nivek_wahs
03-05-2008, 09:59 AM
Hunt likes the way his team plays (http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/sports/story.html?id=7ac4adbb-5a01-4426-876a-8244094d2e08)
Hunt likes the way his team plays
Rob Vanstone, Leader-Post
Published: Wednesday, March 05, 2008
The Regina Pats have attained a notable milestone by winning 40 games this season.
But should that total be 50?
Eleven of the Pats' losses have been to teams that are below them in the WHL's overall standings. Regina's struggles against lower-ranked teams have been well-documented and widely dissected, but they have not prevented the Pats from occupying first place in the East Division and second spot in the Eastern Conference.
"It's funny about perception,'' Pats head coach Curtis Hunt said Tuesday. "We rattled off six in a row. We walked through Alberta with wins and then it was, 'Oh, geez. We won't lose another game.' Everybody gets so high.
"Then you come home and you lose a couple to Red Deer and Saskatoon, and Medicine Hat's a very good team. Everyone's so low. You say, 'Hey, wait a minute. We've been where we are (in first place) for the entire season. The key is we want to finish there.' I think that would be a nice feather.''
Here's another feather: The Pats won three of their four regular-season meetings with the Calgary Hitmen, who lead the conference. Most recently, the Pats improved their record to 40-21-4-2 by defeating the visiting Hitmen 3-1 on Sunday.
"We seem to play to the level of our opponent and we seem to really rise to the occasion when we need to,'' Hunt noted.
Is that a good omen heading into the playoffs?
"Well, I would think so,'' Hunt replied. "It certainly has been true with the Lethbridges, the Medicine Hats, the Calgarys.
"The funny thing also about our team is when we lose, we lose big. We don't mess around with losing. It is comical, yet it has been frustrating. Maybe you can say that we open it up and throw defence out the window or whatever, because our goals-against isn't usually indicative of a 40-win club, either.''
Despite being 19 games over .500, the Pats have scored only five more goals than they have permitted.
Entering Tuesday's WHL games -- none of which involved the Pats -- Regina had 200 goals, the 13th-highest total in the 22-team league. The Pats had a comparable standing in goals-against, with the 12th-best total (195).
The numbers are skewed by some bad outings. As Hunt pointed out: "We lost one game to Calgary all year, but it was by six goals.''
Statistics demonstrate that the Pats are not consistently explosive nor stingy, yet a .642 winning percentage puts them in the WHL's upper echelon with five regular-season games remaining -- beginning with Friday's home date with the Edmonton Oil Kings.
"I like the way we play,'' Hunt said. "We've played hard. Even being down 3-0 to Chilliwack (on Friday, when the Pats roared back to win 5-4), even-strength I thought we played hard. That is one of the most important things -- if we can come out and work and compete.
"That's one thing I feel we've been more consistent at as of late than maybe earlier in the season. That's probably an area we just want to continue to reinforce as a staple of the Regina Pats -- if you're going to play Regina, they're going to work, and they're going to play physical.''
How they play is one matter. Now, who are they going to play? Regina's first-round opponent has yet to be determined.
"Maybe there's an advantage of not knowing your opponent,'' Hunt said. "When you know your opponent and you're locked in, then you're really not playing for much at all. We're still looking for our opponent. We're still fighting for first and for home-ice advantage.
"We still control our destiny in terms of a pennant for ourselves, so we're in the driver's seat and I think that has helped us keep focused. In terms of a playoff team, we're a big, strong team. We have the ability to grind it out. In a series, I think that's really important. It comes down to consistency. Just keep coming -- wave after wave, shift after shift, day after day.''
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2008
Hunt likes the way his team plays
Rob Vanstone, Leader-Post
Published: Wednesday, March 05, 2008
The Regina Pats have attained a notable milestone by winning 40 games this season.
But should that total be 50?
Eleven of the Pats' losses have been to teams that are below them in the WHL's overall standings. Regina's struggles against lower-ranked teams have been well-documented and widely dissected, but they have not prevented the Pats from occupying first place in the East Division and second spot in the Eastern Conference.
"It's funny about perception,'' Pats head coach Curtis Hunt said Tuesday. "We rattled off six in a row. We walked through Alberta with wins and then it was, 'Oh, geez. We won't lose another game.' Everybody gets so high.
"Then you come home and you lose a couple to Red Deer and Saskatoon, and Medicine Hat's a very good team. Everyone's so low. You say, 'Hey, wait a minute. We've been where we are (in first place) for the entire season. The key is we want to finish there.' I think that would be a nice feather.''
Here's another feather: The Pats won three of their four regular-season meetings with the Calgary Hitmen, who lead the conference. Most recently, the Pats improved their record to 40-21-4-2 by defeating the visiting Hitmen 3-1 on Sunday.
"We seem to play to the level of our opponent and we seem to really rise to the occasion when we need to,'' Hunt noted.
Is that a good omen heading into the playoffs?
"Well, I would think so,'' Hunt replied. "It certainly has been true with the Lethbridges, the Medicine Hats, the Calgarys.
"The funny thing also about our team is when we lose, we lose big. We don't mess around with losing. It is comical, yet it has been frustrating. Maybe you can say that we open it up and throw defence out the window or whatever, because our goals-against isn't usually indicative of a 40-win club, either.''
Despite being 19 games over .500, the Pats have scored only five more goals than they have permitted.
Entering Tuesday's WHL games -- none of which involved the Pats -- Regina had 200 goals, the 13th-highest total in the 22-team league. The Pats had a comparable standing in goals-against, with the 12th-best total (195).
The numbers are skewed by some bad outings. As Hunt pointed out: "We lost one game to Calgary all year, but it was by six goals.''
Statistics demonstrate that the Pats are not consistently explosive nor stingy, yet a .642 winning percentage puts them in the WHL's upper echelon with five regular-season games remaining -- beginning with Friday's home date with the Edmonton Oil Kings.
"I like the way we play,'' Hunt said. "We've played hard. Even being down 3-0 to Chilliwack (on Friday, when the Pats roared back to win 5-4), even-strength I thought we played hard. That is one of the most important things -- if we can come out and work and compete.
"That's one thing I feel we've been more consistent at as of late than maybe earlier in the season. That's probably an area we just want to continue to reinforce as a staple of the Regina Pats -- if you're going to play Regina, they're going to work, and they're going to play physical.''
How they play is one matter. Now, who are they going to play? Regina's first-round opponent has yet to be determined.
"Maybe there's an advantage of not knowing your opponent,'' Hunt said. "When you know your opponent and you're locked in, then you're really not playing for much at all. We're still looking for our opponent. We're still fighting for first and for home-ice advantage.
"We still control our destiny in terms of a pennant for ourselves, so we're in the driver's seat and I think that has helped us keep focused. In terms of a playoff team, we're a big, strong team. We have the ability to grind it out. In a series, I think that's really important. It comes down to consistency. Just keep coming -- wave after wave, shift after shift, day after day.''
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2008