Steel maintains winning attitude during goal slump
If you’ve noticed something a little off with Sam Steel, it’s just because he’s getting too much iron in his diet.
The Regina Pats’ centre has hit more posts than mesh over the past couple weeks, going seven straight WHL games without a goal. The mini-skid continued Monday when he was limited to one assist in Team WHL’s 7-0 victory in Game 1 of the CIBC Canada-Russia Series.
Steel could only smile and shrug his shoulders after the latest collection of near misses, including a third-period chance when he beat the Russian goaltender but was robbed by the left post.
After, he admitted to feeling a tad snake-bitten lately.
“It seems like I’m missing open nets and stuff like that,” lamented Steel, who is considered a near shoo-in to play for Canada at the world juniors in Buffalo. “I’m getting the chances and doing some things right, so that’s a positive.” It’s also frustrating.
Steel’s recent funk was summed up in one play against the Red Deer Rebels on Friday night when the puck found him near the crease. He fired at a wide open net, but the puck took an awkward hop off his stick and fluttered wide.
“You’re going to put that in the net every time in practice,” noted the Anaheim Ducks’ first-rounder.
Despite some bad luck, Steel’s plight hardly qualifies as a slump. He has 18 points in 14 WHL games this season and — on most nights — is still one of the best players on the ice.
However, the 19-year-old centre has netted just four goals while also missing two games in late October with an undisclosed injury. He hasn’t bulged the twine since Oct. 15 despite numerous quality chances and several posts, two of which came Wednesday night against the Kootenay Ice.
Mentally, the missed opportunities have started to add up.
“I think he is (pressing) a little bit,” said Pats head coach/GM John Paddock, who is also an assistant coach on Team WHL. “There’s a lot of (bad) luck involved. Players go through tough times. He’s probably working even harder ( because of it). I think he’s ticked off right now but it doesn’t affect his work ethic. It doesn’t affect his attitude or his approach. He’ll work himself out of it.”
Most WHL players would kill to be in Steel’s version of a slump. He’s partly a victim of his own success, having recorded 50 goals and a league-high 131 points in 66 games last season en route to WHL player-of-the-year honours.
After a season in which almost everything went right, perhaps Steel was bound to endure some form of letdown. But, like a good leader, he’s keeping the situation in perspective.
“I always want to be successful and help contribute to the team,” he added. “When it’s not happening you can kind of beat yourself up over it but, especially being captain, you have to put that off to the side and focus on the team. For now the puck’s not going in but we’re winning games so that’s all that matters.”
Note: Pats D Josh Mahura was a last-minute scratch for Game 2 of the Canada-Russia Series on Tuesday in Swift Current. He was replaced by Broncos D Colby Sissons. Mahura suffered an undisclosed injury in Game 1, as did Moose Jaw Warriors C Brett Howden. He was replaced Tuesday by Pats C Jake Leschyshyn, a second-round pick of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights in 2017.