nivek_wahs
03-22-2007, 02:54 AM
http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/sports/story.html?id=67cae3f3-1796-4973-9c8c-f8f3012fd97f
Better play, lots of goals 'secret' to Pats' success
Greg Harder, The Leader-Post
Published: Thursday, March 22, 2007
You know it's playoff time when coaching strategies are guarded more closely than Fort Knox.
With that in mind, it came as no surprise when Regina Pats bench boss Curtis Hunt politely declined to discuss specifics about his plan of attack for the Swift Current Broncos.
However, he didn't mind rehashing a few universal truths that won't jeopardize the sanctity of the blueprints.
"It's probably the same in 16 dressing rooms across our league," explained Hunt. "We have to take what we do as a group (in the regular season) and do it better. You have to take what you do as an individual and do it a little bit better. If everybody does that, you feel very, very good about where you're going."
The Pats did a lot of things well against Swift Current this season, winning six of eight meetings while going undefeated on home ice. Overall, Regina played its best hockey down the stretch, posting a 7-1-0-2 record in the last 10 games.
The Pats' recent success affirmed their belief that superior team speed and conditioning often allows them to skate opponents into submission.
It all starts with the backcheck, whereby Regina looks to outnumber opponents in its own zone, steal the puck and shove it down the other team's throat with a quick transition game.
It's a philosophy with a simple basis in fact: You can't score if you don't have the puck.
"Defence wins championships," noted Hunt. "We want to be solid and very responsible defensively because it's tough to win when you're digging it out of your net."
In terms of offence, Hunt's basic mantra never changes. The head coach will continue emphasizing the need to shoot from everywhere and get traffic to the net in hopes of disrupting veteran goalie Kyle Moir.
"It's age-old," Hunt said of his method. "If you want bread, you go to the bakery. If you want to score, you go to the net. We're facing a veteran guy. If it takes you a lot of shots to score a goal (on Moir), we're going to need a lot of shots. It's just simple math. We want to put pucks to the net as much as possible and make sure we're running our routes so we're in good position to maybe get some second chances."
Since it's generally assumed that goals are tougher to come by in the playoffs, special teams become an even greater area of concern. Since the dual-referee system is employed full-time in the playoffs, it becomes even more crucial for Swift Current and Regina to reverse a trend which saw them finish as two of the league's most-penalized teams this season -- ranked second and fourth, respectively.
"Special teams usually correlate hand-in-hand with (being an elite club), except for the odd anomaly," noted Hunt. "It's an area we will pay close attention to. We have to be prepared to play disciplined and be prepared to take advantage (of power plays) and play desperate when we're short."
The Pats are well aware that Swift Current ended the season on an impressive roll, going 7-3 in its final 10 games, including wins over the Medicine Hat Tigers and Brandon Wheat Kings.
The Broncos' recent turnaround coincided with a renewed commitment to defence -- and a more conservative game plan overall.
It's also a generally accepted fact that Swift Current must keep the puck out of its net, since the club doesn't score many goals of its own. That said, Hunt's chess match with Broncos head coach/GM Dean Chynoweth has the potential to reveal some surprises.
"In the playoffs you have to expect everything and the unexpected," Hunt said. "Dean is a guy with tremendous experience as a player and a coach. For us, we want to prepare for what we've seen, but at the same time be mindful that they have some weapons over there."
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007
Better play, lots of goals 'secret' to Pats' success
Greg Harder, The Leader-Post
Published: Thursday, March 22, 2007
You know it's playoff time when coaching strategies are guarded more closely than Fort Knox.
With that in mind, it came as no surprise when Regina Pats bench boss Curtis Hunt politely declined to discuss specifics about his plan of attack for the Swift Current Broncos.
However, he didn't mind rehashing a few universal truths that won't jeopardize the sanctity of the blueprints.
"It's probably the same in 16 dressing rooms across our league," explained Hunt. "We have to take what we do as a group (in the regular season) and do it better. You have to take what you do as an individual and do it a little bit better. If everybody does that, you feel very, very good about where you're going."
The Pats did a lot of things well against Swift Current this season, winning six of eight meetings while going undefeated on home ice. Overall, Regina played its best hockey down the stretch, posting a 7-1-0-2 record in the last 10 games.
The Pats' recent success affirmed their belief that superior team speed and conditioning often allows them to skate opponents into submission.
It all starts with the backcheck, whereby Regina looks to outnumber opponents in its own zone, steal the puck and shove it down the other team's throat with a quick transition game.
It's a philosophy with a simple basis in fact: You can't score if you don't have the puck.
"Defence wins championships," noted Hunt. "We want to be solid and very responsible defensively because it's tough to win when you're digging it out of your net."
In terms of offence, Hunt's basic mantra never changes. The head coach will continue emphasizing the need to shoot from everywhere and get traffic to the net in hopes of disrupting veteran goalie Kyle Moir.
"It's age-old," Hunt said of his method. "If you want bread, you go to the bakery. If you want to score, you go to the net. We're facing a veteran guy. If it takes you a lot of shots to score a goal (on Moir), we're going to need a lot of shots. It's just simple math. We want to put pucks to the net as much as possible and make sure we're running our routes so we're in good position to maybe get some second chances."
Since it's generally assumed that goals are tougher to come by in the playoffs, special teams become an even greater area of concern. Since the dual-referee system is employed full-time in the playoffs, it becomes even more crucial for Swift Current and Regina to reverse a trend which saw them finish as two of the league's most-penalized teams this season -- ranked second and fourth, respectively.
"Special teams usually correlate hand-in-hand with (being an elite club), except for the odd anomaly," noted Hunt. "It's an area we will pay close attention to. We have to be prepared to play disciplined and be prepared to take advantage (of power plays) and play desperate when we're short."
The Pats are well aware that Swift Current ended the season on an impressive roll, going 7-3 in its final 10 games, including wins over the Medicine Hat Tigers and Brandon Wheat Kings.
The Broncos' recent turnaround coincided with a renewed commitment to defence -- and a more conservative game plan overall.
It's also a generally accepted fact that Swift Current must keep the puck out of its net, since the club doesn't score many goals of its own. That said, Hunt's chess match with Broncos head coach/GM Dean Chynoweth has the potential to reveal some surprises.
"In the playoffs you have to expect everything and the unexpected," Hunt said. "Dean is a guy with tremendous experience as a player and a coach. For us, we want to prepare for what we've seen, but at the same time be mindful that they have some weapons over there."
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007