Sebastien Centomo and A.J. Bucchino will be the starting goaltenders tonight, as Coach Ruskowski has opted to use Andrew Martin against the Texas Brahmas tomorrow. You can follow the game here for more up-to-the-minute updates.
First Period: Well, it didn't take long for one new line to prove that it can be effective, as Igor Agarunov scored at 1:29 on an assist from James Hiebert, Hiebert's first point since returning. Adam Rivet gets the secondary helper. ... The Bucks have outshot the Gorillas 4-1 so far a bit past five minutes into this one. ... And now another new line has tacked on another goal, with Erick Lizon scoring at 6:32 on assists from Jason Dixon and Alex Goupil. Bucks lead 2-0. ... It took 13:08 to get a penalty called in this one, so I guess Justin Greene may not be as whistle happy as some. Mickey Gilchrist is headed to the box for hooking to put the Gorillas on the game's first power play. ... The Bucks were able to kill that one, then simultaneous calls (Gordon Bell for stick holding and Goupil for hooking) at 17:50 set up a couple minutes of 4-on-4 to close out the period. ... Apparently Steve Weidlich prefers to have fewer people on the ice, as he took a slashing call at 19:34. Bucks killed off the first 26 seconds of the Gorillas' advantage but will have to take care of 1:34 more when the second begins. ... Bucks lead 2-0 after the first and are up 13-10 on shots.
Second Period: The Bucks took care of the rest of that penalty and now get their first power play of the game as Outstanding Defenseman finalist Sam Ftorek has been called for stick holding at 3:26. ... Apparently the Bucks would rather score at even strength, as they left the power play emptyhanded but scored two goals not much later. Goupil did the honors five seconds after Ftorek left the box, on assists from Miller and Weidlich, and Agarunov tacked on his second of the game, on assists from Dixon and Hiebert, at 8:46. ... The Gorillas get another power-play chance now, as Lizon is headed to the box for holding at 9:18. ... And now the Bucks have scored shorthanded, too, as Weidlich netted his fourth of the season on an assist from Agarunov at 10:57. Bucks lead 5-0. ... The Bucks killed that, but with Warren Galloway in the box for a too-many-men minor, Stuart McRae scored the Gorillas' first of the game, a shortie at 13:09, assisted by John Snowden. Bucks lead 5-1. ... Ftorek and Dixon are both in the box now, for cross checking and holding, respectively. Calls came at the 15-minute mark; time for some more 4-on-4. ... Brent Cullaton has added another for the Bucks at 18:09 on an assist from Miller. Bucks lead 6-1. ... And that 6-1 lead is what they will take into the second intermission, along with a 22-20 shot advantage.
Third Period: Five minutes in, and all that's happened are some penalty calls against the Bucks, with Hiebert getting called for roughing 51 seconds in, Miller for hooking at 2:05 and Serge Dube for high sticking at 2:26. As you may notice, that left the Bucks doubly shorthanded for quite some time, but the Gorillas did not capitalize. ... Apparently I got distracted by some phone calls and missed a bit of violence there toward the end, but the Bucks came out of it with a 6-1 win to open this big weekend. ... To make matters better for the Bucks, the Corpus Christi IceRays pulled off a 1-0 win over the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees to put the Bucks four points up on the Killer Bees in the standings.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Game Day No. 59
How crazy is it that there are only five more regular season games left after tonight? Time flies, I guess.
Meanwhile, the Bucks begin a big three-game road trip tonight at the Amarillo Gorillas, with the Texas Brahmas and Corpus Christi IceRays on tap.
In my preview for this weekend, I tried to include a bit of a diagnosis from a couple of players about what the team will need to improve if it actually wants to last past the first round of the playoffs.
I spoke to Coach Ruskowski, of course, but at this point he seems to think that if the guys would just do things right and start listening to him (and remember what teamwork is supposed to mean, as mentioned in the notes of my story), they'd be fine.
Adam Rivet agreed, noting that the personnel is capable of doing the job if they can just fix a few small problems and also using that old cliche about everyone "holding their sticks a little tighter" during a rough patch like this.
James Hiebert, who watched most of the home games from the stands before coming out of "retirement" last week, said the team has been kind of sloppy this year and agreed with Ruskowski about a lack of teamwork on and off the ice.
The sloppiness is evident in their passing, which infuriates Ruskowski to no end and led him to share his frustrations about the fact that guys who have made it to this level should know how to pass, not have to be taught in end-of-season practices.
Obviously, losing Jeff Bes has had an incredibly impactful effect on the Bucks, and now that he's out for the season, they don't even have the hope of him coming back to motivate them. Getting Hiebert back and having Rick Kozak and Bobby Russell almost ready to return should help, but you just can't replace Bes.
Prior to losing Bes in that 4-3 loss to the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs on Jan. 26, the Bucks were 21-13-4 (46 points). Since then, and I am including that game because he missed the end of it, they are 10-9-1 (21 pts.), including the current five-game winless streak.
Going purely on straight-up win percentage, without regard for the "ties" or OT losses, the Bucks were at .618 with Bes and are at .526 withouth him. I know that doesn't seem like a terribly drastic difference, but at this time of year, it's a difference that will make you pay.
Anyway, I know it's been said about every game for a while now, but this is a must-win for the Bucks, especially considering the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees would tie them in the standings with a Bucks' loss and a Killer Bees' win over the Corpus Christi IceRays tonight.
I'll live blog this one to the best of my ability, but I'm on desk alone, so I'll have a lot of calls to take. For now, you can read more about it in Bryan Benway's preview and the Pointstreak pre-game notes.
Oh, and it appears we'll never get to witness a Hiebert-Dennis Maxwell rematch, at least not any time this season, as the Killer Bees waived Maxwell and acquired Brent Gauvreau the other day.
Brian Sandalow has more on that, thoughts on the Killer Bees losing two points, his CHL awards ballot, this week's Southeast Division rankings (which move the Killer Bees up past the Bucks), news that the Killer Bees are at least No. 4 in the conference and that tiebreaker clarification everyone's been wondering about.
The basic message of that is that if the Bucks and Killer Bees finish with the same number of points, the Killer Bees will take the No. 3 seed because their win still counts as a win, even if the points don't count in the standings.
I'm trying to think of all the other random things I've wanted to blog about recently, but my short-term memory is pretty full of powerlifting totals and baseball scores right about now.
However, I do remember that the Bucks practiced with four forward lines on Wednesday, but I think that was just to help Kozak and Mike Gooch (who were both on the same line and both traveled with the team this weekend in spite of still being on the injured reserve) get back into shape.
Matt Miller was the second winger on the top line, which cannot seem to stay intact for a second this season. Hiebert had been moved to the line with Ryan Salvis and Igor Agarunov, which could be a threat at both ends of the ice if all things work out.
Oh, and at the jersey auction on Sunday, the first since both Brent Cullaton and Hiebert's returns, their sweaters went for $700 and $875, respectively.
I had wondered if Hiebert would go back to No. 9 eventually, seeing as how it is available, and I was first told he would, but Matt Brayfield said no on Wednesday, and I forgot to ask Hiebert why.
As far as why he came back, he said he'd had a couple nagging injuries last season that have pretty much taken care of themselves over the past few months and a lot of fans had asked him about it, so he figured he may as well. He also said that his father really wanted him to come back to the sport, so that was also a big factor.
Obviously, getting back into shape will be his biggest issue, as Greg Rajan noted in a graphic quote from Brent Hughes in his game blog from Sunday, but Hiebert said to just give him a couple games and a couple hard skates and he'll be fine.
Meanwhile, the Bucks begin a big three-game road trip tonight at the Amarillo Gorillas, with the Texas Brahmas and Corpus Christi IceRays on tap.
In my preview for this weekend, I tried to include a bit of a diagnosis from a couple of players about what the team will need to improve if it actually wants to last past the first round of the playoffs.
I spoke to Coach Ruskowski, of course, but at this point he seems to think that if the guys would just do things right and start listening to him (and remember what teamwork is supposed to mean, as mentioned in the notes of my story), they'd be fine.
Adam Rivet agreed, noting that the personnel is capable of doing the job if they can just fix a few small problems and also using that old cliche about everyone "holding their sticks a little tighter" during a rough patch like this.
James Hiebert, who watched most of the home games from the stands before coming out of "retirement" last week, said the team has been kind of sloppy this year and agreed with Ruskowski about a lack of teamwork on and off the ice.
The sloppiness is evident in their passing, which infuriates Ruskowski to no end and led him to share his frustrations about the fact that guys who have made it to this level should know how to pass, not have to be taught in end-of-season practices.
Obviously, losing Jeff Bes has had an incredibly impactful effect on the Bucks, and now that he's out for the season, they don't even have the hope of him coming back to motivate them. Getting Hiebert back and having Rick Kozak and Bobby Russell almost ready to return should help, but you just can't replace Bes.
Prior to losing Bes in that 4-3 loss to the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs on Jan. 26, the Bucks were 21-13-4 (46 points). Since then, and I am including that game because he missed the end of it, they are 10-9-1 (21 pts.), including the current five-game winless streak.
Going purely on straight-up win percentage, without regard for the "ties" or OT losses, the Bucks were at .618 with Bes and are at .526 withouth him. I know that doesn't seem like a terribly drastic difference, but at this time of year, it's a difference that will make you pay.
Anyway, I know it's been said about every game for a while now, but this is a must-win for the Bucks, especially considering the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees would tie them in the standings with a Bucks' loss and a Killer Bees' win over the Corpus Christi IceRays tonight.
I'll live blog this one to the best of my ability, but I'm on desk alone, so I'll have a lot of calls to take. For now, you can read more about it in Bryan Benway's preview and the Pointstreak pre-game notes.
Oh, and it appears we'll never get to witness a Hiebert-Dennis Maxwell rematch, at least not any time this season, as the Killer Bees waived Maxwell and acquired Brent Gauvreau the other day.
Brian Sandalow has more on that, thoughts on the Killer Bees losing two points, his CHL awards ballot, this week's Southeast Division rankings (which move the Killer Bees up past the Bucks), news that the Killer Bees are at least No. 4 in the conference and that tiebreaker clarification everyone's been wondering about.
The basic message of that is that if the Bucks and Killer Bees finish with the same number of points, the Killer Bees will take the No. 3 seed because their win still counts as a win, even if the points don't count in the standings.
I'm trying to think of all the other random things I've wanted to blog about recently, but my short-term memory is pretty full of powerlifting totals and baseball scores right about now.
However, I do remember that the Bucks practiced with four forward lines on Wednesday, but I think that was just to help Kozak and Mike Gooch (who were both on the same line and both traveled with the team this weekend in spite of still being on the injured reserve) get back into shape.
Matt Miller was the second winger on the top line, which cannot seem to stay intact for a second this season. Hiebert had been moved to the line with Ryan Salvis and Igor Agarunov, which could be a threat at both ends of the ice if all things work out.
Oh, and at the jersey auction on Sunday, the first since both Brent Cullaton and Hiebert's returns, their sweaters went for $700 and $875, respectively.
I had wondered if Hiebert would go back to No. 9 eventually, seeing as how it is available, and I was first told he would, but Matt Brayfield said no on Wednesday, and I forgot to ask Hiebert why.
As far as why he came back, he said he'd had a couple nagging injuries last season that have pretty much taken care of themselves over the past few months and a lot of fans had asked him about it, so he figured he may as well. He also said that his father really wanted him to come back to the sport, so that was also a big factor.
Obviously, getting back into shape will be his biggest issue, as Greg Rajan noted in a graphic quote from Brent Hughes in his game blog from Sunday, but Hiebert said to just give him a couple games and a couple hard skates and he'll be fine.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Programming Note
I am incredibly sorry about the lack of posts lately. My boss is out of town for the week, meaning I have a heck of a lot more to do, and we've just generally been insanely busy with high school stuff lately. I was working from 10 a.m. until 11:30 p.m. yesterday and honestly didn't have a spare second to touch this blog, and I don't have internet at home, so that's also a problem. There will be a preview for the weekend in tomorrow's paper, and I will do my best to blog tomorrow, as well. Don't worry; I'll be back in full force eventually.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Game No. 58 - Bucks at Killer Bees
I guess the most important thing to say right now is that if the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees hadn't been docked two points in the standings last week, they and the Bucks would now be tied for second place in the Southeast Division and third place in the Southern Conference.
As it stands, the Killer Bees' 2-1 win in the game that ended just minutes ago moves them to 31-22-5, the exact same record as the Bucks have, but only 65 points to the Bucks' 67.
After Sunday's 4-1 loss to the Corpus Christi IceRays, today's game, which I previewed briefly in my weekly notebook, became even more important than it already had been, but obviously the Bucks came up short once again.
Their 22 regulation losses have this team tied with the 2004-05 Bucks for the most regular season regulation losses in franchise history. And the team only had three overtime defeats this season.
With three games against the Texas Brahmas, one against the Odessa Jackalopes and one against the suddenly Buck-dominant IceRays left on the schedule, I think it's safe to say the team will be setting a loss record this season.
Of course, the 2004-05 team did still make it to the President's Cup finals, but I'm pretty sure everyone involved in or familiar with this team knows they'll need a little something extra to get that far.
Coach Ruskowski and I discussed the importance of getting that No. 3 seed instead of the No. 4 yesterday, and I'm guessing he's not too thrilled to have let the Killer Bees move even closer today.
According to him, the biggest thing about getting the No. 3 is that you know flat-out right away who you're playing, and you get time to prepare for them. Plus, the winner of the No. 4-No. 5 series has to play the Brahmas, and that's not good news this season. But are the Odessa Jackalopes really any better?
Meanwhile, the Brahmas clinched the division with the Bucks' loss on Sunday, but the dethroned Bucks seem to be the only team feeling ill effects from the Brahmas' Southeast debut. After only the Bucks and the currently nonexistent Austin IceBats made the postseason last year, three of the Southeast teams are already in this time around, with the potential for the fourth to join the party.
The IceRays 25-28-5 (55 pts.) are currently two points up on the Arizona Sundogs (24-30-5, 53 pts.) and four up on the New Mexico Scorpions (24-31-3, 51 pts.) for the conference's fifth and final playoff spot with a game in hand on the Sundogs.
But anyway, I just got Bryan Benway's press release in my e-mail, and the fact that his headline is so serious really tells you something about the Bucks' situation right now.
You can read Brian Sandalow's pre-game and running game blogs, as well as his game story for more on today.
Oh, and I should note that Darryl Smith is a finalist for the CHL Rookie of the Year award. He is the only Buck nominated for an end-of-season honor. There's a little more about that in my previously linked notebook.
Smith was also voted Best Rookie in the league's "Best of the Best" polls, which were released this morning.
The Colorado Eagles dominated this season's polls, but the injured Jeff Bes was still able to pick up some votes, finishing first in the "Best Playmaker" category, second in "Best Overall Player" and "Best Leader," and third in "Best Stickhandler" and "Smartest Player."
La Posada was voted "Best Host Hotel," the Bucks' booster club tied for second with the IceRays' as "Best Booster Club," and Bucks' fans were voted third-most annoying in the league. That about does it for the Bucks in this season's voting.
As it stands, the Killer Bees' 2-1 win in the game that ended just minutes ago moves them to 31-22-5, the exact same record as the Bucks have, but only 65 points to the Bucks' 67.
After Sunday's 4-1 loss to the Corpus Christi IceRays, today's game, which I previewed briefly in my weekly notebook, became even more important than it already had been, but obviously the Bucks came up short once again.
Their 22 regulation losses have this team tied with the 2004-05 Bucks for the most regular season regulation losses in franchise history. And the team only had three overtime defeats this season.
With three games against the Texas Brahmas, one against the Odessa Jackalopes and one against the suddenly Buck-dominant IceRays left on the schedule, I think it's safe to say the team will be setting a loss record this season.
Of course, the 2004-05 team did still make it to the President's Cup finals, but I'm pretty sure everyone involved in or familiar with this team knows they'll need a little something extra to get that far.
Coach Ruskowski and I discussed the importance of getting that No. 3 seed instead of the No. 4 yesterday, and I'm guessing he's not too thrilled to have let the Killer Bees move even closer today.
According to him, the biggest thing about getting the No. 3 is that you know flat-out right away who you're playing, and you get time to prepare for them. Plus, the winner of the No. 4-No. 5 series has to play the Brahmas, and that's not good news this season. But are the Odessa Jackalopes really any better?
Meanwhile, the Brahmas clinched the division with the Bucks' loss on Sunday, but the dethroned Bucks seem to be the only team feeling ill effects from the Brahmas' Southeast debut. After only the Bucks and the currently nonexistent Austin IceBats made the postseason last year, three of the Southeast teams are already in this time around, with the potential for the fourth to join the party.
The IceRays 25-28-5 (55 pts.) are currently two points up on the Arizona Sundogs (24-30-5, 53 pts.) and four up on the New Mexico Scorpions (24-31-3, 51 pts.) for the conference's fifth and final playoff spot with a game in hand on the Sundogs.
But anyway, I just got Bryan Benway's press release in my e-mail, and the fact that his headline is so serious really tells you something about the Bucks' situation right now.
You can read Brian Sandalow's pre-game and running game blogs, as well as his game story for more on today.
Oh, and I should note that Darryl Smith is a finalist for the CHL Rookie of the Year award. He is the only Buck nominated for an end-of-season honor. There's a little more about that in my previously linked notebook.
Smith was also voted Best Rookie in the league's "Best of the Best" polls, which were released this morning.
The Colorado Eagles dominated this season's polls, but the injured Jeff Bes was still able to pick up some votes, finishing first in the "Best Playmaker" category, second in "Best Overall Player" and "Best Leader," and third in "Best Stickhandler" and "Smartest Player."
La Posada was voted "Best Host Hotel," the Bucks' booster club tied for second with the IceRays' as "Best Booster Club," and Bucks' fans were voted third-most annoying in the league. That about does it for the Bucks in this season's voting.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Game No. 57 - Bucks vs. IceRays
Starters: Bucks - Brent Cullaton (F), James Hiebert (F), Jaye Judd (D), Andrew Martin (G), Adam Rivet (D), Darryl Smith (F); IceRays - Ryan Crane (D), Chris Mei (D), Justin Quenneville (F), Kris Tebbs (G), Jereme Tendler (F), Mark Tobin (F).
First Period: If nothing else, Hiebert certainly threw his body around on that first shift. ... Chris Richards and Rivet just took simultaneous roughing penalties at 1:03 in the period to set up two minutes of 4-on-4. ... The Bucks took a too-many men bench minor at 4:25 to put the IceRays on the game's first legitimate power play. ... And then Steve Weidlich decided to jump Tobin at 5:05, so the two of them are now headed to the box. That was a little odd. ... People are in and out of both boxes while the refs talk this over with Quenneville and Rivet. It appears that three Bucks will be staying in as play continues. ... Weidlich got a cross-checking and a roughing, and Cullaton got an unsportsmanlike conduct, while Tobin took just a roughing call to put the IceRays on a 5-on-3 advantage for a little while here. ... Didn't take too long for Quenneville to capitalize on that, as he scored at 6:09 to give the IceRays a 1-0 lead. They'll keep the 5-on-3 here for 15 seconds. ... Matt Miller, who was serving one of Weidlich's calls, just came out of the box to make it 5-0n-4. ... That works for the IceRays, too, as they have taken a 2-0 lead on a goal by Crane on an assist from Tobin, who had just gotten out of the box himself. ... The Bucks just got a good 2-on-1 rush but couldn't capitalize. I'm thinking not playing hard won't be Ruskowski's issue after this period, but taking stupid penalties sure will be. ... Richards and Ryan Bennett have the assists on Quenneville's goal, and Tendler had the second on Crane's. ... After a failed Bucks scoring chance, Miller and Sladok dropped the gloves in Tebbs' right circle. At least that one wasn't a lame jump attack like the first but still nothing worth writing home about. Five for fighting apiece at 10:14. ... Erick Lizon just came out for the first time I've noticed and immediately got the puck in the high slot area and ripped a slap shot that Tebbs was lucky to have hit the post. ... The Bucks' top line just had a 3-on-2 chance but hesitated in moving up the ice and eventually got caught up to by the rest of the IceRays. ... End of the first period, IceRays lead 2-0 and are up 8-5 on shots.
Second Period: It took Hiebert all of 22:51 into his first game back to get into a fight...in which he took on Sladok, who has seven inches on him. Hiebert's fists don't look as fast as they were last season, which is odd because I know he's been training in a boxing gym, but he held his own against someone who clearly had him outsized. And, of course, the fans loved it. ... Tendler sure loves playing with the IceRays, and against the Bucks for that matter, and he has just scored on a breakaway to make it 3-o in the IceRays favor at 4:53 in the period. Tobin had the lone assist. ... Ryan Salvis had a decent chance on a pretty open net but missed wide. ... It seems Hiebert has been replaced on the top line by Mickey Gilchrist, but the lines are so back-and-forth right now I'm not sure how long anything will last. ... The Bucks just had what was probably their best chance of the period, with Miller taking a good shot and Jason Dixon firing the rebound, but Tebbs stopped both shots. ... I guess maybe Hiebert just isn't physically up to skating regular shifts again yet because he's back out with Cullaton and Smith and just fired a shot at Tebbs then seemed a bit confused as to what he should do when the puck came right back at him on the rebound. ... The IceRays just turned the puck over to Miller right in front of their own net, but Tebbs stopped him once again. Bucks are up 15-11 on shots at this point, by the way. ... Everyone is colliding into each other and just generally falling over the place, including some collisions between teammates. ... With 2:59 to play, Steve Cruickshank has called his first non-fighting penalties of the period, hooking on Alex Goupil and diving on Tobin. Time for some 4-on-4. ... The Bucks will now have 34 seconds of 4-on-3, then the rest of the period 5-on-4 thanks to an interference call on Leroux. ... Nothing doing. At the end of two, the IceRays lead 3-0; Bucks are up 16-14 on shots, meaning they outshot the IceRays 11-5 in this period.
Third Period: And now Goupil is the second winger on the top line. Consistency is just not this season's team's thing. ... Ummm, wow. I guess this isn't Martin's day anymore than it is anyone else on the Bucks. Adam Powell just shot the puck, probably without intention of scoring, from just inside the blue line and somehow got past Martin. I think this one might be done. ... Tobin took a tripping penalty at the 3-minute mark to put the Bucks on a power play, and the IceRays promptly cleared the puck and got a scoring chance of their own. ... Well, the Bucks got one, as Miller managed to get the puck over Tebbs while barreling over the goalie himself. IceRays lead 4-1 with 11:30 to play. ... The Bucks just took a penalty in their own offensive zone, never a good plan. Smith is headed to the box for tripping to put the IceRays on the power play at 10:30 in the period. ... Late in the game, Igor Agarunov is skating shifts as a defenseman. Not sure how to take that. ... Hiebert just jumped Quenneville to start a 5-on-5 fight that got the linesmen tangled up in it, as well. Guess James hasn't changed much since last April. ... The scene of gloves, helmets and sticks on the ice is quite amusing. Sadly, I was unable to snap a picture until Gilchrist and Richards were already out there picking up after their teammates. ... Okay, apparently Hiebert may have jumped Tobin. I really thought the guy he went after was smaller than him, but my vision is pretty weak, so who knows. Tobin got two for roughing, while Hiebert got four to put the IceRays on a power play for the remainder of this game, the 12th of 13 between these teams.
Game Over: IceRays win 4-1. Bucks fall to 31-21-5 (67 points) and are lucky that the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees lost those two points yesterday because if it weren't for that, the Killer Bees would have a chance to tie them in the standings on Tuesday.
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