The Colorado Mammoth may be 0-2 to start the 2019 season, but that doesn’t mean the team hasn’t made great strides as each game has come and gone. But as Mammoth head coach has mentioned, the expectations that such improvements – just as the ones from the team’s first to second games – will continue to make every game is an unrealistic one.
“I thought we responded a lot better,” said Coyle. “We’re definitely moving in the right direction. I thought it was like night and day how we played and now we want to keep moving in that direction. But, I can’t see us improving that much again, like that exponentially.”
“Now we have to get everyone going. I think we had a couple of guys off, so if we get everyone going, then I think that’s where we take the next step.”
On young season, Eli McLaughlin and Ryan Benesch have nine goals, the rest of the team has only mustered 11 scores. Reliably strong offensive players like Stephen Keogh and Jeremy Noble have yet to find a consistent stride.
Keogh has three points over two games as opposed to his run at the end of last season where he averaged 5.3 points per game in his final three contests. And while Noble had five points in the season-opener, he was shut out on the goal-front against the Roughnecks.
Coyle hopes that the game against the Rock on Saturday night could be the one where the entire team can put forth an effort that shows how capable this team is. If they can turn things around at home, that would give this team confidence before they play a majority of their games on the road through March.
“We would like to a establish more of a home-floor presence,” said Coyle. “Honestly, we’d like to win a game for our fans. We have really good support, so we’re all aware that we want to get a win for our fans.”
Despite facing the explosive “Cardiac Kids” that have battled down to the wire in each of their last two games, Coyle has no doubt that that if his Mammoth can continue to build of the successes from last week, they will be able to challenge the Rock for the win.
“I know they’ve got some really gifted scores on that team and we’ll be aware of that” said Coyle. “But, if we make a few tweaks, a few adjustments from what we did last week, we don’t have to worry as much about who we’re playing.”
It goes without saying that the Mammoth will have to crack down on the bigger names on offense such as Adam Jones, Tom Schreiber and Rob Hellyer. Last week, both Schreiber and Jones posted five-goal games and the week prior, Hellyer posted an incredible 10-point game in which he had five goals and five assists.
The Mammoth defense has looked fairly strong to start the year, particularly in the last match-up. Between the scoring shown off by the transition team and the immaculate defense of the back end, Coyle is pleased with the way the defense has improved, specifically Josh Sullivan.
“I thought that the last couple of games that Josh Sullivan has probably been one of our best stay-at-home, hard-to-play-against defenders. I think he’s doing a great job.”
It would surely get the monkey off the back of the Mammoth if they can grab their regular sea-son and home win of the year in their non-divisional matchup against the Rock. Expect that the “Loud House” to play a factor in the team’s third home game inside the Pepsi Center.
The game will be featured on BR Live at 7:00 pm MST.
