2nd Liner
The Pats currently have the 2nd best power play in the WHL @ 27.7%, which is fantastic.
They're 9th in penalty killing @ 80.5%
Part of the game plan should not be a secret. The Pats need to stay out of the penalty box. Let their opponents take penalties, then let the power play units go to work.
The Pats are 2-0, since John Paddock has returned as head coach.
4th Liner
How did the new Euro look? Did he get into the game?
3rd Liner
Didn't watch but I see he got the first 2 goals.
Head Coach
He looked alright. The first two goals showed offensive instincts for this level(no small feat), but he needs more time to develop chemistry with the team and confidence. Other than that, not much to go by. He certainly isnt the offensive dynamo that the import we drafted this year was supposed to be(Kemell, ppg pace in the the mens top finnish league, and top 10 NHL prospect...no wonder he didnt report), but he can probably play a top 9 role with the team if he doesnt let a good start go to his head. A free pickup for a two year player who could be serviceable.
I think Geci, among others, would benefit if we sell a couple players at the deadline. Im convinced this is necessary this year. We want to make the playoffs, and the rest is a bonus. The entire purpose is for the youth(including Bedard) to get experience, even if it means getting dismembered by winnipeg in round 1. Move some D to make room for DeWitt who looked very promising, and leave a spot open for some young forwards to step up to claim a bigger role.
Head Coach
And who knows, maybe we can get a pick or two back in time for this december WHL bantam draft....I MEAN "PROSPECTS DRAFT".
Assistant Coach
Pats took a bad 10-3 loss today.............what more needs to be said....nobody played well in that game. It was hard to watch and try to find bright points. It should have been predictable. They just handed the Blades a 7-0 loss.They're a very good team lately.
The biggest thing I took away from the Saturday game was the fact that the Rebels outmuscled the Pats all night, much like they did in Regina a couple weeks back. For most of the game the Pats seemed to play on the perimeter and hardly ever went to battle in the tough area in front of Red Deer's goalie. It seemed like nobody wanted to pay the price for most of the night until about 5 minutes left in the third. Vallis scores because he went to the front of the net. It a tough place to live and you have to fight through with determination and courage. I didn't see much of that from a lot of the team. Red Deer unlike the Pats play a structured game and have a much bigger team so they are more physical and hit harder. The bigger forwards can make it hugely tough on our smaller defence. They controlled the boards on the cycle and got scoring chances. They really collapse and box out on defence very well while their bigger d-men make it hard to get to the net. You have to be tough and determined as stated. The one thing I've noted is that the Central Division is generally bigger and play a more structured defensive game than teams in the East Division. In order to seriously compete with that division the Pats have to get bigger and in addition more talented. Obtaining a big tough forward who can play a little is crucial and should be added stat. Place him with Bedard and watch his stats blossom.
It's great to have Bedard but we have precious little else. All fans want the team to do well and be more than it is. Some are hoping for playoffs as unlikely as it is to happen. A few wins creates some hope and a few losses dashes that hope. We are what we are!
"HOWEVER": when breaking it down to its most basic level is that; the Pats are neither deep enough, big enough, nor talented enough to be considered a higher-end competitive team. Even if they backed into the playoffs they would be out in the first round in likely four games to an outside of five games. They "ARE NOT" going anywhere this year. If your'e not a "top two" team in any division, you should be looking down the road at the near future. We are a mediocre to sub-mediocre team but we have a bunch of very marketable assets. If we make the necessary moves in the next little while we stand to set ourselves up extremely well for the future. Perhaps as early as next season. If we don't we will continue this punch and judy existence with a rinky-dinky lineup.
This lineup has 5 American kids. 4 of them Rowan, Armstrong, Whitehead and Michels have a grand total of 3 points combined. Outside of Vallis (a list player) none of them should be here with the possible exception of Whitehead. Our lineup today consisted of 5 American forwards and 1 Slovak. Half of our forwards were non-Canadians and we wonder why we have no depth. The USA kids are also producing next to nothing. Some of those kids should be in Tier-2 or Midget-AAA. Who can you beat icing such a team? To an offensive challenged team the loss of Stanick has hurt a lot, considering we had d-man DeWitt in the wings. To a draft pick challenged team having a #10 pick in the first round would have been far superior to what we got.
I think a number of people know what needs to be done. The question is does JP know? If he does, will had better do what must be done? If he doesn't then that 50% of the problem must be addressed after seasons end to accompany the 50% that has been addressed.
2nd Liner
chopper, you have provided an accurate analysis, which is difficult to disagree with or refute. Red Deer does play a heavy game and the Pats are a bit light and without much high end veteran talent. Looking at who the coach of Red Deer is and I think it's fair to argue that there are some similarities to his Seattle team. They had size and muscle too. They also had skill. Calgary is on fire right now and they took advantage of Regina's mistakes.
I don't know why Cadieux has been out the last couple of games, but I wonder if he has some sort of injury. It's not a big deal either way, whether they're giving him a couple of games off or if he's banged up a bit, as long as it's nothing serious and the Pats can trade him before the deadline.
In the big picture, the Pats are supposed to be rebuilding right now. Drafting Connor Bedard has perhaps made people forget that or at least distracted them from that a little bit. Of course, with a player like Bedard, fans want to see a team build around a player like that. The problem is that the Pats are rebuilding, they aren't in load-up mode. So there are these competing ideologies of needs vs. wants. The Pats need to rebuild, yet the fans want to build around Bedard. It's difficult to do both.
The Prospect Draft is Dec 9th, which makes this year's trade deadline unique. The Pats really should be trading Ryker Evans and the other players who will not be here next year (other OA's and the 19 year old's who won't be here next year) before Dec 9th, so that they can try and load up on bantam picks for the draft on the 9th. If teams are looking for OA defensemen, Evans should be at the top of their list. I'm not sure what offers are out there, but I'd like to see the Pats get at least a 1st round draft pick for him.
I"m not sure what the Pats can get for Cadieux, but perhaps a mid round draft pick plus? Some team out there has to be interested in a decent 19 year old defenseman for depth purposes. He hasn't looked good lately, but I think in general he has been decent. And I wonder if his bad play lately has to due with some sort of nagging injury. Or perhaps he just hasn't been playing very good for no particular reason and JP has decided to healthy scratch him.
The Pats should be trying to get a 1st round draft pick back for Stringer.
The Pats should go heavy on the selling if possible. That way the Pats can stock the shelves and with the surplus, perhaps they can acquire a couple of bigger players.
If we're looking at next year, the Pats have Bedard, Howe, and possibly Carrier and Valis that they can build upon for offensive production next year. That's not a whole lot. On defense, they'll have Svozil, Bateman, McNutt, Feist, Berge, Johnson and Dewitt and possibly one more defenseman enters the picture. They're looking okay on defense and in addition to moving Cadieux and Evans, they could possibly look at moving one other defenseman as well. After trading Stanick for McNutt, I thought that some other trade might happen, but nothing happened. If the Pats can't convince Matthew Wood to join the team etc.. they might have to look at moving a defenseman for a forward. Of course, the market has to be there. The opportunity must present itself.
Englot might be the only bigger forward back next year. Brook has good size, but he might be the odd man out. Geci has good size, but he doesn't seem to play a heavy style of game.
On defense, Bateman and McNutt will be the only two that might fit that (gritty / tough / heavy) category.
If the Pats are looking to get bigger and more skilled next year, they really don't have much of either category for next year. The Pats should look at over-trading right now and either using draft picks to bring in a few bigger players or perhaps get a couple players back at this year's deadline. Things probably won't change much next year, if they can't acquire more goal scorers or decent players with size.
A lot of the players the Pats have right now are younger / smaller or average size with average skill sets.
The Pats need to load up on draft picks ASAP and they should try and acquire some muscle for the rest of this year and next year if possible.
Honestly, things really don't look that great for next year right now. They don't have many goal scorers and they don't have many bigger players either. John Paddock is going to have to sell as much of the talent that won't be here next year as possible in order to try and build for next year and beyond. Otherwise this team is going to be in trouble for a while.
Head Coach
Jesus, you guys are really down on this team. A 10-3 drumming is sobering, but what has really changed? We had no illusions of competing with a literal super-team in Winnipeg, or being in the running with experienced clubs like Saskatoon, Red Deer and Edmonton; but we still arent as bad as Swift, PA, and apparently Medicine hat. Calgary, to me is still an unknown, but Id say we are better than or even with some of Brandon/Lethbridge/MJ.
It may be easy to forget, because things are so stupid now for every non-billionaire on the planet, but it has been a ROUGH go for this team in particular to other teams. Not just the lack of playoffs like with all teams in this league, but unlike them, this happened during a full rebuild from TWO memorial cup runs for us. Trying to rebuild a franchise, without even the option of playoffs or full seasons, while expecting them to compete like any other team 3 years after dismanting the club, is like telling someone to go fight a war without going through any training first. Under normal circumstances, where the world wasnt going insane, we would be in year two in our rebuild trajectory(2019 was a write-off year with write-off players) with at least a handful of playoff games under Bedard's belt, as well as Dubinsky/Englot/etc. We would probably be quite a bit better. And people here would not want to blow up the team after losing 10-3 to a rested, largely unknown club in a roadtrip through a tough division where we still manage to go 2-2.
My point is the team is finally on some semblance of a path of development after an extreme amount of instability. It is fair to expect some turbulence, and a couple games like this. Regardless, the bigger picture remains the focus. and the only thing important this year is *making* the playoffs(the rest is a bonus). It is even more important than moving our older players. I believe if we were to, say, trade Evans, Brook, and another spare 02 F/D like Carrier or Bateman, that we can still make the post season; but if we dont move them, then that simply increases our chance at our goal of accumulating precious post season experience. I am fine with either choice, and I trust Paddock knows his club best.
Head Coach
Just want to point out, both games were afternoon games, the day after both teams played tough games in Red Deer the night before. They are playing good hockey, but those two scores in particular are more a result of some very favorable schedule-making.Originally Posted by chopper
Head Coach
With the outrageous price paid by Edmonton for Kaiden Guhle(two 1sts, an 04 roster player, an NHL prospect, a 3rd and a 6th -- shades of the Mahura deal, but for a single year.) today, the allure of this seller's market may be too much for Paddock to avoid. Evans may not possess the all-around game, nor the scouting allure that Guhle has, but in order to keep up with winnipeg, everett and now edmonton, someone else is likely to have similar interest in a top offensive Dman. Red Deer, Kamloops or even Saskatoon.
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