Ice expect frosty reception from road trip foes

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This article was published 26/09/2019 (2521 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

No more discussions about switching cities or renovating arenas. Hockey is all that matters now to the Winnipeg Ice organization.

After an off-season relocation from Cranbrook, B.C., the Ice are now focusing solely on their Western Hockey League season, which kicked off last weekend with a home-and-home split against the team’s instant rivals, the Brandon Wheat Kings.

Winnipeg held on for a 3-2 victory in Brandon on Friday but fell 4-2 on Saturday in the first game at their temporary home, the University of Manitoba’s Wayne Fleming Arena.

Head coach James Patrick said after months of uncertainty about the franchise’s future and, ultimately, the move east, the only thing on his mind now is the on-ice performance of his young club.

“It’s been a long off-season with a lot that’s happened, no doubt,” said Patrick, a Winnipeg product who played 1,280 NHL games, after Thursday’s practice at the U of M.

“Now you really see where your team is and how you stack up with your division and the rest of the league. Now we’re in game mode, trying to get better, trying to learn, trying to polish up on our structure, trying to grow as players, individuals. Now that’s here. Now that’s what the focus is and that’s what we all like to do best.”

Defenceman Carson Lambos, a Winnipegger, said there’s already bad blood between the Ice and Wheaties, following a pair of pre-season games and last weekend’s two-game set.

“Whenever you play a team that much, I mean it’s been four times already, emotions run high and you kind of want to play hard against those guys you go against every night,” said the 16-year-old Lambos. “There’s definitely something brewing there.”

The Ice have an opportunity to create more Prairie rivalries this weekend as they head to Saskatchewan to play three games in three nights. They open the road trip Friday against the Saskatoon Blades, followed by the Prince Albert Raiders on Saturday and the Regina Pats on Sunday.

“We’re playing three real good teams,” Patrick said. “A lot of people are picking Saskatoon as the best team in the whole league. Prince Albert are the defending champions and have a lot of returning players and those are two really tough buildings. Those are real tough challenges and Regina is an improved team. I mean, yeah, we want to get off to a good start and this is going to be a challenging trip. We’re just going to take it one game at a time.”

The Ice will need to perform better than they did in Saturday’s loss if they’re going to have any success on the weekend. The Ice had a 2-1 lead over the Wheat Kings after the opening frame, but costly turnovers and inability to create scoring chances left the door open for a Brandon comeback.

This weekend, the Ice will also have to take into account fatigue as some players, including Lambos, have never played three games in three days at this level.

“It’s a challenge. The focus is real important, total focus on hockey and rest,” said Patrick. “You’ve got to take care of yourself as individuals. Every team has to do it, it’s a part of the league. The other teams we’re playing against, they’re doing it as well, so that’s the good thing, but it is a challenge. We had a lot of them last year. I think we had eight three in threes, or seven. It’s a test of will and endurance and certainly real important. By game two and three, you’re going short shifts, play your structure, simplify your game and it still comes down to compete level and how involved you are. Getting pucks in, getting pucks out, blocking shots, I mean, the little things add up more when fatigue plays a factor.”

Lambos added if the team can play a full 60 minutes of their brand of hockey, he believes they have a chance to win every night. Regardless of the outcome of the Saskatchewan games, he thinks the Ice will gain a lot from the trip.

“I think we have a pretty good group of guys, just from all the way from the beginning of training camp to this point. I think it will definitely be good to spend some time together and grow some chemistry as a team,” Lambos said.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @TaylorAllen31