COLORADO FANS NOT USED TO HOME LOSSES

By Paul Willis

Mammoth Beat Reporter

Used to be, entering Pepsi Center as a visiting National Lacrosse League squad meant you had about a 20 percent chance of escaping with a victory.

A large part of the Colorado Mammoth’s mystique in its first several seasons was a loud, packed building, an intimidating and playfully disparaging public address announcer and dominance by the home team. The building is still mostly full and the PA guy is still there, but the wins by the home team are no longer a certainty.

The Mammoth (2-3) has begun the season 0-2 at a home, and players know there’s no time like the present to revert to their old ways. A loss to Washington on Saturday marked a disappointing kickoff to a prolonged home stretch, but Colorado still has four of the next five at the Pepsi Center, including a matchup with the Orlando Titans on Friday (Altitude2).

“We know that’s an advantage we have to use – the energy from the crowd,” Mammoth forward Jamie Shewchuk said. “We have to transfer that onto the floor and into our play. We definitely showed glimpses of it (against Washington).”

While two home losses do not symbolize an irreversible trend, they clearly weren’t ideal with only eight home dates on the docket. Plus, some might claim the tendency began last year when the Mammoth posted a pedestrian 4-4 record at the Pepsi Center.

So, that’s 4-6 over the past two seasons, whereas in its first six seasons in Colorado, the Mammoth compiled a 37-11 home mark in the regular season with a 5-3 performance in 2005 the low-water mark.

Defenseman Bruce Murray believes taking a mental step backwards could be the proper approach.

“I think we get so hyped up to put on a show for these guys that sometimes we make mental mistakes that we wouldn’t normally make,” Murray said. “It’s definitely disappointing to have this many people here and lose. It’s way harder to lose at home because we have such great fans here. We just have to get back to playing 60 minutes. We did that on the road the week before.”

Coach Steve Govett doesn’t see a problem with effort but understands his team has played with a different vibe at the Pepsi Center this season.

“I don’t know if it’s a matter of them being too amped up,” said Govett, who, prior to the home loss, led his team to two road wins after taking over the coaching reins. “I think what happens is maybe guys try to take it upon themselves and they want to do it for the team at home, so they put it on their shoulders, and sometimes that doesn’t come through. We have to play like a team and we have to move the ball.”

One theory for the home woes is that NLL teams are shifting from being intimidated by the Pepsi Center to embracing it. Murray said he enjoyed coming to Denver as a visitor as a member of three different teams from 2003-2007.

“There’s nothing better than being on a visiting team and trying to keep this amount of people quiet,” Murray said. “Some of the rookies on the other teams might be a little intimidated but they learn quick that it’s cool to shut down that amount of people.”

Others see a simpler solution: play better.

“We want to win for the home crowd; they’re awesome,” Mammoth forward Brian Langtry said. “I don’t know what to say other than we just haven’t won the two games we’ve played at home. I don’t think there’s any secret or mystery to it. We’re just not scoring more goals than they are.”

While the consensus is a home loss stings a bit more, Govett offered a silver lining should the Mammoth lose another at the Pepsi Center.

“I mean, the drive home is a lot shorter,” he quipped.

MAMMOTH NOTES:

The return of goaltender Chris Levis, who was obtained this week from Calgary for a 2011 draft choice, is designed to provide depth for a Mammoth squad allowing a league-worst 13.6 goals per game.

With strong depth in its defensive corps, the Mammoth replaced injured captain John Gallant (broken hand, out at least three games) with forward Chris Gill, another former Mammoth player. Like Levis, Gill was a member of the 2006 Champion’s Cup squad.

While the Mammoth lost one player to a broken hand, another returns from the same injury. Defenseman Steve Forsythe, who played 11 games for Colorado last season, could make his season debut Friday.