"If we're not in the top three at Christmas, and I think we should be, but if we're not and the executive wants to get rid of me, I'll be happy to walk out the door and hand over everything to the next guy, with no hard feelings." Those were the words Karry Biette, head coach of the Eagle Drilling Estevan Bruins at the start of the hockey season.
The Bruins are currently in second place, just two points up on fourth-place Kindersley, and have lost six of their last seven contests with the Christmas break just a few weeks away.
Estevan has a tough six-game northern road trip ahead of them starting tonight that includes back-to-back games in both La Ronge and Flin Flon. Their play away from the Civic hasn't been the greatest this year so they could easily drop out of the top three in the Sherwood conference by December 18.
One needs to look no further back than mid-November to find the Bruins at 14-6-1-1, just a few points behind first-placed Yorkton with four games in-hand. Since their recent slump, they're now 14 points back of the Terriers and just one up on third-place Weyburn.
Team captain Troy Hunter blames the club's struggles of late on a recurring problem.
"We're not getting prepared for the games well enough," Hunter said. "We don't come out really hard in the first period sometimes, and we try and come back in the third, but that's not always going to happen in this league."
After a season to forget last year, the Bruins were picked by many to be a contender in the SJHL this year. On paper, Biette has put together a roster that rivals that of any squad in the league.
With the additions of Hunter, Ben Findlay and goaltender Joel Danyluk - all of whom competed in the Anavet Cup last spring - coupled with the returning veterans from last year and a few other key additions, the Bruins were expected to have a successful season.
They started out well, and have had ups and downs, but if they don't turn things around over their next six games, the players could be looking at a new bench boss taking the reins in January.
Biette has been the Bruins' head coach and general manger since 2005, and the club's executive would be hard pressed to find a suitable replacement halfway through the season. Even if they did, they risk ruining the team's chemistry.
Biette, himself, said he stands by what he said at the beginning of the season, and would have no problem if the club wanted to move in a different direction.
"Absolutely. If they feel they need to make a change because they aren't getting the results, I've got no issues moving aside," Biette said. "I said what I said, they were fair comments at the time, and I have no issues standing by it."
When contacted, Bruins president Jeff Pierson chose not to comment on whether or not the executive would relieve Biette of his duties if the team continues to struggle before the Christmas break.
Hunter doesn't think it will get that far, however. He's hoping that a lengthy road trip will help turn things around.
"I know we're good in the Civic, but we've been playing down in the south quite a bit, and maybe a trip up north is what we need to get some bonding going on," said Hunter. "You never know what can turn a season around and this could be good trip for it."
One thing is for sure; the next six games on the road will show just what this Bruins' team is made of.
