POWERFUL PRESENCE
Injured Brooks invaluable
The Regina Pats believe they’re a better team with Adam Brooks on the bench.
That’s one of the reasons head coach/GM John Paddock elected to dress his captain for the final three games of a second-round WHL playoff series against the Swift Current Broncos.
Although Brooks didn’t see the ice due to a knee injury, Paddock felt his squad would benefit from the presence of its leader, who is in his final season of junior eligibility.
“That was part of it,” said Paddock, whose team lost Brooks in Game 2 of the series. “He’s a quiet guy but he’s still the voice of the team. He’s held in that kind of respect. It was important in that way and important because, if the worst-case scenario happened (and the Pats were eliminated), he was going to be there with his teammates rather than sitting somewhere else. There were two or three things that went into it.”
Fortunately for Brooks, his WHL career didn’t come to an end against Swift Current. Regina won all three games with him on the bench, overcoming a 3-1 series deficit.
The Pats may have benefited from a little psychological warfare by adding Brooks to their lineup. Even when it became clear he wouldn’t be stepping on the ice, the 20-year-old centre still had a calming influence on his team in a pressure-filled situation.
“It was awesome to have him on the bench,” centre Sam Steel said. “If he can be there and give any support he can, he’s definitely the kind of guy who would do that. Like John said, he just deserves to be out there.”
The Pats are hopeful Brooks can return at some point during the Eastern Conference final against the Lethbridge Hurricanes, although that’s far from a certainty.
Asked if Brooks might dress anyway, Paddock was non-committal.
“I’m not sure; I’ll have to talk to him about that,” he said. “It was a little bit different scenario in those three games (against Swift Current). It’s not doing him any harm but we’ll just see where we’re at with the lineup.”
The Pats weren’t hurt by dressing Brooks because they mainly used just 10 forwards. They’ll have to make at least one lineup change in the absence of defenceman Dawson Davidson, who suffered an undisclosed injury in Game 7 against Swift Current.
Paddock confirmed Davidson would be out “for a while,” which means defenceman Jonathan Smart will return to his natural position after being utilized as a forward in the playoffs.
“I thought he looked pretty natural and normal up front but (defence) is the position we got him (to play) so it’s up to him to do the job,” said Paddock, who acquired the puck-moving defender on Nov. 30 from the Kelowna Rockets. “Smarty is a good player. We expect the same thing (as Davidson). We don’t really expect much to change.”