A few minutes with...Terry Ruskowski

The Laredo Bucks head coach talks about the season thus far, the Texas Brahmas and NYTEX

Terrence Wallace "Roscoe" Ruskowski is a former National Hockey League center who played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Los Angeles Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins and the Minnesota North Stars, finishing with 426 points and 1,356 penalty minutes in 630 NHL games. In the WHA, Ruskowski won AVCO Cup championships with the Houston Aeros and the Winnipeg Jets.

Ruskowski played junior hockey in his native Saskatchewan, and in the summer of 2003 was inducted into the Swift Current Broncos Hall of Fame.

Ruskowski's leadership on the ice was recognized with his tenure as captain of the Aeros, Blackhawks, Kings, and Penguins in ten of fifteen seasons. He is the only player in major professional history to captain four different clubs.

In 2001, he was named the head coach of the Laredo Bucks. In 2007, he was given a "lifetime contract" as the Bucks' coach.

Ruskowski reached the 450 win plateau as a head coach on January 25th, 2008. He began the 2008-09 campaign with a 465-312-70 mark, including a 251-98-31 record in six seasons in Laredo.

Entering his seventh season with the Bucks, Ruskowski is the third longest tenured coach in the CHL. Only Oklahoma City's Doug Sauter (entering fourteenth season), and Bossier-Shreveport's Scott Muscutt (entering ninth season) have been with their respective teams longer.

Ruskowski, 53, has led the Bucks to the postseason in each of his years as coach. The team won President Cup championships in 2004 and 2006 and four consecutive Southern Conference titles.

Last season, the Bucks won their fifth straight Southeast Division title, going 42-19-3 (87 points). Laredo would then sweep the Southern Conference semi-finals against Odessa four games to none, to advance to their sixth straight Southern Conference Finals series, only to lose to the eventual CHL Champion Arizona Sundogs in a seven game series.

I spoke with coach Ruskowski during a recent visit to the NYTEX Sports Centre where his team defeated the Texas Brahmas in a 2-1 shootout.

Q: Coach, we're a little over a quarter of the way into the season. The Bucks have held onto the lead in the Southeast division for two months now. Do you feel your team is set and ready to get through December and into the New Year for another run to the playoffs?

A: Well, I tell ya, at times I think it's smoke and mirrors, how we win. But we're winning, which is good. I like that part. We have a great bunch of kids on our team. We've got good veterans that have a situation where they lead by example. They also lead off the ice and I'm very blessed by having good leadership and guys who come to play every night. They don't usually take a day off. That really helps, especially when you've got a brand new team. We only had six guys come back from last year. It's pretty much a brand new team that we got together. They seem to be blending in very well. There's a lot of room for improvement. If you want to be a contender instead of a pretender, you're always looking to improve your team.

Q: Let's talk about your goaltender, Sebastien Centomo. I was surprised to see him stay with the CHL and sign with the Bucks this season. He's doing great with a 8-4-0-1 record and is in the top three in the league in his GAA and save percentage. What are your thoughts on him?

A: He's a terrific guy. He prepares himself for games. He prepares himself for practice. He doesn't complain, he just goes out there and does his job. For a coach, it's a delight to have that. Usually, the goalies are a different type of breed but he's a very sensible guy and he's helping our young kid (Ryan Gibb) out a little bit too and they feed off of each other which is good. Both of them are playing pretty good for me right now.

Q: You've know Dan Wildfong for a number of years now. How do you feel about him as a head coach?

A: He's a competitor. Once you have a competitor on the ice, you're going to have a competitor off the ice, also with a team. He knows what it takes. He's been there in this league. He knows what it takes to be a champion. He's the type of guy that works hard and he demands his players to work hard. He's got a big, talented hockey team. It's nice to be talented but when your big and talented, it's a huge plus and he did a great job recruiting. His team comes out to play. His team comes out to win every game. They've got talent. They're big, they're strong and they're proving it this year with the great record they have so far.

Q: Your teams had historically dominated the Fort Worth Brahmas. Dan Wildfong's Texas Brahmas are a different animal. Now they have been placed in the Southeast Division and have become your chief rival. How do you feel about that?

A: Well, I wish they weren't in our division because they are a very strong team and we don't want strong teams in our division (laughing). It makes for better hockey. We have to prepare ourselves as best we can to play against one of the best teams in the league. They've been doing a pretty good number on us last year and we've got to come back and find a way to beat them somehow because we play them seven or eight times this year and we've got to find a way to beat them. Not knowing what they have here, obviously we'll be watching the tape and see what their characteristics are and see if next time we play them if we can improve on our game and our position and try to take away their powers and try to strive for their weaknesses, if they have any.

Q: How do feel about the NYTEX Sports Centre and how the size and atmosphere of the venue lends itself to an advantage for the home team ?

A: You know, as a player and as a coach, and this is my philosophy, if it has an ice surface that's regulation, I really don't care about anything else. If they can fill the place up and be loud and boisterous for their home team, that's what hockey's all about. I mean, that's the home ice advantage. Anytime you can do that, It's a huge advantage for the home ice team. We try to do that in Laredo, our facility seats about 8,000 and when it's not filled and if nobody's there, it's pretty quiet. We have to give our own energy. Here, it's smaller and if there's a crowd here and they're boisterous, the hometown team can really feed off of that. To me, I really don't care what the facility is. All I know is you've got a bench, a place for me to stand, and an ice surface to play on, and that's all we need; and we need to win the game.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith