2017 Not Friendly For Eagles

Not exactly the start to the second half of the season the Eagles wanted or were hoping for, but as my late Mother used to say “try, try – try again and things will work.”

The first part of the month, it goes without saying that players (some and maybe not all) were quite possibly concerned about the upcoming trade-deadline of January 10th and that’s a fair statement.

Others, maybe most were simply frustrated at how the season is going and possibly “gripping their sticks too tight” and lady luck simply wasn’t on their side.

The first game of the month saw them play an exciting and entertaining game against Wenatchee and had chance after chance, but came out on the short end dropping the game by a 6-3 margin.

The following night they traveled to Coquitlam and again came out on the short end as the Express were simply too much pulling off a 5-2 score.

A few days rest and more practice time working on special teams were what they were hoping for to turn things around only to be followed by a visit by Victoria, again coming out on the losing end by a score of 7-1.

It’s not just the little things that were or are going wrong, it’s the surmountable injuries that continue to take it’s toll on a team that are focused on a play-off run at the end of February.

Coaches were working on special teams, juggling the line combinations and trying to work magic to find the end result, but again, it was one thing after another that went against them.

The next opponent would be the Express and they were looking at avenging the previous loss in Coquitlam and with a strong fan base on home ice, things might work in their favor, or so they thought.

The “boy’s” got the jump and quick start they were looking for managing a 2-0 lead after the first taking a 2-0 lead to the dressing room after one with the shots tied at nine.

The second saw Coquitlam on a break only to be “hauled down” giving the Express the ever dreaded penalty shot, taken by Guinta and getting one past A/P call-up Lucas Shaw.

While he’s not a regular on the roster it’s fair to remember that his goaltending coach is Paul Fricker who is the goalie coach for the Vancouver Giants.

Lucas is one of the starters for the Greater Vancouver Canadians of the BC Major Midget Hockey League and play’s out of the Richmond Oval, normally on weekends.

He’s no stranger to adversity between the pipes and when called upon, he plays stellar, but this sort of shock him off his game plan.

Davidson was the back-up and on the bench, but his start time wasn’t all that certain so making a change wasn’t in the cards, so Lucas stayed in to finish the game.

The Eagles managed 18 shots in the second allowing the Express only 10, out shooting Coquitlam by a 27-19 margin.

The teams returned to the ice for yet another entertaining third, only to have the Express jump out to a quick goal at 8:09 tying the game at two.

Surrey’s Jeffrey Stewart responded in just over a minute taking a 3-2 lead, but never say never Express saw Babych notch one in from former Grandview Steelers Luca Leone, which would force the game to O/T.

The Eagles did manage to out shoot the Express in the third by a slim margin of 14-13 and hammer them in total shots by a whooping 42-33 through three.

Headed to O/T is anyone’s game and the Eagles were hopeful, but try as they might the Express capitalized on a lucky breakout play 35 seconds in sending Kennedy in for his first of the season giving the Express a 4-3 O/T victory.

With the rosters set for the remainder of the season the Eagles hit the road for a pair of games, with the first stop against West Kelowna of all days Friday the 13th, only to be followed by a road trip farther east to Trail the following night.

Road trips can be hard and unforgiving and this was no different.