Sunday, February 25, 2007

Collapse at the Keystone

The Regina Pats blew a 5-2 lead, and lost 6-5 in overtime in Brandon Saturday night. Pats coach Curtis Hunt was livid on the post-game show, blaming a lack of effort from the 3rd and 4th lines, and sub-par performances from a couple of defencemen and goalie Tommy Tartaglione. So, the question is - what have we learned from this exercise? Because, the coach's comments sound a lot like things he was saying 20-30 games ago. Does this group of players just not get it?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Anyone could see this coming!! They built a bit of a string beating lower placed teams. They blew big leads with MJ and Lethbridge and just about lost. They blew a big lead last night and did lose. They committed defensive blunders in Red Deer and Medicine Hat which cost them points. Hunt described what many already knew. The defense is very soft, plays small and no physicality. They seem to want to reverse six times before making an outlet pass. Tommy T. is a back-up tender period, and 4 or 5 forwards have not lived up to billing or expectations. They have only secured 3 out of the last 10 available points, like 30% isn't going to get it done.

This is a real bad time to be heading towards a skid..again. Strong tending and defense is what carries you in the playoffs and honestly the Pats are not there yet. Rowat is going to have to return soon and play like a seasoned vet. The defense is going to have to get serious about their position. (if Pyett puts the puck against the wall with his skates and fights for a few secs, the Pats win. Huge mistake) It is really disappointing that at this time of the season, these lessons haven't been learned.

The Pats season is just about over. They had better dedicate the month of March to shoring up their defensive play big time, otherwise the prospects are not good. Just remember the other 3 teams that should make the playoffs have battle tested veteran goalies, and we all know what wins series in the playoffs.