The Hamilton Paper Tigers completely self-destructed at the beginning of the season. They stumbled out of the gate and at the quarter pole Hamilton was 3-8-2 at home and barely over .500 on the road. The team was in eighth place in the Canosa Conference, things had begun looking bleak and the team chemistry was nonexistent. Things came to a head at practice when after losing their 6th in a row a line brawl broke out. The dressing room was a mess with cliques that had formed within the players. The staff was demoralized and goalie coach Rollie Melanson quit in despair.
Team Owner Chuck Taylor was forced to step in. “I was about to blow everything up and go into
rebuild mode. I have been spending like water to build the best team in the CCHL and the spoiled
millionaires couldn't get along.” This was an ultimate Hail Mary but I remembered En vino veritas and we needed some truth. The Tigers lost two more in a row then had a 4 day layover. Taylor loaded the entire team up after a game in Dayton, including training and medical staff and flew to Budapest.
The franchise still owns training facilities located there from their previous incarnation as the Honved. A In the Pearl of the Danube over many bottles of slivovitz and a few barely refereed bare knuckle bouts the team worked out their differences. Mark Crawford and his staff departed on the first day after objecting to being told they might be expected to answer the bell and take a turn in the cage.
New head coach Kirk Muller arrived the next morning and the mood of the team changed when he KOed a mouthy Boo Nieves. Once a few missing teeth were dealt with, stitches were installed and Neives cleared concussion protocol everyone was on the same page. During the return flight, Ilya Kovalchuk was dropped off with single-A affiliate Jarvis Corn Kings of the Federal League to “Work on his attitude.” Kovalchuk was about to wing his way back to Russia and the KHL when his agent pointed out a clause in his contract that states if he refuses to report he would have to return the entirety of his $7,000,000 salary. “Was last chance contract. We hate busses but already spent much money and can no pay back. So bus we go.”
Hamilton lost their next game in regulation with only Muller behind the bench and definitely not because of the extended hangover. Assistants Chris Nilan, Saku Koivu, and goaltending coach Felix Potvin joined the team the next day Since game 25 the Tigers rose like the mythical phoenix-like from the ashes of what looked like a failed season. During that period these Steel Tigers have gone 20-0-7 going unbeaten in regulation in 27 games climbing from being on the playoff bubble to 2nd place in the conference and 2pts out of 1st overall.
Kovalchuk also made great strides on his tour of small-town North America. He scored 30 goals and
47 points in his 10 games in the Federal League and after an interview with Muller was promoted to the Brantford 99's of the ECHL. Kovy averaged 4 points a game in the Telephone City despite the bus-lag and spent 6 games there before moving on to the Spiders in the Big Smoke. Due to an injury on the main club, Kovalchuk made an appearance in the Hammer picking up an assist and according to team sources acting like a team first player before returning to Toronto. He seems primed and ready to make his full-time CCHL return.
With the trade deadline rapidly approaching the question in Hamilton fans minds is will Taylor stand
pat? With his team flying high will he on a roll the dice on team chemistry. Would it even be possible
to move Kovalchuk? We will know in just 16 days.
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