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nivek_wahs
09-21-2007, 09:26 AM
http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/sports/story.html?id=a0276783-8ac3-470b-892a-d400f918bc8c


Pats setting a trap for opposition

Greg Harder, Leader-Post
Published: Friday, September 21, 2007

What you've seen isn't entirely what you'll get from the Regina Pats this season.

Although Regina still wants to be known as an attack-oriented team, head coach Curtis Hunt has made some revisions to the club's methodology. Since you can't attack without the puck, Hunt is stressing a chronological approach -- defence first, offence second.

"It doesn't matter if you're watching the NFL or the NHL, they talk about how defence wins championships," explained Hunt, whose team opens the regular season tonight against the host Prince Albert Raiders. "We've done some system things a little bit differently because of the strength of our D, especially in special-teams situations. It's subtle differences in terms of preparation. But for the most part we try to make the game as simple as we can with specific objectives: Get the puck, get it in and get it on net. When we don't have it, let's work as a group of five or six and get the damn thing back."

Hunt talks to his players "every day" about the kind of team he expects them to be this season. Through constant repetition and reinforcement, he hopes the Pats will adopt a mentality that they'll never be outworked by an opponent.

"It's work ethic and great habits that will get you into the position to have success," said Hunt, who has been preaching his message from the outset of training camp. "With the group we have, the leadership, the older team, it was directly, 'This is how we are going to play, this is how we are going to practice, this is how we are going to work out and this is going to be our mentality in how we represent ourselves, each other, the organization and the city.' "

If Hunt's philosophy sounds familiar, it should. It's not unlike the all-business approach which was employed so successfully last season by the WHL-champion Medicine Hat Tigers and the Memorial Cup-champion Vancouver Giants.

Although both teams were loaded with talent, it was their defence and work ethic which set them apart from the competition.

"It was just terrific hockey," Hunt said of the head-to-head matchups between Medicine Hat and Vancouver. "Both teams were responsible defensively yet both teams had the ability to recognize and exploit defensive breakdowns. Common sense tells me we want to model what works. You're never too old to learn something and you're never too old to listen. If we can find something that someone else is doing and it works for us, thank you, it has now become a Regina Pat idea."

Hunt emphasized that the Pats want to continue taking advantage of their speed and mobile defence by being aggressive in transition -- a method perfected by the Tigers. Regina doesn't possess the firepower of its mentors, but Hunt does expect his forwards to be devoted defenders, outnumbering teams in the neutral zone with an approach that sounds conspicuously like the dreaded trap.

Or does it?

"The trap is the most misunderstood word in hockey," said Hunt. "We're not going to dump pucks (in) and sit and wait at the blueline all night. We're still going to be aggressive on the forecheck, we still want (physical) contact, we still want to be able to create scoring opportunities. The whole trap thing is basically creating numerical advantages. It's a puck recovery method. That just makes sense."

NOTE: D Logan Pyett was officially named the Pats' captain on Thursday. His alternates will be RW Brett Leffler, D Craig Schira and C Kirt Hill. Pyett, Leffler and Hill are all first-time captains.




© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007