If Jeff Pyle gets his way, he'll make some trades in the next day or two before the team leaves on its northern road trip. He'd especially like to get rid of some guys who are playing selfishly. "They are so mentally soft it's ridiculous. Poor me," he said. Pyle also mentioned Jon Sitko being really out of shape, "he's killing himself out there," he said.
Specifically Pyle would like to bring in a defensive defenseman. Easier said than done though, as trades are almost as hard to make in the ECHL as the NHL these days. Pyle's white board, which usually has the line combos and IR list, was completely wiped clean. I asked if this was an indication of where the entire team stands, and he said it sure was.
The trade deadline is March 5.
Both players called up to Manitoba (Dickenson and Jackson) will likely be back for the northern trip. But Pyle had some rather choice names for Manitoba after they called guys up and didn't play them, leaving his bench short. He wanted what he said printed, but I'm going to save him from himself and not repeat it. Use your imagination. But he said that if Manitoba asks for guys again, "not a chance" he'd send another player.
Lou Dickenson was en route back to Gwinnett today. Jimmy Jackson could be back by midweek, but "who knows" given Manitoba, Pyle said. Mike Vigilante is still out with the post-concussion symptoms, and won't play next weekend.
Tomorrow night I should have photos of the delayed game, and a welcome back Brad Schell photo montage. I considered taking some of the jersey auction, but the lighting was awful so I gave up on that. I was standing with the players before they came out though, and they were determining who got to go first. Going earlier was desirable because they had been at the arena 7 hours already due to the delay and all wanted to go home. They determined that games played in the league should be the deciding factor, so that's why you had veterans like Busniuk and Vigilante first and the rookies last.
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I asked Assistant Coach Cam Brown (easily recognized by the "A" on his suit jacket) if he'd ever been on a bus that broke down on the way to the game...he had, but not since he'd been with Gwinnett. The delay favors the visiting team as the home team tends to lose focus (as the Gladiators did while watching folks play "musical chairs" at center ice) while the visitors are generally ready to get it on as soon as the bus pulls in.
Yesterday followed that script...down 3-0 early and with only 4 SOG for Gwinnett in the first period. Yet another bad game against a bad team. New blood surely couldn't hurt.
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