The Victoria Shamrocks failed for the first time this season on Sunday, losing 13-10 in Maple Ridge, and will be looking for a bounce-back game in Nanaimo today at 7 p.m. against the Timbermen.
鈥淪unday was a good learning experience for us,鈥� Shamrocks head coach Bob Heyes said of the team鈥檚 first defeat. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to walk through the league this season, we learned that on Friday [a tight 8-7 win over Langley] and then Sunday.
鈥淢aple Ridge is a good team and it鈥檚 a team that鈥檚 tough to play against, with a couple of very good players and it was in their rink as well.鈥�
And the Shamrocks didn鈥檛 handle it well, allowing star scorer Curtis Dickson four goals and a pair of assists to add to his league-leading totals.
鈥淸Assistant coach] Jordan Sundher and I were talking and we said, 鈥業 guess we figured out what it was like having Gary Gait on our team,鈥� because that鈥檚 what it was like,鈥� Heyes said, comparing Dickson鈥檚 performance to that of the former Shamrocks鈥� star.
鈥淗e [Dickson] was brushing off guys left and right and scoring. It was like whatever the Arizona Cardinals coach said that time, 鈥楬e was exactly who we thought he was,鈥� 鈥� added Heyes, referring to Dennis Green鈥檚 now infamous rant after a loss to the Chicago Bears, in which he stressed his team let the opponent off the hook.
鈥淲e probably didn鈥檛 play the best we could against Dickson and for the next game, there are going to be players [in Nanaimo] who want to be at their best against us,鈥� he said of Victoria products Jake Emms and Cody Bremner.
鈥淲e have to learn how to play those road games. Going to Nanaimo, it will be a big game for Scotty [Ranger] and Cory [Conway] as well,鈥� he added of the former Timbermen, who were traded to Victoria prior to the WLA season.
鈥淭here are no games that we can take for granted, so I鈥檓 expecting us to bounce back and play a better offensive game. We had lots of chances on Sunday, but we need to start meshing as a unit.鈥�
Conway, Rhys Duch and Corey Small all had four points each for the Shamrocks in the Sunday loss and Jeff Shattler added three points. Greg Harnett and Karsen Leung, who has returned from a foot injury, scored one goal each in the defeat.
鈥淚鈥檓 expecting us to bounce back,鈥� Heyes said of the matchup against the 1-3 Timbermen. 鈥淭he defence will be good and offensively, we still have our full lineup.鈥�
The now 4-1 Shamrocks were surprisingly shut out in the second period in Maple Ridge, allowing a 4-3 first-period lead to slip away.
鈥淲e had those same problems last year where we would go dry for a period and for this team that鈥檚 unacceptable. We need to manufacture goals and it has to come from our defence, too. We need to play a better transition game.鈥�
