Sound the alarm bells. The Toronto Sceptres are in trouble. Troy Ryan’s squad is a sinking ship. Thursday’s 5-0 loss to the expansion Vancouver Goldeneyes was the scraping of the iceberg.
Compounding the defeat – the team’s fifth in the past six games – was the prevalence of ex-Sceptres high-fiving and fist-pumping in front of the raucous crowd of 14,006 at Pacific Coliseum. Izzy Daniel, a one-time Patty Kazmaier Award winner, opening the scoring. Kristen “Soupy” Campbell earning her first-ever shutout in a Vancouver uniform. And, Sarah Nurse, Toronto’s former marquee player, netting a pair of goals including her third in just two games after returning from injury.
“It was a tough one for us. Right from the start, we didn’t seem to have a whole lot of life,” Ryan told reporters after the game. We’ve dug ourselves a bit of a hole here, and very soon we’ve got to find a way to dig ourselves out of it. Just seemed to have no legs and no life, and then similar to our last game in Seattle, just some poor puck management, some poor decisions that cost us.”
Sceptres in the basement
‘Deep hole’ is an accurate assessment. As of Friday morning, the Sceptres have awaken in last-place in the PWHL standings in points percentage, trailing the Goldeneyes by a slim .378 to .381 margin. They’re in the basement with 42 goals against, and 2.8 goals against per game.
Any guesses about the paltry output of 27 goals, 1.8 goals per game? You got it, worst in the league.
Vancouver, the only other PWHL team averaging less than two scores a game, has at least gotten a much-needed spark with Nurse’s return. Toronto has no such saviour on the immediate horizon.
It’s a conundrum that has no easy answers. There is certainly no shortage of talent; the ‘other’ team led by Ryan – Team Canada – has six players from Toronto going to the Olympics in a couple of weeks, more personnel than any other PWHL squad.
The goaltending tandem of Raygan Kirk and Elaine Chuli has been mediocre, however neither keeper has emerged as a clear starter. Kirk has started nine games to Chuli’s six and has a better GAA and save percentage – yet puzzlingly has just one regulation win all year (two victories overall), which came on opening night.
Chuli has at least won – in regulation – half of her starts. Her stat line has been downgraded as a result of two singular abysmal performances, a five-goal drubbing versus Minnesota on Dec. 30 in which she was pulled after two periods in favour Kirk, and last night’s outing, where she withstood the entire five-goal barrage.
No, goaltending isn’t the sole issue. Rather the team appears disconnected, unfocused, Ryan frequently lamenting at his post-game addresses on how his team can’t seem to execute fundamental plays…’how (we) can make a such a poor line change at this level’ is one of many such telling sound bites.
Is it time to follow in the footsteps of fellow non-playoff teams Ottawa and Vancouver, who consummated the record-breaking six-player trade last week?
Toronto has a surplus of defenders on a much-heralded blue line that seems to have sprung a leak. Could a player like Savannah Harmon – obtained last season as part of the Sceptres’ first-ever trade – be on the move again?
Currently the Sceptres are four points back of the Montreal Victoire for the fourth and final playoff spot, having played two more games. As the gulf widens between Toronto and the post-season contenders, the urgency to reverse the downward spiral intensifies.
Ryan, alongside general manager Gina Kingsbury, who have proven more than capable of engineering gold medal wins on the international stage, need that Midas touch to fix the Sceptres. Because, the status quo isn’t working.
