It's the start of a new week, and sports fans are anxiously awaiting news from Regina's pre-eminent sports franchises.
1) The Saskatchewan Roughriders are launching their season ticket campaign. Now might be a good time to clear up the status of Head Coach Danny Barrett and his staff. If Barrett is moving on (and the smart money suggests he is), then let the fans know - and they can make their ticket purchasing decisions accordingly.
2) The Regina Pats limp home with a 2-4 record on their west coast road trip. Enigmatic (although lazy and/or uninspired might also be accurate) forward Justin Bernhardt was a healthy scratch the last two games. I suggest the time has come for the Pats to stop waiting for #41 to live up to his 40-goal potential, and make a change that benefits all parties. The Pats desperately need an infusion of offensive ability. Making a deal before the P.A. Raiders come to town Friday night is highly recommended.
4 comments:
I have to tell you that this last Pats road trip was extremely frustrating and disappointing on many levels. Remember this team was seen as the class of the East division.
- why was there no improvement over their last trip where they lost 4 of 5 and hardly scored?
- Not one of the 20 yr olds scored a goal this trip, where is the leadership?
- some of the talent they were banking on has never materialized and likely never will. Some of it has been over estimated.
- This team is sadly starting to show it is not a true contender. Medicine Hat, Vancouver and Everett are the top tier teams and we are not at that calibre. The seconed tier teams are Kamloops, Tri-Cities, most of the Central division and Brandon. We are not there either. We are unfortunately now with the group just trying to stay around .500.
- our most senior d-man has a -3 rating. Our best +/- d-man has left! Is Snellman the best Euro we could find? I got an idea if you polled the Dub, I think I know where he would finish...pun. Where is our 19 yr old talent that you need to win in this league? In other words, where's the beef!
- Why don't we have a Kassian or Klotz type of player around here. The Pats played small after they lost Brownlee. We had no one else. He broke his hand fighting a 5'8" guy!! We had no presence.
As I said earlier this speaks at many levels. This squad was supposed to be better than last years. They would have to play .630 hockey the rest of the way just to equal last years record, let alone better it...I don't see this group doing it!
By the way Pete I agree that a change of scenery would be good for #41, but truthfully he is not the only one. There have to be about 4 changes to give this team a shot at something.
The problem at this time of year is that no one wants to throw up the white flag yet. Lower placed teams will not part with their best at this point. I get a feeling that there may have to be a couple of blockbusters to accomplish the desired result.
Sadly, there really aren't any teams that are truly "out of it" at this point. Moose Jaw may be heading in that direction, Lethbridge is a possibility, Chilliwack and Portland are maybes as well. Not a whole heck of a lot to pick from, although if Lethbridge wanted to send us Zach Boychuk and/or Mitch Fadden I wouldn't object too much!
I agree completely! Either or both of those guys would help for sure. I think most lower placed teams will wait until the trade deadline to evaluate their teams.
However, if the Pats scoring problems and poor road play persist, they may be sellers and not buyers. Right now the only trade you can make is good for good. Perhaps Parker will surprise people and pull of a couple of blockbusters, and maybe even find a Euro who can score!
Time will tell I guess!
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