GAME DAY: VICTORIA AT COQUITLAM, 7 P.M.
After having 20 minutes to let Wednesday night鈥檚 disappointing 10-8 loss to Burnaby sink in, Victoria Shamrocks general manager Chris Welch attempted to look forward as his team prepares to rebound in Coquitlam tonight.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 play our best game, to say the least. It鈥檚 going to be tough to find many positives to take away from that effort, but we have to turn the page and get ready for [tonight],鈥� the crestfallen GM said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a lesson to be learned. The journey we鈥檙e on is a hard one, with lots of twists and turns, so we have to build off this, learn from it and get better.鈥�
In Coquitlam (4-6-1), the Shamrocks (8-4) will face a team that virtually gutted itself at the trade deadline, shipping Jon Harnett to Victoria and sending Dane Dobbie, Damon Edwards and Nick Rose to Langley.
鈥淭here are no easy games,鈥� Welch said. 鈥淣o opponent can be taken lightly. Yeah, Coquitlam lost a lot of guys, but they have others who are going to be playing for pride and trying to get that team to the payoffs without stars.鈥�
With six games remaining in the regular season (two each against two-time defending champion Langley Thunder and New Westminster), it suddenly becomes a test of character for the Shamrocks, who remain in first place but are now tied with hard-charging Langley (7-3-2).
Following tonight鈥檚 game, Victoria hits the road again Thursday to face the Salmonbellies and then play host to the Thunder on Friday, a team that loaded up before the July 1 roster deadline.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 be concerned about what other teams are doing,鈥� Welch said. 鈥淲e have to take care of our own stuff, focus on the things we need to do to be the best we can be.
鈥淭here were lessons to be learned from [Wednesday鈥檚] performance that we can apply to [tonight鈥檚] game and get back to our winning ways.鈥�
The 10-8 loss was especially stressful for Welch, who watched his team go through the entire third period without a single goal.
鈥淭here were a lot of things about the result that we didn鈥檛 want to see, and that was one of them,鈥� Welch said of the goal-free third. 鈥淭heir defence was sagging back and we were firing away from the outside, and that wasn鈥檛 working.
鈥淒an Lewis played well when he had to, and we weren鈥檛 able to finish,鈥� he said of the Burnaby goalie. 鈥淏ut 34 shots on goal [just eight in the final period]; we鈥檝e been doubling that total most nights.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got to get those shots, we have to create more offence, and we can鈥檛 expect to win games when we score only eight goals.鈥�
CLOVER POINTS: Jeff Shattler, suspended for Wednesday鈥檚 game, will be back tonight, and Scott Ranger should also return to the Shamrocks鈥� roster. . . . The Jr. Shamrocks wrap up their regular season home schedule against the Port Coquitlam Saints today at 5聽p.m. at Bear Mountain Arena on Fan Appreciation Day. The Intermediate Shamrocks play their final regular-season home game just before that at 1:30 p.m. against Langley.
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