The Yorkton Terriers dropped their opening game in the Royal Bank Cup Sunday, and did not look good in the 5-1 loss to the Toronto Lakeshore Patriots.
Tayler Thompson celebrated his birthday in Vernon Saturday, and added a present to himself Sunday scoring the Terriers first goal of the RBC 1:18 into the game against the Lakeshore Patriots representing the Central Region after winning the Dudley Hewitt Cup.
It would be a short-lived Yorkton lead as Toronto's Michael Prapavessis tied the game 22-seconds later on the Patriots first shot of the night.
At 5:56 Rory Bell added a second Toronto goal and the Terriers would not find a way to get back into the contest.
Andreas Tsogkas popped a powerplay in the second and less than two-minutes later Ryall Ledyard made it 4-1 Toronto.
Nathan Feric would add another powerplay marker in the third to round out the Patriots 5-1 win.
Kale Thomson took the loss in the Terrier net facing 32-shots, while Patriot netminder Evan Buitenhuis had the win facing 23-shots.
Terrier head coach Trent Cassan was obviously not impressed by the effort of his team Sunday.
"We got out worked, out muscled for three periods," he said when asked what had happened to the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League and Western Canada Cup champions. "The better team won."
Cassan said his team as a whole did not look good from the drop of the puck to the final whistle.
"Some guys looked overwhelmed," he said, adding he wasn't sure what the reason was noting it wasn't even a packed arena. "Some guys just weren't very engaged in the game for some reason."
Chase Norrish was the Terriers Player of the Game. The 20-year-old rearguard who was the SJHL Defenceman of the Year and one of five finalists for the Canadian equivalent, was also not happy with the way the game went.
"Definitely it wasn't our best game at all," he said. "It was disappointing to come out like that in a National Championship."
When asked, Norrish couldn't explain why the team came out so flat.
"To be honest we were outworked most of the game," he said, adding that shouldn't happen. "That's not who we are. It's not what the Terrier organization is."
The loss is one Norrish said should prove motivating for the rest of the tournament.
"Obviously it doesn't feel good losing," he said.
But, Norrish held out some hope for fans, reminding they lost game one of the WCC and didn't look great in the game, but rebounded.
"We know what we need to do," he said.
The Terriers have limited time to regroup as they play host Vernon Monday evening, a game featuring two teams both searching for their first win of the RBC.
Cassan said the Terriers have to shake off the dismal showing against Toronto in a hurry, adding "there wasn't a whole lot encouraging about that game."
So how will Cassan ready his team for the Vipers, a team with the most RBC appearances and wins in the event's history?
"We'll talk to some guys one-on-one," he said, adding that while he thought "some of our leaders played well" that was far from the norm. "Some older players need to liken their game."
