Frontenacs Slipping Away
Well after yet another slew of unsuccessful games the Kingston Frontenacs have now dropped five straight games in a row. The decline all started happening after the Fronts defeated Eastern Conference rivals the Oshawa Generals by the score of 9-4 on Friday, January 10th, 2014. The Frontenacs looked mighty impressive during that game as forward's Darcy Greenaway and Corey Pawley recorded four points each, followed by were Samuel Bennett, Robert Polesello, and Samuel Schutt as they all each tallied 3 points each. The Frontenacs were rolling that Friday night as they took a 4-0 lead only 3:36 into the first period, which was very unexpected from the crowd due to their reactions.
Some key notes about the game between the Generals and the Frontenacs were that out of 16 possible skaters in the Frontenacs lineup only five players were held off the score sheet, which is a very good sign that shows that everyone in the lineup is contributing to the Frontenacs success. Also when the Frontenacs had the four goal lead it didn't last long as the Generals wasted no time after Head Coach D.J Smith called a timeout after Greenaway scored the fourth goal, the Generals motored back into the game when the second period started as they exploded for four goals themselves to tie it up at four a piece. So that itself isn't a good thing as the Frontenacs just completely collapsed when the second period started, good thing was that the Frontenacs did prevail and continue their high pressure offense by scoring five more goals before the game ended.
This brings us now to where the Frontenacs are now since the huge win against Oshawa. Since the big win the Frontenacs have dropped five games straight. This poses cause for concern as there aren't many games left to be losing especially when it is coming down to the chunk of the season, where there aren't games to lose meaning that each game should now be treated as a do or die (though it isn't) still should be treated as one to mentally prepare the younger players in the room for what they will be up against come playoff time.
Games that were very important to win or at least get some points were against Eastern Conference opponents the Barrie Colts, North Bay Battalion, and Niagara Ice Dogs. The Frontenacs fell to defeat in all three games played and were outscored 17-10 in those three games combined. Since the Frontenacs have been on a losing streak (five games) the Oshawa Generals have now improved their gap in point standings to now ten, after just five games ago Frontenacs were only sitting 4 points behind. Also as the Frontenacs continue to slump the Battalion have now tied them in points at 52 a piece and not too far behind now is the Barrie Colts having gone 6-4-0 in their last ten games played.
With all this being said the Frontenacs are going to have to get back to playing hockey as they were prior to the OHL trade deadline, as there were no moves made by the Frontenacs on that day there is no reason for them to be getting outplayed by teams that they should be winning against. There are 23 games remaining in the 2013-2014 season for the Frontenacs and if they want to remain in the top of the Eastern Conference come playoff time, they are going to have to start getting back to the caliber they have been previously playing at and older guys in the locker room need to start giving a consistent effort night in and night out if they want to get back into the winning column.