CALGARY – Looking to turn things around is something you hear from every hockey team on a losing streak but the Calgary Mustangs need more than just a spark.
The Mustangs have lost 25 straight games and could break the record for most consecutive losses in AJHL history. The team is not just in a losing slump, but a financial one.
“Nothing really changes because our financial situation doesn’t change. We have a couple of really dedicated individuals on the board and it’s a daily struggle,” said Jeff Richards, Calgary Mustangs general manager and head coach. “We start off with less and have to compete with and accomplish just as much.”
“They’re battlers, they haven’t quit,” said Richards.
The players aren’t naive to the reality of the situation either.
“Other teams, if they fall into the slump, they have money…they have resources..to just go buy this player from another team and have easier ways out of it,” said Mustangs forward Josh McCulloch.
Other rural AJHL teams like the Brooks Bandits and Camrose Kodiaks have sellout crowds that attract big sponsors that will provide more funding.
“We don’t have the glitz and the glamour,” said Richards.
The Flames and Hitmen are the big hockey shows in our city but even Flames forward Joe Colborne, who grew up in Calgary, says he spent two of the best years of his life in the AJHL and it still offers entertaining hockey.
“It’s too bad that more people aren’t taking advantage of the opportunity to watch some good young hockey players,” he said.
WATCH AJHL Highlites: Drumheller Dragons at Calgary Mustangs
“It’s exciting to play road games in front of a big crowd. In Calgary, we don’t get the big crowd and I think that’s a big factor for a lot of the young guys (choosing teams),” said McCulloch.
When it comes to finding top players, Richards says many don’t even consider Calgary team’s because of their losing records. Which makes it hard for him to recruit top players for his team. He has to look deep and see a players possible potential.
“We don’t get top-level Midget AAA, we don’t get the scoring champions. Whether it’s from here in Calgary or Alberta period or B.C. and Saskatchewan. All of those players are going elsewhere. So we have to look at maybe a AA player that’s doing well or a AAA player and a lot of times it’s projecting. It’s looking at an individual, guesstimating what he might look like or could look like. And sometimes you’re right and sometimes you’re wrong. The ones that do go away and find out that it might not be quite what they anticipated it to be. I bring Calgary kids back home all the time, several a year. And you know, they come back here and they excel,” said Richards.
Even after facing so much adversity, from 25 loses in a row to five new coaches in five years, the Mustangs team itself is tighter than ever.
“Everybody just comes together a lot stronger than if we were winning, because, you got to,” said McCulloch. “Character doesn’t win hockey games but I think it will help out a lot in the long run.”
Nineteen-year-old McCulloch is right and his team’s attitude is credible. There’s proof that opportunities to grow as a player and be seen can happen when you play for a team that doesn’t have the best record.
Just ask proud father Terry Mitchell, whose son Mason was scouted by the Buffalo Sabres while he was playing for the Mustangs.
“One of the only and fewest players ever to come out of a Junior A team and go straight to an NHL training camp and it happened while playing with the Mustangs and, by the way, we didn’t have a winning record,” said Mitchell.
The one thing the Mustangs could offer that other Alberta AJHL team’s couldn’t, was a bigger support to get an education.
“Where he (Mason) could get really good ice time development and the team would be supportive of him taking his classes while he was here,” said Mitchell.
He says hockey fans in Calgary need to show the Mustangs and the local AJHL league support right now, instead of overlooking a team because of their losing record.
“Can you imagine, going into a dressing room, about to go in say..your 25th game right now and you know you’re not on the winning team. You’re in your room with your teammates. This is hard. This is where we have to rally behind and support these young men and say we’re behind you, because they’re playing their hearts out every night,” said Mitchell.
Win or lose, the Mustangs need an even playing field to jump up the standings. Any help from the community will make a difference in their eyes.
“The community knowing that we’re here. Whether it’s volunteering your time or supporting us with dollars, everything helps,” said Richards.
Many of those involved in the AJHL community say it can also be an investment in our city’s future generations.
“We’re building some young men to turn into being better human beings that may work for us someday within our corporation,” said Mitchell.
“The show must go on,” said Richards.
The Mustangs look to avoid their 26th loss Tuesday night, as they host the Okotoks Oilers at Father David Bauer Arena.
The team hopes it doesn’t make headlines if they fall to the Oilers and lose three more. They would then break a 41-year old losing record in the AJHL. The Pass Red Devils hold the record of 28 straight loses from Sept. 28 to Dec. 19, 1974.
The longest AJHL winless streak on away ice is 26 games, which has been held by the Sherwood Park Crusaders since 2000.
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