If the headline seems counterintuitive to you, I’ll tell you it sounded the same to me when I heard Vancouver Goldeneyes Head Coach Brian Idalski tell reporters after Saturday’s 3-1 loss to the Minnesota Frost, “I like where our game is at. Like I told them, I’ll tell you, don’t change a thing. We’re playing well, we’re doing the right things. That’s four solid games from us.”
The games he’s referencing are Saturday’s 3-1 loss to the Frost, Wednesday’s 5-2 win over the New York Sirens (the only victory since Jan. 22), the previous Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Charge, and the previous Tuesday’s 2-1 loss to the Boston Fleet.
The Goldeneyes, a team that many thought would be near the top of the standings based on how their roster looks on paper, currently find themselves seventh in the league, with only the other expansion team below them.
This is a team that sits last in the league in power play percentage, with only one goal on the advantage since 2025. A team that has the second-lowest goals for and a -10 goal differential. A team whose points leader (defender Claire Thompson) ranks 25th among points leaders in the league. A team that has not found the success that was expected.
But the message from the coaching staff continues to be the same: don’t change a thing.
After facing two hot goaltenders in Gwyneth Philips and Aerin Frankel, Idalski told reporters after the game against the Charge, “The hardest thing to do in hockey is score goals. So, some of that, quite honestly, is puck luck… And when they come, typically they come in bunches, in my experience, so we’re on the verge of kind of cracking that egg, and I can’t wait until we come out the other side.”
Against New York Sirens goaltender Kayle Osbourne, the team did find some of that luck, scoring five goals, the most for the Goldeneyes since a Jan. 22 win over the Toronto Sceptres. But, against Maddie Rooney and the Minnesota Frost, only one of their 20 shots went in.
“Puck luck is a real thing,” Idalski said in the post-game press conference after the loss to the Frost on Saturday, “You know, the second one they get is bouncing off a stick and going in and we weren’t getting the same kind of bounce.”
Yes, puck luck is absolutely a thing. But the teams that currently find themselves in a playoff position don’t rely on luck to find the back of the net.
Vancouver’s opponent on Saturday, the first-place Minnesota Frost, have scored 26 more goals than the Goldeneyes in the same number of games. Of the 20 shots against Rooney, there were many rebound opportunities where there were no Goldeneyes players in front of the net. There were too many passes and a reluctance to shoot. They were missing the net or firing from the blue line with no traffic in front. Luck helps, but there are far too many talented players on the ice each shift to have to rely on luck.
To start the season, the Goldeneyes had three wins on home ice and a very poor road record. Their first road win came in their fifth road game of the season, beating Boston 4-3. The five-game home stand after the Olympic break surely was circled on the calendar as a chance to get back into the playoff conversation and get some wins while on a strong home ice advantage.
Instead, the team picked up seven of a possible 15 points and now heads out on a four game road trip (technically five, since the home game against the Fleet is in Edmonton). Not only will they be on the road, where they’ve only won twice, but they will also face the Fleet twice, the Victoire once, and the Frost once. All three of those teams are currently fighting for first place in the league.
When asked about the difficulty of the upcoming road trip, Idalski said, “You know, you can spit in that way, I guess, but everyone in this league is good, so every game is tough, and every game is like a playoff game. So I don’t think that plays into it as much as us continuing to play the way we’re playing, and like I said, opportunities and outcomes take care of themselves when you’re executing, and you’re consistently doing the right things.”
It’s tough, on the outside, to wrap your head around how a team that is nearly 20 points out of first place in a very tight league should just continue to play the way they are playing and expect outcomes to take care of themselves.
Being able to string wins together, to see scoring streaks from star players that aren’t just bursts and fades, winning at home and on the road with a decisive nature—those are the things that bring outcomes and opportunities. Continuing to lose by one or two goals, dropping winnable games in overtime, and not scoring on the player advantage don’t bring opportunities. They bring losses, frustration, and missing the playoffs.
The biggest problem facing the Vancouver Goldeneyes right now might just be recognizing that there is a problem at all.