Vancouver Stealth
Six weeks ago, things got bad. Then they got worse. Now, I’m wondering if there are any shining beacons of hope left for the BC boys. They canned Dan Perreault for Jamie Batley after the Toronto loss, but the product they brought to the floor the last two weeks under Batley doesn’t look much improved from what they had. In fact, giving up 41 goals in just 2 games is straight up pathetic. Sorry Stealth defense, I love you guys, but you know this isn’t good and we just can’t hide it.
Losing 6 of their last 7 games, the Stealth are on an out of control skid. This weekend they’ll face the Rock, the other team at the bottom of the league. The Rock have been rolling with a bit of momentum, but this is a game the Stealth must win. If they can’t take down the team matching them in last place, they will have no hope to carry on when taking on Calgary two weeks in a row, Saskatchewan one more time and Colorado. The Roughnecks essentially just need those two wins to capture their playoff berth, still two games up from the Stealth in last place.
Rhys Duch, Logan Schuss and Corey Small have all been hot when shooting the ball, but too often does this team slip into holding the ball and each guy trying to carry the entire team on his back. Small is the only runner to find the net in each and every game in 2016 while Duch is leading the team with 33 goals and 37 assists, both playing in all 12 games. Schuss has missed out on a couple of battles, but is still putting in work to bring his totals up to 18 goals and 39 assists, 18 of those points coming from the powerplay. Sorry to say it, but the trade for Garrett Billings, sending out Digby, was a drastic mistake. Billings has played in 9 games, in which he only collected 12 goals while posting a team-low .115 shooting percentage. Billings has been out worked every game and didn’t even start at full health. He has now missed three games and they still let him rattle of 10+ shots a night.
Since the un-retirement of Tyler Richards, some of the goaltending woes have been solved. Despite his 1-4 record, Richards is stopping 77% of the shot on goal he’s seen in the 6 games they’ve let him on the floor. He’s only held out for 3 full-games as the coaching staff has been quick to play Eric Penney. Penney was supposed to be the main-man this season after Richards’ departure at the end of 2015. The problem was the 22 year old was running way too hot and cold for a defense that has yet to get it together. Here’s a fun stat, the defense has combined for 29 shots and rookie Ryan Wagner scored their 1 goal. Lucky for them, only one team sits out from the playoffs in the Western Conferece so they still have a chance. Unfortunately with the way things are going now, they’ll miss out for the second year in a row,
