nivek_wahs
02-15-2007, 04:58 AM
http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/sports/story.html?id=c8189556-2a73-441c-96ba-908920ce38ba&k=45980
Warriors a fragile bunch
Greg Harder, The Leader-Post
Published: Thursday, February 15, 2007
MOOSE JAW -- The embattled Moose Jaw Warriors have earned a new name -- the Youngless and the Restless.
The WHL's biggest soap opera continued an unsettling plotline on Wednesday night with a 5-2 loss to the Regina Pats before an announced crowd of 2,430 at the Civic Centre.
It was Moose Jaw's first home game since last week's firing of head coach Steve Young.
"I don't think we're in good enough condition mentally and physically right now to compete against the Regina Pats," interim head coach Rene Lemire said of his last-place club. "I need to fix the mentality of the dressing room. I don't know if I have enough time but we are not capable of handling tough, intense games right now."
Overall, the Warriors now sport a 1-3 record under Young's former assistant. The first three contests were all on the road.
"We've kind of cleaned it up a little bit," continued Lemire. "We've dusted, (but) we haven't polished. It's a work in progress. It's not going to change overnight. We see a lot of problems that over the course of the year have continued to go unnoticed and now we're paying the price for it."
Moose Jaw's Brad Riege opened the scoring at 2:13 of the first period, but the Pats took control with three goals in a row from Michael MacAngus (on a great short-handed effort), Kyle Ross (with 32 seconds left in the first period) and Troy Ofukany (at 6:51 of the second).
Jordan Knackstedt's highlight-reel goal with 1:22 left in the second frame gave the Warriors some life, but Kyle Deck's power-play marker snuffed out the rally with 8:01 left in regulation.
Mike Reich found the empty net with 33 seconds left to conclude the scoring, giving the Pats their second straight win at the Crushed Can.
"It has been awhile since I won two in a row in this building," noted Ross, whose team is now 4-1-0-1 against Moose Jaw this season. "Every win in this building, every win against Moose Jaw, is a big deal."
The Pats weren't entirely sure what to expect from the Lemire-coached Warriors, who appear to favour a more-defensive posture. Young's teams were known for their free-wheeling offence.
"They did a very good job of keeping us to the outside and not allowing us second or third opportunities," noted Pats head coach Curtis Hunt. "Our focus was just adapting as we went. I give the guys credit because when they scored their second goal to make it 3-2 at the end of the (second) period, this building and this team have always been able to run on that emotion. I thought our guys did a good job of staying the course."
The Pats (28-24-1-4) are now headed west for Friday's meeting with the Red Deer Rebels. They conclude a three-game road swing on Saturday against the Medicine Hat Tigers before returning home to meet the Warriors on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Warriors are headed back to the drawing board as they sit 10 points behind the Swift Current Broncos for the final playoff spot in the East Division.
With just 15 games remaining, time is running out.
"We have to play desperation hockey," added Lemire. "We talked about it, we went out there for a couple shifts and did it, and then we let off the gas. That has been a problem all year long and it's very difficult to address over the short term."
EXTRAS: The Pats were without leading scorer Garrett Festerling, who is apparently suffering from the flu. He missed most of Regina's previous outing -- Sunday's 5-1 win over Brandon -- with the same ailment ... Goalie coach Tim Chevaldae was on the bench with Lemire. The team has yet to name an assistant coach ... There were just seven penalties in the game -- four against Regina and three against Moose Jaw. All were minors ... Joey Perricone made 24 saves for the Warriors. Linden Rowat stopped 31 shots for the Pats.
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007
Warriors a fragile bunch
Greg Harder, The Leader-Post
Published: Thursday, February 15, 2007
MOOSE JAW -- The embattled Moose Jaw Warriors have earned a new name -- the Youngless and the Restless.
The WHL's biggest soap opera continued an unsettling plotline on Wednesday night with a 5-2 loss to the Regina Pats before an announced crowd of 2,430 at the Civic Centre.
It was Moose Jaw's first home game since last week's firing of head coach Steve Young.
"I don't think we're in good enough condition mentally and physically right now to compete against the Regina Pats," interim head coach Rene Lemire said of his last-place club. "I need to fix the mentality of the dressing room. I don't know if I have enough time but we are not capable of handling tough, intense games right now."
Overall, the Warriors now sport a 1-3 record under Young's former assistant. The first three contests were all on the road.
"We've kind of cleaned it up a little bit," continued Lemire. "We've dusted, (but) we haven't polished. It's a work in progress. It's not going to change overnight. We see a lot of problems that over the course of the year have continued to go unnoticed and now we're paying the price for it."
Moose Jaw's Brad Riege opened the scoring at 2:13 of the first period, but the Pats took control with three goals in a row from Michael MacAngus (on a great short-handed effort), Kyle Ross (with 32 seconds left in the first period) and Troy Ofukany (at 6:51 of the second).
Jordan Knackstedt's highlight-reel goal with 1:22 left in the second frame gave the Warriors some life, but Kyle Deck's power-play marker snuffed out the rally with 8:01 left in regulation.
Mike Reich found the empty net with 33 seconds left to conclude the scoring, giving the Pats their second straight win at the Crushed Can.
"It has been awhile since I won two in a row in this building," noted Ross, whose team is now 4-1-0-1 against Moose Jaw this season. "Every win in this building, every win against Moose Jaw, is a big deal."
The Pats weren't entirely sure what to expect from the Lemire-coached Warriors, who appear to favour a more-defensive posture. Young's teams were known for their free-wheeling offence.
"They did a very good job of keeping us to the outside and not allowing us second or third opportunities," noted Pats head coach Curtis Hunt. "Our focus was just adapting as we went. I give the guys credit because when they scored their second goal to make it 3-2 at the end of the (second) period, this building and this team have always been able to run on that emotion. I thought our guys did a good job of staying the course."
The Pats (28-24-1-4) are now headed west for Friday's meeting with the Red Deer Rebels. They conclude a three-game road swing on Saturday against the Medicine Hat Tigers before returning home to meet the Warriors on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Warriors are headed back to the drawing board as they sit 10 points behind the Swift Current Broncos for the final playoff spot in the East Division.
With just 15 games remaining, time is running out.
"We have to play desperation hockey," added Lemire. "We talked about it, we went out there for a couple shifts and did it, and then we let off the gas. That has been a problem all year long and it's very difficult to address over the short term."
EXTRAS: The Pats were without leading scorer Garrett Festerling, who is apparently suffering from the flu. He missed most of Regina's previous outing -- Sunday's 5-1 win over Brandon -- with the same ailment ... Goalie coach Tim Chevaldae was on the bench with Lemire. The team has yet to name an assistant coach ... There were just seven penalties in the game -- four against Regina and three against Moose Jaw. All were minors ... Joey Perricone made 24 saves for the Warriors. Linden Rowat stopped 31 shots for the Pats.
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007