Dunn not pleased with Kensington’s effort

Kensington Monaghan Farms Wild head coach Kyle Dunn provided an honest answer to a simple question. Were you pleased with your team’s effort?

“Wasn’t pleased with our effort one bit, all 20 guys,” answered Dunn after the Wild dropped a 3-2 home-ice decision to the Charlottetown Bulk Carriers Pride on Saturday night. “Didn’t like our work ethic one bit.”

The Wild now leads the best-of-seven provincial major midget hockey championship series 2-1. Game 4 is scheduled for MacLauchlan Arena on the UPEI campus in Charlottetown on Wednesday at 7 p.m., and the teams will return to Credit Union Centre in Kensington on Saturday, March 17, for Game 5 at 7:30 p.m.

“I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy series,” Dunn told the Journal Pioneer after Game 3. “No team is ever going to lay down and give you anything, whether it’s 2-0, 3-0, 3-1. It’s far from over.”

The biggest adjustment Dunn is looking for from his team in Game 4 is to get back to a blue-collar style of play, which he credits for the team’s success this season.

“We are not a talented hockey team,” said Dunn. “We are a hard-working and hardnosed hockey team.

“We didn’t get to second place and have great IceJam and Monctonian (tournaments) by talent.

“We have a little too much swagger in our dressing room right now. It was a great lesson learned.”

After falling behind 3-0, the Wild scored two goals late in the second period to close to within one goal. “I thought we had a little momentum, but I would have liked a better push in the third,” assessed Dunn. “We put pucks to the net, but we just weren’t hungry (Saturday). “They (Pride) outworked us and a credit to them – they came and didn’t want to be down 3-0. They outworked us all over the ice.”

Dunn added the Wild will be “ready to go Wednesday,” and he concluded the post-game interview by saying, “It was a game you just want to turn the page on!”