OPINION: Regina Pats coach sets poor example after loss to Moose Jaw

Losing badly is no excuse for being a bad loser.

In my junior year of high school, I joined the wrestling team at Marion Graham Collegiate in an effort to lose some weight. But the coach had a rule: If you train with the team, you also compete with the team.

Because I was heavy, and because wrestling uses weight classes rather than considering age or experience, I ended up matched against Grade 12 wrestlers. They were in great shape, with muscle instead of flab, and they’d been wrestling for four years. So while I was losing weight, I also lost all of my wrestling matches. Every single one.

During one loss, a wrestler from Holy Cross hit me with a double-leg takedown the instant the match began. I flipped onto my stomach to try and muster some defence, but within seconds I’d been gut-wrenched and pinned onto my back.

The bell sounded, the 10-minute match was over after 20 seconds, and my opponent wasn’t even breathing hard when the ref raised his arm in victory.

Many of my classmates – and my mom – were watching from the stands. And to add to my humiliation, I was wearing the school wrestling uniform, a skimpy maroon singlet that showed off all the parts of my body that I’d rather not display.

I was upset, of course, but I wasn’t upset with my opponent. I didn’t argue that he should have gone easy on me, or used moves that I was better at defending against.

But this column isn’t about losing at wrestling. It’s actually about losing at hockey.

Pats take issue with Warriors

On Saturday, the Regina Pats ended their WHL season with what anyone would describe as a miserable night, being trounced 11-1 by the highly ranked Moose Jaw Warriors. That’s got to sting.

But Pats head coach Brad Herauf and general manager Al Millar appear to know less about losing and sportsmanship than I did at 14 because they immediately accused Moose Jaw of doing something wrong.

Herauf was rightfully booted out of the game when he stood up on the boards and yelled at the Moose Jaw bench to stop trying so hard in a competitive sport.

“I just felt our team was being disrespected,” Herauf told reporters.

Millar accused Moose Jaw of “embarrassing” his team.

From where I’m sitting, the Warriors didn’t do anything disrespectful. They were playing a competitive game of hockey, and they tried their best the entire time.

Herauf and Millar felt that Moose Jaw should have gone easy on their team, but it would have been supremely disrespectful – patronizing, even – for the Warriors to stop trying to score.

Do they think Moose Jaw’s best players should have tied one arm behind their backs? Are they saying their team is so lousy that anyone who doesn’t stink should offer them an automatic handicap out of sympathy?

Or maybe Moose Jaw should have just let Regina win 1-0, like a dad playing against his kid in the driveway. Would that have been respectful enough for Herauf and Millar?

These kids are expected to score goals, and they’re all trying to make the NHL. The number of goals they score matters. And if those goals are coming at your team’s expense, it’s not a sign of disrespect – it’s a sign your team needs to do a better job protecting the net.

Oh, and these kids are also still learning. And the lessons they’re getting from Herauf and Millar are clear: A bad loss means the other team is a bunch of jerks, and it’s not your fault.

The young players are taking the lessons to heart, as the Pats decided to get into fights rather than focus on stopping the non-stop scoring, leading to numerous fights, ejections and penalties. Not surprising, considering who they’re learning from.

Young players deserve good leaders. They deserve coaches and managers who teach them how to lose with grace and dignity and treat it as an opportunity to learn and improve.

The Pats are getting the opposite.

“I just thought it was very disrespectful to the game of hockey,” Herauf had the gall to say.

Oh, the irony.