Weekender
Commiserating with Kurt Silcott about another rough travel weekend for the Roughnecks with Portland Friday night and Coldorado at home Sunday…he was quick to point out that the last time the Riggers had a doubleheader weekend…they posted their only two wins of the year. Hmmmm, could be time to put in a word with the schedule maker….
A season that seems like it started about two minutes ago will hit the halfway mark on sunday as Calgary hosts arch-rival Coldorado, and it’s not a stretch to say that if worst comes to worst, the season could essenstially be over by Sunday night.
The key to the whole thing is the Portland game Friday night. Beat the ‘Jax in their own barn, give yourself a little separation from the 4th place team along with clinching the season series (Game three goes March 8th at the ‘Dome) and you’re in good shape for third place for the rest of the season, keeping close to a San Jose team you’ll see again in March for the rubber match in that set. Lose and the season series with Portland hangs in the balance, San Jose gets a little breathing room, and you’re only two wins ahead of the winless Rush who just hired former coach of the year Bob Hamly to right their leaky ship.
So, how to go about this? First, look to veteran Pat Campbell who’ll step in and start ahead of Ryan Avery Friday. Avery has been shaky in his two starts since Steve Dietrich went down with a concussion, shaky to the point where he’s finished both games on the bench. Confidence in goal will go a long way towards allowing the defense to play with a little more confidence as they continue to adapt to a number of new bodies and a new system. The Roughnecks cannot afford to fall behind early for a third straight game where they’re forced to try and play their way out of a deep hole.
Take the disaster against Buffalo out of the equation and look at the Rochester game and you see an offense with upside. GM Kurt Silcott says the team showed some poise in getting back into the battle with the Knighthawks last weekend, but throw in a major penalty and the comeback dies on the operating table. There’s just no margin now for leaving the team’s fortunes up to a heroic comeback.
Ryan Avery remains the team’s goaltender of the future. The difference between the ‘Aves’ of the player of the week performance against Portland and the ‘Aves’ of the last two weeks probably boils down to confidence. Silcott thinks the pressure was off in game one because of the prescence of Steve Dietrich on the bench. Take the veteran out of the mix, and the pressure ratchets up exponentially on a guy who’s still a 25 year old with a handful of starts in a league in which the elite goaltenders are all guys in their middle to late 30’s.
Get through Friday, and you only have to contend with powerhouse Coldorado. The Mammoth finally fell out of the unbeaten ranks last weekend, but they’re still the class of the West, with a win over Calgary already in the books. One thing the Roughnecks can take from week one is how well they played in the first half before giving that one away with a parade to the bin in the second half.
There’s also the big X factor of the possible return of Tracey Kelusky. The captain will not go to Portland, but is confident he’ll be able to give it a shot Sunday. As of Thursday, he was feeling good, hadn’t had any headaches for a few days, and even handled the bright sunlight when I dragged him out of the din of Spolumbo’s for an interview. He did go to the sunglasses, but hey, I had the sun behind me and concussion or not, that’s gonna be a little bright. Having Kelusky back on the bench re-introduces the kind of leadership you can’t replace.
All in all, there’s reason to be optimistic about this weekend, A sweep would be great, but at this moment, not essential. Portland’s beatable, and if Kelusky’s back against the Mammoth who knows? The question is, will I have the stamina Sunday for a full day of wandering around World of Wheels followed by a 3 PM matchup at the ‘Dome…better start preparing now.