By Tim Panaccio, Inquirer Staff Writer
The last time the Philadelphia Wings held a team meeting, the club went out and defeated the New York Saints, 13-8.
With the Wings (2-4) struggling to make the Major Indoor Lacrosse League playoffs, Philadelphia coach Dave Evans held another team chat on Tuesday, hoping to find answers before tonight’s 8 o’clock game against the Pittsburgh Bulls (2-3) at the Spectrum.
“I asked them some questions,” said Evans. “Have they lost confidence in themselves or our game plans? Are they bored? What is it? We play well in spurts, but we haven’t played well overall. It’s a matter of executing what I consider a very simple game plan.”
The Wings lost, 13-11, to the New England Blazers on Friday without their top scorer, John Tucker (10 goals, 20 points), who had a conflict with another job. Also missing was Brad Kotz (six goals, 12 points), who mysteriously broke his left hand in early February and is expected to miss his third straight game tonight.
Also absent last week was Todd Curry (two goals, 10 points), who is expected to miss two of the Wings’ final three games because of his coaching job at Loyola of Baltimore.
“Losing guys to job commitments is just something that we are going to have to live with,” said Evans. “The league is never going to pay these guys enough money to quit their regular jobs.”
The Wings are last in the MILL in scoring (68 goals) and are averaging 3.5 fewer goals per game than last season. Although the Wings are third defensively, they have also given up 14 more goals (82) than they’ve scored.
Despite these woes, the Wings could win the American Division with a 4-6 record and meet probable National Division champion Detroit (6-1) in the championship game on April 6. League officials have decided to play the title game where home attendance is best.
Which means it could be at the Spectrum, because the Wings lead the league with an average attendance of 15,904.
“It’s hard to believe we could finish under .500, still win our division and host the title game,” said Evans. “But it could happen. It’s hokey, but I won’t fight it.”
(Philadelphia Inquirer, February 28, 1991)