| Subject: Silos Can't Find The Right Formula |
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Saskatoon Sun
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Date Posted: 15:10:54 04/06/03 Sun
A day after watching his team take a severe 9-3 thrashing at the hands of the London Lasers, coach Bob Hartley still was shaking his head over his team's poor home showing.
"We did very little right last night", grimaced the beleaguered coach. "We just can't seem to get any momentum this season, or, at least we haven't been able to build off of recent successes. This team has too much talent to be struggling the way they have, but they are, and injuries are starting to take their toll."
The most recent injury is to top defenseman Janne Niinimaa, who will miss a few games due to a bruised heel. Also injured last night was Jarkko Ruutu, who has been a useful energy player for the Silos. In addition to those two, the list of walking wounded includes center Claude Lapointe and recent acquisition Curtis Joseph, who will both be in the lineup against Toronto this evening.
Joseph's Saskatoon debut as a starter was one to forget, as he was pulled early in the second period after giving up five goals. His replacement, backup Jocelyn Thibault, fared no better, however.
"I can't blame everything on the goaltenders", said Hartley, "since the players in front of them were basically sleepwalking through most of the game. But goaltending and special teams have been a problem for us all season, which is puzzling considering our personnel."
The result of this recent rough stretch, of course, is that the Silos are slowly slipping out of playoff contention. Western Conference teams like Whitehorse, B.C. and Yellowknife have all gone on recent winning streaks, which has left Saskatoon 7 points out of the final playoff position.
Some fans have been grumbling on the local sports talk shows regarding the seemingly endless string of trades by the Silos, but the man dubbed by some as "Trader McK", Saskatoon GM Ken McKenna, has no regrets over his many deals.
"I'm certainly disappointed with the way this season has gone so far, but my goal was to try to make this a better team", stated the GM. "We would not have been successful had we simply stood pat, so I had to choose between completely tearing things apart, or truly making a run at the Cup. I chose to make a run at it, and the season isn't over yet."
But it could be over, for all intents and purposes, if the Silos continue to falter during a very tough stretch of games coming up. The club should have a pretty good idea of where they stand within the next couple of weeks, which could ultimately mean a rebuilding effort.
"Actually, we already have a good head start on that", smiled the GM. Indeed, the Silos do have some impressive prospects in Barrett Jackman, Anton Volchenkov, Tuomo Ruutu and Mike Cammalleri, to name four. Other younger players already in Prince Albert include Milan Kraft, Arron Asham, Niclas Wallin and Nathan Dempsey, so there is certainly a base to work with for the future.
But the near future for the team is starting to look bleak, with coach and GM having yet to find the right combination of players.
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