Golden Bears “wait for things to happen” in first loss to MacEwan in six years

We’ve said it a lot over the past few weeks — “the Golden Bears hockey team will improve come the new year, they’ll be back to a star lineup” — so were they?

Apparently not. The absence of Blake Gustafson and Adam Hall keeps the Bears in a constant two player drought, yet again. Coupled with the potential injury of Connor McClennon, the Bears might go without a healthy lineup for the second month in a row.

“McClennon’s leg is a little stiff, he skated through it though,” head coach Ian Herbers said.

Struggling lines keep the Bears a goal short for most of the game

If McClennon’s good to go, it’s unclear what line he’ll play on. He started Friday’s game against the MacEwan Griffins with Ty Nash and Jakin Smallwood in one of the worst performances they’ve had this year. But that’ll happen when you give up an overwhelming amount of turnovers and more scoring opportunities then taken.

As he should, Herbers quickly put McClennon on Justin Hall’s line with Sam Popowhich, driving the team in their period push, with Tyler Preziuso and his veteran line.

Preziuso’s line proved to be the only consistent factor that followed the Bears from their first semester. And they play just like that — a reliable line that might find the scoring opportunity if it’s there, but will make little mistakes in the process.

The same cannot be said for the very promising, very hopeful, and now very disappointing Brett Hyland, Sean Tschigerl, and Josh Prokop line. Who, according to Herbers, “waited for things to happen.”

“They were kind of watching and waiting for things to happen. When they’re playing their best, they’re going out and making plays. As you saw in their one goal, Hyland out-muscles the guy in the corner, gets it to Tschigerl in the slot, and they release a shot top of the net. And that’s the way they need to play. Instead of just waiting and playing perimeter and hoping things happen.”

Friday’s loss marks MacEwan’s first win over the Bears in six years

This isn’t how anyone expected Hyland and Tschigerl to play upon return, nor the team. It was supposed to the Bears’ 15th straight win against the Griffins. Instead it was their first loss in six years.

“We need to be a lot more committed to paying the price to win games. We didn’t battle hard enough on face-offs, they were the quicker, and they had more jump than us. They played with more urgency, they were more desperate than we were,” Herbers said.

It’s safe to say the Bears are pretty desperate now, having jeopardized their top seeded position in Canada West. Thankfully an overwhelming goal differential saves them in a tie for points and win-losses against Mount Royal.

Bad turnovers prove to be the biggest mistake in a multi-problem game

If the Bears were able to maintain puck possession, a problem faced by all lines, then maybe they would have won. If they stopped giving away easy turnovers and penalties, then they definitely would have.

“We had clear possession of pucks in the ozone, and we basically cleared the puck for them. We made the game easier for them at times,” Herbers said.

And he’s not wrong. The Bears gave up costly breakaways while taking penalties at a 3-1 ratio. Practically handing the Griffins their first goal of the night on the power play.

To say “the guys were rusty, they weren’t clicking at times” would be an understatement. But this was their first game back with an odd lineup, and some adjusting was bound to happen.