nivek_wahs
04-07-2007, 06:50 AM
http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/sports/story.html?id=67546ce6-12bc-4328-891e-72f488dafe20
Pats aren't given much hope
Rob Vanstone, The Leader-Post
Published: Saturday, April 07, 2007
The Regina Pats are creating less of a buzz than an Air Supply concert.
Where is the excitement? Is anyone salivating at the notion of the Pats competing in the second round of the Western Hockey League playoffs for the first time since 1998?
There is interest, to be certain, but it is tempered by an air of resignation.
"It should be a short series,'' one local entrepreneur -- a long-time junior hockey fan -- said of a looming Eastern Conference semifinal between the Pats and Medicine Hat Tigers.
"Go Pats, but I can't see this series going past five games,'' read an excerpt from one of the infrequent Pats-related e-mails I have received since they eliminated the Swift Current Broncos in the first round. "The Tigers are too strong for the Pats.''
Sure, there is always a chance that Regina will upset Medicine Hat.
And perhaps the Lee Harvey Oswald Band will win a Grammy. Maybe the nice people at Riderville.com will bestow upon me an honourary life membership.
You get the idea. The Pats are facing formidable odds.
The Tigers boasted the conference's finest record (52-17-3-0) during the regular season. Regina (36-28-2-6) was fifth in the 11-team loop, 27 points behind Medicine Hat.
Medicine Hat was especially dominant against Regina, sweeping the four-game season series while outscoring Regina 16-4 -- including 9-2 over two games at the Brandt Centre.
The Tigers are what the Pats aspire to become -- an experienced, skilled, perennial powerhouse. Many of Medicine Hat's premier players are 19 or 20.
As a contrast, consider this: The Pats' leading goal scorer, Jordan Eberle, is 16. Starting goaltender Linden Rowat is 17. Only one Regina defenceman, Kyle Deck, is 19 or older. He is 20.
In a year or three, Eberle, Rowat and defenceman Colten Teubert will be among the players who help the Pats assume the role of favourites. But, as it stands, Regina is a decided underdog entering tonight's opener in The Hat.
It would be a noteworthy accomplishment for the Pats to win a game or two against Medicine Hat. That likely accounts for the measured emotional response from sports fans with whom I have interacted in recent days.
Here it is, April in this alleged hockey heartland, and the most prevalent comments are along these lines:
- "How do you think Eric Tillman is doing as the Saskatchewan Roughriders' general manager?'' (Fine, thank you.)
- "What kind of head coach is Kent Austin going to be?'' (An improvement over his predecessor, Danny Barrett. Austin will not be as tolerant of unproductive players or erratic quarterbacking, and he will be more open with the media. This is vital.)
- "You haven't written about your favourite quarterback in a while.'' (True. How is Nealon Greene doing, anyway?'')
- "You are a (bleeping) (censored) (expletive).'' (Sorry, dear.)
Honestly, that is the tenor of the feedback I am receiving. As for the Pats ...
Well, there was the e-mail which arrived from Pats headquarters on Thursday. The invigorating subject line: Pats Fan Bus Cancelled.
Considering the lack of buzz, one wonders whether a Pats Fan Unicycle would be more appropriate.
Granted, the Pats have attracted an average of 5,481 spectators to their three home playoff games -- yes, there are such things -- in 2007.
Those who frequent the Brandt Centre have paid elevated playoff ticket prices. Perhaps the Pats are charging an arm and a larynx, because their supporters are strangely subdued.
Pats crowds have demonstrated less vibrancy than the Western Independence Party.
The numbers suggest that people care, but where is the intensity of interest? The Pats have advanced to Round 2 for the first time since the glory days of Monica Lewinsky, yet the sports fans of this area don't seem to get excited unless we have the temerity to publish the Roughriders' negotiation list.
Why are people so blase about hockey at a time of year when the Regina sporting landscape is otherwise barren?
Maybe that has something to do with dismissive predictions such as this:
Tigers in five.
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007
Pats aren't given much hope
Rob Vanstone, The Leader-Post
Published: Saturday, April 07, 2007
The Regina Pats are creating less of a buzz than an Air Supply concert.
Where is the excitement? Is anyone salivating at the notion of the Pats competing in the second round of the Western Hockey League playoffs for the first time since 1998?
There is interest, to be certain, but it is tempered by an air of resignation.
"It should be a short series,'' one local entrepreneur -- a long-time junior hockey fan -- said of a looming Eastern Conference semifinal between the Pats and Medicine Hat Tigers.
"Go Pats, but I can't see this series going past five games,'' read an excerpt from one of the infrequent Pats-related e-mails I have received since they eliminated the Swift Current Broncos in the first round. "The Tigers are too strong for the Pats.''
Sure, there is always a chance that Regina will upset Medicine Hat.
And perhaps the Lee Harvey Oswald Band will win a Grammy. Maybe the nice people at Riderville.com will bestow upon me an honourary life membership.
You get the idea. The Pats are facing formidable odds.
The Tigers boasted the conference's finest record (52-17-3-0) during the regular season. Regina (36-28-2-6) was fifth in the 11-team loop, 27 points behind Medicine Hat.
Medicine Hat was especially dominant against Regina, sweeping the four-game season series while outscoring Regina 16-4 -- including 9-2 over two games at the Brandt Centre.
The Tigers are what the Pats aspire to become -- an experienced, skilled, perennial powerhouse. Many of Medicine Hat's premier players are 19 or 20.
As a contrast, consider this: The Pats' leading goal scorer, Jordan Eberle, is 16. Starting goaltender Linden Rowat is 17. Only one Regina defenceman, Kyle Deck, is 19 or older. He is 20.
In a year or three, Eberle, Rowat and defenceman Colten Teubert will be among the players who help the Pats assume the role of favourites. But, as it stands, Regina is a decided underdog entering tonight's opener in The Hat.
It would be a noteworthy accomplishment for the Pats to win a game or two against Medicine Hat. That likely accounts for the measured emotional response from sports fans with whom I have interacted in recent days.
Here it is, April in this alleged hockey heartland, and the most prevalent comments are along these lines:
- "How do you think Eric Tillman is doing as the Saskatchewan Roughriders' general manager?'' (Fine, thank you.)
- "What kind of head coach is Kent Austin going to be?'' (An improvement over his predecessor, Danny Barrett. Austin will not be as tolerant of unproductive players or erratic quarterbacking, and he will be more open with the media. This is vital.)
- "You haven't written about your favourite quarterback in a while.'' (True. How is Nealon Greene doing, anyway?'')
- "You are a (bleeping) (censored) (expletive).'' (Sorry, dear.)
Honestly, that is the tenor of the feedback I am receiving. As for the Pats ...
Well, there was the e-mail which arrived from Pats headquarters on Thursday. The invigorating subject line: Pats Fan Bus Cancelled.
Considering the lack of buzz, one wonders whether a Pats Fan Unicycle would be more appropriate.
Granted, the Pats have attracted an average of 5,481 spectators to their three home playoff games -- yes, there are such things -- in 2007.
Those who frequent the Brandt Centre have paid elevated playoff ticket prices. Perhaps the Pats are charging an arm and a larynx, because their supporters are strangely subdued.
Pats crowds have demonstrated less vibrancy than the Western Independence Party.
The numbers suggest that people care, but where is the intensity of interest? The Pats have advanced to Round 2 for the first time since the glory days of Monica Lewinsky, yet the sports fans of this area don't seem to get excited unless we have the temerity to publish the Roughriders' negotiation list.
Why are people so blase about hockey at a time of year when the Regina sporting landscape is otherwise barren?
Maybe that has something to do with dismissive predictions such as this:
Tigers in five.
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007