On behalf of the entire organization I would like to welcome you to Buccaneer hockey on the web. A special welcome to the players families and friends who will be following the Bucs with special interest. We are very proud of the fact that we are a non-profit organization dedicated to furthering the careers of young hockey players. Coach Bob Ferguson and his staff are dedicated teachers who want their players to develop their skills as well as win games. If you have any questions or concerns about this website, please feel free to e-mail me (Steve Bendy).
The exhibition and pre-season tournaments are over and the team is ready to begin USHL Tier 1 play this Saturday night when we face Waterloo in Des Moines. It will be exciting as the players are introduced to the cheering fans amid smoke and the lights of the laser show.
First, a couple of important notes:
- The web broadcast of the games will not be available through our radio station. If you want to listen to the games on the internet, please go to www.ushl.com and click on the radio link for the opposing team. We apologize for this inconvenience and hope to have more info on this later.
- The Forum will not be in operation this season. The negative comments and gossip by the few were enough to effect the recruiting and scholarship effort last year.
The pre-season has been exciting to watch as head coach Bob Ferguson works with a team that returns only 4 players: Marty Guerin (Forward - Lansing, MI), Evan Stoflet (Defense - Madison, WI), Ryan Dingle (Forward - Steamboat Springs, CO), and Tommy Kolar (Forward - Duluth, MN). We "lost" a lot of players due to scholarships and because of the age requirements dictated by our new Tier 1 classification. We will discuss the Tier 1 classification and what it means to the Bucs and the USHL with Buc president Ellis Moose at a later date.
A team with so few returning veterans is bound to be uneven in the pre season, and the Bucs were just that. The first two games were against Waterloo, with the Bucs losing 2-5, and 3-4. The Bucs looked uneven as they put their new system into play and learned how their team-mates played.
The Buc Bowl saw the Bucs go 2-2, but more importantly you could see a dramatic change from Thursday night when they lost 2-6 to Cedar Rapids and then ended with a 5-1 victory over Lincoln. The scoring was balanced, with Ryan Dingle scoring 3 goals and Mike Neilon, Matt Burto, Marty Guerin, Evan Stoflet, Jamie Hoffmann, Denny Reagan, Tomas Jasko, and Mike Franks each scoring a goal. Newcomers A.J. Bucchino and Brian Papcun took turns in goal and are going to be good. Photographer Terry Allen took 80 photos of the game and I have posted some on the photos page. I will post more as time allows. Also, if there is an interest in getting high resolution scans of these photos (I could get all of them on 1 CD), let me know.
The Bucs went 2-1 in the Cedar Rapids tourney, falling to Cedar Rapids 1-2, but posting wins over Waterloo (2-1) and Lincoln (5-1). The defense was not only taking care of business in their own end, but were putting goals on the board. Steve Wagner scored a goal and Canadian Joel Kitchen picked up 2 goals. Jamie Hoffman, Denny Reagan, Tomas Jasko, and Bryce Anderson all scored, with Bryce getting 2 goals.
Yes, it is going to be an exciting season! See you at the game or on the web!
