The St. Paul Canadiens Junior B hockey team was handed its last loss of 2010 last Friday against the sixth-placed Killam Wheat Kings in an away game.
It was the team’s second worse performance and 18th straight loss of 21 games played since the start of the season in October, with a final score of 18 – 0. The Wheat Kings scored six in the first period, seven in the second, and to add more salt to the wound, five in the last.
“Not good,” said Aaron Block, the head coach of the Canadiens, in regards to his team’s performance. “We had three guys who were no shows, and we had one guy who was sent back to midgets, and another blew his shoulder out.”
The team also has a player who rolled his ankle out, and that impacted the team’s last game performance. “It’s been a crazy year in terms of injuries for us,” lamented Block.
Throughout the night, the Wheat Kings peppered the Canadiens’ goal with pucks, taking an impressive 91 shots on goal, and only allowing the beleaguered Canadiens six shots on goal for the entire game.
The Canadiens are currently struggling at ninth and last place in the North Eastern Alberta Junior B Hockey League, behind the Thorhild Titans, which used to occupy that spot until last week. The Canadiens have posted only five points after 21 games played for the season.
“That’s the problem with having a young team,” explained Block, adding, “We get intimidated physically, and we shy away from the puck once the bodies start being pushed around.”
Most of the players on the team were born after 1992, which means they are 17 and 18 years old, said Block, adding that “the best players in the league are 21-year-olds, and that makes a huge difference.”
When asked about the Canadiens’ chances at making the playoffs this year, Block answered, “I’m not sure … it depends on how we do against the teams at the bottom of the league.”
There will be eight teams making the playoffs from the league’s nine teams, and currently the Canadiens are tied with the Thorhild Titans in points. “So it’s not impossible for us to make the playoffs,” said Block.
Block went on to explain, “Our focus has to be on a development model, as opposed to a win or lose model for now … we’re not going to make .500 for the season.”
The season hasn’t been completely bleak, Block noted, saying, “I think the strength of our team for the year has been our goaltending … our goalies have kept us in the games with our offence struggling.”
