You Can’t Win Them All!

You Can’t Win Them All!

It was sweet while it lasted, but the Wildcats wining streak is over and maybe it’s a blessing in disguise.

The upstart Quebec Remparts played the perfect road game and did something that no other team since the Baie-Comeau Drakkar did in early January at the Avenir Centre and that’s to beat the mighty Moncton Wildcats.

Something was missing.

Something was way off watching the Moncton Wildcats play last night.

It’s not a mystery or something the championship contender should be worried sick about, it’s hockey and simply put they weren’t good enough last night.

It wasn’t a full blown stinker last night, it was loss.

You can dissect it and break it down all you want the Wildcats lacked intensity and execution.

They passed when they should have shot they shot when they should have passed.

The one element of the loss the Cats staff and players should be concerned about is the way the team and some players handled the adversity, especially the frustration directed toward the officials on a few occasions.

You see when everything goes your way for so long, some players have a tendency to get complacent.

Complacency is your worst enemy on a long winning streak.

You can make all the excuses in the world and say that Olivier Rodrigue wasn’t good enough, or the officials missed calls or the Cats had no luck, or injuries to Huntley and Andersson played a role.

Quite frankly that’s all bull shit.

The Wildcats got beat, they lost.

They had no energy or intensity.

They played an individualist brand of hockey, didn’t support the puck on occasions and lost one on one puck battles.

The D-Corps were on their heels and gave the Remparts way too much time and space.

The Wildcats didn’t back check with purpose either.

You see this loss might be exactly what the doctor ordered for the Wildcats.

Dan Lacriox’s message moving forward will carry significantly more weight.

You can’t win them all, even if you want to, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, that’s hockey.

Sometimes you win when you should lose.

Sometimes you lose when you should win.

The 2019-2020 Moncton Wildcats spoiled their fans winning 16 straight and breaking the franchise record.

The biggest take away from all of this is clear, the Moncton Wildcats can be beaten, so can any hockey team on any given night.

That’s hockey and maybe that loss was a blessing in disguise.

Great teams learn more from losing then from winning.