nivek_wahs
04-11-2007, 03:44 AM
http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/sports/story.html?id=92eea87d-72de-444d-9946-2dd2310ce816
Pats cheating fans with weak effort
Rob Vanstone, The Leader-Post
Published: Wednesday, April 11, 2007
The Regina Pats must establish that they are something other than second-round playoff flotsam.
And it has to happen tonight.
If the Pats cannot put forth a credible showing against the formidable Medicine Hat Tigers, supporters of the local Western Hockey League franchise will have every reason to feel cheated.
People who pay inflated postseason ticket prices deserve an elevated level of performance. Nothing less will suffice, considering that the Pats have introduced Reginans to the concept of a $20 playoff seat.
Granted, the Tigers have plenty to do with the fact that Regina is behind 2-0 in a best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal, which is to resume tonight at the Brandt Centre.
It is not at all surprising to see Regina two games behind. After all, Medicine Hat is one of the elite teams in major-junior hockey. The Pats will get there, eventually, but they are at a different developmental stage.
What is surprising? Insufficient effort -- which was general manager Brent Parker's lament after Saturday's 4-1 loss in Medicine Hat.
Two nights later, Pats head coach Curtis Hunt criticized some players' intensity (or lack thereof) after Medicine Hat prevailed 7-2 on home ice.
Disclosure: I did not make the trip to Medicine Hat. Judging by the results, it is tempting to wonder why the Pats invested their time and money in such an excursion. And why did CKRM waste the valuable air time when it could have played the latest country chart-topper by Sonny Bumpkin?
Honestly, if some players -- such as un-named veterans cited by Hunt -- don't care enough to expend maximum effort in games of magnitude, why should anybody relinquish good money to witness the inevitable evisceration?
Perhaps complacency has set in after the Pats' first opening-round series victory since 1998. Maybe the ouster of the Swift Current Broncos is enough to placate some Pats players, who must recognize that across-the-board overachievement still won't be enough against an adversary of Medicine Hat's calibre.
Or, maybe these are the idle, unfounded musings of someone who was the uncontested worst skater at the prestigious Hicke Brothers Hockey School, circa 1972.
If the Pats find the above assessment to be unduly harsh or dismissive, they can certainly do something to alter the perception and allay the skepticism.
They don't even have to win. How about competing? How about scoring, instead of surrendering, goals while on the power play? Is that too much to ask?
Of course, it would be much easier for the Pats to produce if their most-prolific goal-scorer, Jordan Eberle, was in the lineup. Eberle has missed the first two games of the series with a virus. But the absence of one player -- even one as sublimely skilled as the 16-year-old Eberle -- should not be the cause of such a pronounced disparity.
Even without Eberle, the Pats' 18 skaters should be able to exert themselves to the satisfaction of the coaches and fans. That should be a given at this time of year.
Instead, the only thing which seems automatic is a Tigers sweep.
The Pats have the luxury of home ice tonight and Friday, but the Brandt Centre is hardly forbidding territory of late. Swift Current celebrated both its first-round victories in Regina, where the Pats were dominant before the playoffs.
Those results ceased to be relevant once the playoffs began. The Tigers have quickly and decisively schooled the Pats in what is required of a team in the postseason. Medicine Hat's roster is laden with battle-hardened 19- and 20-year-olds.
The first two games of this series were a painful lesson for the locals. Have the Pats absorbed any of what they experienced in Games 1 and 2? Or will they continue to absorb lopsided defeats?
This cannot continue if the Pats are to restore a level of respectability as a playoff participant. For that to happen, they must play with heart, en masse. The veterans must be the catalysts.
That is hardly an unreasonable expectation at this time of year.
After all, the Pats are requiring their fans to pay a higher price. It is only fair to ask the players to follow suit.
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007
Pats cheating fans with weak effort
Rob Vanstone, The Leader-Post
Published: Wednesday, April 11, 2007
The Regina Pats must establish that they are something other than second-round playoff flotsam.
And it has to happen tonight.
If the Pats cannot put forth a credible showing against the formidable Medicine Hat Tigers, supporters of the local Western Hockey League franchise will have every reason to feel cheated.
People who pay inflated postseason ticket prices deserve an elevated level of performance. Nothing less will suffice, considering that the Pats have introduced Reginans to the concept of a $20 playoff seat.
Granted, the Tigers have plenty to do with the fact that Regina is behind 2-0 in a best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal, which is to resume tonight at the Brandt Centre.
It is not at all surprising to see Regina two games behind. After all, Medicine Hat is one of the elite teams in major-junior hockey. The Pats will get there, eventually, but they are at a different developmental stage.
What is surprising? Insufficient effort -- which was general manager Brent Parker's lament after Saturday's 4-1 loss in Medicine Hat.
Two nights later, Pats head coach Curtis Hunt criticized some players' intensity (or lack thereof) after Medicine Hat prevailed 7-2 on home ice.
Disclosure: I did not make the trip to Medicine Hat. Judging by the results, it is tempting to wonder why the Pats invested their time and money in such an excursion. And why did CKRM waste the valuable air time when it could have played the latest country chart-topper by Sonny Bumpkin?
Honestly, if some players -- such as un-named veterans cited by Hunt -- don't care enough to expend maximum effort in games of magnitude, why should anybody relinquish good money to witness the inevitable evisceration?
Perhaps complacency has set in after the Pats' first opening-round series victory since 1998. Maybe the ouster of the Swift Current Broncos is enough to placate some Pats players, who must recognize that across-the-board overachievement still won't be enough against an adversary of Medicine Hat's calibre.
Or, maybe these are the idle, unfounded musings of someone who was the uncontested worst skater at the prestigious Hicke Brothers Hockey School, circa 1972.
If the Pats find the above assessment to be unduly harsh or dismissive, they can certainly do something to alter the perception and allay the skepticism.
They don't even have to win. How about competing? How about scoring, instead of surrendering, goals while on the power play? Is that too much to ask?
Of course, it would be much easier for the Pats to produce if their most-prolific goal-scorer, Jordan Eberle, was in the lineup. Eberle has missed the first two games of the series with a virus. But the absence of one player -- even one as sublimely skilled as the 16-year-old Eberle -- should not be the cause of such a pronounced disparity.
Even without Eberle, the Pats' 18 skaters should be able to exert themselves to the satisfaction of the coaches and fans. That should be a given at this time of year.
Instead, the only thing which seems automatic is a Tigers sweep.
The Pats have the luxury of home ice tonight and Friday, but the Brandt Centre is hardly forbidding territory of late. Swift Current celebrated both its first-round victories in Regina, where the Pats were dominant before the playoffs.
Those results ceased to be relevant once the playoffs began. The Tigers have quickly and decisively schooled the Pats in what is required of a team in the postseason. Medicine Hat's roster is laden with battle-hardened 19- and 20-year-olds.
The first two games of this series were a painful lesson for the locals. Have the Pats absorbed any of what they experienced in Games 1 and 2? Or will they continue to absorb lopsided defeats?
This cannot continue if the Pats are to restore a level of respectability as a playoff participant. For that to happen, they must play with heart, en masse. The veterans must be the catalysts.
That is hardly an unreasonable expectation at this time of year.
After all, the Pats are requiring their fans to pay a higher price. It is only fair to ask the players to follow suit.
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007