2017 /18 season predictions

dirty12

Registered User
Mar 6, 2015
8,965
3,636
No way is Niagara tenth Sudbury more likely

Since I missed all the Niagara signings of imports & college de-commits, I will re-arrange my prediction for the east.
10. Niagara (luckily not in east division)
6-9: NB, Kingston, Barrie, Ottawa
5: Sudbury
4: Oshawa
3: Hamilton
2: Mississauga
1: Peterborough
 

View from section 9

Registered User
Apr 13, 2016
994
576
East

Mississauga
Oshawa
Peterborough
Hamilton
Ottawa
North Bay
Barrie
Sudbury
Kingston
Niagara

West

Owen Sound
SSM
Kitchener
London
Flint
Sarnia
Saginaw
Guelph
Windsor
Erie
 

I Loveallsports

I'm a optimist not a optometrist
Apr 13, 2010
5,037
3,937
Since I missed all the Niagara signings of imports & college de-commits, I will re-arrange my prediction for the east.
10. Niagara (luckily not in east division)
6-9: NB, Kingston, Barrie, Ottawa
5: Sudbury
4: Oshawa
3: Hamilton
2: Mississauga
1: Peterborough

Dirty- Did you just put the dogs 10th in both your poles? Lol. Your making enemies. Go wolves Go!!
 

bigsportsfan

Registered User
Sep 28, 2012
131
80
Since I missed all the Niagara signings of imports & college de-commits, I will re-arrange my prediction for the east.
10. Niagara (luckily not in east division)
6-9: NB, Kingston, Barrie, Ottawa
5: Sudbury
4: Oshawa
3: Hamilton
2: Mississauga
1: Peterborough

The IceDogs finished in 8th last year on a team full of 17 year old rookies. They only lost their 3 OA's from last season, returning players Thomas and Maksimov will likely score 30+ goals, they will have 3 lines that can score and their starter from last season Dhillon is back. This team is middle of the pack or better.
 

barto316

Registered User
Dec 30, 2009
29
0
The IceDogs finished in 8th last year on a team full of 17 year old rookies. They only lost their 3 OA's from last season, returning players Thomas and Maksimov will likely score 30+ goals, they will have 3 lines that can score and their starter from last season Dhillon is back. This team is middle of the pack or better.

They've also added Roberts and Shankar without subtracting anyone from their roster and still have an overage spot. I'd be shocked if they're lower than 6th in the east.
 

dirty12

Registered User
Mar 6, 2015
8,965
3,636
Niagara will not have Mantha. There is nothing to replace the seemingly 40min/game he provided.

Barrie added Sevinchov, Lipanov, Suzuki...they should finish first?
 

knowescape

Made you look
Jan 26, 2016
419
39
Ontario
Dirty- Did you just put the dogs 10th in both your poles? Lol. Your making enemies. Go wolves Go!!

Two things, as a fan I absolutely love it when other teams underestimate Niagara; and secondly, there seems to be a lot of controversy around a team most of you are discounting - whistling through the graveyard?
 

dirty12

Registered User
Mar 6, 2015
8,965
3,636
Two things, as a fan I absolutely love it when other teams underestimate Niagara; and secondly, there seems to be a lot of controversy around a team most of you are discounting - whistling through the graveyard?

Just don't see that Niagara made enough improvement to catch the teams ahead of them (maybe, Ottawa; not sure what is occurring there) and lost ground to Barrie. NB is much better than their record with 3 out of 4 top D missing for much of the season indicates.
Secondly,...controversy with wolves? Ok, lots of turnover with GM, coaches...dust has already settled. Lalonde has not not been replaced; that certainly leaves a hole. Not nearly the hole left unfilled by Mantha, though.
 

icepups

Registered User
Jul 11, 2014
295
101
Just don't see that Niagara made enough improvement to catch the teams ahead of them (maybe, Ottawa; not sure what is occurring there) and lost ground to Barrie. NB is much better than their record with 3 out of 4 top D missing for much of the season indicates.
Secondly,...controversy with wolves? Ok, lots of turnover with GM, coaches...dust has already settled. Lalonde has not not been replaced; that certainly leaves a hole. Not nearly the hole left unfilled by Mantha, though.

You are absolutely correct Dirty. I'm not sure which D will step,up and pass the puck to the opposing team 1 or 2 times per game to set up a beautiful scoring opportunity against. How will Niagara replace that? He ate a lot of minutes but I often found his defensive zone decisions to be questionable. I think the addition of Roberts and Shankar (2 vets) will replace the toughness and power play QB that Mantha provided.
 

knowescape

Made you look
Jan 26, 2016
419
39
Ontario
You are absolutely correct Dirty. I'm not sure which D will step,up and pass the puck to the opposing team 1 or 2 times per game to set up a beautiful scoring opportunity against. How will Niagara replace that? He ate a lot of minutes but I often found his defensive zone decisions to be questionable. I think the addition of Roberts and Shankar (2 vets) will replace the toughness and power play QB that Mantha provided.

I couldn't agree more, I wasn't a fan of his either. Too many times he played on the wrong side of the blue line and couldn't skate fast enough to do anything other than congratulate the opposing player on an easy goal. For all of his press describing him as a tough guy he rarely took anyone to the boards or delivered anything above a bump. He logged lots of minutes, that's true, and played tired most of the time. Bring on the new age.
 

dirty12

Registered User
Mar 6, 2015
8,965
3,636
You guys saw Mantha more than I did. What I saw was a D that almost single handedly kept the ice dogs in games. Thomas was exceptional (for a 16yr old).
 

Dog Fan

Registered User
Apr 22, 2017
393
276
You guys saw Mantha more than I did. What I saw was a D that almost single handedly kept the ice dogs in games. Thomas was exceptional (for a 16yr old).

Ryan billeted with a very good friend of mine...I have enjoyed a few steaks and a couple of games of golf with him. Although, Ryan did let a few skaters past him and he did feed the other team with some great passes, this can be attributed to the amount of minutes he played. In my opinion, the good far outweighed the bad. The Ice Dogs will be a competitive team without Ryan. The additions of Shankar and Roberts help and the incremental improvement of Ben Jones, Akil Thomas and a few others...Philip, Castleman, Maksimov etc will make this an exciting team to watch. They will be fast and they will score but can they keep it out of their own net will be the question.
 

knowescape

Made you look
Jan 26, 2016
419
39
Ontario
Ryan billeted with a very good friend of mine...I have enjoyed a few steaks and a couple of games of golf with him. Although, Ryan did let a few skaters past him and he did feed the other team with some great passes, this can be attributed to the amount of minutes he played. In my opinion, the good far outweighed the bad. The Ice Dogs will be a competitive team without Ryan. The additions of Shankar and Roberts help and the incremental improvement of Ben Jones, Akil Thomas and a few others...Philip, Castleman, Maksimov etc will make this an exciting team to watch. They will be fast and they will score but can they keep it out of their own net will be the question.

Well said - there were so many one-goal losses last year. I am encouraged to see this one unfold!
 

OMG67

Registered User
Sep 1, 2013
10,548
6,748
Ryan billeted with a very good friend of mine...I have enjoyed a few steaks and a couple of games of golf with him. Although, Ryan did let a few skaters past him and he did feed the other team with some great passes, this can be attributed to the amount of minutes he played. In my opinion, the good far outweighed the bad. The Ice Dogs will be a competitive team without Ryan. The additions of Shankar and Roberts help and the incremental improvement of Ben Jones, Akil Thomas and a few others...Philip, Castleman, Maksimov etc will make this an exciting team to watch. They will be fast and they will score but can they keep it out of their own net will be the question.

Turnovers are sometimes a result of team performance. On a poor or inexperienced team, turnovers are a result of forwards not getting to the areas they need to be for proper outlet passes. Or, they are not causing enough traffic to clog up the zone allowing opposing forwards in heavier which puts undue pressure on the defense.

In addition to that, if you have one key D-Man, opposing teams will key on that player and force the weaker or younger players beat you, especially when that player is always up against the opposing teams top two lines.

So, in reality, the heavy logging of minutes is one factor for turnovers but there are a lot of other factors the average spectator cannot or will not choose to look at.
 

EON

HFBoards Sponsor
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May 31, 2013
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Raleigh, NC
With the exhibition season behind us and the regular season starting Thursday, what are everyone's thoughts now?

My updated guess would be:

Western Conference

1. Owen Sound
2. Sault Ste Marie
3. London
4. Kitchener
5. Guelph
6. Erie
7. Saginaw
8. Windsor
9. Sarnia
10. Flint

Eastern Conference

1. Oshawa
2. Mississauga
3. Peterborough
4. Barrie
5. Hamilton
6. Niagara
7. Ottawa
8. Kingston
9. Sudbury
10. North Bay

Owen Sound is the clear top dog in the West right now. I really want to believe this is a year Kitchener could be a contender but the preseason reviews haven't been glowing. I think London gets Crawley back (but not Juolevi). Their offense will still be very good. SSM is easily the top team in the west division, I honestly think the entire midwest division will be above the bottom four from the west division.

The east is much tougher to predict, I could go a lot of different ways towards the bottom. I expect Oshawa/Mississauga/Peterborough to be the top three, after that I'm really not sure.
 

Generalsupdates

@GeneralsUpdates on Twitter
Sep 4, 2017
7,300
4,367
My predictions:


East:
1- Mississauga
2- Oshawa
3- Peterborough
4- Hamilton
5- Barrie
6- Ottawa
7- Sudbury
8- Kingston
9- Niagara
10- North Bay

West:
1- Owen Sound
2- Sault Ste. Marie
3- London
4- Kitchener
5- Sarnia
6- Guelph
7- Saginaw
8- Windsor
9- Erie
10- Flint
 

RangerNation

Registered User
Jul 24, 2015
1,054
1,800
London
I really want to believe this is a year Kitchener could be a contender but the preseason reviews haven't been glowing. .

Preseason is preseason. I like to remind fans that when we won the mem cup in '03 (dear god that was a long time ago)..Rangers went 0-3 to start the season. I still think this team will be right there with Owen Sound.
 

EON

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May 31, 2013
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Preseason is preseason. I like to remind fans that when we won the mem cup in '03 (dear god that was a long time ago)..Rangers went 0-3 to start the season. I still think this team will be right there with Owen Sound.

You very well could be right, and I think Kitchener has the talent to do so. Just some of the comments I saw were a little concerning.
 

Generalsupdates

@GeneralsUpdates on Twitter
Sep 4, 2017
7,300
4,367
Preseason is preseason. I like to remind fans that when we won the mem cup in '03 (dear god that was a long time ago)..Rangers went 0-3 to start the season. I still think this team will be right there with Owen Sound.

Look back at Mississauga last year... They were last place in the East close to Christmas and ended up finishing 1st easily and making it to the OHL final
 

RangerNation

Registered User
Jul 24, 2015
1,054
1,800
London
You very well could be right, and I think Kitchener has the talent to do so. Just some of the comments I saw were a little concerning.

Totally agree! Our fan base hasn't been treated to a contending hockey team for some time so optimism runs dry after losses.
 

digiblader

Registered User
Nov 6, 2015
972
75
Why so low on Hamilton? Are their defense and goaltending issues that much an issue? Or is it the depth of their division?
 

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