Thursday, May 30, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
They're still scratching their heads. The numbness remains. The tears of disappointment may have dried up, but the eyes still are red.
Nothing has changed in 24 hours for the Thunder. Things remain in a depressed state in the wake of Las Vegas' ouster from the International Hockey League's Turner Cup playoffs by the Utah Grizzlies in six games. And the soul searching continues for the players and coach Chris McSorley.
"This'll be the longest summer of my life," McSorley said Wednesday. "But I'm not going to point a finger at any direction but at myself. We had Game 5 (the Thunder led 3-2 going into the third period) on a platter and we dropped it."
Under McSorley's guidance, the Thunder had its most successful season, finishing with 122 points and going further in the playoffs (Western Conference finals) than the previous two seasons.
"Right now, I'm devastated," he said. "From a talent standpoint, there's no reason why we shouldn't be in a position to play Friday night. I felt this championship was in our reach, but we were unable to grasp it.
"I hope my job's secure with the Thunder. There's some unfinished business we need to take care of and I definitely hope to be part of that."
Owner Ken Stickney said as far as he's concerned, McSorley will be back.
Coach of year?
"Top to bottom, Chris did an outstanding job," he said. "As far as I'm concerned, he should be the IHL's coach of the year."
Captain Greg Hawgood said the heartbreak will be difficult to overcome.
"The expectations were high coming into the playoffs and they were deserved," he said. "We just didn't finish what we started."
The Thunder needed back-to-back wins to advance to the Turner Cup finals. But instead of coming out Tuesday and throttling the Grizzlies, Las Vegas was lethargic and flat. By the time someone flipped on the switch midway through the second period, the Thunder was staring at a 5-0 deficit.
"We dug ourselves too deep of a hole to climb out of," forward Bill Bowler said. "One thing I learned as a rookie playing in this league is you have to be ready to play right from the opening faceoff. We didn't do that and it cost us."
The Thunder's struggles on special teams were well-documented. The power play, which was the best in the IHL during the season, was ineffective against Utah. McSorley made adjustments hoping to offset the Grizzlies' penalty-killing scheme, but his players were unable to execute.
"We never could get to the net," he said. "They have a big, strong defense and they didn't let us play our game."
But it was more than an impotent power play that put the Thunder on the sidelines. Utah got better goaltending from Tommy Salo, the Grizzlies played sound in their own end and they got scoring from veteran Andy Brickley and rookie Brett Lievers to take the heat off left wing Andrey Vasiljev, who had killed the Thunder during the regular season.
The Thunder did not respond in kind.
Thunder fizzles
Pokey Reddick was unable to match Salo in the nets and was erratic throughout the postseason. The Thunder defense failed to do the little things consistently, such as clear rebounds from in front of the net.
The Grizzlies capitalized on the small things, either keeping the play alive to set up a scoring chance or draw a penalty from an out-of-position Thunder player.
"You have to play disciplined in the playoffs to win," forward Patrice Lefebvre said. "We weren't as disciplined as we needed to be."
So what now?
Tough decisions will need to be made in the coming weeks. A key will be what to do with Lefebvre, the team's most popular player and its leading scorer this year with 114 points. His contract is up and he will be a free agent.
"I definitely want to stay in Las Vegas," Lefebvre said. "We'll have to see what happens. So far, we haven't sat down and talked. I'm sure we will soon."
Hawgood is another player whose contract is up. He was the IHL's top defenseman this year and GM Bob Strumm worked hard to bring him to Las Vegas last summer.
"I had a lot of fun here," Hawgood said. "The game became enjoyable again for me. If I were to play in the IHL, I'd want it to be in Las Vegas."
Added Stickney: "I wouldn't expect to see a major overhaul. We just need to see what works and what doesn't."
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