Pats vs ICE

[patsdude114]

Well this game is back to back against the ICE for the Pats (but not for the ICE) the ICE are coming off a 5-4 SO win in Brandon last nite, a game where they blew a 4-2 lead with 5 mins to go ex-Regina Pat Dominic Favreau scored his 9th of the year with 13secs left to send it to OT

The Ice will not be happy with blowing a 4-2 lead with 5mins to go, so the Pats will have to come out of the gates skating hard & finishing checks putting the Ice back on there heels early.

At times the Pats have lacked focus in big games, tonite there is no room for error early in this game. If the guys dont understand whats at stake in this game then they will never get it..... we are now tied with the WKs with 2 games in hand tonite being 1 of them, getting a 2pt cushion is very key & moving 2 pts closer to the Ice & possibly the Blades & Hitmen (depending on there outcomes tonite)

Lately Schiedl has been out best player when it comes to big/important games & we need him to show up yet again with Weal, Stephenson, Davidson & Marincin, these guys need to lead the way. The biggest challenge for the Pats tonite i think is not to look past this game to Fridays game against the Warriors, we have been gulity of this in the years past. Tonites game is very important then after the game put ur focus on the Warriors.

Go Pats! we need this 1 badly tonite

[patsdude114]

Davidson Fenske scratched (r they hurt?) & Burroughs & calledup Williams in & both paired together during warm ups. Not sure how I feel about having 2 16yr olds paired together especially 1 who hasn't played in the league all year altho he should of made this team if our D didn't have so much depth.

Coach Conacher loaded up the 1st line of Weal/Schiedl/Stephenson

[SectionNDeserter]

Davidson Fenske scratched (r they hurt?)Fenske is suspended, as far as I know.

[patsdude114]

Ahhh did not know that, so far with the limited ice Williams has seen he hasn't looked out of place at all, a couple smart outlet passes not forcing anything.

First 10mins flew by was a very good skating 1st 10 but it was slowed down in the final 10

[Fight Guy]

Fenske got two games for a check from behind in Lethbridge, and Davidson is injured from being checked from behind against Kootenay on Saturday. That's what I've been led to assume anyway.

[patsdude114]

Scheidl didnt disappoint tonite at all, i personally thought he was our most offensive player all nite using his speed & strength to go around guys all nite. We all know what Weal brings nite in & nite out its other guys on the team that truely make a difference.

Burroughs played great & Williams with the limited ice he did see was solid himself, dont think he saw another shift after his hit from behind penalty but was to be expected in such a tight game that meant so much.


and Davidson is injured from being checked from behind against Kootenay on Saturday. That's what I've been led to assume anyway. there was nothing in the pre-game reports of him being injuried but it could be true....

Im guessing Davidson was scratched due to his terrible 10 min misconduct in Lethbridge, make him sit out a home game instead of the next game in KOO last saturday nite.

Underwood took a terrible penalty late in the 3rd with a very good shot to Montgomery teeth after the whistle. Just cant be taking those kinds of penalties in such a tight close game that means so much to our team.

Our PK has been great since the New Year though which has been the key to the wins we have got the past month or so.

Both goalies played great, Lieuwen kept this game close in the 1st 2 periods though to give his team a chance to push in the 3rd... stopping Klimchuk twice on breakaways, Martell hitting the post on a juicy rebound, Marantz stopped in close all alone early in the 1st... the Pats had there chances to take an early & commanding lead, we need to bare down more & get 1 of those chances so we dont have to always play in such tight games... although i do feel that the Pats pay attention to detail alot more in tight games then we do when we have a 2 or 3 goal lead.

Great to see the Hurricanes helping us out (after beating us twice) with there big win over the Blades tonite. Pats are now 1 point out of 6th place & 4pts out of 4th.... interesting stat which kind of blows my mind especially with how poorly we were defensively last year & that is that the Pats have given up the 3rd least amount of goals in the Eastern Conference.



Now we can move onto Friday's big game against the Warriors, should be a great game no matter the out come for either team. These 2 teams havent disappointed fans of both sides yet this year.... would love to see Hunt & Johnson fight to settle the score from Hunt's 5 min major hit early in the 1st the last time these 2 teams met.

[RWAH]

Pats dude I agree Williams did not look bad for a call up. The Pat Cs are finished for the season so he will probably stay with the team.

Fenske was suspended for 2 games for a cfb and that was the second game.

Not sure about Davidson, the WHL site has only Reider as injured.

I was very impressed with our team d-fence and d-fence wins championships. I am not saying we are a championship team but we could upset a few teams in the play offs. IMO Moose Jaw is the team that would give us the most trouble. They have size, speed and can play very physical and we can not match that part of their game.

I'm predicting a league final Moose Jaw / Portland Any one else?

[patsdude114]

Pats dude I agree Williams did not look bad for a call up. The Pat Cs are finished for the season so he will probably stay with the team.

Nice i did not know the Pat C's r done i done follow them at all but yes i would think that Williams will be with us for the rest of the year now if this is the case.

Fenske, Burroughs & Williams i can see playing a rotating game now in & out of the lineup, as each guy brings something different. Fenske more physical (which we will need at MJ) Burroughs has a very strong all around game & Williams has alot of patience with the puck & makes a good 1st pass.

[witness]

Good game by the boys!!

Solid goaltending and defensive zone coverage.

The Marantz line owned the Kootney line match up. No points, but a ton of quality chances and offensive zone posession.

I really like the way some of the young guys are stepping up to their game.

Ouellette has made himself into a fine defensive center. Needs to work a bit on his face offs, but I have been impressed with his play. Saved the Pats a couple of prime scoring chances for Kootney with a good heavy stick on stick play in the slot.

Klimchuk will be burying those chances in a year. Hunt looks like he has grown over the year and still has some good offensive potenial. Rodewald has speed to burn, but needs to put on some weight and work on his hands.

Then there is Burroughs. This kid is a leader on this team at 16. Steps up and takes on the guy who injured your captain with a dirty hit last game. Plays a steady in your face game. The coaches are having a tough time trying to find ice time for him and he seems to be adapting well. The Pats have a real gem on the back end.

[patsdude114]

i dont think our backend will be as bad as many seem to think it will be next season, Underwood will be our 20yr old back there, along with 19yr olds in Fenske & most likely Bortsmayer will be back he did look very good during a call up during xmas, & possibly Zimbaluk, then put Peel back into the mix as an 18yr old & then we got 2 very talented 17yr old Dmen in Burroughs & Williams plus guys like Griffin Mumby or Kenny Nordstrom will push for a 16yr old spot on our back end....

Underwood 20yr
Fenske 19yr
Bortsmayer 19yr
Zimbaluk 19yr (possibly would of had to really improve in the SJHL tho)
Peel 18yr
Burroughs 17yr
Williams 17yr
Mumby 16yr
Nordstrom 16yr

*the 6 i have put in BOLD will most likely be our top 6* The Fenske trade i think was a very key trade for Lang this year it was more to strengthen our backend next year more so then this year.

I also personally dont think Hewitt will be back next season, i think Lang moves him at the draft & i think PG will be the team to go with another 20yr old goalie as they have nothing in there system for goalies who will be ready for WHL action. Beukeboom has been solid this year as a 17yr old backup, he has developed alot throughout the year & with Tanner Burgardt waiting in the wings & with having a full time goalie coach here (who has done great work with Hewitt & Beukeboom this year) i can just see Lang getting a 2nd to 3rd pick for Hewitt & then flipping the pick for 18yr old forward from somewhere else.

[Some_Arrogant_Jerk]

I hope we arent trading Hewitt. As it is, we rely on him heavily this year. When we lose our top four D next year, as well as losing Weal, Im sure he will be leaned on even moreso next year regardless how far along Beukeboom is.

Not to mention, we wouldnt really get anything back for him aside from a pick anyways.

[patsdude114]

as it is we may be hard up for scoring & I dont think we will want to use a 20yr old spot on a goalie. Just my opinion u dont use a 20yr old goalie when u r still trying to build ur franchise up. PG went with a 20yr old this year cuz they knew they werent going to have much upfront or on the backend so they needed a 20yr old to keep them in games. The Pats will not be in that same boat as PG

Either way thats all next year right now need to stay focused on this years team who are very capable of playing a spoiler in the 1st round with the right match up, personally id love to play MH more so then EDM or MJ