This is turning into quite the road trip for the Regina Pats. The Pats were blanked 3-0 in Prince George last night, their second straight shutout loss. Obviously the shortage of offensive talent is becoming more pronounced for Curtis Hunt's crew.
Former Pats goalie Dustin Slade - upset at not getting the start against his former team Saturday night - has walked away from the Vancouver Giants. The Giants are interested in reacquiring netminder Tommy Tartaglione from the Pats. Now, there's word that Pats blueliner Derek Reinhart has left the team. What the???
And, to make life even more interesting, apparently someone has started up an anti-Rod Pedersen website. Well, I suppose that was just a matter of time...
7 comments:
The Pats road trip is beginning to feel like groundhog day. They didn't score again tonite. They only had 11 shots on goal and the ref gave them 9 PP opps. As bad as they played with 9 PP's they should have gotten back into the game. Rod says they haven't scored in 9 periods but I think its actually 11&3/4 periods. They scored their last goal at the 3 min mark of the 1st period in Chilliwack. The shootout goals don't really count other since they are break-aways to determine the outcome. But it really doesn't matter does it!!!! They are about 0-20 or something on the PP.
Regardless of what anyone says this team is still very under-talented. This team was supposed to be a contender but right now its looking like a pretender. Outside of three home games ie Lethbridge, Swift Current, and Portland where they racked up 24 goals, this team has been enemic. The management had glimpses of what it would do on the road. The last road trip to Alberta was a disaster. This one is shaping up to be the same.
During the broadcast in the third period Bill O'Donovan commented the Pats didn't work very hard or go to the net. He also said they didn't have as much offensive talent as last year. Rod said pretty much the same thing. UUMM without the big three from last year, really how good was that team!!
On his post game comments Curtis Hunt alluded to some options facing the team. One of them is wholesale changes. It is my belief that this has got to happen. They have stuck with guys based on potential but haven't got the results. The 20 yr olds have not been impact player and have shown no leadership on the road. When you lose 8 out of your last 10 road games and score less than a goal per game in the losses, you know you got problems. Mr Parker promised big things for this season a couple of years back. Here we are 1/3 of the way through the season and here we find ourselves below .500 playing in what many describe as the weakest division in the WHL. Mr Parker now has to step up and make some significant changes.
A couple of years ago Bernhardt, Duval, Pyett, Shira, and Rhinehart were the ground we were building this team on. Two are not here any longer. Pyett is only one who got drafted and has elevated his game. Junior hockey is fickled. You plan for the future but construct a team to win today. Many times the best laid plans of mice and men go astray!!
Curtis Hunt's comments on the post-game show were very telling. He recognizes the team is a mess right now, and he says the problems start at the top (ie. the guys wearing letters on their sweaters). Now the question is - what do they do about it? Trade Kyle Deck? Craig Schira? Kyle Ross (that'd be a big mistake, in my opinion). I guess everything's an option right now. I expect Brent to pull the trigger on a deal, or deals, sooner rather than later.
I give Hunt a lot of credit for coming on after the game and telling it like it is. Every real Pats fan knows there are problems and likely some cancers. Parker has to do what he has to do now so that this team can get on course and start reaching it's potential cause when you think of it, we haven't beaten anybody good this year. Brandon in a shootout?? Swift Currrent??
There are some untouchables on every hockey team. Bob Strum once said there are 6-8 core guys and that everyone else is interchangable on any junior team.
Core guys in my mind; Rowatt, Tuebert, N.Ross, Pyett, Eberle, K.Ross, Hulak, Reich, maybe add in Jagow and Brownlee. In a lot of peoples minds everyone else is under-performing and under achieving.
Hunt has a system which requires people to pay a price to score. If he can't get them to do it, then they clearly have to replaced by kids who really want to wear the sweater and do what the coaches ask.
The saga continues I am sure!!!
Oh ya did you hear on the game where Slade may be coming back to the Giants...
A victory is welcome relief for the Pats. They actually have a chance to be .500 on this road trip but will have to beat a club above .400 to do it. They owe Kootney one but will have to play the best they have on the trip to do it.
I felt the were not good enough to beat Vancover or Kamloops but felt they should beat the rest because all of the remaining three teams in the BC division are below .500. They should have been more ready in PG. They now have to beat a contender to be .500 on the trip. They have to start doing it soon and this would be a good time. A loss tomorrow night would still make this a bad trip. They still haven't been lighting it up. Tonights game was a 2-1 affair with an empty net goal. The scoring issues are still there. We will see how they respond Sunday.
At this point, a win is a win! Granted, some times a little success can mask big problems - but these guys needed to score a couple goals and beat somebody, anybody.
A win is better than a loss any day!!
Have you noticed the Pats are not on any Regional Telecasts from Shaw I think it is? They have a few done by Ch 7. Looking at the schedule I noticed some teams are on a lot but the Pats are shut out.
Speaking of, I almost ended up doing play-by-play of the last Pats broadcast on Access. Now that would have been scary! I might be the only sports broadcaster I know who has zero interest in play-by-play. None. Nada. Zilch.
Not sure why the Pats aren't on any Shaw broadcasts. I know their games on Access end up being carried on Shaw, but it'd be nice to see the occasional road game on tv as well.
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