I believe in our players, says Bulldogs coach. And why not?
This was supposed to be the denouement. The quiet final chapter in a memorable book.
A young team falling out of contention after winning a championship peddles its veteran stars at the trade deadline for future help and then quietly sinks down the standings. All while the franchise prepares to move out of town for a few years.
Except someone forgot to hand the script to the Hamilton Bulldogs.
Since trading Logan Morrison, Avery Hayes, Gavin White, Ryan Winterton and Ryan Humphrey — all excellent players and huge pieces of last year’s Ontario Hockey League title — the Bulldogs haven’t fallen off the cliff as most would’ve expected. Instead, they’ve somehow improved.
That’s right. They’ve gone from winning 42 per cent of their games before Jan. 10 to winning 61 per cent of them since. And they’ve gone from seemingly vying for a top draft pick to being in position to battle for home ice in a playoff series.
“I’d love to tell you this was the plan,” says general manager Matt Turek.
It wasn’t. Not exactly. He did think his team would still be competitive and would be set up for next year and the year after. But to actually do better? Unlikely. He credits the players for taking advantage of their opportunities and the coaches for putting them in good position to do so.
Speaking of the coaches, did the head coach expect this?
“I think a high majority of the hockey world would think we might struggle to win another game,” a smiling — perhaps slightly tongue-in-cheek — Jay McKee says of life after the sell-off. “I believe in our players.”
Hey, some people believe the earth is flat, Kanye West is a genius and that Vegemite tastes good. Belief alone doesn’t make something true. But here, he clearly has reason for his faith.
But how?
“That’s a tough question,” Turek says.
Since trading Logan Morrison, Avery Hayes, Gavin White, Ryan Winterton and Ryan Humphrey the Bulldogs haven’t fallen off the cliff as most would’ve expected. Instead, they’ve somehow improved
Let’s start with the obvious. Nick Lardis and Sahil Panwar — two of the guys who came to Hamilton at the deadline — have been unreal. The former has 18 goals and 14 assists in 19 games here. The latter? Twelve and 19. That means each of them has outscored every one of the much-more-highly touted (and older) guys who left.
Hands up if you saw that coming. Seeing none, we’ll continue. Lardis has only been kept off the scoresheet once since he’s arrived and Panwar, four times. Being so productive and doing it every game offsets much of what the team gave up to build for seasons ahead. But there’s more.
Winning a championship last year and getting within a game of the Memorial Cup is a massive high. Not losing for weeks on end through the regular season is special. That feeling is addictive. When things weren’t going as well this year, energy and enthusiasm were bound to be sapped out of those who lived it and got used to that lifestyle. You can be sure it was hard to come back to Earth.
But it’s different for the younger guys who didn’t have the biggest roles last year.
McKee says the guys who are left — “even though there’s very few of them” — learned from what they experienced as role players. Now, they’re getting a chance to be the core of the team and they’re loaded with enthusiasm. Same with the new guys who are getting more opportunity here than they might’ve on their old team.
Even with all that, there’s some surprise that this is happening. A lot, honestly. This team shouldn’t be winning. Not like this. Teams that sell off their top players are waving the white flag. That’s the way it’s always been.
Until now.
“I believe strongly in our players,” McKee says again.
And why not?