Everblades feeling some heat after January slide

ESTERO — After starting 2012 as one of the hottest teams in the ECHL, not much as gone right for the Florida Everblades in January. With six consecutive losses, the team is more than ready to turn the page on the calendar and welcome the year’s shortest month.

“It’s been a rough patch, but it’s something every team goes through,” Florida forward Scott Pitt said. “We’re disappointed with the way we’ve been playing, but if we dwell on it things are only going to get worse.”

The Everblades (21-19-1-3, 46 points) were swept at home by division rival Greenville last week and currently sit in the basement of the South Division. Eastern Conference foe Reading (18-19-3-3, 42 points) is in town for games against the Everblades on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, but coach Greg Poss said his team’s poor play has more to do with themselves than the opponent.

“It’s all about us,” Poss said. “We have enough talent that if we do our jobs then we’ll be successful.”

On Sunday, the team made a pair of trades to shake up the roster. Goalie Billy Sauer was traded to South Carolina with nothing coming back to Florida, while forward Kory Falite was shipped to Utah in exchange for goalie Shane Owen.

With No. 1 goalie Pat Nagle struggling, Poss said the move to acquire Owen was necessary to foster competition at the position.

“Some players thrive when they know they have their position in the lineup, but Pat is not that type of player,” Poss said. “He needs pushing and we feel like Owen is capable of doing that.”

Owen started his professional career with Florida last season, allowing five goals in one game before being released. He then signed with South Carolina where he went 10-6-3. This year with Utah, he was 5-6-3 with a 3.19 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage.

“This is a good chance for me to come back and get a second chance,” Owen said. “I’ll be ready to play when they need me.”

Poss said Owen will start Wednesday’s game, then he will re-evaluate for Friday’s and Saturday’s games.

Also rejoining the fold for Florida are defensemen Ryan Donald and David Fischer, who were both returned from AHL assignments over the weekend. Poss also said forward Alex Hutchings is close to returning from an upper-body injury that has sidelined him for most of the year.

With the new bodies, Florida’s roster stands at 21, meaning ice time is anything but a given.

“We’ve got a pretty full roster for the first time in a little while,” Poss said. “We have some good healthy internal competition and that usually leads to good play.”

Despite the slide, if the Kelly Cup Playoffs were to start today, the Everblades would be the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference. Pitt said he and his teammates know now is the time to turn things around, before they fall out of the playoff hunt.

“We know we can’t let it go any further, but at the same time we’re not going to panic,” Pitt said. “It’s hard not to feel pressure, but we know we can get it turned around.”