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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

patsdude114
03-05-2008, 12:48 PM
The thing that really gets me is.........yes we have lost 11 games to teams not in a playoff spot im not saying we should of won them all cause in all honesty that is kinda surreal. I really do believe though we should of won at least 5 of those games, would give us 10 more points in the standings and would put us in 1st in the conference.

We did just flat out blow a couple games against the "so called" weaker teams. Portland comes to mind big time i remmeber that game we hit 4 posts, if we would of scored at least 2 of those we got a win there (3 of those posts were in 1st period also, could/would of deflated the hawks early) Last time we were in PA we blew a 3-1 lead in the 3rd period. I know these things happen in sports and sometimes you just cant do anything about it, sh*t happens oh well yes we lost 11 games to non playoff teams, we made our bed now we have to lay in it.

Also lets not forget we have been a 1st place team in our division pretty well all season, if i remember right Brandon was in 1st spot for almost 2 weeks (i could be wrong tho) we are 19 games above 500 (yes it should be better but its not) being 19 games above 500 is nothing to be complaining about, i really wish the media would just leave those 11 games to non playoff teams alone and focus on the success the team has had this season. We have played some real good teams and have competed all season long. Hunt does make a ver good point though is when we loose we do it in fashion, we rarely loose those squeaker games by a goal, as we are the type of team to grind out in those tight games.

If we continue to work in these next 5 games like we have in the past 3 games (Kamloops, Chilliwack & Calgary) we will be ok and really should win at least 4 of those if we are working hard.

Bran
03-05-2008, 02:02 PM
And pretty soon we won't have to worry about playing non-playoff teams. :)

penman
03-05-2008, 03:50 PM
For gods sakes Regina to think a team any team would go all season and not lose a percentage of games to teams that finish below you in the standings is brutal thinking who do you think yoyr boys are super humans.Some of your players must be wondering what kind of dingbats you few are hope they dont see your expectations in print. .Oh ya did your team ever win a game against a team that was better than the Pats,oh my mistake there isnt one. Actually I voted for the pats to be the team to implode this year in playoffs,but that is a guess unlike the pat fans who are sure whats going to take place.Hope things continue for you in YOUR world

patsdude114
03-05-2008, 08:57 PM
PENMAN IF YOU ACTUALLY READ MY POST you would of seen that I said "we should of won at least 5 of those games" meaning out of the 11 that we did loose... not many so called top teams have lost 11 games to the non playoff teams.

I never once stated that i expected us to win all 11 of those games cuz that would be total BS i do expect to loose a few games to those type of teams cause you cant win them all anyways. So before you come onto here and post stupid crap like you just did at least get your damn facts straight from what others have posted.

It is all woulda shoulda coulda, but guess what we lost those games no matter how much we talk about it we cant change the outcome. So take your 38 posts and get your facts together before making retarded comments like you just did.




sorry for my rant there to the other regular posters on here sometimes some of these guys really get to me with dumb comments. I guess his rookie status as a poster is showing lol

Some_Arrogant_Jerk
03-05-2008, 09:12 PM
Great to see another intelligent bronco fan gracing us with their presence, along with their (unwanted) input

EDIT: Of course, both teams have to get points tonight... seems like when you think the division was tight enough, it gets tighter. All 3 teams have 83 points.

penman
03-06-2008, 12:13 AM
well well you never dissapiont with your Capital city attitude dont tell me you are cival servants thought so.Also some of us have a life other than seeing how many posts we can account for, give me a break