As losses mount, so does tension at Thunder practices

If the Thunder was hoping prctice can be an escape from the harsh feelings of an often humiliating month, it’s not happening.

If anything, practice has become a cruel reminder of just how dire the Thunder’s situation has become. Wichita hasn’t won a game in regulation since Oct. 31, winning once in a shootout over a nine-game stretch.

The Thunder has been shut out three times in 16 games, matching last season’s total, and has lost all nine games against division opponents Missouri and Allen – seven against Missouri.

“We’re feeling lots of pressure right now,” Thunder forward Kenton Miller said. “Our practices are super-hard. We’re working so hard, we’re skating really hard. We know that when we’re losing, we’re going to do more skating until we win. The pressure is there, and everybody wants to win.”

During November, the Thunder has been outscored 31-13, with a pair of 5-2 defeats against Allen and a 7-2 loss to Missouri. Coach Kevin McClelland’s practices are typically relatively low-key, but the mood changes when the team is playing poorly.

“Practices probably look the same,” Miller said. “But you don’t even have to see it, you can just feel it. There’s tension in the air.

“You still want to come to practice, but you know it’s going to be hard.”

McClelland has little sympathy. His teams – McClelland won four Stanley Cup championships with the Edmonton Oilers – rarely went through extended losing stretches.

But when one of McClelland’s teams was in danger of a rough stretch, practices became more intense. The idea was to become more disciplined, a trait the Thunder could use after Theo Peckham was suspended by the ECHL on Wednesday.

At the end of Saturday’s loss to Missouri, Peckham shoved Mavericks goaltender Parker Milner, earning a game-misconduct penalty.

“What’s hard for them?” McClelland said. “They don’t know what’s hard. When we lost, we used to skate and skate and skate and skate and skate. It’s a little different now.”

The Thunder has to stop the line drills long enough to address its flaws. Wichita hasn’t topped two goals since Oct. 30 against Colorado, and the time before that was 13 days before.

Wichita is ranked last in the league in the power play with 2 of 61 conversions. It has allowed as many short-handed goals as it has scored on the power play. The Thunder has lost six of 10 games at Intrust Bank Arena.

“We’ve got to sort things out here. In practices, we’ve got to work on things that we’re lacking in our game,” McClelland said. “…You’ve got to go and work on things. You’ve got to pay attention to what’s going on. What you do in practice, you take into the game.”

This story was originally published November 24, 2015 at 5:55 PM with the headline "As losses mount, so does tension at Thunder practices."