Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse for the Estevan Bruins, they did on Tuesday.
In the annual New Year's Day clash with the Weyburn Red Wings - who happen to be chasing the Bruins for the last playoff spot in the Sherwood - the Bruins started slow, woke up in the second period and dominated the third before surrendering the game-winner with 0.2 seconds remaining in regulation.
The team also lost gritty rookie winger Wyatt Garagan for four to six weeks with a dislocated elbow.
The last-second winner, a weak five-hole goal scored by Jackson Schneider after a Bruin turnover, is the kind of thing that can send things off the rails. Consider Carter Struthers' last-minute tying goal in Game 1 of last season's playoff series. Weyburn won that game in overtime and the Bruins never recovered. It was an indisputable turning point, and this could be too if the Bruins don't respond to it well.
The Bruins had a bad start to the game, being outplayed in the first (though not as badly as they were on Sunday) and not really making it a game until the second half of the second period, when they scored three goals.
The upshot is that instead of potentially winning both games and being 10 points up on Weyburn, pretty much clinching a playoff spot, the Bruins are now only two points ahead and the Wings have a game in hand.
In turn, the Bruins are three points behind Kindersley with a game in hand. Still, a playoff spot is very much in danger right now.
Bruins fans have seen all this before, of course. Two years ago, the Bruins were expected to contend for first place in the south. They finished fourth, and Karry Biette was fired mid-season after his infamous pre-season quote, "Fire me at Christmas if we're not in the top three."
This year, they were also expected to be an upper-end team. They've had bad luck with injuries to key players, but the fact remains that the 2012-13 Estevan Bruins are a massive, massive failure at this moment. They could change that with their play down the stretch, but it's going to take something we haven't seen all year.
Here's something I want to know: how did their power play go from first place in the SJHL last year to 11th at a rate of 11 per cent? And actually, it sat dead last until they scored twice on the PP yesterday, thanks to Cole Olson and Hudson Morrison.
Sure, Dylan Smith was the finisher on the power play last year, but that was largely in the early going and his departure alone is not the difference between first and 11th.
A couple of other thoughts:
I would love to see Lynnden Pastachak sign a card and be called up for the rest of the season. The 16-year-old Bienfait forward has played three games now, and in my opinion he's been nothing short of tremendous. In fact, Keith Cassidy even had him out there in the last minute against the Wings.
Pastachak has had scoring chances, he's been physical at times and he's been very responsible defensively. He's more motivated than a lot of the players on the roster - a massive issue with this team, I think - and he brings energy, enthusiasm and a willingness to do whatever it takes. There's no doubt in my mind he belongs in the SJHL right now.
On a closing note, boo-urns to the Moose Jaw Warriors. They brought up Bruins rookie left winger Darcy DeRoose on Christmas Day, and he hasn't dressed for any of the three games they've played since then. Since DeRoose hasn't signed a card with the Warriors, he is under an affiliated player agreement. The terms of that agreement state that he is not to be brought up if the Bruins are playing, and if he does join the WHL team, he must play. Neither of those terms have been fulfilled. Also, the Bruins were not contacted at all by the Warriors, either before or after DeRoose left.
