Frustrated Paunovic: Time for the Fire to wake up

Until now, Fire coach Veljko Paunovic hasn’t allowed whatever frustration he may be feeling to seep out for public consumption.

That changed this week when another loss and another dose of injuries finally pushed Paunovic to change his optimistic tone into one that suggested that the effects of a losing season were beginning to take a toll.

“Nobody’s happy with the losing, nobody’s happy with the situation,” Paunovic said of his last-place team. “It’s time to wake up from this mentality we (have been in) for a long time now. It’s time to understand that I can say that everyone is working hard here and (that) we want the best, but that’s not enough.”

Paunovic’s honest assessment came after a disappointing 2-1 loss to Colorado and came in advance of Wednesday’s road test against first-place Philadelphia. The Fire (2-6-5) were forced to face the Union short-handed. Matt Polster is still out with a concussion, Arturo Alvarez sustained a knee contusion against Colorado that kept him out for Wednesday’s game while ankle sprains also kept Joey Calistri and Collin Fernandez out of the lineup.

To help deal with the rash of injuries, the Fire recalled Drew Conner from Saint Louis FC.

Paunovic was very blunt with his team during a meeting Monday when he told players that he “needs winners” and needed to see a change in attitude. On Monday, Paunovic didn’t completely dismiss the notion that some of the Fire’s current mindset issues may have carried over from past losing seasons. But, he insisted that past struggles can’t continue to impact the present and that his team has to begin to shift the team’s current culture sooner rather than later.

“We have to understand that we are here to win games,” Paunovic said. “It’s time to wake up from that dream that we are in right now. We have to do more. We have to work harder. As I’ve said, I’m responsible for that. I’m going to fix this thing and I’m going to work on that hard. I would say (the issue is) our mentality, because our physical level, we are there, we are working hard, but we need to improve our mentality.

“That’s the challenge that we all have here.”

Staying local

The Wolves signed Northbrook native Sam Povorozniouk to a professional tryout contract. The 21-year-old right wing will join the Wolves for training camp this fall.

Povorozniouk attended Glenbrook North as a freshman and played for the United States Hockey League’s Chicago Steel in 2010-11. Povorozniouk spent last season with the Saint John Sea Dogs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and ranked third on the team in scoring with 62 points. He led the Sea Dogs with 39 goals and produced a team-high 25 postseason points in 17 games.

“We like to give local players a chance and he’s a proven goal-scorer,” Wolves’ general manager Wendell Young said. “We’re going to give him an opportunity to show that he can do it at the next level.”

Courtside return

Lisa Byington, who served as the Sky’s play-by-play announcer in 2013 and 2014, has rejoined the team’s broadcast team. Byington replaces Eric Collins, who has relocated due to obligations with the Charlotte Hornets. Byington will be paired with Stephen Bardo for the remainder of the season.

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