Wednesday, February 2, 2011 /
By Evan Daum /
After coming out of the gate fast to start the 2010/11 season, the now No. 3-ranked Alberta Golden Bears have seen adversity on a weekly basis since mid-November, but have still managed to hold down top spot in the conference.
For head coach Eric Thurston, a disappointing 4-2-2 stretch dating back to a fall series against Saskatchewan, has seen his team stray from a winning recipe.
“I think it’s a willingness to buy into the system, players trying to do it on their own, and not playing together as a team. I think that’s been our biggest thing, where I’m seeing things getting a little tight,” Thurston explained.
While the Bears continue to get production from conference leading scorers Chad Klassen and Derek Ryan, just how long the dynamic duo can carry the load remains to be seen.
“In a sense, they know they have to score, because we don’t have any secondary scoring,” Thurston pointed out.
With that lack of a secondary scoring punch, the Bears have tried to make sure their bottom six forwards are shutdown units, but at times, the bottom two lines have struggled to find their role – especially in the past eight games.
“When our first and second lines look to attack, they also don’t get it in deep off the rush and then there’s a snowball effect. When the third and fourth lines see the top lines aren’t doing it, they say ‘why do we have to do it.’ We have to tell them, ‘this is your role, and this is what we’ve explained to you,’” Thurston explained.
On the plus side for the Bears, however, remains the play of rookie Jesse Craige, who continues to show he’s a top defenceman in the league, playing at a consistently high level despite the Green and Gold’s current struggles.
“I think the only bright spot that I’ve seen really has been the play of Jesse Craige,” Thurston said of the former Chilliwack Bruin who leads Canada West defenceman in scoring through 18 games.
As the 2010/11 Canada West regular season heads into the home stretch, Alberta is looking for answers and hoping to find some much needed progress after seeing their fortunes stall as the rest of the league improves.
“To be honest with you, I think teams have gotten better, or stayed [at a high level] and I haven’t done a good enough job for us to stay at that level,” Thurston said, taking responsibility for his team’s recent troubles.
“We got off to a good start and we’re able to take advantage of some teams, but I think our improvement rate has plateaued a little bit, and other teams are improving. We’ve got to find the next level.” |
Golden Bears Get Back On Track
