By Colin Budd
It’s not all bad news for the Lloydminster Tanroc Bobcats in the Alberta Midget Hockey League final.
Sure, digging themselves into a 2-0 series deficit to Red Deer isn’t going to be easy to overcome, but the club hasn’t played anywhere near the level they want to be at yet either. They get one more chance to find their ‘A’ game or the best season in franchise history could come to an end Wednesday.
“What it boils down to is we need everyone to be going,” said assistant coach Dean Moisan. “And we haven’t had that yet in this series. Through the first two rounds everybody sacrificed, everybody put their bodies out there and now, we’re not sure what it is, the guys that are struggling right now have been our key guys all year, it’s tough to put our finger on it.”
That’s something that was addressed after Sunday afternoon’s 5-2 loss in Red Deer and no doubt will be brought up again before the puck drops Wednesday night.
“We can definitely play with them,” said Moisan. “We’ve had extended time with the puck in their end, we’re just not able to capitalize, we’re not getting to the net enough. They get one or two chances and they bury them.”
It’s not that the Bobcats expected an easy time. Red Deer brings a balanced and potent attack, one that had the Bobcats down 3-0 12 minutes into Friday night’s opener, possibly before the nerves of playing in front of roughly 1,000 people had time to settle.
“It’s just wave after wave,” said Moisan. “We don’t even pay attention to who is out there anymore because they all do the same job, which is obviously a compliment to their coaching staff.”
Still, the Bobcats aren’t going to roll over and die for them either.
“We still think that we have all the ability and talent to finish this series out. Hopefully Wednesday is the start,” said Moisan.
Puck drop for Game 3 at the Civic Centre is set for 7:30 p.m.