Road Trip Comes to an End in Cranbrook

Regina Pats at Kootenay Ice (7 p.m.) – Western Financial Place
620 CKRM (6:35 p.m.), WHL Live Web TV

Cranbrook, B.C. – The Regina Pats (5-5-0-0) close out their Central Division road swing against the Kootenay Ice (2-9-0-0) at Western Financial Place (7 p.m.) in Cranbrook, B.C.  It’s the first meeting of the season between the teams.  2014-15 saw the Pats post a 1-1-1-1 record against the Ice.  Taylor Cooper led the Blue and White with seven points (3G, 4A) in five games against Kootenay split between Lethbridge and Regina.  Four (1G, 3A) of Coopers points came in two games with the Pats.  Daniel Wapple played all four games against the Ice, posting a 3.17 GAA and 0.901 SV%.  Today’s game can be heard on 620 CKRM with Bennett Dunlop Ford Pats Hockey beginning at 6:35 p.m.   

Despite Kootenay’s tough start to the season, Pats forward Luc Smith knows the Pats can’t take the Ice lightly if they want a win in Cranbrook.

“Everybody in this league is in this league for a reason.  I feel like they started off slower than others, but we still need to take them seriously because at the end of the day we want to come out of this road trip above .500.  I feel like that’d be good for a young team like us.”

When playing five-on-five, the Pats see more success than operating on the special teams.  When even strength, the Pats have 20 goals for versus 17 goals against.  When it comes to special teams, the Pats have 10 goals for versus 20 goals against.  In 2014-15, the Pats were a +29 goal differential when playing at even strength.

“I think when you run into penalty trouble, any time you have a chance to create offence, you have those same guys killing penalties and they’re going to be fatigued,” said Assistant Coach and Assistant GM Dave Struch following the Pats’ loss in Calgary on Sunday.  “It goes hand in hand and we’ve seen it a couple times this year.  It’s something that needs to be corrected.”

“(Discipline) is something John (Paddock) and Dave have really been talking to us about. Making sure guys stay out of the penalty box,” added Smith.  “We don’t want to be taking penalties where we’re not thinking, lazy penalties.  We want to make sure we’re playing hard between the whistles and not taking extra stuff after.”

In the last eight meetings at Western Financial Place in Cranbrook, the Pats and Ice combined to score 35 goals.  That’s an average of just 4.37.  The Pats account for 13 of those goals, an average of 1.625 per game.  That difficulty scoring has the Ice on a five game win streak on home ice against Regina.

The 2015-16 Pats are well acquainted with the injury bug, missing over-agers Taylor Cooper and Colby Williams to start the season.  Now they find themselves without a pair of 18-year olds with James Hilsendager and Rykr Cole both out of the lineup due to injuries.  The Pats have already lost 23 man games to injury/illness this season.

Tune in to Bennett Dunlop Ford Pats Hockey starting at 6:35 tonight on 620 CKRM or watch online with WHL Live Web TV.