scamperdog
03-03-2007, 01:03 PM
Cats go missing in action www.princegeorgecitizen.com
by JIM SWANSON Citizen Sports Editor
It’s no riddle, it’s a hockey question.
When do Cats look like dogs? Two-word answer — last night.
The Prince George Cougars soiled the sheets beyond what any laundry service could reclaim in a 4-2 loss Friday to the Kelowna Rockets at CN Centre.
Kelowna, a glorified midget team that included 15-year-old Tyson Barrie on this night, ended a 12-game road winless streak by showing more heart, desire and hustle than the Cougars.
Not that it was hard. The Cougars went postal on Friday — they mailed it in.
“That was terrible, from start to finish,” said Cougars head coach Drew Schoneck, whose team gave him no plausible reason to try and spin the lack of effort shown for almost every moment of Friday’s game.
“I thought our guys lacked intensity, lacked effort, and showed up for maybe five minutes when we scored some goals. That’s taking nothing away from Kelowna because they came in with a short bench, worked their tails off and took it to us in our own building. That’s just unacceptable for our team this time of year.”
Talk about a regression. All the team play that had helped the Cougars send a stern message to top teams over the last six weeks was gone Friday, replaced by selfish individual play. It was, at times, embarrassing, such as when dumb plays by Nick Drazenovic and Ty Wishart became a shorthanded breakaway by Kelowna’s Myles MacRae in the first period. As MacRae raced in free, Cougars players sauntered back, appearing not to care one bit.
It was not a good omen for the playoffs, not one bit. And if ever there was a time for Schoneck to peel the paint in the dressing room, the first intermission was it. Add the second intermission and a longer than usual post-game team chat, too.
In fact, the most fitting debate going around the building Friday was this: which Cougar is playing worse tonight? The candidates started, but did not end, with veterans Devin Setoguchi, Wishart, Jesse Dudas, Vladimir Mihalik and Drazenovic. Wishart turned the puck over so many times on soft touch passes it was hard to keep count, and Mihalik had his worst game since before Christmas.
Asked if he was happy with the play of any of his veterans, Schoneck was quick to answer.
“No,” he replied sharply, before hinting at benchings being the next coaching move.
“(The veterans) thought it was going to be a cakewalk. It was a very long night for our team. It’s getting to the point where some guys are going to need a wakeup call, and I’m talking our top-end guys.”
Mihalik was burned deep in Kelowna’s end leading to the first goal off a Kelowna two-on-one. Chris Ray, fresh off a shoulder injury, kept the puck and snapped a high shot past Cougars netminder Scott Bowles.
The Rockets, who used just 16 skaters in part because four rookies are in Whitehorse at the Canada Winter Games, had a 2-0 lead after one period when Tysen Dowzak’s slot feed caromed off Dudas’s skate and past Bowles.
In the second, Cody Almond ripped a shot high on Bowles just as a Setoguchi minor expired. It wasn’t a power play goal, technically, but it might as well have been.
The Cougars got one back early in the third when Setoguchi reached the 30-goal mark to breathe a whisper of life into the building, but it didn’t last long. Even a Dana Tyrell goal with 38 seconds to play and Bowles on the bench for an extra skater made little difference. MacRae iced it with an empty-netter.
Torrie Jung, forced into Kelowna’s starting goaltender role because of a season-ending knee injury to Kris Westblom, was strong in making 31 saves. Bowles stopped 35 shots.
“It might not be a bad thing that these guys came in and knocked us off,” said Schoneck.
“Maybe our guys were feeling a little too good about themselves and needed to be brought down a peg. There has to be a lesson learned – you can’t just expect to show up and win hockey games, you have to put an effort in. Kelowna did that.”
To put it in further perspective, Kelowna could only muster 10 shots on goal in a 3-0 loss to Vancouver earlier in the week. It took less than 10 minutes to fire that many at Bowles on Friday, and the Rockets fell one shot shy of 40. Normally that’s two week’s worth of offensive pressure for Kelowna, which came into the game with season shot totals that are hard to fathom – 1,921 against, 1,403 for.
Yet, it was clear one team had a reason to battle, and one team didn’t. With Chilliwack losing to Vancouver on Friday, the Rockets are tied with the expansion Bruins for the final B.C. Division playoff spot. Both teams have seven regular season games to play.
“They’re all big for us right now, and coming out with that intensity and that effort to battle was big for us,” said Kelowna coach Jeff Truitt.
“I thought we put three pretty good periods together. Prince George has already done their job, and we have work to do to make the playoffs and we have to concentrate on that.”
The placement of the Cougars was affected none by Friday’s result. The Cats will finish third and will almost certainly start the playoffs on the road in Kamloops on March 23.
“If a first-time fan came out tonight, he or she would have trouble telling who was already in the playoffs and who was in danger of missing the playoffs,” said Schoneck.
“Our guys have to be far more committed.”
KITTY LITTER: Captain Eric Hunter, who did not play because of a knee injury suffered in practice Thursday, was presented with momentos for becoming the team’s all-time points leader… Chris Vanduynhoven sat his second and final game from a checking-from-behind suspension… Attendance was announced as 2,791. As good an advertisement of WHL hockey as Tuesday’s Everett evening was, Friday was the exact opposite… Derek Zalaski was the lone referee. Corey McLean was due to help him, but flight delays scrubbed that… The two teams meet again tonight at CN Centre.
by JIM SWANSON Citizen Sports Editor
It’s no riddle, it’s a hockey question.
When do Cats look like dogs? Two-word answer — last night.
The Prince George Cougars soiled the sheets beyond what any laundry service could reclaim in a 4-2 loss Friday to the Kelowna Rockets at CN Centre.
Kelowna, a glorified midget team that included 15-year-old Tyson Barrie on this night, ended a 12-game road winless streak by showing more heart, desire and hustle than the Cougars.
Not that it was hard. The Cougars went postal on Friday — they mailed it in.
“That was terrible, from start to finish,” said Cougars head coach Drew Schoneck, whose team gave him no plausible reason to try and spin the lack of effort shown for almost every moment of Friday’s game.
“I thought our guys lacked intensity, lacked effort, and showed up for maybe five minutes when we scored some goals. That’s taking nothing away from Kelowna because they came in with a short bench, worked their tails off and took it to us in our own building. That’s just unacceptable for our team this time of year.”
Talk about a regression. All the team play that had helped the Cougars send a stern message to top teams over the last six weeks was gone Friday, replaced by selfish individual play. It was, at times, embarrassing, such as when dumb plays by Nick Drazenovic and Ty Wishart became a shorthanded breakaway by Kelowna’s Myles MacRae in the first period. As MacRae raced in free, Cougars players sauntered back, appearing not to care one bit.
It was not a good omen for the playoffs, not one bit. And if ever there was a time for Schoneck to peel the paint in the dressing room, the first intermission was it. Add the second intermission and a longer than usual post-game team chat, too.
In fact, the most fitting debate going around the building Friday was this: which Cougar is playing worse tonight? The candidates started, but did not end, with veterans Devin Setoguchi, Wishart, Jesse Dudas, Vladimir Mihalik and Drazenovic. Wishart turned the puck over so many times on soft touch passes it was hard to keep count, and Mihalik had his worst game since before Christmas.
Asked if he was happy with the play of any of his veterans, Schoneck was quick to answer.
“No,” he replied sharply, before hinting at benchings being the next coaching move.
“(The veterans) thought it was going to be a cakewalk. It was a very long night for our team. It’s getting to the point where some guys are going to need a wakeup call, and I’m talking our top-end guys.”
Mihalik was burned deep in Kelowna’s end leading to the first goal off a Kelowna two-on-one. Chris Ray, fresh off a shoulder injury, kept the puck and snapped a high shot past Cougars netminder Scott Bowles.
The Rockets, who used just 16 skaters in part because four rookies are in Whitehorse at the Canada Winter Games, had a 2-0 lead after one period when Tysen Dowzak’s slot feed caromed off Dudas’s skate and past Bowles.
In the second, Cody Almond ripped a shot high on Bowles just as a Setoguchi minor expired. It wasn’t a power play goal, technically, but it might as well have been.
The Cougars got one back early in the third when Setoguchi reached the 30-goal mark to breathe a whisper of life into the building, but it didn’t last long. Even a Dana Tyrell goal with 38 seconds to play and Bowles on the bench for an extra skater made little difference. MacRae iced it with an empty-netter.
Torrie Jung, forced into Kelowna’s starting goaltender role because of a season-ending knee injury to Kris Westblom, was strong in making 31 saves. Bowles stopped 35 shots.
“It might not be a bad thing that these guys came in and knocked us off,” said Schoneck.
“Maybe our guys were feeling a little too good about themselves and needed to be brought down a peg. There has to be a lesson learned – you can’t just expect to show up and win hockey games, you have to put an effort in. Kelowna did that.”
To put it in further perspective, Kelowna could only muster 10 shots on goal in a 3-0 loss to Vancouver earlier in the week. It took less than 10 minutes to fire that many at Bowles on Friday, and the Rockets fell one shot shy of 40. Normally that’s two week’s worth of offensive pressure for Kelowna, which came into the game with season shot totals that are hard to fathom – 1,921 against, 1,403 for.
Yet, it was clear one team had a reason to battle, and one team didn’t. With Chilliwack losing to Vancouver on Friday, the Rockets are tied with the expansion Bruins for the final B.C. Division playoff spot. Both teams have seven regular season games to play.
“They’re all big for us right now, and coming out with that intensity and that effort to battle was big for us,” said Kelowna coach Jeff Truitt.
“I thought we put three pretty good periods together. Prince George has already done their job, and we have work to do to make the playoffs and we have to concentrate on that.”
The placement of the Cougars was affected none by Friday’s result. The Cats will finish third and will almost certainly start the playoffs on the road in Kamloops on March 23.
“If a first-time fan came out tonight, he or she would have trouble telling who was already in the playoffs and who was in danger of missing the playoffs,” said Schoneck.
“Our guys have to be far more committed.”
KITTY LITTER: Captain Eric Hunter, who did not play because of a knee injury suffered in practice Thursday, was presented with momentos for becoming the team’s all-time points leader… Chris Vanduynhoven sat his second and final game from a checking-from-behind suspension… Attendance was announced as 2,791. As good an advertisement of WHL hockey as Tuesday’s Everett evening was, Friday was the exact opposite… Derek Zalaski was the lone referee. Corey McLean was due to help him, but flight delays scrubbed that… The two teams meet again tonight at CN Centre.