As mentioned in the press release to announce the Mark Sibbald signing, the Bucks placed defenseman Jeremy Swanson on the 14-day injured reserve today, retroactive to last Saturday (Dec. 12).
Swanson suffered an lower-body injury in Saturday's 4-2 loss to the Allen Americans.
I asked Coach Ruskowski if he planned to bring another d-man in to take Swanson's place, and he said he's actually going to move forward/defenseman Igor Agarunov back to the blue line instead.
If he doesn't like the way that works out and Swanson isn't ready to come off the IR for the game the day after Christmas, he might look elsewhere.
Moving Agarunov back obviously leaves the Bucks short a forward, but Neil Trimm might finally be ready to come off the 14-day IR, which he has been on since Nov. 15.
Trimm has been skating since last week, and Ruskowski said that as long as he feels okay tomorrow after skating hard today, he should be able to come off the IR and play against the Corpus Christi IceRays on Thursday.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Levasseur Starts for Springfield
I wasn't necessarily expecting Jean-Philippe Levasseur to start his first game up with the Springfield Falcons, but it seems he has done exactly that.
You can follow the game here.
Through one period, he has faced 10 shots and stopped nine of them as the Falcons and Lowell Devils are tied 1-1.
UPDATE: Well, that didn't go so well for Levasseur. He allowed six goals on 28 shots to suffer a 6-1 loss in his first AHL game of the 2009-10 season.
You can follow the game here.
Through one period, he has faced 10 shots and stopped nine of them as the Falcons and Lowell Devils are tied 1-1.
UPDATE: Well, that didn't go so well for Levasseur. He allowed six goals on 28 shots to suffer a 6-1 loss in his first AHL game of the 2009-10 season.
Bucks Sign Sibbald
The Bucks have signed rookie netminder Mark Sibbald to back up and/or compete with Kyle Gajewski while Jean-Philippe Levasseur is playing with the Springfield Falcons of the AHL.
Sibbald had been playing with the Southern Professional Hockey League's Huntsville Havoc this season.
He arrived in Laredo late last night and is making the trip to Corpus Christi with the team today in preparation for Thursday's game against the IceRays.
You can get a little more information about Sibbald from his Pointstreak profile.
Playing in the SPHL this season, Sibbald had a record of 10-0-2 and led the league in goals-against average at 1.61 and save percentage at .951.
The numbers are all very impressive, but we'll see what he can do in the CHL.
When I spoke to Coach Ruskowski about Gajewski (2-3-1) yesterday, he said he had every confidence that he could get the job done in Levasseur's absence, but I'm guessing Sibbald will get a chance to show what he's got eventually.
UPDATE: Okay, apparently Sibbald's plane was held up because of the rainy weather here today, and he wasn't able to go with the team to Corpus, so he'll be joining them later tonight. Or at least Ruskowski hopes so.
Sibbald had been playing with the Southern Professional Hockey League's Huntsville Havoc this season.
He arrived in Laredo late last night and is making the trip to Corpus Christi with the team today in preparation for Thursday's game against the IceRays.
You can get a little more information about Sibbald from his Pointstreak profile.
Playing in the SPHL this season, Sibbald had a record of 10-0-2 and led the league in goals-against average at 1.61 and save percentage at .951.
The numbers are all very impressive, but we'll see what he can do in the CHL.
When I spoke to Coach Ruskowski about Gajewski (2-3-1) yesterday, he said he had every confidence that he could get the job done in Levasseur's absence, but I'm guessing Sibbald will get a chance to show what he's got eventually.
UPDATE: Okay, apparently Sibbald's plane was held up because of the rainy weather here today, and he wasn't able to go with the team to Corpus, so he'll be joining them later tonight. Or at least Ruskowski hopes so.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Levasseur Called Up
Turns out the Bucks will not be available to the media at the LEC at 11, so I'll be tagging along when they go deliver toys at Doctors Hospital this afternoon.
One player of interest will not be there, either, though.
Goaltender Jean-Philippe Levasseur has been called up to the AHL by the Springfield Falcons.
Here's the press release:
Bucks’ Levasseur Called Up To AHL
LAREDO, TX- The Laredo Bucks of the Central Hockey League announced Monday that J.P Levasseur has been called up to the Springfield Falcons of the American Hockey League. Levasseur is expected to be in uniform for Springfield Tuesday night when the Falcons travel to Lowell.
Levasseur, the reigning CHL goaltender of the month for November, has a 10-3-3 record with the Bucks, to go along with a 2.31 G.A.A and a .919 sv.%. The 22-year-old Levasseur was also named CHL goaltender of the week on November 9th.
“It’s a great opportunity for J.P to go up to the American League, he really deserves it,” said Bucks President/General Manager and Head Coach Terry Ruskowski. “He’s been one of the major reasons for our success this season.”
The Victoriaville, Quebec native is among the league leaders in several goaltending categories. Levasseur leads the league in G.A.A (.2.31), is third in sv. % (.919), and is fourth in wins (10).
“We don’t know how long J.P will be up there, but we know that he will represent the Bucks well. We wish him all of the luck in the world.”
Levasseur, who is on loan to the Bucks from Anaheim, has allowed just one goal in a game three times this season.
Levasseur is the second Bucks player to get called up to the AHL this season, as Darryl Smith was called up by Manitoba on November 4th. Smith played in one game with the Moose.
The 22-year-old Levasseur went 6-1-1 in November, including winning four-straight one-goal games from November 6th-15th. Levasseur had a 2.29 goals against average allowing 19 goals in his eight starts. He stopped 215 of 234 shots for a .919 save percentage. Three of Levasseur’s six wins in the month came in shootouts, where he stopped a total of 13 out of 14 shootout attempts.
The 6’0’’, 200 pound Levasseur won CHL goaltender of the week honors on November 9th. Levassuer led the Bucks to two one-goal victories against Arizona on November 6th-7th, stopping a total of 54 of 59 shots he faced to earn the weekly league honors.
Levassuer (pronounced LEV-a-sur) was drafted in the seventh round (#197 overall) by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, and spent parts of the last two seasons in the AHL. Levassuer is on loan to the Bucks this season from Anaheim.
Levasseur has played in 51 career AHL games, posting a combined record of 17-22-5 with the Portland Pirates (’07-08) and Iowa Chops (’08-09).
Obviously, this puts the Bucks in a bit of an interesting situation.
Coach Ruskowski has a lot of faith in backup Kyle Gajewski, but is he really No. 1 material? And are the Bucks going to have to "sign" a member of their equipment managing staff like they did last season, or can they get another goalie in time for their game in Corpus on Thursday?
Obviously, I'll ask Ruskowski about that when I see him later, but for now, must say congrats to Levasseur. He definitely deserved this.
UPDATE: Sorry for the lack of posting today, but check back tomorrow for some more goalie news.
One player of interest will not be there, either, though.
Goaltender Jean-Philippe Levasseur has been called up to the AHL by the Springfield Falcons.
Here's the press release:
Bucks’ Levasseur Called Up To AHL
LAREDO, TX- The Laredo Bucks of the Central Hockey League announced Monday that J.P Levasseur has been called up to the Springfield Falcons of the American Hockey League. Levasseur is expected to be in uniform for Springfield Tuesday night when the Falcons travel to Lowell.
Levasseur, the reigning CHL goaltender of the month for November, has a 10-3-3 record with the Bucks, to go along with a 2.31 G.A.A and a .919 sv.%. The 22-year-old Levasseur was also named CHL goaltender of the week on November 9th.
“It’s a great opportunity for J.P to go up to the American League, he really deserves it,” said Bucks President/General Manager and Head Coach Terry Ruskowski. “He’s been one of the major reasons for our success this season.”
The Victoriaville, Quebec native is among the league leaders in several goaltending categories. Levasseur leads the league in G.A.A (.2.31), is third in sv. % (.919), and is fourth in wins (10).
“We don’t know how long J.P will be up there, but we know that he will represent the Bucks well. We wish him all of the luck in the world.”
Levasseur, who is on loan to the Bucks from Anaheim, has allowed just one goal in a game three times this season.
Levasseur is the second Bucks player to get called up to the AHL this season, as Darryl Smith was called up by Manitoba on November 4th. Smith played in one game with the Moose.
The 22-year-old Levasseur went 6-1-1 in November, including winning four-straight one-goal games from November 6th-15th. Levasseur had a 2.29 goals against average allowing 19 goals in his eight starts. He stopped 215 of 234 shots for a .919 save percentage. Three of Levasseur’s six wins in the month came in shootouts, where he stopped a total of 13 out of 14 shootout attempts.
The 6’0’’, 200 pound Levasseur won CHL goaltender of the week honors on November 9th. Levassuer led the Bucks to two one-goal victories against Arizona on November 6th-7th, stopping a total of 54 of 59 shots he faced to earn the weekly league honors.
Levassuer (pronounced LEV-a-sur) was drafted in the seventh round (#197 overall) by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, and spent parts of the last two seasons in the AHL. Levassuer is on loan to the Bucks this season from Anaheim.
Levasseur has played in 51 career AHL games, posting a combined record of 17-22-5 with the Portland Pirates (’07-08) and Iowa Chops (’08-09).
Obviously, this puts the Bucks in a bit of an interesting situation.
Coach Ruskowski has a lot of faith in backup Kyle Gajewski, but is he really No. 1 material? And are the Bucks going to have to "sign" a member of their equipment managing staff like they did last season, or can they get another goalie in time for their game in Corpus on Thursday?
Obviously, I'll ask Ruskowski about that when I see him later, but for now, must say congrats to Levasseur. He definitely deserved this.
UPDATE: Sorry for the lack of posting today, but check back tomorrow for some more goalie news.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Game No. 22 - Bucks at Americans
Sorry I wasn't able to blog during tonight's game, but the Bucks suffered a 4-2 loss to the Allen Americans to drop their second straight, fail in their second bid at franchise win No. 300 and drop to 12-6-4 (28 points) on the season, putting them in fourth place in the Southern Conference.
You can read Bryan Benway's recap for more info, but there's one part of it I'd like to share:
The Bucks then had a goal waved off with 3:12 left in the third period that would have cut the Allen lead to 3-2. The officials ruled that the puck was kicked into the net, when replays of the goal showed otherwise.
Interesting! Did any of you see that call? Any opinions on whether it should have counted?
The team is not getting on the ice at the LEC again until the day after Christmas, but they'll be available for interviews on Monday, so I'll report back to you then.
You can read Bryan Benway's recap for more info, but there's one part of it I'd like to share:
The Bucks then had a goal waved off with 3:12 left in the third period that would have cut the Allen lead to 3-2. The officials ruled that the puck was kicked into the net, when replays of the goal showed otherwise.
Interesting! Did any of you see that call? Any opinions on whether it should have counted?
The team is not getting on the ice at the LEC again until the day after Christmas, but they'll be available for interviews on Monday, so I'll report back to you then.
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