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Post by kingpin794 on Sept 23, 2014 11:36:03 GMT -5
The 2014/15 OHL season officially gets underway tomorrow night and the Spirit are part of the first games of the year. In a rematch of last year's hard fought,yet short, playoff series, the Otters come to the Dow for game one of 68. This will be one of the last few times you'll get to pay OHL prices to see McJesus play live. Both us and the Otters are going to have key guys from last year that have to be replaced by young guys being asked to step up. Our young guys looked good in the preseason but we'll have to see how the translates to the regular season. Games against Erie are always great. Only one day away folks!
GO SPIRIT!!!
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Post by thepuckman on Sept 24, 2014 15:28:09 GMT -5
The Spirit will be missing Nick Moutrey for sure, as he is away at Blue Jackets camp. Not sure about Jimmy Lodge. Per the Winnipeg Jets, he was re-assigned to Saginaw this morning.
Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing this team for the first time. Lots of potential. Hoping for good results.
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Post by spiritfan8 on Sept 24, 2014 16:05:56 GMT -5
By all reports, Moutrey is having a good camp. He tweeted good wishes to the guys today. Agree, puckman--I don't expect to see an OHL championship caliber (not yet, anyway!!!)
, but I am intrigued by the possibilities this team presents.
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Post by eric8199 on Sept 24, 2014 19:52:40 GMT -5
Pretty rough through two. Spirit scored first but that's been about it. lot of defense standing around in the second and by the end everyone looked exhausted. Spirit trail 6-1 after two. Shots are 34-17 which certainly tells the story here.
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Post by USAhockey on Sept 24, 2014 21:04:05 GMT -5
Felhaber and Stephens honestly looked like the two best players for Saginaw tonight.
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Post by Disco Stu on Sept 25, 2014 8:00:51 GMT -5
The best player on the ice for Saginaw was Marcus Crawford. He played a ton of ice time and did not allow a goal while he was on the ice, if you can imagine that. Callaghan was a close second, although he was on the ice for a goal when the coaching staff mistakenly decided to break up Crawford and Callaghan. They had to try something, because the second pair (Ringuette and Middleton) weren't working. They tried Ringuette and Prophet, which was a mistake, and then paired Ringuette and Crawwford for a while, which worked okay.
Ringer was on the ice for the Felhaber (best forward tonight) goal. Then he was on the ice for five goals against. Immediately after getting hit with his fifth minus, he decided to check out with 7 minutes to go and go down swinging. Most of the crowd won't remember the minuses, but they probably remember the fight, at least for a day or two. This is the one redeeming quality that comes to mind about Ringer. Just like Mitch Fillman, he always keeps me entertained.
When your best defenseman is a 17 year old rookie playing his first OHL game, and your best forward is a 16 year old rookie playing his first game, that is a recipe for disaster. I did not think Stephens played well, nor do I think Sadowy, Clarke, or Cairns played well. Those guys are the ones you look to for goals and none were forthcoming. In fact, the two best scoring chances on the night (as well as the goal) came from Felhaber. The best hit came from Kris Bennett, who put a guy that is about 15 inches taller down on his butt. Bennett played a pretty good sparkplug role and I hope the goals come for him. In fact, the penalty killing was quite good. They should play a man down the whole game, because their 4 on 5 play was far superior to their 5 on 5.
Brown also played his role well, sticking up for Clarke in a crease scrum. The As are Brown, Orban, and Stephens, and I guess that means Moutrey is the captain. No letters for Sadowy, but at least he has a Dart (although not until he gets that signing bonus from the Sharks).
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Post by thepuckman on Sept 25, 2014 8:18:23 GMT -5
Very disappointed about the game but not totally unexpected. Most disappointing was the lack of effort throughout the first two periods. The players stood around and watched Erie. Erie had it way too easy last night. That has to change or else it is going to be a very long season.
I understand that this is a young team but if they continue to use that as a crutch, it is not going to get better. Hopefully when Lodge and Moutrey return they can spark the offense. I think missing Jimmy really hurt. Erie was not afraid of anyone on the ice beating them offensively.
The old saying is you're never as good as look and never as bad as you look. Let's hope this is the worst game of the season. Learn from it, put it behind you and move forward.
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Post by kingpin794 on Sept 25, 2014 8:41:47 GMT -5
Well that was ugly last night. Definitely could tell that we are a young team. Lot of guys out of position defensively. They looked lost and confused at times. Game 1 of 68 though. Not gonna say that this will be the norm. These kids will learn as the season progresses.
Will say that Erie looked FAST. I mean wow! They were flying and taking advantage of Gilbert being aggressive with the pressure.
Oh yeah, also got to throw out a congrats to Tye Felhaber on scoring his first career OHL goal last night. First of many many goals I hope.
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Post by FreelandSpirit on Sept 25, 2014 9:33:49 GMT -5
Outside of the performance last night, I found the Captain situation quite odd. Sadowy, Callaghan, Ringer, and Moutrey all wore A's in the preseason. None of them (well Moutrey wasn't here) wore even an A last night and players like Orban, Brown, and Stephens did. Brown even was acting captain despite only being a team member for a month or two. Seemed all sorts of odd to me unless there is some off ice reasons.
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IB40
Bench Warmer
Posts: 44
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Post by IB40 on Sept 25, 2014 13:05:46 GMT -5
I felt the same way about the Captain situation last night. Something isn't right.
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Post by USAhockey on Sept 25, 2014 15:58:23 GMT -5
From watching Gilbert's teams now for a few years, I think in regards to the captaincy, he really looks for a leader on and OFF the ice. He has never named a captain early in the season, he lets the guys prove to him who is going to step up.
I'm sorry I think the goaltending situation is HORRIBLE , they need to remedy this situation FAST ! I have never been a fan of Nikitta's and the rookie back up is horrible, after watching him in the preseason I was SHOCKED they kept him on the roster. SMH
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Post by Disco Stu on Sept 27, 2014 9:52:48 GMT -5
I am 99.87% certain that Moutrey will be the captain. As for Orban, if he is wearing an A, he should get more time on the ice to prove why he has it. He has been a lot more physical in his play during the preseason. He should be getting more minutes than Ringuette, although that wasn't the case on Wednesday night. I thought that at the very least Orban should have been paired with Ringuette to face McDavid while Callaghan and Crawford faced Strome. Strome seemed to have the number of Ringuette and Middleton, while Orban played mostly against Erie's 3rd and 4th lines in the first period. After the first all the damage had pretty much been done.
I think that the team's plans this year will have a lot to do with what is done with Ringuette. If they drop him and add an overage forward (like a Sisca type) with more impact while not adding to the defense with a trade, then it is a learning year for the D with the aim of getting one of the lower spots in the playoffs. If they drop Ringer, add an overage forward with impact and make a trade to improve the defense, and add a 19 year old Weber-like goalie to share the workload with Nikita, then maybe they think they can shoot for the middle of the playoff seeds (3-6).
I also wondered why DeSousa was the defenseman scratched out of the 8 we have. If we aren't going to use him, why not trade him for something.
Also, I think we might want to consider swindling another team re: Brandon Prophet. Someone out there is going to think they can coach him up, and we should take advantage of whoever that is via a trade. Also, this year is the make or break year for a guy like Holmes. Keep an eye on him, because if he doesn't progress as Prophet really didn't last year, then something should be done there too.
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Post by thepuckman on Sept 27, 2014 10:24:14 GMT -5
De Sousa, to the surprise of no one, has left the team, AGAIN. I'll leave it at that.
Personally, I want all the young guys to play. Although I like Ringuette, he's not in the future plans. Let the guys develop this year. If they struggle, so be it. But at least they'll learn.
As for goaltending, who exactly is out there to get? Unless you give up a lot for someone like Mancina from Guelph, you probably aren't going to find a significant upgrade.
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Post by spiritfan8 on Sept 27, 2014 23:15:06 GMT -5
In order for young guys to develop, they need to play, but they also need to play with someone who's been around and can help smooth the way for them. Throwing young players out with absolutely no veteran guidance has proven disastrous time and time again, and not just at the OHL level. (Buffalo is the most recent example in the NHL)
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Post by kingpin794 on Oct 3, 2014 20:35:50 GMT -5
De Sousa, to the surprise of no one, has left the team, AGAIN. I'll leave it at that. “@jerome_Berube: Former OHLer (Belleville & Saginaw) Daniel De Sousa is now with Gatineau #QMJHL” |
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