Thunder makes changes in midst of losing streak

A major challenge during adverse situations is to avoid kneejerk reactions, since extreme results are often outliers that usually balance out.

The trades the Thunder made this week, sending away forwards Logan Nelson and Daultan Leveille and defenseman Martin Nemcik, weren’t to single out scapegoats for a seven-game losing streak or made in haste to address a low point.

The Thunder has been outscored 40-8 and endured a stretch of three consecutive shutouts near the end of 2016. Changes were necessary, but they were carefully considered. Wichita brings its new look to Wednesday’s game against Cincinnati at Intrust Bank Arena.

“You don’t want to make too many changes,” Thunder coach Malcolm Cameron said. “At the end of the day, we had a lot of players here and some just weren’t producing maybe to expectations or playing their role to expectations. When that happens, sometimes you just have to change the scenery, and that’s what we did.”

The trades were partly executed to make room on the roster for Gabriel Gagne and Ryan Rupert, who were sent to Wichita, the second-level affiliate of the Ottawa Senators, from a higher chain of command.

Gagne and Rupert, both forwards, should help the Thunder immediately. A six-goal weekend at Tulsa didn’t end the losing streak, as Wichita lost a pair of 5-3 games.

But it suggested that the Thunder may be ready to emerge from a skid that saw the team outscored 28-2 over the previous four games, including a 9-0 defeat at home against Allen.

“I’ve beaten teams by more than 9-0 – I don’t think I’ve ever lost 9-0. Eight, maybe,” Cameron said. “That was one of those nights where if anything could go wrong or would go wrong, it did go wrong. Trust me, when we lost the game Saturday night with a minute and 47 (seconds) to go, that one hurt worse.

“The players felt that. You can’t get too high, you can’t get too low. You’ve just got to stay even keel and simplify things. We’ll get back on track. Two and a half weeks ago, we were playing really good hockey.”

Another challenge for Cameron has been keeping his emotions balanced during a prolonged losing stretch. In six full seasons as an ECHL coach, Cameron has never missed the postseason.

That means few losing streaks and an unfamiliarity of how to handle them. He may have been exasperated at times, but Cameron has tried to keep that from seeping into the dressing room.

“Players feel enough stress as it is, so you can’t make it stressful on top of that,” Cameron said. “You just try to keep everything positive, and you point out the positives. That’s what I’m doing. … You just try and be as positive as you can because if you beat them down when you’re struggling, that just adds to the pressure.”

This story was originally published January 3, 2017 at 7:19 PM with the headline "Thunder makes changes in midst of losing streak."