A ringing in the ears, bad puck bounces or offers from out of town - if it's not one thing for the Weyburn Red Wings these days, it's another.
After losing 5-2 to the Estevan Bruins on Sunday night at the Colosseum, only the expansion-team La Ronge Ice Wolves and the relocated Saskatoon Rage were lower than the 4-8-2 Red Wings in the league's point standings this week.
"We're struggling, I guess," admitted Wings general manager Ron Rumball, who along with head coach Dwight McMillan and assistant Darcy Pindus is attempting to get the team back on track before the season is 20 games old.
"It's a concern of ours that we're not consistent and not playing as well as we can play," Rumball said, adding that a string of recent injuries has compounded the consistency problem by staggering the playing times of roster members.
One of the most recent of those injuries is goaltender Greg Johnston, who tore ligaments in his knee during Sunday's loss and whose immediate status was still undetermined as of Monday. Other dents and scratches in the Red and White armour have included a shoulder separation to team scoring leader Christian Cote, an earlier knee problem with Johnston and a wrist injury to Willy Mason in addition to concussions that have sidelined several other players.
Penalty minutes aplenty have been another concern: Weyburn racked up 12 minors and six major penalties in a 5-4 loss in La Ronge on Oct. 14 compared to eight minors and three majors by the Ice Wolves.
Andrew Dickson scored Weyburn's first two goals of that game less than two minutes apart with Kurtis Quane and Jacob Gradwell later adding one apiece.
"There's no big factors, but there are several things that compound one another," Rumball said of the team's difficulty in finding some rhythm, adding that the "problems are all correctable."
On the brighter side, the work ethic has remained strong and Weyburn's penalty killers looked sharp on Sunday, limiting the Bruins to just two shots on goal in a seven-minute time span. The Red Wing crease will now be filled by Terry Denike until the return of Johnston, with recent pickup and Saskatoon Junior B veteran Brian Johnson - who accompanied the club on last week's northern road trip - in reserve.
Veteran Josh Dobbyn may be taking a road trip of his own in the near future as well after reportedly earning the attention of a pro club based in Fort Worth, Texas. Dobbyn assisted on Dickson's second goal in La Ronge while the scoring in Sunday's loss came from former Bruin Caley Cox, who had a goal and an assist, and big Jeff Milleker.
This Friday the Wings will host Lebret at 7:30 p.m. at the Colosseum before heading to Lebret on Saturday and playing in Estevan Tuesday night.
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Review (1987) Ltd.