Bees enter important weekend

HIDALGO — Each time the Killer Bees drop two points their playoff prospects get dimmer. When the points are dropped to teams they’re chasing its even more bitter.

On Tuesday, the Bees (18-18-6) had a chance to pull within one point of Tulsa but fell 5-4. They led 3-1 late in the first period but allowed the Oilers to score twice in the last 121 seconds to even the game on the way to a tough loss.

The Bees will need to recover from that this weekend, starting Friday against league-leading Wichita (27-12-2). This weekend starts with the Bees five points behind the Oilers and Texas Brahmas, who the Bees host Saturday.

And coach Terry Ruskowski doesn’t need reminding of the Bees’ situation, that four points this weekend are almost mandatory. They would have been important, anyway, but the loss Tuesday to Tulsa makes these two games even more pressing.

“There’s no question,” Ruskowski said. “That game against Tulsa was a huge game and I thought we played well enough to win. But we obviously fell short.”

Unfortunately for the Bees, that game could be a microcosm of their season. There were injured players missing and a good effort (notably Dan Gendur) going to waste because of untimely goals.

That predicament also looms large because the CHL trade deadline is Monday afternoon. Ruskowski is by no means satisfied with his roster and would like to make changes.

The desire for trades, by the way, isn’t dependent on what happens this weekend. Ruskowski has wanted to make moves for a while.

“I’m ready to make moves. I’m the type of guy if I can improve my team I’m going to do it,” Ruskowski said. “There’s some guys on our team that are underachieving. And I don’t like underachievers, I like overachievers.”

One thing he won’t do, though, is just trade for the sake of it.

“… But if I’m going to trade apples for apples, there’s no sense of trading apples for apples,” Ruskowski said.

What the Bees wouldn’t mind getting this weekend is a pair of wins.

ICING: The Bees on Thursday waived forward Tyler Barr and defenseman Ryan Warsofsky. Barr played in eight games with one goal while Warsofsky had two appearances.

Brian Sandalow covers the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436 or via email at bsandalow@themonitor.com.