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Coach says attitude has cut down Blades: Lack of effort has hurt, Molleken says

Kevin Mitchell, The Star Phoenix November 30, 2011

It wasn't the crash that bothered Lorne Molleken; it was the way the crash happened.

Molleken, the Saskatoon Blades' head coach, said two home-ice losses this weekend can be pinned squarely on his team's demeanour during those games.

"We knew going into this year that we weren't going to win every hockey game, but there's no excuse for lack of effort," Molleken said prior to Tuesday's practice.

Saskatoon led the overall WHL standings heading into Friday, but 6-2 and 4-1 losses to Calgary and Vancouver, respectively, dropped them from that lofty perch. Those setbacks were the team's first home losses of the season.

The Blades, now 18-8-0-1, take on the 18-5-1-2 Kootenay Ice tonight at 7 p.m. at Credit Union Centre.

"When we're at our best, we're challenging people, we're taking pucks to the net, we're creating opportunities," Molleken said. "We got away from that. Going into this weekend, we were at the top of the standings in the overall league, and teams are going to be ready to play against us. If we're not willing and able to push back and counter what's thrown at us. you know what the end results are going to be."

Kootenay rides a five-game win streak heading into tonight, and the back-story adds to the intrigue – the Ice crushed Saskatoon's Memorial Cup hopes last spring by sweeping the heavily-favoured Blades four straight games in the second round of playoffs.

The Blades earned a small – very small – measure of revenge with a 2-1 victory Nov. 13 in Kootenay.

Molleken insists that "what happened last year was last year," but his players still have vivid memories of their unexpected collapse.

"Everyone remembers what happened," said Blades' forward Josh Nicholls. "Individually, you realize you want to beat these guys. As a group, you play for the crest on your chest. Anytime a team takes you down, you want to show you're the better team and can come back and beat them. That's what we're going to try and do.

"You definitely want to beat them, but it's never going to go away until you play them again in the playoffs. You want to beat them and show them you're the better team."

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."