With three games remaining before the holiday break, the Kootenay Ice hope to get on track.
“We’ve got to try to stay positive,” said Ice forward Matt Alfaro. “We’ve got three games until break here and we can’t waste those games. We’ve got to keep going.”
Saturday’s 5-2 loss to the Swift Current Broncos went into the books as the ninth consecutive defeat for the Ice (6-25-2-0), who sit deep in the lonely shadows of the WHL cellar. The Medicine Hat Tigers (10-18-2-1) sit 21st in the 22-team WHL with 23 points -- nine ahead of the Ice (14 points).
“We need some secondary scoring and we need to drive to the net to get those [greasy] goals,” Alfaro said.
“[We need to] play smart and play a full 60 [minutes].”
Getting a win before the holiday break won’t be an easy task as the the Ice remain banged up, with five regular skaters out due to injury.
After getting River Beattie back from head issues, the team lost Vince Loschiavo (lower body, two to four weeks) and Roman Dymacek (lower body, two to four weeks).
“It affects a lot of things -- fatigue, roles -- but the one big one is chemistry,” said Ice head coach Luke Pierce. “There’s not been any [consistency]... It’s all new line combinations. It’s tough.
“But beyond that, the individual work ethic from man to man needs to be better.”
Puck drop between the Ice and Rebels is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday night.