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Post by donjohnson on Nov 13, 2022 7:20:17 GMT -5
Our old buddy Brennan Othman was traded to Peterborough which is good because we don't see him with Flint anymore but the bad news is that we'll see him in his first game with the Petes today. Coming off 2 huge emotional OT wins and playing the back end of a 3in3 I'm thinking this could be a "leave after the 2nd" type of game. Hope the boys change my pessimism but the Petes are very good and I still think we're very much overachieving at this point and we're still without Misa and Parekh in the lineup.
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Post by spiritfan8 on Nov 13, 2022 9:23:48 GMT -5
Ugh, that’s right—Petes were in Flint last night, so all he had to do was walk to the other dressing room.
I hope it isnt a blowout (bringing the 4 year old granddaughter, could get ugly) but the weekend has been good regardless.
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Post by aj0512 on Nov 13, 2022 10:34:26 GMT -5
Othmann will be fresh off a suspension as well. Sounds like a lot of drama going on in Flint and both sides needed to move on. I looked back at the schedule and saw Saginaw is 6-1 since that blowout loss to the Firebirds. Really nice response, and most (all?) of it without Misa.
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Post by eric8199 on Nov 14, 2022 9:17:40 GMT -5
No one eating their words this morning? lol.
Spirit played a TERRIFIC three periods and I think dominated the Petes despite being late to the scoreboard. Pete's goalie was on it and made some amazing saves, but it wasn't enough as the boys got another great win. Overachieving or not, things are looking up for the time being. I personally think we're better than people give us credit for, and I'll point to last season once again where while Flint had our number, we competed well with them most games. At that time, we didn't think Flint was that good, but I think they showed in the playoffs they were much better than given credit for, which in turn means so were we. If we hadn't had to play Flint 27 times last season, maybe we could have made the playoffs after all.
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Post by donjohnson on Nov 14, 2022 16:34:58 GMT -5
Hahaha...I assume that's meant at me  It was a very good game and I've never been more pleased to be wrong. The Spirit definitely carried play once it opened up a bit. It seemed like the first period and a half was a defensive struggle without many good chances. Once it opened up, we held our own and the passing was really sharp last night. That's a huge difference from last year. Sure we have a lot more talent but we still have many of the same players and they're hitting each other on the tape and it's showing up in chances. The other thing I've noticed during this winning streak is that the team is taking fewer chances back to the middle in the offensive zone and is content to play the cycle game when necessary. What it's leading to is winning battles in the corners and fewer odd-man rushes. Don't get too excited, we still are giving up too many chances but it's definitely improving. I've really been impressed with Savard since he's gotten some good ice with Forgione and Parekh out and Storch also had a great weekend. Willis was a little down but hopefully that will change when he gets back from Misa. I don't know why but I still stand by my overachieving comment...it's really hard to stand by that because the way we're possessing the puck and the goaltending we're getting says that we should be a team to be reckoned with but we're still getting behind in games and having to come back. We're winning a lot but very few outside Lennox's shutout have really been dominating. We're the 6th best winning percentage in the 20-team league 1/4 of the way through the season and while normally I think we should load up, I honestly think we need to stick to the plan and be a seller at the deadline. Bloom would bring back a haul, Lennox is playing some great hockey if someone's willing to grab an OA goalie and I shudder to think what a Mintukov trade would bring us. The challenge is, trading someone (even if just one) can sink a team much like it did last year with the Baber trade. The team played like crap for a long time after he left and only at the end of the season did they finally gel and figure out how to work hard and win. Hopefully, they have leaders this year that can withstand something like that but these kids are still pretty young. |
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Post by eric8199 on Nov 15, 2022 12:14:33 GMT -5
Not so much meant at you as this thread in general, because everyone seemed to be dreading Sunday, and it turned out for the best.
I don't disagree with you that we're overachieving, but sometimes it's the overachieving teams that win championships. That being said, do I think we're a title contender this year? No. I do think that we have historically shown that we are never a buyer or a seller, and that that old thought process doesn't work so well in this league anymore. Especially in Saginaw, where we can't afford to have a lot of seasons like last year.
I think we'll be buyers and sellers this year. I think we will be willing to trade a big name if it's going to bring us a good return in the long term but not kill us in the short term. I do believe we're looking for next year and the following year as our "go for it" years, so improving what we have during that timeframe would be the most logical. That being said, if we're going to do that, we need to get the guys we have some playoff experience, and a loss in the first round (or not making it at all) isn't going to do that well for them.
And if we're at the trade deadline and still in third in the conference tied with the most wins, I think it would be crazy to sell the farm and hope for next season. But like I said before, I don't think Saginaw will ever be a "sell the farm" type of team again.
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Post by donjohnson on Nov 15, 2022 14:20:38 GMT -5
Ya...we've already "bought" Theo Hill which was a nice addition. I just think we need to replenish the pick closet that we probably cleaned out getting guys like Suzuki for the covid-cancelled run.
One question I have is if we were to trade Pavel Mintukov, would we be able to sign one of our 2 import picks (Misiak/Hauser) from this year? Sure sounded like both of those guys were pretty good and if you can trade someone for a fantastic return (Pavel's return would be massive) and then be able to sign a top flight import, that to me sounds like a win/win even though losing Pavel would definitely hurt.
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Post by eric8199 on Nov 15, 2022 15:19:37 GMT -5
Ya...we've already "bought" Theo Hill which was a nice addition. I just think we need to replenish the pick closet that we probably cleaned out getting guys like Suzuki for the covid-cancelled run. One question I have is if we were to trade Pavel Mintukov, would we be able to sign one of our 2 import picks (Misiak/Hauser) from this year? Sure sounded like both of those guys were pretty good and if you can trade someone for a fantastic return (Pavel's return would be massive) and then be able to sign a top flight import, that to me sounds like a win/win even though losing Pavel would definitely hurt. That'd be interesting. I wouldn't be surprised to see Bloom moved by the deadline, but I'm guessing that's going to be his decision — more than likely he'll have to approve it. At the same time, I wouldn't be surprised to see him stick around. These kids all seem pretty happy here. If it was five years ago I could definitely see Lennox being traded with how good Oke has been, but in this day and age, the world of a number one and number two goalie may be going away. The NHL seems to be headed to a shared role between the pipes, and the OHL has already been headed there. It's definitely good for us to have two great goaltenders we can turn to — I don't know about you, but I don't see a weakness when either one of these two is in net. |
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Post by donjohnson on Nov 15, 2022 16:08:16 GMT -5
Nope...no dropoff from either goalie, both have been playing very strong the last few weeks. The only reason I would consider moving Lennox is that Fullerton has shown over the last two years that he's capable of being a good backup in this league. I don't know if he has the chops to be the #1 guy but he definitely could play the 1/3 weekend to Oke's 2/3 weekend.
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Post by Bthumme on Nov 16, 2022 15:32:54 GMT -5
Looks like we don’t have to wait to find out. Bloom and Hislop to North Bay for Nicholas sima, cam gauverau, and a haul of draft picks
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Post by donjohnson on Nov 16, 2022 15:43:18 GMT -5
I'm going to start a new thread since I'm guessing this will spark some discussion.
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