Winless Wildcats looking to make improvements
Valley goes 0-3 in weekend match-ups
If someone had told Nick Greenough the Valley junior A Wildcats would go 0-4 on the season a few weeks ago, the head coach would’ve had a good chuckle.
It’s not so funny now.
The Valley Wildcats were winless after three games in three days Sept. 16-18, losing 5-2 on the road against Yarmouth, then 3-2 the next night in their home opener against Yarmouth again, followed by a 3-0 shutout against Campbellton in Berwick.
“Definitely not the start we wanted,” Greenough said. So what’s the problem?
“It’s a little bit of everything. The players themselves are a tight-knit group. (Sept. 18) we struggled scoring goals and when you get a shutout, it’s tough. We haven’t had that much secondary scoring. The overall game against Yarmouth, I think we took a period off each night and that makes it difficult to battle back.”
Goaltending, he said, is one area that he’s looking at closely. There was a revolving door of goaltenders in all four games this season, with returning goalie Kyle Alaverdy getting the starts in two games and newcomer Alec Lindburg starting against both Yarmouth games. Returning goalie Ryan Huestis has been sent in as relief in two of the games but has yet to start.
Lindburg, a New Hampshire native, was signed to a card after arriving late to tryouts. Greenough said the coaching staff was pleased with what they’d seen overall, but goaltending improvements are needed.
“We’re not happy with our goaltending situation at all, we’re looking for somebody to step forward, or we’ve got to find somebody,” he said. “It’s the same thing that happened towards the end of last year and it’s starting to get tiresome to have weak goals going in each game.”
The offence also needs to improve, he said.
“There will be some changes coming to our club,” Greenough said. “Forward-wise, we’ll be looking to add some forwards. It’s not just one thing, it’s the whole thing. We need to make sure we’re better from net, from the defensive zone to the forwards.”
The Wildcats are next in action Sept. 24 and 25, with an away and home series against the Truro Bearcats. Greenough is looking for a much better result.
“One thing is for sure – when we play Truro the guys get fired up and ready to go,” Greenough said. “It’s always like playoff hockey against them. It’s going to be a big weekend with them.”