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nivek_wahs
12-15-2007, 07:52 AM
http://www.reginapats.com/NEWS/74/


Nothing simple about the Pats

Rob Vanstone, The Leader-Post
Published: Tuesday, December 11, 2007

The 2007-08 Regina Pats are tougher to figure than the allure of a Spice Girls reunion.

Nearing the midway point of the WHL season, who knows what to make of this group?

Are they an offensive team? Not especially.

A defensive team? Not to the extent that was hoped, considering the wealth of talent on the blue line.

A gritty team? Intermittently.

A physical team? Hardly.

"If you look at the numbers and the stats, we may not have that Oiler team of the '80s that scores,'' Pats head coach Curtis Hunt said before leaving to serve as an assistant with Canada's world junior team. "We need to be the kind of team that grinds it out, pays attention to detail, sacrifices and just works. Within that, we've got some players who can score. We've got some secondary players who can contribute. But we seem to not want to accept that identity.''

The identity crisis is nothing new. The Pats have not been easily definable for quite some time.

This is a subjective assessment, of course, but I would suggest that the Pats have lacked an identity since the 2001-02 season concluded.

That winter, the Pats somehow registered 40 victories one year after playing host to the Memorial Cup. Bob Lowes was named the CHL's coach-of-the-year for working wonders with the Pats during a supposed rebuilding year.

The 2001-02 Pats played with heart and determination. Lowes would accept nothing less.

It helped that the roster included forwards Matt Hubbauer and Garth Murray, defenceman Filip Novak, and a goaltender named Josh Harding. Despite losing several key members of the 2000-01 edition to graduation, the '01-02 Pats were hardly bereft of talent.

Lowes put that talent to work. Players embraced their roles and, on many nights, outworked the opposition.

Hunt would love to see his players exhibit those traits. At the outset of the season, he emphasized the need for the 2007-08 Pats to be responsible defensively and unwavering in their tenacity.

On some nights, players appear to be adhering to the formula. That explains why the Pats (who carry a 21-13-0-1 record into Wednesday's game against the host Saskatoon Blades) share first place in the East Division with the Brandon Wheat Kings (21-9-0-1), who have four games in hand.

On other nights, the Pats lose to beatable teams such as the Portland Winter Hawks, Red Deer Rebels and Prince Albert Raiders, and look absolutely gormless when Brandon visits the Brandt Centre with first place on the line.

"We do have guys who want to make a difference,'' Hunt stated. "That's one of the slogans we have in our room: Make a difference. Sometimes they get confused about what makes a difference. The simplest things make a difference -- the chip so that we can get a change or the finished check.''

The finished product also suffers when the games-to-practices ratio is skewed, as has been the case of late.

"If you look at the last three weeks, a real lack of quality practice time hurts a junior hockey club,'' Hunt said. "I do believe that. You have a chance to stop it, talk about it and try it again. When you play a run of games -- especially with kids -- they lose track of the process. They think only of the result. When we keep them process-orientated, we play very, very well. When we gets results-orientated, we don't play so well.''

Hunt has the recipe -- and a remedy -- and it should not be too difficult to absorb.

"It's based on hard work,'' Hunt before delegating the head-coaching duties to his assistant, Terry Perkins. "Out of hard work, you go to support. Support the puck. Support each other in all areas. From there, it's about pace. We want to play with pace. We feel we have speed. We want to advance pucks.

"In the final case, what we thought we missed a year ago was grit. Play with grit. Play with edge. Get into the net. Get those second opportunities. Get to pucks first. Block shots. Do all those kind of things. It's a very simple triangle, but we seem to lose some of the pieces.

"It's not a puzzle. It's quite simple.''

So what's complicated?

Trying to figure out this team.