After more than two weeks on the road, Vancouver Goldeneyes head coach Brian Idalski said he just wanted his players to feel some normalcy again\u2014to return home, do laundry, and train on familiar ice.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t sleep well on the road, so that\u2019s a thing,\u201d Idalski told reporters following Vancouver\u2019s 5-1 loss to Boston on Tuesday. \u201cSwitching hotels from one to the next, flights and connection flights and buses, it takes a toll. We\u2019re still figuring out what that looks like and what that impact is.\u201d<\/p>\n
The defeat, played before 10,794 fans during the PWHL Takeover Tour stop in Edmonton, marked the Goldeneyes\u2019 fourth loss in five games. Vancouver now trails fourth-place Toronto by seven points with only four games remaining in the regular season. Their schedule offers little hope for a comeback, as none of those games are against the teams Vancouver needs to overtake for a playoff spot.<\/p>\n
While neither Vancouver nor the last-place Seattle Torrent have been officially eliminated, it appears both will miss the postseason in this inaugural season despite assembling talented rosters through expansion. Idalski believes the grueling travel schedule has played a significant role.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re both struggling,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s something there. There\u2019s something with the travel and us going back and forth that\u2019s happening to our bodies. We need to learn how to manage that better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vancouver and Seattle stand as geographic outliers in the eight-team league, most of which are based on the East Coast. Minnesota is the closest team, about a three-and-a-half-hour flight from Vancouver. Seattle, geographically the nearest, won\u2019t host the Goldeneyes at Climate Pledge Arena until April 18.<\/p>\n
With players still flying commercial and the Takeover Tour placing games in cities without current PWHL teams, the road trips grow even longer. Vancouver\u2019s recent five-game trip spanned Boston, Toronto, Montreal, Minnesota, and concluded with an Edmonton game designated as a home match.<\/p>\n
Captain Ashton Bell called the trip \u201cexhausting, kind of physically and mentally,\u201d though she noted team bonding opportunities on the road. \u201cWe definitely took a lot of positives out of this road trip. But it definitely has a toll on your body. You start to feel it in your legs.\u201d<\/p>\n
That toll was clear during Tuesday\u2019s loss. The Goldeneyes struggled early, unable to win puck battles or generate cohesion. Boston\u2019s traffic in front of goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer was relentless, and Maschmeyer was eventually pulled with family and friends watching in Edmonton. Though Vancouver\u2019s play improved in the third period, they couldn\u2019t overcome the five-goal deficit.<\/p>\n
Looking back, the season started unraveling after star forward Sarah Nurse was sidelined with an injury. Nurse had scored the team\u2019s first franchise goal in front of the home crowd but missed a three-game road trip spanning the team\u2019s first extended road stretch. Vancouver dropped all three games without her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe went on such a long road trip right off the bat and it was our first one and she wasn\u2019t there,\u201d GM Cara Gardner Morey. \u201cI think that had a huge impact where we could have used her just for culture and locker room and just a steady kind of presence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vancouver has managed just three road wins this season, second-worst only to Seattle\u2019s single road victory. On ice, the team has sometimes appeared disjointed and struggled to produce offense. They rank last in the league for shots per game, averaging 26.19, even with Nurse back and defensive stalwarts Claire Thompson and Sophie Jaques leading the way.<\/p>\n
Still, Gardner Morey sees silver linings. Despite the rocky record, the team, formed less than a year ago, has gained valuable experience.<\/p>\n
Second-year player Izzy Daniel has stepped up impressively. \u201cShe just makes such smart plays and she’s so creative,\u201d Gardner Morey said. \u201cI knew she would be good, but in her second year, I didn’t know she would be able to have this big of an impact.\u201d<\/p>\n
The GM has also been thrilled with how quickly the fan base has grown at Pacific Coliseum, where crowds fill the arena even on weekdays. Both Vancouver and Seattle have found success off the ice through ticket and merchandise sales.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always worry as a GM, oh my God, the fans are going to boo us, we\u2019re not winning,\u201d Gardner Morey said. \u201cBut there\u2019s none of that sentiment with our city and our fans. They\u2019re just so supportive and they\u2019re just excited every time we have a game. So we\u2019re really excited to get home and play in front of them again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, travel demands may ease if the league expands in the West. Cities such as Denver, Edmonton, and Chicago have all hosted multiple Takeover Tour stops. Expansion would shake up the league but likely provide Vancouver with a high draft pick from a strong incoming class of prospects.<\/p>\n
That opportunity for fresh beginnings, combined with lessons learned, gives the Goldeneyes plenty to play for in these final games.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s playing for pride, playing for our fans, playing for the city of Vancouver and continuing just to get better every single day so that if we do make playoffs, we\u2019re set up to have a good run or if we don\u2019t, we\u2019re set up to start next year on that high,\u201d Gardner Morey said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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