Columnist Steve Carp: Thunder is stuck in the IHL’s elevator

Steve Carp

Tuesday, Feb. 10, 1998 | 8:54 a.m.

AFTER SPENDING MORE than a month on the road, everyone was expecting the Las Vegas Thunder to make a big move in the International Hockey League standings these past four weeks.

The team was going to play 13 of its next 16 games at the Thomas & Mack Center and general manager Bob Strumm had re-tooled it to fit the cozy confines of the 185 by 85-foot surface. He said this was a team Las Vegas would come to love.

This was the time to make some noise, both on the ice and in the standings.

Today, all is quiet. The Thunder never quite got it in gear as injuries to key performers, coupled with a lack of execution, paved the way for a less-than-stellar run.

Of a possible 26 points at home, Las Vegas managed to garner half, which is terrible, especially when you're giving away games to the likes of Manitoba and San Antonio, teams that are below you in the standings.

And for those who are healthy, except for the occasional fracas to bring the paltry crowds to their feet, little has been accomplished.

The Thunder is in dire need of a two-week Olympic-sized break instead of the measly three-day hiatus for the IHL All-Star Game, which takes place tonight in Orlando. It needs to get healthy and it needs to get refocused. Three days isn't enough time.

Basically, this team is stuck in a holding pattern in the Western Conference standings. The Thunder can't move too far up and it can't drop very far down. With 56 points, it'll be hard-pressed to make up the necessary ground to catch the likes of Houston, Utah and Long Beach, all of which are above the 70-point mark.

That's why the missed opportunity during the recent run of home games hurts. The Thunder had its chance to get into the Southwest Division title chase and for whatever reason, be it injuries, bad luck, a lack of chemistry or continuity or plain underachievement, Las Vegas blew it.

"It's just heartbreaking," coach Chris McSorley said after his team fell 3-2 to Manitoba Sunday. "To be dropping games like this is extremely frustrating."

You can understand the coach's disappointment. Nobody likes to lose, even when he's playing with a third of his lineup missing. But with 29 games to go, the reality is this: barring a miracle run, the Thunder's goal should be to get everyone healthy come mid-April when the playoffs begin, and take its shot then.

If Las Vegas doesn't advance beyond the first round with its gun fully loaded, then point the finger at Strumm, McSorley and the players. They'll deserve to catch the heat, especially when management was boasting this would be the best-ever lineup Las Vegas has fielded in its five-year existence.

But like the person stuck on an elevator or on a plane circling a fog-shrouded airport while attempting to land, the Thunder and its fans can only remain patient, not panic and hope things improve by the time the playoffs roll around.

Things aren't going to change in a hurry. And that's the one constant you can count on with this team in its current state.