| The
Cincinnati Stingers' opening night performance hardly rated rave notices. The 5-4 loss to
Indianapolis was a disappointment, as was the overall level of competition at Riverfront
Coliseum Wednesday night. There has been much ballyhoo about the new "system"
incorporated by coach Jacques Demers, a system which calls for a higher degree of defense
than the Stingers played in the past. But in the season opener the system seemed to
disintegrate in the first period, never to return in any recognizable form during the
game. The scene was reminiscent of Stingers-Racers meeting in the past, with Cincinnati
scrambling and Indianapolis waiting to pounce on mistakes. Even
on the power play the Stingers had difficulty moving the puck out of their own end, a
malady which plagues them too often last season. The displeasure of the crowd became
evident late in the game as mistakes on the ice - particularly errant passes - were
greeted with boos. Demers, however, was neither angry or especially concerned over the
loss. He is a patient man who has faith in his hockey philosophy and he isn't about to
draw any conclusions from one game. "This is a long season and we're going to keep
getting better," he said. "When the players are so familiar with my system that
they play it automatically, instead of having to think about it, this will be a different
team."
Demers was in agreement with observations that the Stingers appeared
disorganized and were still running around too much in the opener. But he insisted the
fault lies with the learning process and the players unfamiliarity with his system. He
didn't fault veteran goalie Ernie Wakely, who had all five goals against him. Actually,
Wakely played well enough. It was just a situation where the Racers had too many
opportunities to take good shots and that's not the goaltenders' fault. Two Stinger
veterans-winger Rick Dudley and defenseman Ron Plumb - didn't quite agree that the team is
still having trouble with Demers' style.
Plumb pointed out that the team simply didn't execute in the style
which had been practiced since mid-September. Ditto Dudley, who also was not pleased with
his own performance but made no excuse. There were some bright spots in the game, despite
the final score. Rich Leduc still has the sign on Indy. He usually managed to score
against the Racers last year and had a ball Wednesday night with four.
Rookie defenseman Craig Norwich looked good. He made some mistakes
just like a rookie, but he gave every indication of having what it takes to play defense
in the big league. Another defenseman who gave the fans something to talk about was NHL
veteran Gilles Marotte. Marotte is noted for his ability to handle the heavy work on the
ice and after witnessing some of his checks against the Racers it was obvious he won't be
pushed around this year.
Demers went right to work Thursday, going over the difficulties
encountered by the Stingers Wednesday night and trying to make the necessary corrections
in practice. As if the Racers weren't enough, the Stingers get a real test this weekend as
they meet the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday night and the New England Whalers Sunday evening.
Winnipeg is just as good as ever, with the Swedes to provide plenty of scoring and a solid
defense. The Whalers are certainly a better team with the addition of the Howe family,
some defense and another goalie in Al Smith. |
