nivek_wahs
04-14-2007, 07:25 AM
http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/sports/story.html?id=30421773-d993-4c68-bc29-41a2c40c88bf
Tough end to careers for Pat veterans
Rob Vanstone, The Leader-Post
Published: Saturday, April 14, 2007
When the Regina Pats' dressing-room door opened, so did the floodgates.
The tears were flowing when media types waddled into the Pats' sanctuary after Friday's 6-3 Western Hockey League playoff loss to the Medicine Hat Tigers, who swept a best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal in four games.
Right-winger Kaspars Saulietis walked right by us. He was crying.
In another part of the dressing room, Pats centre Garrett Festerling was embracing goaltender Tommy Tartaglione. Players took turns hugging 20-year-old captain Kyle Deck, whose five-season WHL career had just concluded.
The Sedley product then sat in his dressing-room stall -- for the last time following a major-junior game -- and stared at the carpet for a few seconds before accommodating the media.
A few feet away, Kyle Ross was choking back tears.
This is a side of the Pats people seldom see, even when the media is a conduit. Postgame interviews are customarily done outside the dressing room in the Brandt Centre's lower extremities. On Friday, however, the Pats deviated from their accustomed format.
None of the players wanted to leave that room. It was their last time together as a collective. Sure, many of them will return, but the personnel will be somewhat different when they next convene for a game of consequence.
"You become a family,'' Ross said. "You're together for eight to 10 months of the year. It has been a pleasure to play with these guys. I had a lot of good times here.''
Friday night was not one of those times.
The Regina-born centre was confronted with the sudden, unpalatable reality that his major-junior career had abruptly concluded. This is an exemplary young man who grew up watching the Pats, and eventually realized a dream by playing for them.
"It has been an honour to play here,'' an emotional Ross said. "It goes by way too fast.
"Some of those bus trips, they go by pretty slowly -- but, in hindsight, it is all a blur.''
The same applied to the first two periods of Friday's game, in which the Pats were dominated by one of the CHL's elite teams. Medicine Hat opened the scoring at the 37-second mark, when Chris Stevens sniped on the game's opening shot, and the Pats were left reeling.
Medicine Hat led 3-0 and 5-0 at the intermissions before the Pats staged a spirited, yet belated, rally. Third-period goals by Festerling, Brett Leffler and Nick Ross prevented the final score from being an embarrassment.
"We should have had a better effort in the first two periods,'' Kyle Ross said, "but this team in the third period, I've never been more proud of them. Us 20-year-olds really appreciated that.''
None of the Pats were especially anxious to leave the ice. Before doing so, they saluted the most resilient fans -- only a portion of the announced crowd of 5,367 -- who stuck around for the confirmation of the Pats' fate.
"The sound of that buzzer ...,'' Ross lamented.
One by one, the players made their way to the tunnel. Ross was the second-last to leave the ice, followed by Deck.
"So many memories flash by,'' Ross said. "The things that stand out will be the people and the memories.
"It was a tough game and a tough series. Medicine Hat is a good team. But in 10 years, I'll remember the guys and the fun inside the room.''
The bitter feeling of Friday will eventually evaporate. But, in the short term, it is impossible to digest the finality of it all.
"You don't want it to end,'' Ross said. "You don't want to come off the ice. You want to think about practice tomorrow, but that's not a reality.
"It'll be tough leaving the Pats' organization. This is tougher than I thought it would be.''
That was evidenced by the fact that Ross was still in his full uniform. How long would it be until he removed the Pats' garb for the final time?
"I don't think I'll be doing it for a while,'' a class act said, managing a chuckle. "I might make Greg (Mayer, the Pats' trainer) take it off me later.
"It's tough ...''
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007
Tough end to careers for Pat veterans
Rob Vanstone, The Leader-Post
Published: Saturday, April 14, 2007
When the Regina Pats' dressing-room door opened, so did the floodgates.
The tears were flowing when media types waddled into the Pats' sanctuary after Friday's 6-3 Western Hockey League playoff loss to the Medicine Hat Tigers, who swept a best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal in four games.
Right-winger Kaspars Saulietis walked right by us. He was crying.
In another part of the dressing room, Pats centre Garrett Festerling was embracing goaltender Tommy Tartaglione. Players took turns hugging 20-year-old captain Kyle Deck, whose five-season WHL career had just concluded.
The Sedley product then sat in his dressing-room stall -- for the last time following a major-junior game -- and stared at the carpet for a few seconds before accommodating the media.
A few feet away, Kyle Ross was choking back tears.
This is a side of the Pats people seldom see, even when the media is a conduit. Postgame interviews are customarily done outside the dressing room in the Brandt Centre's lower extremities. On Friday, however, the Pats deviated from their accustomed format.
None of the players wanted to leave that room. It was their last time together as a collective. Sure, many of them will return, but the personnel will be somewhat different when they next convene for a game of consequence.
"You become a family,'' Ross said. "You're together for eight to 10 months of the year. It has been a pleasure to play with these guys. I had a lot of good times here.''
Friday night was not one of those times.
The Regina-born centre was confronted with the sudden, unpalatable reality that his major-junior career had abruptly concluded. This is an exemplary young man who grew up watching the Pats, and eventually realized a dream by playing for them.
"It has been an honour to play here,'' an emotional Ross said. "It goes by way too fast.
"Some of those bus trips, they go by pretty slowly -- but, in hindsight, it is all a blur.''
The same applied to the first two periods of Friday's game, in which the Pats were dominated by one of the CHL's elite teams. Medicine Hat opened the scoring at the 37-second mark, when Chris Stevens sniped on the game's opening shot, and the Pats were left reeling.
Medicine Hat led 3-0 and 5-0 at the intermissions before the Pats staged a spirited, yet belated, rally. Third-period goals by Festerling, Brett Leffler and Nick Ross prevented the final score from being an embarrassment.
"We should have had a better effort in the first two periods,'' Kyle Ross said, "but this team in the third period, I've never been more proud of them. Us 20-year-olds really appreciated that.''
None of the Pats were especially anxious to leave the ice. Before doing so, they saluted the most resilient fans -- only a portion of the announced crowd of 5,367 -- who stuck around for the confirmation of the Pats' fate.
"The sound of that buzzer ...,'' Ross lamented.
One by one, the players made their way to the tunnel. Ross was the second-last to leave the ice, followed by Deck.
"So many memories flash by,'' Ross said. "The things that stand out will be the people and the memories.
"It was a tough game and a tough series. Medicine Hat is a good team. But in 10 years, I'll remember the guys and the fun inside the room.''
The bitter feeling of Friday will eventually evaporate. But, in the short term, it is impossible to digest the finality of it all.
"You don't want it to end,'' Ross said. "You don't want to come off the ice. You want to think about practice tomorrow, but that's not a reality.
"It'll be tough leaving the Pats' organization. This is tougher than I thought it would be.''
That was evidenced by the fact that Ross was still in his full uniform. How long would it be until he removed the Pats' garb for the final time?
"I don't think I'll be doing it for a while,'' a class act said, managing a chuckle. "I might make Greg (Mayer, the Pats' trainer) take it off me later.
"It's tough ...''
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007