"You can have all the talent in the world, but if the pumper's not there, it doesn't matter."~Glen SatherPumper? What's a pumper? The Wranglers don't have a pumper, so I guess that explains it. I didn't even see that much talent. What a pathetic game for the Wranglers. In the 1st period the Wranglers faced 28 shots, and only made a whopping 2 shots. What the...? In the 2nd period the Wranglers tried to put on some offense but it wasn't enough. General's goalie Kevin Aslett easily defended against the meager 9 shots the Wranglers mustered. Unfortunately Wrangler goalie Blanton who replaced Kramer after the Generals scored 6 unanswered goals on him, let's in two goals making the score, Generals 8, Wranglers 0 at the end of the 2nd period. Finally, Joseph Summa scored about mid-way through the 3rd period from the point saving the Wranglers from the shut-out and total disgrace. He can have the 2nd game star for the Wranglers. Unfortunately the General's answered back. Final score, the General's 12, the Wranglers 1. What about the 1st or 3rd star? No 1st star goes to any Wrangler. 3rd star... I'd give it to either Long or Chase.
If we were counting hits, it was all "dirty birds" er... General's hockey. The Wranglers didn't seem to want to make contact with any General's player. A few hits were made late in the 3rd period, but it was too little too late. What bothered me, was that too many times I saw #24 (McDonald) from the Generals just camped in front of the Wrangler net with the Wrangler "D" skating around him, giving him free reign to shoot at will. "Pretty boy Frei" scored a hat trick. Are the Wrangler "D" afraid of moving any General player from in front of the Wrangler net? Right now, I'm thoroughly fed up with most of the Wrangler "D." Long, Summa and Chase are playing an aggressive game, but the remaining Wrangler "D" are just not producing.
The Wrangler forwards were consistently about 2-3 steps (or maybe a day) behind the Generals. Passes going no-where. Missed passes. No passes. I guess the "No Passing Zone" sign is posted in the offensive zone again. It seemed to me that once again that any Wrangler offense was done by a few of the Wrangler "D" (again, Long, Summa and Chase). I'm not sure what's going on with the Wranglers. They have fallen back in to their lackluster skating and hockey effort, probably just going through the motions to finish the game. It just looks like they just are not having any fun. I bet a few can't wait until the season ends. Yesterday I used the Mariucci quote that said, "Everyday the team plays worse and worse..." Well, tonight the Wranglers didn't play like "tomorrow" they played like "next week."
The Wranglers next travel to the Tri-Cities to play the Titans on Thursday and Friday night. After losing to Seattle and Puget Sound the Titans will be hard pressed to make it to the Pacific Division NorPac Playoffs. Right now it seems like River City and Puget Sound have #3 and #4 place locked up. It would be nice if the Wranglers could eke out a win against the Titans but if they continue to play as they have the last 3 games - fat chance.
