| The time
has come, the walrus said, to speak of many things. Of hockey teams that just can't win,
and fans that wonder why. With apologies to Lewis Carroll, the time has come to talk of
the Cincinnati Stingers, their surprising start (or lack of a start) this season and why
things aren't going as anticipated with a new coach and new players. The Stingers
considered by many as one of the most improved teams in the abbreviated World Hockey
Association this year, have managed just one victory in their first nine games for the
worst record in either the WHA or the NHL. Jacques Demers, the
coach brought in to make the Stingers a consistent hockey teams, says the problem lies
with the lack of muscle on the roster. His players get pushed around too much and he;s
looking for a couple of tough guys to cure that deficiency. Demers certainly knows what
he's talking about when it comes to hockey, so if he says the Stingers need muscle that's
what the Stingers need. But they may need a bit more. Last year the team could score
almost at will, but carried the tag of a team with very little defense and weal
goaltending. Demers is a defensive coach and the word went out following his hiring that
the Stingers would have a defense this season. But after nine games it's hard to
distinguish this year's team from the 1976-77 edition, except that it scores less.
Defensevely, they just don't have it, and Demers is the first to admit it.
Ron Plumb was the WHA defenseman of the year for the previous
season, but so far he hasn't shown much of that MVP style. He works hard enough but
doesn't seem to get any results, and after nine games he carries a plus/minus figure of
minus seven. Plus/minus is something the hockey players look at very closely. Every time
you're on the ice when your team scores a full-strength goal, it's plus. Every time you're
on when the opposition scores a full strength goal it's minus.
Those figures aren't foolproof, but they usually give a fair
indication of what's happening. Last year Plumb finished the season plus 64, the best mark
in the league. It isn't surprising that very few Stingers hold plus marks after six
straight losses, but some of the numbers are significant. Rick Dudley, the team captain
and a veteran hockey player, is minus eight, as is second-year winger Peter Marsh. Dennis
Sobchuk and Blaine Stoughton are both minus seven although both players appear to be
working hard on the ice.
The Stingers acquired a pair of defensemen in the off season to give
them some of the muscle they lacked. But Gilles Marotte and Serge Beaudoin obviously
aren't the answer. Beaudoin has been hitting some people but he's currently minus seven
and Marotte (minus five) is not the enforcer he appeared to be in pre-season. Demers said
after a 5-1 loss to New England Sunday night that he needed a defenseman and two tough
wingers to police the ice. He said the team could be great with those additions, and if
they weren't it would be time to fire the coach.
He may be right. Maybe people like Dudley, Stoughton and Sobchuk can
become productive if they have somebody on the ice to dish out the hard knocks when the
situation calls for a physical style. Bill DeWitt Jr., the Stingers' executive vice
president, said the team brass realized they might run into problems with teams like New
England and Winnipeg because the Stingers lacked size in the right places. He didn't
anticipate a 1-8 start and now the search is on for fresh troops.
Troops are available. Nearly 100 players who had jobs in the NHL
last year are now looking for a paycheck. One or two from that group might be able to play
for Cincinnati and provide the much sought muscle. It's too bad the Stingers find
themselves in the position of having to scramble for players. It would have been a lot
easier to spend the money a few months ago and forego the embarrassment of resting in last
place behind the Birmingham Bulls. Even with a couple of enforcers on the ice, the
Stingers seem to be lacking elsewhere. People with the scoring potential of Stoughton,
Dudley and Sobchuk should be putting the puck in the net with or without a body guard.
It may be, in trying to become a defensive team and follow Demers'
instructions, that some of the Stingers have abandoned a portion of their offense. Holding
down the goals-against average is great, but you also have to score a few goals. At
Indianapolis, Demers had a team with marginal talent and few big shooters. Playing a
tight, defensive style was the obvious answer and it worked quite well for the Racers. But
the Stingers aren't the Racers and maybe a compromise between offensive and defensive
dominance. Sunday night, with a two-man advantage for nearly a minute, the Stingers not
only failed to score but found it difficult even to get a good shot at the goal. When you
have the enemy outnumbered you shouldn't have to beat them up to score. |
