Molleken, Blades are facing the heat
SASKATOON — The Saskatoon Blades crawled from the rubble of their untimely collapse, got in front of the cameras and notebooks, and tried their best to explain themselves on Thursday.
It’s telling that there was really just one testy moment during the Blades’ postmortem press conference at Credit Union Centre — that coming when a reporter asked owner Jack Brodsky if he’s contemplating any changes, given the Blades’ shocking four-game, opening-round Western Hockey League playoff sweep at the hands of the underdog Medicine Hat Tigers less than 24 hours earlier.
“You know what? Right now, we’re focusing on the Memorial Cup coming up in a couple of months, and that’s what I’m focused on,” Brodsky said, his voice growing ever more emphatic.
“I’m not talking about changes. I’m not going to talk about that today, because the guy that’s behind the bench for our hockey club is my guy, and I’ve got all the trust and respect in the world for him. Period.”
“The guy” is coach and general manager Lorne Molleken — one of just two coaches in WHL history with more than 600 victories, but the man who is widely blamed for the team’s inability to win in the playoffs.
The smart money says he’ll step out from behind the bench after the Memorial Cup, which — given the circumstances — is right and proper.
But in the meantime, fans are restless.
The Blades have been the victim of four-game sweeps three straight years, and have a 12-game post-season losing streak to show for it.
In two of those campaigns — 2010-11, and again this year — they staged impressive regular seasons after trading away big pieces of their future for the playoff run. Then they embarrassed themselves with sickly performances when it counted.
Molleken called the shots both as general manager and head coach all three years, and he’s become a lightning rod for fan frustration. Rightly so, given his position.
There was even a crazy rumour floating around prior to Thursday’s press conference that Molleken was going to resign as head coach and let somebody else guide the team into the Memorial Cup, which the host Blades are playing in despite their early exit.
That notion was dispelled quickly.
But there’s no question many fans want him gone. That was the prevailing theme of notes that landed in my inbox Thursday, and you don’t have to travel far into the world-wide web to view just how badly people want him removed from behind the Blades’ bench. For those of a more impetuous bent, it’s right now, if possible, before the Cup.
Brodsky’s sense of loyalty just might put him in the minority.
Molleken said Thursday that he’d received no direct fan feedback in the wake of Wednesday’s loss, but you sensed he was aware of the discontent.
“Everybody’s entitled to their opinion,” Molleken said. “That’s the beauty of this sport; this is what makes competitors tick every day. You have people who have opinions, and it makes you better and it makes you stronger.
“Any fan that ever, ever calls me, or sends me a letter, that gives me their name, I’ve got all kinds of time for them,” he added. “The ones that send letters, and call, who don’t give their names, I’ve got no time for.”
The crazy thing about this is that Molleken’s teams used to know how to win postseason hockey games, unlike the recent squads, which seem clueless. Molleken, a former Chicago Blackhawks’ head coach, has never won a WHL championship. But before this 12-game losing skid started, his post-season mark in Saskatoon was 4842 — making him the only Blades coach, in the entire history of the franchise, with a plus-.500 playoff record.
The last three years wrecked all that, of course, and there seems to be no rational explanation for why it’s happened that way. It seems completely illogical. If they can get it done so well in the regular season, why are they so wretched when it comes down to a best-of-seven?
The Memorial Cup laboratory is just seven weeks away, and the Blades’ postseason angst will test itself one final time before a national audience and against the best teams in the CHL. It could make for some fascinating viewing.
Even those who place the blame directly on Molleken rather than the players don’t agree on specifics. There’s a myriad of potential reasons brought forth, from systems, to more attuned opposing coaches, to an inability to awaken the beast that lurks in the best playoff teams.
Or, maybe, there’s no reason at all, apart from the possibility that players in these three specific seasons just couldn’t or wouldn’t play quality hockey for Molleken and the Blades when they were needed most.
And where do you divide that blame?