Brian Ruff finally believes he has it all figured out.

The veteran head coach of the Northampton hockey entry in the Lehigh Valley Scholastic Hockey League has watched his club uncharacteristically not play up to their capability throughout most of the season.

Ironically, however, the Kids basically have maintained their hold on first place in the LVSHL Non-Pure Division with a 9-6-1 record (19 points). They will enter the first round of the one-game elimination upcoming playoffs as the top seed and likely will face current fourth-seeded Bethlehem Catholic/Allentown Central Catholic.

For Ruff, the transformation back to their comfort stage wasn't a major overhaul.

"I started tinkering with our lineups," stated Ruff. "When I looked back, I moved one player and it may have ruined our chemistry, I put the blame squarely on my shoulders. It was a problem that I had caused.

"We were still winning games, but not all the ones we should have won. We also weren't playing as well as we could have."

Lately, though, the results have been impressive. Barring any makeup games in the next week, the Kids will enter the postseason on a three-game winning streak and have an 8-2 record against their divisional foes.

"The Kids knew we would work through it," stressed Ruff. "They never gave up hope or quit. It was just frustrating. We just couldn't put our finger on it. We have a bunch of veteran players who really want to end the season on a high note."

Gunnar Mishko, who has been among the team leaders in several offensive categories over the past few seasons, again n is leading the team in scoring and is among the top five scorers in the league with 19 goals and 9 assists for 28 points.

He is among four players who have scored 20 or more points this season. Derrick Wruble (11 goals, 10 assists, 21 points) is second on the team in scoring followed by Daniel Farkas (11-10-21), and Tyler Feist (7-13-20).

Adam Orsulak has continued to improve after a slow start and he had an overall mark of 8-5-1 with a 4.06 goals against average (GAA) to begin the week. Christopher Tanzos has seen limited time and a has a 1-1 record with a 3.25 GAA.

"Those guys have been pacing us for the past few years," stated Ruff about his veteran corps. "Gunnar has done a solid job for us over the past few years. He (Mishko) really wants to help get us back to the finals.

"Adam (Orsulak) has worked his way through some issues and has regained his mark among one of the better goalies in the league."

Ruff also welcomes some time off.

"I don't think the time off will hurt us," said Ruff. "It will give us time to work on specialty part of our game like the power play. Plus, we will get a chance to practice as a whole team because the kids who played travel hockey are finished."

With a resurgence in his club, Ruff remains confident his club can be in the hunt for their first championship in four years.

"We have a group that has been playing together for a while," said Ruff. "They know what is at stake, and want to be a championship back home again."