| HAMPTON,
Va. - In streams of sweat on spraying ice, the Cincinnati Stingers were serving penace
Monday. Coach Terry Slater stood at center ice directing long and humorless practice
sessions designed as much for punishment as for instruction. He glowered at his players
and barked hard orders, his way of saying "How could you?" The Stingers Sunday night suffered the ultimate humiliation in losing 7-5, to
the Hampton Gulls, their own farm team. It was Cincy's first loss in its history, which
now spans three exhibition games. So upset was Slater that he simply walked out of the
arena following the game, not waiting to talk to press people or anyone else. "Don't
be surprised at anything I do after we lose," he cautioned later. "One time I
ran off and left my wife at the rink. I got all the way home before I remembered her. I'm
probably the worst loser in the world."
Slater says he can not explain Sunday's disaster except to say,
"We might have had a little trouble really getting after the same people we trained
with for two weeks." But he adds that is no excuse for the poor play. Our defense was
bad and our goal tending was just terrible," he declares. "We're not going to
beat anyone playing like that." Slater makes no attempt to conceal that he's greatly
disappointed with some of his stars who he says are still fat and out of shape.
Most of his contempt is directed towards the defensemen, of course,
for their failure Sunday. "(Mike) Pelyk and (John) Hughes just are not in
condition," he asserts. "I know both of them have bad legs and are coming off
injuries but we can't afford to let them sit around. They've got to play for us and they
have to get themselves in condition to do it. I have to know who's going to play for me
this year. I've called a little meeting for all my defensemen and we're going to talk
about this," he continues. "We're going to find out who wants to play and who's
going to work at getting himself in shape."
Monday's practice was geared to reviewing fundamentals. "We
practiced a lot just getting the puck out of our ice, simple stuff like that," says
the coach. "It's fundamental stuff we're not doing well now." In one (word
?), Slater had the forwards working 3-on-3 against two defensemen and the goalie. The
defensemen won the scrimmage, 25-3 and almost made Slater smile. "All the forwards
are in the locker room getting after the defensemen right now," the coach revealed
after practice. "They're telling them, 'Sure you were great today, but what are you
going to do tomorrow?' Maybe we can start getting some people interested in playing
hockey."
At least two of the Stingers already have their jobs in jeopardy
after Sunday's bust. An outstanding performance by two of the Gulls is the reason. Center
Pat Donnelly, a big favorite of Hampton fans, scored two goals against the Stingers and
impressed the coaches with his skating. Gulls' goalie John Kiely made some brilliant saves
in the first two periods, turning back 23 Cincinnati shots and allowing just two goals. He
did not play the third period. The two teams play again tonight and Slater says,
"We're going to be looking awful hard at Donnelly. He really showed is some shooting
and he's a scrapper and he kills penalties. And," Slater emphasizes, "he's a
right hand shot. You know how we need those. If we could turn him into a right
wing...."
As for Kiely, the coach says, "We liked the way he'd trap the
puck. He didn't give us any shots backs. He kept everything under him. Our goalies kept
deflecting everything back. We're going to have to make some hard decisions after this
next game," he says. "We're going to find some people who want to play." |
