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Some harsh words about a harsh weekend

This week's Saxon on the Storm looks back at last week's really, really bad weekend
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It was a sound you don’t hear very often at the Sleeman Centre: booing.

But there was plenty of it last Monday, where a packed rink watched the Storm lose 4-0 to to one of the worst teams in the league for the second time in as many nights.

There was even a leather-lunged fan calling for George Burnett’s job. That’s not going to happen.

It was miserable hockey to watch, even for someone that gets paid to watch it. I can’t imagine spending $100 to bring your family out.

The team deserved the criticism.

Coaches are usually reluctant to throw around words like “embarrassing” when talking about their team, but even Burnett had little problem agreeing that was indeed what Monday’s performance was.

We get it: you’re never as bad as you sometimes look and you’re never as good as you sometimes think.

But being shut out by a 17-year-old rookie goaltender with three career OHL wins and an .866 save percentage looks pretty friggin’ bad.

When what looked like a potential five or six-point weekend turns into a one-point weekend, it makes you start second guessing a lot of things.

When you have to bench an overager and an NHL draft pick because of how poorly they’re playing (believe me, they weren’t the only ones) it makes you wonder about the bigger picture. And, more importantly, the future.

This team might be younger and improving, but it is not a team that is going to be a contender next year based solely on the fact it will be a year older.

Age-wise they will lose just three players next year, with 17 eligible to return. The chances of those 17 all returning are slim to none. As it should be.

This isn’t about making too much out of a rough weekend.

It’s not about a slump.

It’s not about ‘being too hard on the boys.’

This is junior hockey. It’s a privilege to play in this league. People spend a lot of money to watch and deserve better.

A good weekend and the Storm is right back in the hunt for fourth or fifth place in the standings. And it would not surprise me one bit if the team responded with much better efforts and results this weekend, because we’ve seen how well they can play.

But weekends like last weekend help you determine who is part of the solution and who is part of the problem.

As a member of the Guelph Storm organization, or any organization, I know which one I’d rather be.


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Tony Saxon

About the Author: Tony Saxon

Tony Saxon has had a rich and varied 30 year career as a journalist, an award winning correspondent, columnist, reporter, feature writer and photographer.
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