After a 5-0 loss to the Victoria Cougars on Sunday afternoon, the Save-On-Foods Oceanside Generals losing streak has now hit 10 games.
The short-handed Generals had 17 players in their lineup for both games this weekend, losing a close game 3-2 against the Saanich Braves on Saturday night before the loss to the Cougars on Sunday.
“I thought we played very hard and I’m happy with that,” head coach Brad Knight said. “To have a short bench like that, I thought our guys handled themselves very well.”
“We’re still trying to fit some pieces into place with our roster here so that’s why we were down a few players this weekend,” Knight said. “I’m upset that we lost, but this team is going through a total rebuild and the players we’ve got on this team are working hard, regardless whether we win or lose and that’s what we want from them.”
It was three losses in three games this week for the Generals, who also took on the Nanaimo Buccaneers on Thursday evening, dropping a 6-1 decision.
According to team captain Chandler Bruyckere, the team is going through its share of growing pains, but is trending in the right direction. It’s only a matter of time before it all turns around.
“Everyone is working hard as a unit,” Bruyckere said. “That’s the most important thing here right now, is that we continue to work together as a team. We’ve been seeing teammates being moved out, either being cut or traded, because they weren’t willing to put in the hard work in practice and in games.”
“We’ve got to just keep our attitudes right and keep working hard for each other and eventually things are going to turn around for us,” Bruyckere said.
Sunday afternoon was a tale of two different teams, as the Generals put four players aged 19 or 20 on the ice compared to the Victoria Cougars, who iced a lineup with 16 players aged 19 or 20.
“It seems to be a trend in this league,” Knight said. “Other teams are loading up on senior players and we’re trying to build our roster with youth. With the rule change in the off-season to allow more 20 year-olds on a roster, teams like the Cougars and Storm took advantage of that and that’s fine.”
“We’re in a rebuild here. We’re trying to turn things around from the ground up and I like the direction we’re heading in, we’re doing it the right way,” he said.
The Generals are back in action this week with the lone game coming this Saturday night against the Campbell River Storm, who will be looking to bounce back after an ugly 13-0 loss at the hands of the Cougars last Friday night.
The Generals will look to put an end to their 10-game losing streak and will need to put the puck in the net to have a chance.
“We need to score, plain and simple,” Bruyckere said. “We’ve been close, hit some posts and had some unlucky bounces.”
“Eventually the bounces start going your way, we just need to keep working to put ourselves in those spots for those chances.”
