Truitt's gamble falls short..was it worth rolling the dice?

Was it a gamble worth taking?

It certainly made the score look more lopsided than it was, but it was designed to give the Rockets the best chance of getting the equalizing goal and sending the game into overtime.

It’s the coach’s decision, a move many may second guess following the end result.

Isn’t hindsight wonderful?

Let me refresh your memory for a moment.

Head Coach Jeff Truitt elected to pull goaltender Torrie Jung with about a minute and a half left in regulation time with the Rockets down 5-4, after his team was rewarded a power play on a 5 minute major accessed to Cougars forward Nick Drazenovic.

Sure it back fired, as the Cougars scored twice shorthanded, but whether the score ended up 7-4 (which it did) or remained 5-4 - the bottom line - it was a loss.

Some will argue it didn’t show much faith in a Rockets power play that up until that point had scored three times with the man advantage, and still had a full 2:35 left to generate a goal 5 on 4.

Questionable call?

Should the coach have kept Jung in, eliminating the chance of the Cougars scoring shorthanded to put the game away?

You have to admit Jeff Truitt made a bold decision, a gut decision if you will.

Had it worked Truitt would have looked like a genius.

What do you think? Good move? Bad move?

You tell me at the bottom of the article by leaving a comment.

My thought is Truitt wouldn’t have been forced to make the move had his team not had to battle from behind all night long.

The Cougars had a 3-0 lead after one period, and it seemed like ‘lights out’ for the Rockets.
But the boys impressed me by not lying down, but fighting back with an early second period goal from David Schulz to make it a 3-1 game.

But as the Cougars did all night long, when the Rockets inched closer to tying the score, the home team would again make it a two goal margin.
Just over a minute after Schulz scored, Jared Walker would respond and the Rockets found themselves down 4-2.

Again the road team could have ‘shut it down’, yet they didn’t want to go away quietly.
Chris Ray’s early third period goal and then Lucas Bloodoff’s marker on the power play shortly after the Cougars made it 5-3, meant we were in for a good finish in a one goal game.

But the decision to yank the goaltender for the extra attacker allowed the Cougars to seal the deal with back-to-back shorthanded goals to make it a 7-4 final.

Positives from the game:

*Battling back from a 3-0 first period deficit.

*Colin Long and Lucas Bloodoff both scored their 10th goals of the season in the setback.
Long’s was a beauty from the side of the net on a bank job off the end boards from a Luke Schenn shot.
Long, with the hands of a brain surgeon, somehow collected the puck and from what appeared to be an impossible angle, chipped it past startled Cougar goaltender Real Cyr.
Bloodoff’s goal was all guts and gore, as he got hammered to the ice as he stood in front of the opposition goal.
He paid the price. His reward? A goal.

*The power play struck for three goals in the game.

*Sticking up for teammates.
When rookie Tysen Barrie was hit from behind by Drazenovic late in the game, who came skating over to the Cougar forward to show his disapproval of what had just happened?
Colin Long!!
Long is an example of a skilled player simply not liking others taking advantage of his teammate.
He didn’t have to fight the guy to get his point across, but running into Drazenovic and giving him a piece of his mind (verbally) is a step in the right direction.

Jesse Schultz did it all the time when he played here, and he would have probably got rag dolled by Tyler Mosienko.
Bottom line is Schultz cared for a fallen comrade, and Long showed me the same thing last night.
Finally it was someone other than James McEwan showing me that they care about a teammates well being, and Long had the go-nads to stick up for him.

*Tysen Barrie.
He is a beauty. (I sound like Don Cherry again!)
How can a 15 year-old be this good? It blows my mind that he was the Rockets best d-man Saturday.
He was matched up against Devin Setoguchi all night long. What an assignment.
Could he be as good as his dad?
Maybe better, but unlike his father Len, Tysen will be bring it from the back end as a skilled defenseman who may play high risk, but makes good decisions and rarely is out of position.

*The line of Evan Bloodoff, Brandon McMillan and Dylan Hood.
Energy – Energy and Energy!!
They not only provided time for the Rockets top two lines to rest, but at times carried the play inside the Cougars zone.
Now I want to see them rewarded for their efforts with a goal.

Negatives from the game:

*When the Rockets had a 6-on-4 power play with time ticking down and the Rockets trailing by a goal, why is Cody Almond trying to do everything himself?
Pass the puck Cody; your teammates are not out there as window dressing.

*Colin Joe.
C-Joe struggled and was on the ice for three of the Cougars first four goals and was a -2.
Assistant Coach Ryan Huska sat him for a good portion of the second and the entire third period.
David Schulz was a -4.

*Justin Bernhardt.
While he had an assist in the game, his decision making with the puck has me scratching my head.
Often times wanting to do it himself, he continually gets bumped off the puck by trying to be a one man wrecking crew.
He needs to bring more to the table with a better work ethic or he’ll see himself watching from the stands.
If Keaton Ellerby doesn’t buy into the system in Kamloops and becomes a healthy scratch, why not Bernhardt?
It’s no surprise he has been demoted off of the Rockets #1 line.
Ray – Long and Almond are a much better fit.

*Torrie Jung.
While this isn’t a complete negative because I love the guy (figure of speech there) ‘Junger’ just didn’t have it last night.
He allowed a few questionable goals that I know he would normally make when on his game.

Regan’s Ramblings:

Veteran Clayton Barthel again didn’t play against the Cougars after missing Friday’s game with flu like symptoms.
Look at it this way Clayton, you will never have to take a bus up to Prince George ever again….you lucky fella.

Brandon McMillan and Evan Bloodoff played pretty well considering neither had much sleep after flying in for the game from the Whitehorse, Yukon.
McMillan told me prior to the game he didn’t sleep all night because of delays in bus and flight arrangements.
On top of that McMillan and Bloodoff lost their luggage, meaning they went to the arena wearing a team B.C fleece jacket and blue jeans while Rocket teammates wore dress pants, jackets, shirts and ties.

The attendance at the CN Centre for both games was nothing short of embarrassing.
Where is everybody?
Playing bingo?
It’s a shame with so many green-empty seats, yet the Cougars provide a pretty good on-ice product.
Some guys were joking in the broadcast booth that you could fire a cannon into a section of seats at the CN Centre and you wouldn’t hit anyone.

Maybe it’s just me, but how uncomfortable is Cougars Head Coach Drew Schoneck with having G.M Dallas Thompson on the Cougars bench breathing down his neck?
I am sure Schoneck can handle the bench by himself, can’t he?
Having two authority figures on the bench must be confusing for the players, and to me it shows that Thompson doesn’t have much faith in Schoneck’s decision making ability.
If I can see that, I can only imagine what the player’s perception of the situation is.

Devin Setoguchi impressed me again this weekend.
The Cougar forwards quick release is one of the best in the game, and his skill is second to none.
A bit of a hot dog who plays only as hard as he wants too, he can lead the Cougars a long way when he is on the top of his game.
If I was Kamloops, I’d be shaking in my boots in meeting the Coug’s in the opening round.
This will likely be the best Western Conference playoff series in the opening round.

Can you say upset?

The boys have the day off, but are back on the ice Monday morning. I'll share some thoughts about the Rockets 8 hour bus ride up to Prince George in tomorrow's blog.
For now...it's off to bed!