What’s next for the Bruins

When the Eagle Drilling Estevan Bruins defeated the Battlefords North Stars 5-2 on October 10, nobody would have guessed that the club was peaking.

The win was the Bruins fourth in sixth games, and it left them with a 5-4-1 record. Not bad for a fairly young team that was expected to improve as the season progressed.

Since then, the Bruins have won 11 of 43 games. Several veteran players decided they wanted out, and were dealt on December 1. Other veterans were traded prior to the January 10 trade deadline.

The final flickering hope of making the playoffs was dashed when the Bruins lost 7-5 to the Battlefords on February 5.

Once again, fans, staff and the club’s executive are staring at a long off-season.

There is some good talent returning next season. Goaltender Chris Neamonitis is the only player who isn’t eligible to return in 2010-11.

But Bruin fans don’t want to hear about the young talent any more. Since reaching the Royal Bank Cup in 1999, the Bruins have won one playoff series, and they have missed the playoffs five times. Fans want a winner, and it has shown in the dwindling attendance the last couple of seasons.

Many of the fans also want to see new leadership.

They believe head coach/GM Karry Biette needs to go. At this level, coaches and GMs are judged largely on two criteria: their ability to advance players to the next level, and wins.

Biette’s well-connected, and he has done a great job of helping players find opportunities in college, university and minor pro.

But his track record, when it comes to winning, isn’t as good. He’s been in Estevan for nearly five seasons, and he has yet to win a playoff series. The Bruins have slipped in the Sherwood Conference each year since winning the conference in 2007.

Biette’s detractors will also claim that he is too demanding of a coach, or he makes too many trades as the GM.

His supporters, meanwhile, will point out that he’s tough but fair, and that the team doesn’t suffer from the country club atmosphere that it had back around 2002 or 2003.

Both his detractors and his supporters will agree that he is an intense competitor who hates to lose.

Biette is well-connected, an excellent evaluator of talent, and he has a strong knowledge of the game. For the most part, he has done a good job.

But results have been lacking, even though they have had the talent to win.

And that’s why many wouldn’t be surprised if there’s somebody else guiding the team and its core of young talent next season, even though Biette deserves one more chance.

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