Consistency, focus missing for Thunder

A Wichita Thunder hockey game is often an exhibition in what is missing – sometimes it’s as simple as a competitive roster or as complex as full-time concentration.

Thunder players insist, though, that the team isn’t completely devoid of all elements that make a successful team. Even though Wichita (10-31-5-4) has scored the fewest goals in the ECHL and allowed the most, the season does have an emotional fallback.

“The effort is always there,” Thunder defenseman Dan Milan said.

“It’s the consistency and the mental focus. Sometimes we’ll be going good for 50 minutes and we’ll have a 10-minute letdown. But that’s all. The effort is always there. We’ve got a lot of good guys.”

There is evidence to back up Milan. In each of the first periods of two losses to South Carolina over the weekend, the Thunder was competitive before South Carolina asserted its superior skill in the second periods and ran away.

Some of the decisive goals resulted from Thunder breakdowns that could have been mistaken for laziness. One was explained by a mistimed line change that left a South Carolina forward alone for a breakaway, and a difference-maker on Saturday resulted from a Wichita defenseman playing out of position after he exited the penalty box.

They are mistakes that can quickly be compounded by the Thunder, which often appears deflated after trouble hits. But they’re not, Wichita says, stemmed from quitting on a long-lost season.

“You can just take a look around the room,” Milan said. “Everybody we have is a (high-)character hard worker. You can work as hard as you want but sometimes if you’re not thinking – you’ve got to think the game, too. Work hard, but work smart.”

Goaltender David Shantz has often been the victim of failings in front of him. During Friday’s game, South Carolina scored three goals that were virtually uncontested because of carelessness by the Thunder.

The poorly times defensive line shift particularly pointed to a lack of foresight, because it went against the constant urging of coach Kevin McClelland for players to be aware of their surroundings.

“I think some people look at some of those moments and wonder if things could have gone differently,” Shantz said. “But if (I) make a couple of saves, you’re not talking about those plays. That’s just part of it, part of the breakdowns that happen over the course of a game.”

This story was originally published February 15, 2016 at 5:59 PM with the headline "Consistency, focus missing for Thunder."