Where to begin? I suppose at the bottom or near it, kinda where the team finished. The blame with this club needs to be like a good jam sandwich, spread to every corner and thick.
Let's start with the players. This group was far to carefree. Now I don't mean to say they didn't care. But caring comes at a cost, its not free, and in hockey you have to pay a price to reap the rewards. The Blue & White of 08/09 were far to frugal. Too often the team was second best in corner battles, picked up silver medals in races to the puck and seemed to get beaten in every showdown situation (see 4-10 shootout record).
The motto since early December has been "We're better than our record shows"...No you're not. You are exactly what your record shows, that's why they keep track of wins and losses. In 2009 the club went 8-23 with 5 of those wins coming against the WHL's worst club, the Moose Jaw Warriors. So 3-22 against teams other than the Tribe. Wow!!
But its unfair to slaughter the players without looking at their leaders. This was the only team in all of Canada to have 2-WJHC players on it. A bonafide sniper in Jordan Eberle and a hulking defenceman in Colten Teubert. Add to the mix argueably the best rookie in the WHL in Jordan Weal and last seasons Eastern Conference Goalie of the Year Linden Rowat and you have the core of a good young team. But in this league its the 19 & 20 year olds that make your hay for you.
Sure Brett Leffler and Matt Strueby had career years in goal scoring, but where was their dominating performances? At 19 they should impose their will on the other team. Didn't see that. Mitch Czibere, great guy, but I never saw him get under people's skin. Why? The Pats rarely seemed like a tough team to play. Nobody seems to worried to go into the corners to do battle with the Blue & White. And its the teams older players that should be the ones leading the charge in there.
Enough bashing the kids, because we do lose sight that these young men are just that, young. What about the adults in this situation? Dale Derkatch and Terry Perkins. Well, with any teams failures, coaching must take some heat.
It never really seemed like the coaching staff got the team to completely buy in. When a group plays with no urgency or desire, the finger points at the man on the bench. A coach needs to motivate his group and it seemed terribly obvious on too many nights that Derkatch et al were unable to light even a slow burn under the butts of their players.
Now to the offices at the Brandt. GM Brent Parker doesn't come away from this smelling like roses either, nor does his scouting staff. While the Pats certainly do boast some talent, what they are short on is identity. Kinda reminds me of the Ottawa Senators. What kind of team was this? They weren't fast, they weren't tough, they didn't play shut down D. Parker tried a couple of moves this year, but in the end they were a bit mystifying. Neal Prokop was added for presumably some size and toughness, but that never played out. Matt Robertson was suppose to be the 20 year old trigger man, but even he disappeared. And the Jesse Dudas experiment was a ticking timebomb that finally detonated.
At let us not stop here. If we are throwing eggs at the team, cast one in the direction of Owner Russ Parker. Inevitably its his team. If all these players, coaches and Management staff are failing to succeed its the owners fault for allowing it to happen.
Now, by the sounds of this column it would seem that the Pats should sell the team, fire everybody and demote most of the team to play in the PJHL. But the exact opposite is what should happen. this is a group that lost their mojo somewhere along the way. A first year coach who made plenty of mistakes but who bleeds Blue & White. The GM is one of the fiercest competitors around and the Owner is doing what a good owner needs to do, trust his people.
Every season brings new hope and I hope that Parker, Derkatch and the players are all still under the Orange Top in the fall. Not only do I believe they are good people, I firmly stand behind the fact that every single one of them want what is best for the Pats organization and given the chance at a clean slate, they'll learn from this and move on and up.
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I cannot overstate how much I disagree with the last column. For far too long, the Parker's have been ruining one of the most junior franchise in all of sports.
ReplyDeleteBrent Parker is not a good GM. In fact, he is the amoung the worst in the WHL. This team has never been able to do anything in the playoffs when they do make them. I will admit that the Pats do have a knack for making the playoffs.... but they always lose out right away. If it is not the first round, count them out in the second for sure. Look at the players he let go...Justin Bernhardt was not good enough to play for the Pats, hes only 5th in league scoring this year, Craig Schira 5th in scoring for defenseman, and Nick Ross who is 18th in scoring for defensemen was given away by Parker!!! Nice work Brent, it is no wonder they call you trader Brent, because you do work your magic all the time!!
Finally, Derkatch. I realize that Dale is a Regina Pat legend. I get that, I know that, it does not matter. He cannot coach in this league. He only has one year of coaching experience prior to this - ND Hounds AAA. He wasn't even the best coach at Notre Dame, that title would belong to a Mr. Mike Vandenberg, coach of the Jr. A Hounds and an unbelievably intelligent hockey mind who has been hired around the world to help countries with their national programs.
Who else could we have had other than Derkatch??? Oh, I dont know, maybe someone by the name of Marc Habscheid. Remember the guy who coached Canada to World Junior Gold in 2003, as well as world championship gold in 2004 and 2005, as well as an assistant coach for the Olympic team in 2006. Do you think he has enough credentials to coach the Pats? Do you think he knows how to lead a team? Word is, that Brent would not allow Marc to coach the team as Marc wanted more input into the decision making for personnel. Guess what, that is what we need. Someone who actually knows something about hockey, and something about winning.
I personally will never forget being at a Pats game early in the year when I heard Derkatch berate Teubert in front of the Regina Pat faithful at the top of his lungs. That is no way to treat a 19 year old kid, let alone one of the most important players on your team. Tells you everything you need to know about the coach, the organization, and the mentality of the team.
The Pats will forever be a 3rd rate team, scratching and clawing to find a playoff spot, as long as the team is run by Parker. So Brent, tell Daddy to sell the team and not to move it to Penticton. Regina does not respect you---you are just a spoiled rich kid playing GM. Because from my perspective, you couldn't have ruined this team anymore if you had tried.
Wow. I see you are not in the BP fan club. It'd be hard for me to sit here and dispute your thoughts. Most of them make a lot of sense. BUT the fact remains that none of us are privy to all the info. What if I was to say that Habscheid wanted an ownership position or a salary well into the 6 figures. maybe that would have raised ticket prices? Are you as a fan willing to pay more to watch the team if the franchise spends more on a coach?
ReplyDeleteAs for DD. Sure, he was under qualified. but maybe, just maybe that's you gain experience. Somebody gave Scotty Bowman his first coaching gig. That seemed to work out. And while you say that him berating Teubert isn't the way to go. well, did you see what was said in the dressing room prior to the start of the game? me neither. hard to comment when you hear one side of the story.
But all and al, I'm not here to defend the Blue and White. They sucked this year and there is no acceptable excuse right from Russ P right down thru Sal the stickboy, they need to be better. And your comments just prove that there are good fans who are here and remain passionate about a bunch of kids playing a game. Thanks