Post by Score on Nov 7, 2007 1:42:56 GMT -4
P.E.I. Rocket flaring out when ahead
Keeping leads, ties has become a problem
CHARLES REID
The Guardian
That the P.E.I. Rocket have issues with leads and ties is an understatement.
This season, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League club has lost leads or ties eight times in 20 games. It’s 3-5 in those contests and it means a loss of 10 points in the standings.
Right now, P.E.I, is 17th overall with a 7-12-1 record and 15 points. Ten more and the Rocket would be tied for sixth with Lewiston.
Rocket defenceman-forward Bryan Main sees the problem as a here-we-go-again scenario.
“Once we get a goal scored on us, we kind of let ourselves get down, whereas we (should) just move on and think about just keeping the puck out of our net instead of trying to go and match it,” said Main, 19, after Tuesday’s practice at the Civic Centre.
P.E.I.’s next game is Friday versus Val-d’Or. Game time is 7 p.m. at the Civic Centre.
Main landed on P.E.I. after an off-season trade with Gatineau, which received a sixth round draft pick in 2007 in return. He was an Olympiques invitee in 2005 and tallied 19 points (five goals, 14 assists), 247 penalty minutes and a minus 14 plus-minus ratio in 129 games.
So far, Main has two points and is minus six in 19 games with the Rocket.
Although originally pencilled in at forward, P.E.I. enlisted the Greenfield Park, Que., native for the blue-line after 20-year-old defenceman Jason Swit was benched and eventually sent home to Ontario.
Guy Chouinard, the winningest coach in Q history (515), is 0-5 since he took over as head coach from Yanick Jean almost three weeks ago.
Still, the team remains loose and relaxed at practice with joking and smiles from most of the players during drills, Main included.
But he’s serious when asked how can the Rocket improve defensively.
“There’s no way that two defencemen can do the whole job by themselves. They need everybody backchecking, especially the guys covering the point and the guy down low. One man down low with the d to help us out on the coverage.”
Antoine Lafleur, beleaguered Rocket goalie, agrees with Main.
“Sometimes we get one goal scored (against us) and we get scared it’s going to happen again. We just need to get a win and it’s going to get back on track, especially with our young defensive corps,” said Lafleur.
Last year, the 19-year-old Lafleur finished 27-19 with a league fifth-best 2.97 goals-against average.
This season, he’s 3-11, saddled with a 4.77 GAA and struggling with a .847 save percentage.
Lafleur, a second round pick of the New York Rangers this year, has also been pulled four times in favour of backup Marc-Antoine Gélinas.
Main has seen similar in his time with the Olympiques, a team with 1,199 regular season wins and six President’s Cups in its 35-year history.
“Even in Gatineau we struggled. There’s no team that has their point in time where (they) don’t struggle. You can’t win every game, but I find we just need to come together as a team and focus on doing the small things right.”
Blown leads and ties by the Rocket this season:
Sept. 22: In St. John’s, P.E.I. led 3-2 at the end of the second period, but gave up four goals in the third period in the Fog Devils 6-3 win.
Oct. 5: P.E.I. lost 4-2 and 5-3 leads to Quebec, but won 7-6 in a shootout.
Oct. 6: P.E.I. lost a 3-2 first period lead to Halifax as the Mooseheads scored four goals in next two periods for a 6-3 victory.
Oct. 13: P.E.I. lost a 3-1 lead in Shawinigan, but won 4-3.
Oct. 17: With a 3-2 lead against St. John’s at the Civic Centre, the Rocket surrendered the tying goal with 29 seconds left in the third period. P.E.I. won 4-3 in a shootout.
Oct. 24: P.E.I. lost a 4-2 lead to Cape Breton as the Eagles scored four times in the third period en route to a 6-4 win.
Oct. 27: Again facing Halifax, the Rocket couldn’t hold a 4-2 lead as the Mooseheads scored four goals in the third period. P.E.I lost 6-5.
Nov. 2: Tied 2-2 with the Maineiacs in Lewiston, the Rocket gave up three goals in six minutes in the second period. P.E.I. lost 6-3.
Keeping leads, ties has become a problem
CHARLES REID
The Guardian
That the P.E.I. Rocket have issues with leads and ties is an understatement.
This season, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League club has lost leads or ties eight times in 20 games. It’s 3-5 in those contests and it means a loss of 10 points in the standings.
Right now, P.E.I, is 17th overall with a 7-12-1 record and 15 points. Ten more and the Rocket would be tied for sixth with Lewiston.
Rocket defenceman-forward Bryan Main sees the problem as a here-we-go-again scenario.
“Once we get a goal scored on us, we kind of let ourselves get down, whereas we (should) just move on and think about just keeping the puck out of our net instead of trying to go and match it,” said Main, 19, after Tuesday’s practice at the Civic Centre.
P.E.I.’s next game is Friday versus Val-d’Or. Game time is 7 p.m. at the Civic Centre.
Main landed on P.E.I. after an off-season trade with Gatineau, which received a sixth round draft pick in 2007 in return. He was an Olympiques invitee in 2005 and tallied 19 points (five goals, 14 assists), 247 penalty minutes and a minus 14 plus-minus ratio in 129 games.
So far, Main has two points and is minus six in 19 games with the Rocket.
Although originally pencilled in at forward, P.E.I. enlisted the Greenfield Park, Que., native for the blue-line after 20-year-old defenceman Jason Swit was benched and eventually sent home to Ontario.
Guy Chouinard, the winningest coach in Q history (515), is 0-5 since he took over as head coach from Yanick Jean almost three weeks ago.
Still, the team remains loose and relaxed at practice with joking and smiles from most of the players during drills, Main included.
But he’s serious when asked how can the Rocket improve defensively.
“There’s no way that two defencemen can do the whole job by themselves. They need everybody backchecking, especially the guys covering the point and the guy down low. One man down low with the d to help us out on the coverage.”
Antoine Lafleur, beleaguered Rocket goalie, agrees with Main.
“Sometimes we get one goal scored (against us) and we get scared it’s going to happen again. We just need to get a win and it’s going to get back on track, especially with our young defensive corps,” said Lafleur.
Last year, the 19-year-old Lafleur finished 27-19 with a league fifth-best 2.97 goals-against average.
This season, he’s 3-11, saddled with a 4.77 GAA and struggling with a .847 save percentage.
Lafleur, a second round pick of the New York Rangers this year, has also been pulled four times in favour of backup Marc-Antoine Gélinas.
Main has seen similar in his time with the Olympiques, a team with 1,199 regular season wins and six President’s Cups in its 35-year history.
“Even in Gatineau we struggled. There’s no team that has their point in time where (they) don’t struggle. You can’t win every game, but I find we just need to come together as a team and focus on doing the small things right.”
Blown leads and ties by the Rocket this season:
Sept. 22: In St. John’s, P.E.I. led 3-2 at the end of the second period, but gave up four goals in the third period in the Fog Devils 6-3 win.
Oct. 5: P.E.I. lost 4-2 and 5-3 leads to Quebec, but won 7-6 in a shootout.
Oct. 6: P.E.I. lost a 3-2 first period lead to Halifax as the Mooseheads scored four goals in next two periods for a 6-3 victory.
Oct. 13: P.E.I. lost a 3-1 lead in Shawinigan, but won 4-3.
Oct. 17: With a 3-2 lead against St. John’s at the Civic Centre, the Rocket surrendered the tying goal with 29 seconds left in the third period. P.E.I. won 4-3 in a shootout.
Oct. 24: P.E.I. lost a 4-2 lead to Cape Breton as the Eagles scored four times in the third period en route to a 6-4 win.
Oct. 27: Again facing Halifax, the Rocket couldn’t hold a 4-2 lead as the Mooseheads scored four goals in the third period. P.E.I lost 6-5.
Nov. 2: Tied 2-2 with the Maineiacs in Lewiston, the Rocket gave up three goals in six minutes in the second period. P.E.I. lost 6-3.
