Bonar should be in the lineup for tomorrow morning's game, while Gilchrist is playing in Japan and will not be getting to Laredo for a couple weeks.

In other news, forward Rick Kozak was placed on the 14-day IR this morning retroactive to Saturday.

I'll have more on all of this after the game tomorrow, health permitting.

Game No. 45 - Bucks vs. Oilers

Starters: Bucks - Igor Agarunov (F), Jason Dixon (F), Mike Gooch (D), Rick Kozak (F), Andrew Martin (G), Adam Rivet (D); Oilers - Michel Beausoleil (F), Rob Dmytruk (D), Brendon Hodge (F), Jake Riddle (F), Kevin St. Pierre (G), Kevin Seibel (D).

First Period: I always feel oddly freaked out when I know the person who sings the national anthem for some reason. ... Couple good saves from each goalie in the first few minutes, but not much else going on until Kozak absolutely plastered one of the Oilers with his elbow, then Erick Lizon jumped off the bench to duel with Chris Kovalcik. I don't think Kovalcik landed a single punch, but he did get Lizon to the ice first...and was promptly flipped over onto his own back. Five minutes in the box for both. ... Matt Miller just broke away and drew a penalty call to get a penalty shot at 6:19 in the period. Let's see how he does. ... Miller was distracting me with his deking so much I'm not entirely sure if St. Pierre deflected his shot or if it just went off the glass from the stick. ... It has to hurt to make a bunch of good saves then have the puck get by you when you're being screened by your own defenseman and think he blocked it, and that is what just happened to St. Pierre. Bucks lead 1-0 at 7:37 in the period on a goal by Kozak, his 20th of the season. Dixon has the only assist right now. ... Sebastien Centomo, Bobby Russell and one of the inactive Oilers are all up in the press box right now. As we know Russell is out for at least 30 days, I guess Centomo is the guy to keep an eye on, and he doesn't appear to be limping or anything. ... The Oilers have tied it up at 10:18 in the period on a goal by Sean Collins, assisted by Beausoleil. Not really sure what happened there, other than Martin ending up on his stomach in front of the net with the puck inside it. ... These Oilers sure are big on fights, eh? Ryan James Hand and Kevin Hansen, who accrued a lot of fighting penalties last night, got tangled up then started brawling, which prompted a skirmish between Bobby Reed and Kozak. Kozak nailed him in the side of the skull to knock him out, but pretty much everyone attending this game is sitting right in front of the press box and blocked my view of that other fight. That whole series of events may have started due to some shoving on Dixon. ... Wayne Bonney is back in Laredo tonight after checking out last night's game in the Valley, and he agreed with me that the refs were pretty slow getting things started up again. ... Interesting. Hansen only got a roughing call to accompany the fighting majors on everyone else involved, so the Oilers are on the game's first power play. ... Okay, now Hand's has been changed to a roughing double-minor, which explains the duration of the power play. ... Lizon was serving Hand's penalty, and I'm pretty sure Hand is in the dressing room. Trainer Bobby Moore just came back out from there, so cross your fingers that he didn't break something again. ... Dmytruk just tripped Miller behind the Oilers' net to put the Bucks on their first power play at 14:18. ... Well, before the PA announcer could finish telling the crowd about the penalty, Darryl Smith sent the puck home. I'm not even sure how that got in, but Dube has the assist. Bucks lead 2-1 at 14:35 in the period. ... The Bucks have taken a 3-1 lead at 17:01 in the period on a goal that is being credited to Dixon but left all the Bucks on the ice congratulating Lizon. I'm confused, and my vision is even worse when I'm sickly, so I guess I shouldn't argue. Dube on the assist. ... Guess Hand is okay, as he just got called for slashing to put the Oilers back on the power play at 17:35. ... End of the first, Bucks lead 3-1 and are up 18-12 on shots. It's worth noting that four of the Oilers' came on that last power play, though. ... Lizon got the primary assist on that Dixon goal eventually.

Second Period: Devin Featherstone is headed to the box for cross checking at 2:54 to give the Oilers the first power play of the period. ... It appears the minimal positive effects of the DayQuil I took earlier are wearing off, and I think my fever is making me too delirious to follow everything the way I should be. My apologies. The Bucks did kill that penalty off, though. ... It seems the Bucks have a thing for wasting chances at their own end then getting caught behind the play and taking penalties on the other side. Miller to the box for hooking this time. ... This time, it came back to bite them as Jereme Tendler whipped one past Martin. Bucks' lead is now 3-2 at 7:07 in the period. ... The board says the Oilers are still on the power play, but that doesn't make much sense, and there are five Bucks on the ice, so let's go with no. ... Goupil just got a breakaway chance but sent his shot right into St. Pierre and had the rebound overskated by Smith. Goupil did draw a hooking call against Cody Hamilton, though, so the Bucks are now on their first advantage of the period. ... Brent Cullaton has replaced Adam Rivet on one of the points for the top power-play unit, meaning there are four forwards on the ice for the Bucks in Agarunov, Cullaton, Goupil and Smith. ... Cullaton stayed out for that entire power play and thensome. Guess he doesn't tire easily. ... Ryan Salvis just had a wide-open net with St. Pierre caught outside it but chose to shoot the puck directly at Seibel's nether regions instead. ... Cullaton just stole the puck, centered it to Goupil, who then took a shot and had Vincent Zaore-Vanie there to swing at the rebound. The puck shot out again on St. Pierre's next save, and Smith tried to chase it but was promptly tackled by Hansen, who is seriously one easy man to offend. No calls came out of that, but it could foreshadow some more freaking out later in the game. ... In a move eerily similar to the end of the second period of last night's Penguins-Blue Jackets game, Coach Ruskowski just pulled Martin for the final 0.4 seconds of the period with the faceoff upcoming in the Oilers' zone. Nothing doing. Bucks still lead 3-2, and shots are now 26-17.

Third Period: Bucks get the first power play of the period pretty early as Riddle is in the box for slashing just 49 seconds in. ... The Brahmas have lost, which means if the Biucks hold on and win here they'll be 1o points back in the race for first place. Not sure 10 points back is where you really want to be at this point in the season. ... St. Pierre just lost the puck underneath himself and is lucky none of the Bucks noticed its exact location because that could have been painful for him. ... Further proof that fevers affect your brain: Kozak is actually the one who left the ice after that multi-player brawl earlier in the game. Oops. He has not come back. ... Tendler has tied the game on his second of the night on a flukey goal that saw the puck kind of roll on and over Martin. This is a team that lost 7-2 last night, keep in mind, and they threatened to tie it up several times before actually coming through with that goal. Score is 3-3 with 11:20 to play in the game. Kovalcik has the assist on that one. ... Someone just pretty much covered St. Pierre with his own net by flipping it over his head. Very strange. ... Now that it's back at even, the Oilers are flying around out there, which isn't to say their effort wasn't pretty intense to begin with. ... I love how people here see a red light and start throwing corn even when the ref has clearly signaled no goal. Apparently the Bucks have already gotten warned about this stuff tonight; they might end up getting fined. ... I'm thinking this is going to end too late for me to go downstairs for interviews after (and I'm guessing Ruskowski will high-tail it out of here as soon as he finishes yelling at the team), but you can guess what he'd have to say. Apparently Mike Millbury says the Penguins need passion, but I'd say the Bucks need it a little bit more. Of course, that isn't to say I don't want the Pens to be passionate. ... Are people throwing stuff at the Oiler's bench now? I guess Hamilton just got hurt a bit but appears to be fine. ... That Kozak fight was just named play of the game, which leads me to wonder if the people who decide those things realize the team may have lost another scoring threat to injury because of it. ... What a time for Zaore's first goal of the season. He has given the Bucks the lead back with 4:58 to play. That was what I would call a very nice wraparound. Not exactly what you would expect for a defenseman's first goal, but I'm sure it'll do, at least if they can keep the lead. ... Oilers coach Tony Martino has taken a timeout with 1:22 to play. St. Pierre will be pulled. ... Salvis missed the empty net by a couple inches, but the Oilers could not get the puck to net, even with an extra attacker. Ruskowski cannot be pleased that a game against a team with four road wins all season came that close.

Game Over: Bucks win 4-3, improve to 26-15-4 (56 points) and move within 10 of the Brahmas. Good for Zaore for getting that goal, but those poor Oilers looked devastated. I guess you can't expect your goalie to do everything, though, and they were outshot 41-23. Word on the street (or from Bryan Benway's postgame) is that Kozak will be missing some time. That's exactly what the Bucks need, eh?

Other Scores: Mudbugs 4, Brahmas 1;  Eagles 6, Blazers 3; Thunder 6, Jackalopes 5 (OT);  Killer Bees 3, IceRays 2; Gorillas 6, Sundogs 3; Scorpions 4, Rush 3 (F-SO).

NHL Scores: Flyers 4, Bruins 3 (OT); Ducks 2, Flames 1; Red Wings 8, Oilers 3; Maple Leafs 5, Canadiens 2; Senators 3, Sabres 2 (SO); Kings 3, Devils 1; Capitals 3, Panthers 1; Blue Jackets 3, Sharks 2 (OT); Lightning 1, Islanders 0; Blues 4, Avalanche 1; Hurricanes 7, Coyotes 2; Canucks 7, Blackhawks 3.

Game Day No. 45

Finally, a game against someone other than the Corpus Christi IceRays.

After three in a row, including two losses, against the IceRays, the Bucks (25-15-4, 54 points) will host the Tulsa Oilers (12-26-6, 30 pts.) tonight at the LEC.

The Bucks are coming off one of those aforementioned losses, a 2-1 defeat at the American Bank Center last night, while the Oilers are coming off a 7-2 beating at the hands of the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees.

I'll let the guys who were actually at those games tell you a little more about them; you can read Greg Rajan's story and observations about the Bucks' loss and Brian Sandalow's blog and story about the Oilers' mess. The Caller-Times also has a photo gallery from the game up for those of you interested.

This is the last chance for the Bucks' current players to prove themselves before Monday's trade deadline, so you'd think playing against the team with the second-worst record in the league would be a good opportunity. But, the Oilers did beat the Colorado Eagles the other night, so who knows.

I'm feeling more than a little under the weather, so now that I'm done with my office work, I'm going to go buy some meds before the game. I apologize in advance for the possibility of my live blogging being less intense than usual.

By the way, after I noted Justin Kinnunen having an assist last night, the Rampage stormed back to tie the game but eventually lost 4-3 in overtime. Kinnunen finished with two assists, both primary, and was one of only four Rampage players to register a positive plus/minus. He was also a starter, apparently, so it seems he's making a pretty decent case for not coming back to the CHL this season.