Sput
12-30-2006, 03:25 PM
Courtesy of: www.princegeorgecitizen.com
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Slumping Cougars head to Kamloops
by JIM SWANSON Citizen Sports Editor
Watching Thursday’s excruciating 6-2 loss to the Spokane Chiefs, it wasn’t hard to wonder if some Prince George Cougars players – particularly a few of the ‘big name’ veterans – were playing less for the crest on the front of the jersey than for a trade to another team.
The team’s head coach couldn’t help but think that, too.
“Is that a fair question? Sure it is,” said Drew Schoneck, who again will try to right the sinking ship when the Cougars visit the Kamloops Blazers tonight, the final game for the Cats in this calendar year.
“After an effort like that, you start to question yourself. But over the month and a half I’ve been here, I haven’t seen that yet and I don’t think so. It was a bad night for us, we didn’t come ready at all and some of our guys weren’t ready to play.”
Thursday’s debacle wasn’t the first time this season the Cougars have appeared to have no pride whatsoever – not in the least. At least in part, that’s what cost Mike Vandekamp and Stew Malgunas their jobs on Nov. 2. There is more recent evidence, such as a Dec. 15 home game against the same Blazers they’ll see tonight, when the Cats put in a meek, half-hearted effort and lost 3-1.
At least one player wouldn’t blame general manager Dallas Thompson if he blew it up and traded away all his veteran pieces, starting the rebuilding process yet again. That has to be the best option – hold on to those who can be here next year, such as three key 20-year-old candidates, but auction those who are done with junior hockey as of the end of this season for property that will meld with Dana Tyrell, Lance Redden and Dale Hunt in coming winters.
“No, not at all,” 19-year-old defenceman Kalvin Sagert, one of few players who has played at a suitable level most of the season, replied when asked if he’d be stunned to see Thompson come to the conclusion that the next-year approach is the right answer.
“The only people we can blame is ourselves right now. The only ones who can change this is (the players). We’re a pretty close team, but we have to get better starts. We have to be more intense and show more emotion. It’s frustrating, and everyone in there is frustrated right now. It’s past the half-way point and we have to start making a push if we want any kind of confidence, or get on any kind of roll.
“The biggest problem this season is not being consistent. We have a lot of skill and we can be dominating, but playing like that in two out of six periods (against Spokane ) isn’t good enough. We can’t take shifts off, and we can’t take teams lightly. I think everyone’s ticked off inside, and some guys just show it more than others. No one can be happy about what we did (Thursday).”
Here it is, said again – this team is full of talented players. One scout who was at both Wednesday and Thursday’s games will tell anyone within earshot that the Cougars have the best top-two lines in the WHL, yet the Cats have just 96 goals for in 37 games (an average of 2.6 per game). That offensive ineptitude is one of many reasons for a 14-18-2-3 record.
Without question, the Cougars have run away and hid with the league’s unofficial title as underachievers. No other team is close.
“At times, we’ve played like one of the top teams in the league and we’ve showed it against teams like Vancouver, Everett and those kinds of teams,” said Sagert.
“We seem to get a couple of wins under our belts and everyone gets overconfident. You can’t do that – you have to take that in stride and keep going. There are times we’re strong systematically, and other times we play like individuals and that’s costing us.”
Recent efforts bring a question – are the players telling the coaches they care, grinning and listening to proper instruction, then turning their back and following their own agenda? That theory is not hard to buy, either.
“Ultimately it comes down to each individual in that room,” said Schoneck.
“We can put forth the gameplan and show them how we want to play, and ask them to do that, but they have to go out there and do that. We haven’t had enough guys willing to pay the price and show the commitment needed to win a hockey game. We have to get back to work and keep working at fixing our game because we have a big game in Kamloops (today).”
Making things worse, apparently, is that both Devin Setoguchi and Real Cyr (knee injuries) are unlikely to play today. That leaves Hunt, 16, on the second line, and 18-year-old Jordan White in the crease.
Jesse Dudas won’t play either because of a combination of his knee injury and personal issues that have him back home in Alberta .
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Slumping Cougars head to Kamloops
by JIM SWANSON Citizen Sports Editor
Watching Thursday’s excruciating 6-2 loss to the Spokane Chiefs, it wasn’t hard to wonder if some Prince George Cougars players – particularly a few of the ‘big name’ veterans – were playing less for the crest on the front of the jersey than for a trade to another team.
The team’s head coach couldn’t help but think that, too.
“Is that a fair question? Sure it is,” said Drew Schoneck, who again will try to right the sinking ship when the Cougars visit the Kamloops Blazers tonight, the final game for the Cats in this calendar year.
“After an effort like that, you start to question yourself. But over the month and a half I’ve been here, I haven’t seen that yet and I don’t think so. It was a bad night for us, we didn’t come ready at all and some of our guys weren’t ready to play.”
Thursday’s debacle wasn’t the first time this season the Cougars have appeared to have no pride whatsoever – not in the least. At least in part, that’s what cost Mike Vandekamp and Stew Malgunas their jobs on Nov. 2. There is more recent evidence, such as a Dec. 15 home game against the same Blazers they’ll see tonight, when the Cats put in a meek, half-hearted effort and lost 3-1.
At least one player wouldn’t blame general manager Dallas Thompson if he blew it up and traded away all his veteran pieces, starting the rebuilding process yet again. That has to be the best option – hold on to those who can be here next year, such as three key 20-year-old candidates, but auction those who are done with junior hockey as of the end of this season for property that will meld with Dana Tyrell, Lance Redden and Dale Hunt in coming winters.
“No, not at all,” 19-year-old defenceman Kalvin Sagert, one of few players who has played at a suitable level most of the season, replied when asked if he’d be stunned to see Thompson come to the conclusion that the next-year approach is the right answer.
“The only people we can blame is ourselves right now. The only ones who can change this is (the players). We’re a pretty close team, but we have to get better starts. We have to be more intense and show more emotion. It’s frustrating, and everyone in there is frustrated right now. It’s past the half-way point and we have to start making a push if we want any kind of confidence, or get on any kind of roll.
“The biggest problem this season is not being consistent. We have a lot of skill and we can be dominating, but playing like that in two out of six periods (against Spokane ) isn’t good enough. We can’t take shifts off, and we can’t take teams lightly. I think everyone’s ticked off inside, and some guys just show it more than others. No one can be happy about what we did (Thursday).”
Here it is, said again – this team is full of talented players. One scout who was at both Wednesday and Thursday’s games will tell anyone within earshot that the Cougars have the best top-two lines in the WHL, yet the Cats have just 96 goals for in 37 games (an average of 2.6 per game). That offensive ineptitude is one of many reasons for a 14-18-2-3 record.
Without question, the Cougars have run away and hid with the league’s unofficial title as underachievers. No other team is close.
“At times, we’ve played like one of the top teams in the league and we’ve showed it against teams like Vancouver, Everett and those kinds of teams,” said Sagert.
“We seem to get a couple of wins under our belts and everyone gets overconfident. You can’t do that – you have to take that in stride and keep going. There are times we’re strong systematically, and other times we play like individuals and that’s costing us.”
Recent efforts bring a question – are the players telling the coaches they care, grinning and listening to proper instruction, then turning their back and following their own agenda? That theory is not hard to buy, either.
“Ultimately it comes down to each individual in that room,” said Schoneck.
“We can put forth the gameplan and show them how we want to play, and ask them to do that, but they have to go out there and do that. We haven’t had enough guys willing to pay the price and show the commitment needed to win a hockey game. We have to get back to work and keep working at fixing our game because we have a big game in Kamloops (today).”
Making things worse, apparently, is that both Devin Setoguchi and Real Cyr (knee injuries) are unlikely to play today. That leaves Hunt, 16, on the second line, and 18-year-old Jordan White in the crease.
Jesse Dudas won’t play either because of a combination of his knee injury and personal issues that have him back home in Alberta .