Triston Grant, Brennan Evans, Jeff oggan and Nathan Paetsch hope to keep the Griffins heading in the ri t direction.
“Last year was not only fun, but it was also a huge learning experience,” Grant said. “It’s an experience that can never be taken away, and it should defin tely help us down the stretch this season.” “Being in the situations that we encountered last year will certainly help,” Paetsch said. “We didn’t win one easy round, but we had players who came up big for us in clutch situations. A lot of those guys are still in this room and hopefully they’re going to help us going forward.” Experience often counts when it matters most. “You end up relying on those guys who have been there,” Hoggan said. “Going in, we know what needs to be done,” added Evans. The key is to stay focused. Head coach Jeff Blashill and his staff re intent on making sure that the team keeps moving in the right direction. “Blash always preaches process,” Evans said. “The better the process, the better the results.” After stumbling a bit to start the season, winning just twice in their fi st six games, the Griffins strung together their fi st seven-game winning streak to move into fi st place. For the most part, the team kept up its winning ways until mid-January when it lost its footing, in part due to the callups of Luke Glendening, Riley Sheahan and Tomas Jurco to Detroit. “Not many teams go through a season without ups and downs – it’s very rare,” Evans said. “We
got into a bit of a slump. Trying to get the ship going in the right direction was a big concern, so it was nice to put that behind us.” “A couple of weeks ago, we might have taken a step back, but now we’re back on track and heading in the right direction,” Grant agreed. “We defin tely want to go into the playoffs n a high note.” With the addition of so many young players, the Griffins were bound to experience some growing pains. “Guys are growing on the ice, but we have the expectation that they’ll take it upon themselves and become leaders,” Hoggan said. “These guys are young, but you want them to take the bull by the horns right away.” When you’re the defending champs, expectations are high. “It’s been a tough year because we’ve had so much (player) movement,” Grant said. “We’re fortunate to have a balanced group of young players and they’re crucial. We have young guys who have been getting better since Day 1 and that’s pretty neat to see.” Individual improvements, however, are secondary to the success enjoyed by the organization. A team wins a Cup, not individuals. Champions often exhibit an esprit de corps, a single-minded purpose to reach a solitary goal. “Last year, from Christmas on, we had the