Les Wingrove got to see his Coquitlam Adanacs from a different viewpoint on the weekend. The bench.
Unfortunately, his close presence to the players couldn't spur them to pull the reins on the team's losing gallop as the A's dropped two more Western Lacrosse Association contests -- 9-5 Thursday to the host New Westminster Salmonbellies and 14-10 Saturday to the Victoria Shamrocks at the Poirier Sports and Leisure Complex.
Saturday's loss was the A's fifth straight and dropped them 4-8-0 and a share of last place with the Maple Ridge Burrards in the seven-team loop. The general manager Wingrove was pressed into helping coach his squad after bench boss Bob Salt was suspended for two games and one of his assistants, Randy Delmonico, was issued a four-game ban following a verbal altercation with the referees after the A's fell 11-9 in Ridge the previous Sunday.
Wingrove and assistant coach Dennis Quigley worked the bench Thursday, while ex-Adanac and current Jr. A's skipper Curt Malawsky joined the pair for Saturday's contest. Even the presence of the revered Malawsky, who's steered the defending Minto Cup-champion Jr. A's to a perfect 19-0 mark this season, failed to turn around the A's fortunes.
"It's not lack of effort or anything like that," Wingrove told The Tri-City News of his team's on-floor woes. "In fact, I think we're a lot better than our record indicates."
With six regular-season games remaining, the A's sit only three points back of both the Burnaby Lakers and Langley Thunder, who are tied for third behind first-place New West and second-place Victoria.
"The rest of the schedule is pretty much in our favour," Wingrove said. "Other than New West one more time, we play all the teams who are in the hunt for a playoff spot with us."
Against the 'Bellies, the A's trailed 5-0 after the first period before out-scoring the hosts 4-1 in the second to make a game of it. Daryl Veltman led Coquitlam with three goals and one assist, while Cory Conway dished out three helpers.
With the Victoria-native Conway on the injured list Saturday, the A's were knotted with the Shamrocks 4-4 after the first period before the island crew out-scored them 10-6 the rest of the way. Dane Dobbie whipped in four goals and added two assists in a losing effort, while Veltman racked up two tallies and set up five others for a seven-point outing.
RAG LINE: Kevin Olson made his Adanacs debut Saturday, registering a goal and one assist. A former B.C. Jr. 'A' scoring champ and two-time Minto Cup winner with the Burnaby Jr. Lakers, Olson was acquired last week from Burnaby in a three-way deal that involved the A's shipping hold-out goalie Chris Levis to Victoria... Next, the A's host the 4-4-2 Nanaimo Timbermen on Saturday at Poirier, 7 p.m.
