The Regina Pats' losing skid is at four games, after an 0-3 tour through Alberta this weekend. The Pats have now lost 13 of their last 16 games away from the Brandt Centre, and were outscored 19-10 in the three weekend losses. Oh, and during this skid the Queen City Kids dropped to fourth place in the weak WHL East Division.
That's the bad news. On a more optimistic note, newly acquired forward Troy Ofukany scored three goals for his new team this weekend. The four players acquired last Thursday now have a few days to learn Regina's systems (don't snicker!), before taking on the division-leading Brandon Wheat Kings this weekend. If this thing is going to get turned around, it will start this weekend. If not, the Pats can probably kiss their chances of finishing first or second in the division bye-bye.
It'll be interesting to get Rod Pedersen's take on the Pats' skid (and the latest developments with the Riders) during tonight's SportZone taping. I'll post the complete lineup for this week's show tomorrow.
4 comments:
I completely agree with you on Tuebert. When he is 18 and 19 yrs old he will be awesome. A tough defensive d-man with an offensive upside. That however is likely 2 or 3 yrs away. Delehay will also be valuable but again a couple of yrs away.
Unfortunately Rinehart has left and he was at least a reliable plus 5 d-man. Deck has been oft injured and in reality may not come back, and even if he does he will be very restricted and hampered in what he can do. The injury caused him to be minus d-man when he was available.
These two scenarios leave the Pats thin on veteran d-men. I like the kid but Schira has not elevated his game this year. That according to some hockey people I have talked to is what they see. Small d-men have to be very good offensively to be of value ie; Kris Russel. Pyett has played very well and has elevated his game. That however only leaves Pyett as the only real veteran d-man pulling his weight.
I like the trade. I hope the new guys are not too discouraged after the weekend. The Addition of Ofukany is going to help big time. Elder may also end up being a gem as well. I think we will be allright up front, but we need to stiffen up our D a lot, probably by trade. We also have to give the tenders a few sessions with Hirsch so they can get back on track. Great tending would help but most of us would settle for good.....
Nick Ross is also a very young d-man in his first full season. Unfortunately for Nick his play has dropped off markedly since his hit on Negrin. He has to get back to being a physical beast. His offensive numbers will improve at the same time. If they had Deck and Rinehart probably he would have taken a seat a few nights.
A very young defense rarely takes a team to a championship nor should it be expected. It is hard to say if they are building for next year or hoping to do something this year. I guess Jan 10th will tell the story.
Wow, I'd almost forgotten about Nick Ross. Which might tell you something, now that I think about it. Nick's confidence seems to have taken a beating, and he definitely needs to start "imposing his will" on opposing forwards, as he was doing prior to the Negrin episode.
Craig Schira has been playing reasonably well (although not every night) in his own zone, but his physical play has dropped off as well. Even if Kyle Deck were completely healthy (hopefully that happens at some point this season!), it would still be a young defence corps. The blueline will be strong point for this team, I'm just not sure it will be this year - sadly.
It truly is too bad about how that hit seems to have gotten Ross off of his game. When he plays with emotion and physically, he is a load. He also scores a lot then as well. He elevated his draft status that way. He will see it tumble if he doesn't get out of his funk.
If they had a couple of healthy veteran d-men, they could rotate young guys in and out depending on how they are going. Sometimes sitting out a game here and there helps you re-focus.
The reason the Pats are losing is because they can't keep the puck out of their net. Its just that simple. For any team to go the distance you have to be strongest in net, then defense, then up front. When your good everywhere you win Memorial Cups. I agree with you that this weekend could seal the deal on the Pats overall final finish. If they win these two outright and two of three after the break, they might have a sniff. Being a game over or a game under at the end of December gives them a sniff. The problem with playing so poorly on the road lately is that now they have to jump 3 teams. That is extremely tough to do as the other teams will bolster up by the deadline for the final push.
I heard Coach Hunt on sportsline tonight. He made a number of references as to how this appointment was going to enhance his career aspirations.............
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