The good news coming out of the Wolfpack's last game on Saturday (Sept. 25) was that, for the first time in the 2010-11 season, "Wolfie," the team's mascot emerged from a long hibernation to rile up the fans in attendance at Brennan Park Arena.
The bad news - another slow start and a third straight loss on home ice that leaves the Wolfpack stuck at one win and five losses and already seven points out of a playoff spot in the Tom Shaw Division after falling 5-3 to the Mission Icebreakers.
"We really came out flat," said acting head coach Phil Kinninmont. "The biggest thing was how badly we lost the special teams battle today."
Indeed, four of the five goals scored by Mission were either with the man advantage or one man down. The Wolfpack had 11 power play opportunities, only managing to convert once, a fact that troubled Kinninmont.
"Our power play was really disorganized," he said. "It's on us as a coaching staff. Our hockey IQ just wasn't good enough tonight."
The Wolfpack came out strong early in the first, drawing an early penalty, but on the ensuing power play the Icebreakers exploited forward-turned-power play point man Trevor Kang and opened the scoring.
They added another six minutes later and ended the first period up 2-0.
麻豆社国产scored early into the second as Marcus Chabot scored his team-leading fifth of the year to get the home team on the board. However, Mission scored two straight power play goals to build a three-goal lead. The Wolfpack got back within two after Kang scored on the power play on a nice feed from Brady Bjornson.
The Wolfpack outshot Mission 22-6 in the second frame but still found themselves down 4-2 heading into the third.
A terrible defensive breakdown mid-way into the third saw Mission convert on a two on zero opportunity, essentially putting a stop to any comeback hopes 麻豆社国产had.
Kang added a second goal late in the third to make it a 5-3 final.
The team was without head coach Matt Samson for the game following an incident in Richmond on Thursday (Sept. 23). According to Kinnimont, Samson threw his clipboard in frustration after the team gave up a goal and it accidentally landed on the ice. Samson was assessed a game misconduct and was banned from the bench for the game against Mission.
"We definitely missed him," Kinninmont said. "It's great to have him on the bench, he's an excellent communicator and I think we really could have used him tonight."
Samson will be back on the bench for the team's next game against the Aldergrove Kodiaks on Saturday (Oct. 2) but they will not have leading goal scorer Marcus Chabot in the lineup. Chabot took a fighting major in the last 10 minutes against Mission, which resulted in an automatic suspension for the next game.
"Our games this year at home just haven't been good enough," said Kinninmont. "If we want more fans to come out, we need to start winning games. This team needs to come together faster."
Ben's beast of the game: Konrad Sander, who notched three assists and showed a lot of discipline by not retaliating after Mission's Tyler O'Connell took a roughing penalty on him in the second period.
It doesn't get any easier for the team as next up for the Wolfpack will be the defending Pacific International Junior Hockey League champion Aldergrove Kodiaks, who come to town on Saturday (Oct. 2). Face-off is set for 7:15 p.m.
For more information on the team, visit www.squamishwolfpack.com
