The St. Paul Canadiens Junior B hockey team lost its home game against the sixth-placed Killam Wheat Kings last Saturday evening by a heart-wrenching 12 – 0 score.
The game was the second loss of the season to the Wheat Kings for the beleaguered Canadiens, which has been on a 15-game losing streak since its Oct. 8 victory over the Thorhild Titans, which is the bottom ranked team in the North Eastern Alberta Junior B Hockey League.
The Canadiens didn’t fare better against the Vegreville Rangers on Sunday afternoon at home, letting in 13 goals while scoring none.
The Rangers heavily outshot the home team by 56 – 13 shots on goal, and were two for two in power play goals against the Canadiens team, which has yet to win against the Rangers in all three of their meetings since the start of the season.
Canadiens head coach Aaron Block wasn’t happy with his team’s performance on Saturday evening. “It wasn’t good,” commented Block. “We had a great game against Vermilion, and we only carried the momentum from that game to the first period of this game, and all of a sudden, the wheels fell off.”
In the game against Vermilion on Nov. 27, the Canadiens managed to put one in behind the net, courtesy of Tyler Gamble in a first period penalty shot. However, the team lost the game to the Tigers after letting in four goals.
Block went on to explain that the Canadiens’ problems started with the team’s lackluster power play. “We didn’t perform our power play,” said Block, adding, “And lost a lot of momentum … and that killed us.”
The team, currently in eighth place with four points after 17 games played for the season, has added three new players to its lineup. “We’ve got the guys who show up consistently,” said Block. “That’s what we want to do as a team.”
Even with the three new players, the team continues to have problems due to the new players’ lack of practices and in-game experience, which Block hopes will change as the season moves along. “It’ll be different once we get more practices in.”
In terms of what the Canadiens need to change to power up their performance for the remaining season, Block answered, “Everything,” adding, “We had probably six or seven good practices but they don’t translate into good games.
“Mentally we’re not tough enough … we have to decide if we’re going to compete as a team,” said Block. “It’s having the belief that we can win, and do what we need as a team instead of crashing as individuals.”
The Canadiens will next face-off against the Thorhild Titans at home on Friday evening, and will then meet the Wainwright Bisons on Sunday in an away game.
