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The Storm taking a lesson at Tuesday's practice from Head Coach Ryan Aasman (Photo: Shaun Penner)
By Shaun Penner
Storm

Storm blocking out critics as they look to snap skid

Feb 21, 2020 | 1:11 PM

There is no where to go but up for the Grande Prairie Storm, as they embark on their final road trip of the regular season tonight in Fort McMurray.

It’s been trying times of late for the young Storm, who see themselves mired in an 11-game losing streak, punctuated by a loss to the league-worst Calgary Canucks at home in their last game on Friday.

Interim Head Coach Ryan Aasman was rather emotional following that loss, as he went-in on his team postgame to EverythingGP. After having some time to de-compress, the 27-year-old bench boss still wasn’t letting his team off easy at practice this week, because he feels his team needs to come together a lot more than they have of late.

“There’s no excuses for any of this. We have to find a way to keep challenging the group to bond together, to become more of a team so they can go through hard times together,” exclaimed Aasman. “We got too many individuals in the room, looking to do it on their own.”

“But we have to learn to be a team, and fast here.”

An opportunity for the Storm to band together may have presented itself during this skid, as the criticism is not only coming from their Head Coach, but many fans as well.

“Some of that stuff, you just got to put it in one ear and out the other and go out and keep playing,” said forward Brody Dale. “We have got to come out stronger each game and build as a team, and battle as a team. Do it for us, no one else. Just for us.”

Dale adds that seeing the critical comments across social media, especially after Friday’s loss, was a bit of an eye-opener.

“You don’t see it a whole lot at this level, it’s more so with the Canadian NHL teams, in the tougher markets,” Dale chuckled. “But, I think it’s good. I think we’re going to rebound good against it and use it as motivation.”

Grande Prairie native and Storm goaltender Lars Kaliel knows all too well that the criticism comes from a passionate group of fans here in the Swan City that want to see their team win.

“When we’re winning, we’ll get the same feedback, but more positive,” said Kaliel. “But when we’re losing, obviously it’s not going to be very good. But it’s just everybody caring, they want to see us succeed.”

As the team rallies, they also turn their attention to the postseason, which will get underway next weekend. Tonight’s game at the Casman Centre holds playoff positioning implications, as the Oil Barons are just a single point back of the Storm for sixth in the AJHL’s North Division.

Tonight will be the last game of the season for the MOB though, while the Storm still have three more games following tonight, where just two points will be needed to avoid a first round matchup with the Spruce Grove Saints.

Aasman doesn’t overly care about where the team is seeded in the playoffs or who their opponent is, because he feels if his team can get back on track, they can make some noise in the playoffs.

“I think we have a good team that a lot of teams in the North are not looking forward to playing in a best-of-seven series,” said Aasman. “I think the future with this group looks really good.”

Following tonight’s game, the team will travel to Bonnyville for a pair of games on Saturday and Sunday against the Pontiacs. They will then close out the regular season at home against the Whitecourt Wolverines on Tuesday.

by Shaun Penner