Question:

[dondo]

What happened since last season that has brought you guys from the WHL Final to struggling to make the playoffs this season. Did you lose a bunch of players or a couple of real leaders? Is the Eastern Conference that much more competitive?

I'm not trying to be an *ss here. I'm actually curious what the fans thoughts are on this situation.

[moon]

What happened since last season that has brought you guys from the WHL Final to struggling to make the playoffs this season. Did you lose a bunch of players or a couple of real leaders? Is the Eastern Conference that much more competitive?

I'm not trying to be an *ss here. I'm actually curious what the fans thoughts are on this situation.

The loss of Sbisa really hurt because even with him there would have been some real issues with the bottom half of the defense and without him it left the team with really 3 WHL calibre defensemen to start the season. So early on there was a lot of trying to get by with a really sub-par defensive group.

The team started to really turn it around going in to December and then lost Boychuk and Metsola to the WJHC, Bancks and others to injury and Theriau to the Under-17. It left the team without its top two centers (and probably two most important forwards) and with only 14-16 players left to dress. The resulted in the 8 game losing streak.

There are other issues with last year the team getting a lot of puck luck and this year they get none at all.

I think once everyone is back the team will comfortably fit in to the 4-5-6 slot and give whomever they play a tough time in the opening round series.

After this post I imagine you will be bombarded with posts telling how bad Dyck is so I thought I would try to give you some other responses before the "Dyck sucks" responses come in.

[shushu]

The loss of Sbisa really hurt because even with him there would have been some real issues with the bottom half of the defense and without him it left the team with really 3 WHL calibre defensemen to start the season. So early on there was a lot of trying to get by with a really sub-par defensive group.

The team started to really turn it around going in to December and then lost Boychuk and Metsola to the WJHC, Bancks and others to injury and Theriau to the Under-17. It left the team without its top two centers (and probably two most important forwards) and with only 14-16 players left to dress. The resulted in the 8 game losing streak.

There are other issues with last year the team getting a lot of puck luck and this year they get none at all.

I think once everyone is back the team will comfortably fit in to the 4-5-6 slot and give whomever they play a tough time in the opening round series.

After this post I imagine you will be bombarded with posts telling how bad Dyck is so I thought I would try to give you some other responses before the "Dyck sucks" responses come in.

j/k.......... your post pretty well sumed up this year to a T.....but you left out one important note....roy suck also......................

[HURRICANE'S ROCK]

Moon is right but the puck luck is not there because the effort is not there. You make your own luck with hard work. I think the team just thought it was gonna be easy. The team effort is just not there. Too many players at pro camp and they came back in dribs and drabs and changed the team chemistry and line combos. We seem to have diiferent players and line combos every couple of games with a lot of injuries. Right now we have 12, thats right 12 players who were not on the team last year.
Then playing 4 games in 5 nights with 2000km travel and 14 skaters was just too much to ask of anyone. The beating we took there has shattered team confidence and they just continue to lose. Also our backup goalies play collapsed when Metsola was away.
Strange year so far. We lost like 8 of 10, then won 8 in row and 10 out of 12 once we had our full lineup. Now we lose 9 in row. Talk about streaky. Once we get Boychuk back from his injury and get our top 2 lines put back together we will be OK. This team still has the talent to do a lot of damage. I would not be surprised to see them go on a huge tear and make it to the East final, but beating Calgary looks like a huge task.

[O&C]

We seem to have diferent players and line combos every couple of games with a lot of injuries.

Nailed it.

[Gamer]

You are bang on. I dont think we have ever had any real consistent lines. And when we do get a good line going - it somehow gets split up. The boys play with someone different almost every shift - every game... how can they gel or have any chemistry! I feel for the boys... they are the ones bearing the burden of an unstable coach, GM and Board of Directors. They are the ones who have to deal with the losses.. dont give me this crap that they dont care! Most DO!!! I give them credit - I dont think I would show up to work if I had this GM and Coach as my boss!!

[HURRICANE'S ROCK]

I have never seen so many players move in and out of our line-up due to pro camps, trades, injuries, tournaments etc. It is like a different team every few games. If this stops and we get 4 lines and 3 Dmen pairings going things will change quick. We could realistically win our next 4 games this week. They are all 4 pointers in the conference and could put us right back in the hunt in one week.
I agree though that if we lose all 4 or even 3, a change behind the bench will have to happen.

[LHF]

Too many players at pro camp and they came back in dribs and drabs and changed the team chemistry and line combos.

Sorry, but I disagree with your comment. All the guys that came back from pro camps expected to. So they were not disappointed. Not very many guys play in the NHL when they are only 18 or even 19. I do however agree with the other things you said.

I also think Sbisa will be back, which is why Roy didn't make a move for a d-man before the trade deadline. (Or, maybe it's just me hoping). I don't know why he didn't make a move for a goalie though. We won't go anywhere if Metsola gets hurt.

[loudi94]

I also think Sbisa will be back, which is why Roy didn't make a move for a d-man before the trade deadline. (Or, maybe it's just me hoping). I don't know why he didn't make a move for a goalie though. We won't go anywhere if Metsola gets hurt.

As frustrated as I am with what's happened, if Sbisa comes back, this team instantly becomes a contender. How crazy is that?

[dondo]

Thanks guys

It never ceases to amaze me how a team on the top in the WHL can lose a player here and there and become ordinary. Sounds like in spite of poor coaching and GM, the boys played their hearts out last season.

HR is right that you crate your own puck luck and hard work can pull a team out a slump by creating better chances, but its also true that some years the puck goes in pretty damn easily and the next raft of games you can't buy a goal. Sp puck-luck is a fleeting commodity that you increase its probability by hard work, but never guarantee it.

I have to say I love Dub fans, most of them are knowledgeable and willing to talk about the negatives as well as the positives of their teams, with detail and thoughts on how to make it better.

Having players shifting from line to line has become one of my personal irritants as hockey is a team game and chemistry is very important, but these coaches that keep moving guys around to get something working is fine to begin with, but when a line has success and then are broken up the next game makes no sense to me. Its almost become a game with some coaches to detriment of their team and their boys who never get to climb to that next level playing with compatible teammates.