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Post by eric8199 on Dec 31, 2019 15:07:00 GMT -5
Not sure how many have looked at it, but with the year coming to a close today, I thought it would be worth comparing this year to last year. Note: A lot of people were skeptical about our abilities this season, and I've seen several posts both here and on Facebook about how this team doesn't compare to last year, we can't make a run, etc.
In the 2018-19 regular season, at the end of 2018, we had played 36 games and our record was 22-10-2-2.
This season, we have played 35 games so far. Our record is 21-10-2-2.
Look familiar? Anyone still think we don't have a shot this year? As of this writing, we're tied with Guelph for first in the Western Conference with 46 points. Windsor has a game today against Flint — they're playing now as a matter of fact — and if they win it will be a three-way tie for first. Guelph has two fewer games so far and Windsor three until the Flint game is over. As usual, London and Kitchener are both close too — it seems the West is always stacked with good teams. But I like the way we look so far. Spirit are on a six-game winning streak and headed into the right direction with the trade deadline upcoming. A couple good moves and we could have another year like last year, maybe even better.
Keep late March and April open, folks ;-)
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Post by aj0512 on Jan 2, 2020 13:15:08 GMT -5
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twinsdad
2nd Liner
Rocky Hockey
Posts: 166
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Post by twinsdad on Jan 27, 2020 9:22:00 GMT -5
One comparison between last year and this year is losing streaks. Last year, until the last three games of the season, our longest losing streak was two games. This season, we have had one 3 game losing streak, but only one of those losses was in regulation. So, we are on par in that regard.
Another difference between last year and this year is that no one in the west appeared to go "all in" at the trade deadline. Last year, it was Guelph, and we discussed whether we should avoid being the top seed so we wouldn't get Guelph in the second round. This year, I do not see a team in the west we need to avoid.
So, I think, we are doing well and I have optimism for us in the playoffs, barring injuries.
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Post by donjohnson on Jan 27, 2020 11:06:40 GMT -5
The big difference is goaltending...Frappier and Lennox have both played well but I haven't seen anything from either that says they can win a game on their own like Prosvetov was capable of last season.
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Post by spiritfan8 on Jan 27, 2020 12:13:41 GMT -5
There isnt “a” team in the West to avoid, primarily because there are at least 4 teams in the West capable of winning it all. Whoever does come out of the West then gets (probably) Ottawa, who will have snoozed their way to the OHL Finals. I guess that could be good or bad depending on how you look at it.
Goaltending—big difference from last year, yes. I can only shake my head at how good the Spirit would probably be had Ivan come back. There were 3 variables that the Spirit needed to be dominant this year—Ivan, Bode Wilde and Alex Turcotte. Any one of them would have made a huge difference.
I love this year’s team, and by no means am I ruling them out. But last year might have been their year.
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Post by aj0512 on Jan 27, 2020 14:22:31 GMT -5
I give a slight nod to last year's team. Mainly because I think this year's team will only go as far as the goaltending will take them. I will probably always be convinced the Justin Murray suspension cost us the Western championship last year, and possibly more.
The West is wide open this year; it would not surprise me if Saginaw gets to the OHL Finals or if they get eliminated in Round 2. I'm excited to see how it all plays out.
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Post by donjohnson on Jan 28, 2020 9:06:46 GMT -5
I will probably always be convinced the Justin Murray suspension cost us the Western championship last year, and possibly more. I totally feel the same way...ugh. |
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Post by spiritfan8 on Jan 28, 2020 9:38:18 GMT -5
I will probably always be convinced the Justin Murray suspension cost us the Western championship last year, and possibly more. I totally feel the same way...ugh. Count me in on that also. |
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Post by eric8199 on Jan 28, 2020 17:00:31 GMT -5
Add me to the list who agrees about Murray. Certainly the two suspensions in the same game cost us the conference. And considering how close we were to beating Guelph, that means we should have been able to beat Ottawa too. Whoever does come out of the West then gets (probably) Ottawa, who will have snoozed their way to the OHL Finals. I guess that could be good or bad depending on how you look at it. I think everyone handed the title to Ottawa last season well before the playoffs began. How did that turn out for them? It's tough to compare the east to the west because the west always seems to have better teams and more contending. So someone can skate through the east and have the stats make them appear to match up with the west better than they do. And we don't play enough games against them during the season to prove any different. The western teams also don't put as much into a eastern matchup as they do one from their own conference, so even those results can be skewed. I think we have better offense this year than last year, and that will overcome the slightly weaker position in goaltending. Again, barring injuries and provided our defense gets healthy. A Wilde return would also go a long ways, and I'm still holding out hope. |
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twinsdad
2nd Liner
Rocky Hockey
Posts: 166
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Post by twinsdad on Jan 28, 2020 18:27:24 GMT -5
I will probably always be convinced the Justin Murray suspension cost us the Western championship last year, and possibly more. I go back and forth on this one. During Murray's suspension, we still managed to get a 3-1 series lead winning the second game (Game 4) in Guelph. We lost by 4 goals in both Games 5 and 6. That said, we only scored one goal in those two games. So it really didn't matter how much Guelph put up without Murray on defense, a team cannot win without scoring. It seems more that Guelph figured out how to shutdown our offense after game 4, or at least reduce the quality of our shots. Keep in mind they beat London the previous round after being down 0-3. So, they learned how to adapt and win when it mattered. In the OHL final, they also started 0-2 in that series and won 4-2. Probably helped that Ottawa lost their goalie for the series in Game 2 though. |
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Post by swoopster on Jan 28, 2020 18:49:10 GMT -5
It didn't help that Owen Tippett was playing with an injury.
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Post by spiritfan8 on Jan 28, 2020 21:15:29 GMT -5
Add me to the list who agrees about Murray. Certainly the two suspensions in the same game cost us the conference. And considering how close we were to beating Guelph, that means we should have been able to beat Ottawa too. Whoever does come out of the West then gets (probably) Ottawa, who will have snoozed their way to the OHL Finals. I guess that could be good or bad depending on how you look at it. I think everyone handed the title to Ottawa last season well before the playoffs began. How did that turn out for them? Hence the use of the word ”probably”. And “either good or bad”. |
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Post by ricardo on Jan 31, 2020 16:14:40 GMT -5
Flint did the Spirit a favor last night in beating Windsor in one of their games they had in hand. Both Saginaw and Windsor each have two games this weekend, but the Spitfires are playing at London tonight and at Owen Sound Saturday night.
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Post by ricardo on Jan 31, 2020 22:22:01 GMT -5
The Spirit beat Sarnia and London beat Windsor tonight.
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Post by MidlandSpiritFan on Feb 1, 2020 9:01:38 GMT -5
The Spirit beat Sarnia and London beat Windsor tonight. Flint beat Erie 4-3 in OT also. That is Flint’s 6th straight win which is a franchise record since the team moved to Flint. |
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