Sports

Braves lack punch in losses to region rivals

By Matthew Semisch

12/09/2014

Nothing comes easy in the sport of hockey, and rarely is that made more evident than in front of the net.

One team can easily outshoot its opponent by firing the puck from distance all game long. Those tend to be low-percentage shots in terms of scoring, though, and more shots go in from close-range.

That’s a lesson the Bottineau-Rugby (B-R) hockey team is finding it needs to put into practice. In a pair of losses to West Region rivals Jamestown and Dickinson last weekend, the Braves fired 47 shots on goal but struggled to create enough  high-quality scoring chances.

The problems began on Friday in a 4-0 loss to Jamestown. B-R forced Blue Jays goaltender Brian Wenzel into making 28 saves, but rarely did Braves attackers muscle their way into the low slot or beyond the faceoff circles to get a high-percentage shot away.

“I thought we had plenty of chances but we weren’t burying any of them,” Braves head coach David Hoff said. 

“If you’d told me before the game we were going to have 27, 28 shots then I would’ve thought we’d get something out of the game, but I was a little disappointed that we didn’t get anything down in the gritty area in front of the net. 

“How many point-blank chances did we have from the hash marks out, but I was just disappointed that we didn’t have guys getting to the net tonight.”

Junior goaltender Ethan Clements ended the game with 26 saves and was arguably B-R’s player of the game. After conceding 10 goals in a 10-5 season-opening loss at Devils Lake on Nov. 25, Clements kept Friday’s scoreline from becoming worse than it was.

B-R then fell to 0-3-0 on the season on Saturday, though, by way of a 7-2 loss to Dickinson. Braves forward Noah Grant opened the scoring 3:03 into the game, but the Midgets held court over much of the rest of the day.

Hoff saw improvements in the Braves’ game on Saturday, but he knows his team still has plenty of leaps yet to make.

“The tough part is that I think a lot of people judge whether you’re getting better or not on whether you’re winning or not,” Hoff said, “And the fact that we’re 0-3 doesn’t make that look good. 

“When I look at our kids, though, and where they’re at this year compared to where we were this time last year, we’ve made some progress, but we’re just not where we need to be at.”

B-R is now idle until it hosts Hazen-Beulah in Rugby on Dec. 19. The Braves will then visit Williston the following night.