Canucks searching for chemistry
The Niagara Falls Canucks are still figuring out what to do with the wealth of talent they have recently brought in.
The Canucks added Carson Edwardson, Danial Singer, Sam Bourgeois, Dario Tesoro and Andrew Somerville earlier this month, and head coach Frank Pietrangelo is still trying to fit all of the pieces of the puzzle together.
“We’ve got guys from all over the place, from different leagues, from different teams,” Pietrangelo said. “Our lines and our personnel, it’s a work in progress here.
“We’re still trying to figure things out. We don’t know where everything is going to fit yet. We’re trying different things every night and find out what’s best.”
The Canucks won a couple of big games versus the St. Catharines Falcons two weeks ago, but then last week dropped a pair of games to Fort Erie and Hamilton.
“They’re two completely different games so I don’t want to bunch them together,” Pietrangelo said. “We’ve got to be better. We can be better, we will be better.
“I don’t want to just say it’s because we have a bunch of new faces because so do other teams. It comes back to me and my coaching staff to find the right chemistry for our club to be successful every night. We’re still working on that, to be totally honest.”
The Canucks, who lead the Falcons by two points for second place, have eight games to sort things out before the playoffs.
“We just want to make sure we’re ready,” Pietrangelo said. “We’ve had a very successful season to date. We’re still in second place where we’ve been for most of the year and so we’re trying to make sure we’re comfortable with things going into the playoffs.
“You want to be playing well, but you also want to understand the guys know who they’re supposed to so and I think we’re at that point now.”
Pietrangelo said the Canucks have been working in practice on implementing their systems.
“Every team has different structure and a different way of doing things,” he said. “All of a sudden they come here and whether it’s right, wrong or indifferent, it doesn’t really matter because this is way we do it here.
“We need everybody on the same page. That’s the biggest battle we’ve had. It’s not that guys aren’t trying or making mistakes, it’s a lot of times they’re thinking what does coach want me to do here, and that half-second in hockey, it’s a very quick game and those are the problems we’ve seen.”
The Canucks have also been without defenceman Anthony Issaris for the last five games due to injury.
“We’ve been playing for five defenceman for last five games so that kind of throws a wrench into things,” he said.
The Canucks are home to Hamilton Friday and at Thorold next Thursday.
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