Erie Otters 2018-19 Season Thread

[gensfan2k2]

Not saying this is a reason you lost at all but what would an Erie team with Jeremy Brodeur in net instead of Troy Timpano have looked like. It would have cost you one of your OA's so if they all had higher value than the goalie then its a moot point. Brodeur carried Oshawa all year and was big in getting them to the playoffs both years with less than great line ups in front of him.

Brodeur would have been that steady guy that wouldn't let that extra goal in. or obviously there might have been other options around league as well. Being an OA wouldnt have cost much in draft picks either.

 

[EON]

It's a moot point because Erie's OAs were all too valuable to move. They possibly could have made a run at Helvig from Kingston (not sure they even would have moved him), but other than that there weren't a lot of good non-OA options on the market.

 

[bobber]

Erie had to play 22 games to get to their OHL championship this year , and win 16 of them ..While you have to respect the Mem Cup and certainly what it stands for , the other 3 teams beat the tar out of each other ,were crowned CHAMPIONS,they traveled, they got injured, old injuries never healed, and rest and sleeping in your own bed with home cookin wasnt an option.. Your reward was now you go to the MEM Cup ...

No One from Erie ever said the games weren't legit...yep we lost..But pop 2 aspirin in your mouth and realize you dont have any water left, if your on the other side of this year- thats what it's like.. But 44 days to rest and recoup in hockey is unheard of..We played like 95 games this season, you can put fresh gas in the tank,but when your motor is wore out your not getting very far...How you can not at least acknowledge the facts is beyond me..Did you play for a 4 to 5 week OHL Championship this year, or just the single week (4 games) Mem Cup on home ice ...Heck Wsr lost 3 times in a row to Sarnia the last 3 weeks of the season..YES SARNIA...as someone mentioned re the cup "they were built for this "..No team has ever been ousted in the first round of the p/offs , had 44 days off, then won the Mem cup like this year..CHANGES NEED MADE..I just think a team who won a championship should win it..Its a championship series-right?One week of good hockey in 6 years and people mention that as a dynasty?? DODGE DYNASTY MAYBE..

PP31 is right, more asteriks to print....

You know what they say on the London site many times. Haters going to hate Windsor applied to be host. They got it despite all the sanctions and having no high picks. Not many teams wanted it anyway. If they were such a lousy team they would not have had a chance. Despite all the rhetoric they won and were probably the best team in the tourney. No astericks required. The other teams had no excuses. If Erie or London were host as an example and got beat out in the first round and won the Mem Cup despite of it the shoe would be on the other foot.

 

[hockeylegend11]

Erie

You know what they say on the London site many times. Haters going to hate Windsor applied to be host. They got it despite all the sanctions and having no high picks. Not many teams wanted it anyway. If they were such a lousy team they would not have had a chance. Despite all the rhetoric they won and were probably the best team in the tourney. No astericks required. The other teams had no excuses. If Erie or London were host as an example and got beat out in the first round and won the Mem Cup despite of it the shoe would be on the other foot.

Solid post,well stated

 

[aresknights]

Solid post,well stated

But you said otherwise in '14.

We are all entitled to change or minds thou. Glad you have come around. Windsor earned the Cup win.

 

[dogfan]

Windsor won the 2017 Memorial Cup with the rules and criteria set before them and all of the CHL before the season started, so they have every right to claim to be the Champions.
With that said, Windsor was also eliminated from the post season on April 4th by the London Knights.
That's why, for me, the Memorial Cup has become a National Showcase, rather then a National Championship.
I know this wouldn't be the most popular suggestion, but I would say the best way to a true national champion is to have the winner from the O and the winner from the Q in a best of five and the winner from that plays the winner of the WHL in a best of seven.
I think with the travel of the WHL playoffs and the quality of teams that usually come out of the WHL, it would be the right way to do things.
I believe the league schedule makers could make this fit in but I'm not sure Sportsnet would like the coast to coast travel costs.

Sorry Otters fans for hijacking your thread with this.

 

[EON]

Windsor won the 2017 Memorial Cup with the rules and criteria set before them and all of the CHL before the season started, so they have every right to claim to be the Champions.
With that said, Windsor was also eliminated from the post season on April 4th by the London Knights.
That's why, for me, the Memorial Cup has become a National Showcase, rather then a National Championship.
I know this wouldn't be the most popular suggestion, but I would say the best way to a true national champion is to have the winner from the O and the winner from the Q in a best of five and the winner from that plays the winner of the WHL in a best of seven.
I think with the travel of the WHL playoffs and the quality of teams that usually come out of the WHL, it would be the right way to do things.
I believe the league schedule makers could make this fit in but I'm not sure Sportsnet would like the coast to coast travel costs.

I strongly agree with the first half of your post. Windsor won fair and square and deserved to win, but the Memorial Cup isn't really a national championship. It's a money-making spectacle.

I don't agree with the idea of making the OHL and QMJHL champ face each other, and then have to face the WHL champ. While the WHL does have tough travel, they help cut down on it with a divisional style playoff format like the NHL. You'll often see 2-3-2 series as well. Some QMJHL teams can have it pretty bad travel wise too. Historically the WHL has probably been the strongest league with the most Memorial Cup victories but I think the OHL is ahead right now, with the QMJHL as the obvious third. The leagues should be treated equally. I'm not sure what a solution would be to make it a true national championship. While the host team frustrates some people ultimately the tournament generates a lot of revenue and buzz for the CHL so I don't see them changing it.

 

[ohloutsider]

Having 4 teams that are all league champions brings up a whole new set of questions. How do you handle it?

A) By playing best of 7 series? That would be 4 more weeks of hockey and potentially 14 more games for players as young as 16 years old. The season would extend to middle of June.

B) A tournament setup without a host team? There is a reason the league went to a host team in the 1980s - to attract more interest.

Sorry did not have much time today to further my 4 league idea but now I do.
4 leagues with 15 teams per league - divided by geography.
12 teams from each league make the playoffs - 1st 4 get a 1st round by - 5 plays 12, 6 plays 11 and so on - best 3 out of 5.
second round 1 plays lowest remaining and 2 plays second lowest remaining and so on best 4 out of 7 - 2 following rounds best of 4 out of 7 to decide league champs.
All league winners head to the memorial cup "A" pool and play a one game round robin same as now to decide 1 through 4 - now it gets different - there is a "B" pool which includes the host and 1 each of the runners up from the 3 remaining leagues. They also play a round robin - afternoon games similar to WJT. The winner of the "B" pool then moves up to play in a sudden death game against the 4th place team from the "A" pool - winner of that plays the 3rd place team - winner of that plays the 2nd place team in the semi-final - "A" pool winner moves directly to the final and plays the winner of the semi-final. All of this can be done in the same aloted time the tourney already takes.
Leaves you with a host team which for me is still required in order to draw local interest but makes it hard for the host team to win this coming from the "B" pool - similar to how they do the WJT.
Host team could get into the "A" pool but must win their league and then the runner up from that league would be in the "B" pool.
Sorry Erie fans - maybe a thread for this might be better - any thoughts?

 

[aresknights]

I like the outside the box thinking.

 

[rangersblues]

Sorry did not have much time today to further my 4 league idea but now I do.
4 leagues with 15 teams per league - divided by geography.
12 teams from each league make the playoffs - 1st 4 get a 1st round by - 5 plays 12, 6 plays 11 and so on - best 3 out of 5.
second round 1 plays lowest remaining and 2 plays second lowest remaining and so on best 4 out of 7 - 2 following rounds best of 4 out of 7 to decide league champs.
All league winners head to the memorial cup "A" pool and play a one game round robin same as now to decide 1 through 4 - now it gets different - there is a "B" pool which includes the host and 1 each of the runners up from the 3 remaining leagues. They also play a round robin - afternoon games similar to WJT. The winner of the "B" pool then moves up to play in a sudden death game against the 4th place team from the "A" pool - winner of that plays the 3rd place team - winner of that plays the 2nd place team in the semi-final - "A" pool winner moves directly to the final and plays the winner of the semi-final. All of this can be done in the same aloted time the tourney already takes.
Leaves you with a host team which for me is still required in order to draw local interest but makes it hard for the host team to win this coming from the "B" pool - similar to how they do the WJT.
Host team could get into the "A" pool but must win their league and then the runner up from that league would be in the "B" pool.
Sorry Erie fans - maybe a thread for this might be better - any thoughts?

I see many issues. The biggest is dividing the CHL into 4 conferences geographically. Take the 15 most eastern teams in the Q for one conference. Take the 5 most western teams in the Q and 10 most eastern teams in the OHL for a 2nd conference. Then take the 15 most western teams in the W for a 3rd conference. Those 3 conferences are simple enough. That leaves 5 western teams and 10 ontario teams to make up a 4th conference. That's a lot of geography to cover without even figuring out what teams they might be. Never ever going to happen.

 

[ME16510]

You know what they say on the London site many times. Haters going to hate Windsor applied to be host. They got it despite all the sanctions and having no high picks. Not many teams wanted it anyway. If they were such a lousy team they would not have had a chance. Despite all the rhetoric they won and were probably the best team in the tourney. No astericks required. The other teams had no excuses. If Erie or London were host as an example and got beat out in the first round and won the Mem Cup despite of it the shoe would be on the other foot.

I don't think anyone is saying that they weren't the best team at the tournament. I think the argument stems more from them being considered the "best team in the CHL". I'm not saying they "didn't deserve" to win. They WERE the best team at the tournament, but they came into it as the only team that had a month to rest and prepare while the other teams were getting beaten up in their respective league playoffs. Would Windsor have won if they didn't have a month off to prepare? Maybe, they had a great team this year, but nobody will ever know. What we do know is that they won the tournament with an advantage that the other teams didn't have. That's what people mean by an "asterisk" on their win.

 

[youngblood10]

I don't think anyone is saying that they weren't the best team at the tournament. I think the argument stems more from them being considered the "best team in the CHL". I'm not saying they "didn't deserve" to win. They WERE the best team at the tournament, but they came into it as the only team that had a month to rest and prepare while the other teams were getting beaten up in their respective league playoffs. Would Windsor have won if they didn't have a month off to prepare? Maybe, they had a great team this year, but nobody will ever know. What we do know is that they won the tournament with an advantage that the other teams didn't have. That's what people mean by an "asterisk" on their win.

Had Erie beat Windsor in the final do you place an asterisk next to Erie for beating a team that was eliminate in the first round, needed all that prep time, therefore not a worth opponent.

 

[hockeylegend11]

Spits

Had Erie beat Windsor in the final do you place an asterisk next to Erie for beating a team that was eliminate in the first round, needed all that prep time, therefore not a worth opponent.

Fair question

 

[aresknights]

Had Erie beat Windsor in the final do you place an asterisk next to Erie for beating a team that was eliminate in the first round, needed all that prep time, therefore not a worth opponent.

I wouldn't have personally because they won the reg season title in the toughest division in the CHL, won the OHL playoffs and beat a host team and the other league champs to do it.

 

[ME16510]

Had Erie beat Windsor in the final do you place an asterisk next to Erie for beating a team that was eliminate in the first round, needed all that prep time, therefore not a worth opponent.

Not particularly, because Erie won their league. You could make the "beating the host team" argument for a lot of scenarios and to an extent have a good point, but I think that just adds to the reasons a host team shouldn't be involved. I just don't think it makes sense for a team to basically be considered CHL champions when they aren't even champions of their own league.

 

[PhlyerPhanatic31]

Had Erie beat Windsor in the final do you place an asterisk next to Erie for beating a team that was eliminate in the first round, needed all that prep time, therefore not a worth opponent.

The debate stems from the fact Erie earned their ticket to the Memorial Cup. Windsor benefited from the format to get their ticket in. It's not an argument based solely on Windsor...the system is flawed and has been for quite some time. It's a topic of discussion EVERY year. Highlighted more in the seasons the host wins on a backdoor pass.

 

[U Otter B There]

Not saying this is a reason you lost at all but what would an Erie team with Jeremy Brodeur in net instead of Troy Timpano have looked like. It would have cost you one of your OA's so if they all had higher value than the goalie then its a moot point. Brodeur carried Oshawa all year and was big in getting them to the playoffs both years with less than great line ups in front of him.

Brodeur would have been that steady guy that wouldn't let that extra goal in. or obviously there might have been other options around league as well. Being an OA wouldnt have cost much in draft picks either.

Time to get things back on track.

While there have been many here and on other sites that have questioned Timpano's play during the regular season and playoffs (me being one of them), I'm not going to put the blame on him during the Memorial Cup final.

I'd say that none of those goals were his fault. But if ya gotta place blame on him, maybe he overplayed the pass on the 1st Windsor goal (Bracco in front of the net and Knott right next to the goal post). The other goals were tip, back door on a power play and 3 Otter skaters watching Luciuk flying to the front of the net. But your mileage may vary.

 

[stickhandle]

you should make these arguements before tournament not after you lose, it doesnt come accross as legit an arguement then. Windsor never lost a game and beat Erie twice they were worthy of the cup IMO

 

[PhlyerPhanatic31]

you should make these arguements before tournament not after you lose, it doesnt come accross as legit an arguement then. Windsor never lost a game and beat Erie twice they were worthy of the cup IMO

The discussion never started AFTER someone won. It's been a topic of discussion for as long as I can remember. The format needs to change and it isn't just a 2017 thing.

 

[ZinErie]

Anyone going to the prospect camp this weekend?

 

[aresknights]

you should make these arguements before tournament not after you lose, it doesnt come accross as legit an arguement then. Windsor never lost a game and beat Erie twice they were worthy of the cup IMO

It most definitely started before the tourney.
Some have been consistent with their views over the years. Some have flip flipped based on which team is hosting.
The odd thing this year, which may be different from past years, was the host didnt even have to compete to get the gig. (I may have this wrong and please correct if I do) They were the only team to step up and got it by default seemingly.

But yes, they were the best team at the tourney. No arguments there by any1 I've seen on these boards

 

[hockeylegend11]

Spits

It most definitely started before the tourney.
Some have been consistent with their views over the years. Some have flip flipped based on which team is hosting.
The odd thing this year, which may be different from past years, was the host didnt even have to compete to get the gig. (I may have this wrong and please correct if I do) They were the only team to step up and got it by default seemingly.

But yes, they were the best team at the tourney. No arguments there by any1 I've seen on these boards

2 other hosts both from the West, Saskatoon was one of them entered the tourney similar to Windsor,one was knocked out in the tiebreaker and the other in the semi final game, Windsor the 1st team to make it the finals and win as well.
What moves the needle for me is that the St.John's coach said Erie and Windsor were the best teams his team had played all season,both teams skills were better then what they had faced in his league, and Knoblach of Erie after game 1 said it was the 1st time all season his team had played a full and healthy Windsor team,big difference,toss in a pretty good home record, they weren't a traditional 5th place team,only time in 25 years when 2 90 point teams reference Windsor and London played against each other in the 1st round, the best conference in Canada,where the top 5 teams were the best in Canada too, Windsor also #1 in PK,#4 PP,#2 in team defense/ goaltending. In the end goaltending,team defense and timely scoring by a healthy group of players ruled the day punctuated with the 2 wins over a difficult Erie team whose goaltending wasn't as good as Windsor.Dipietro came into the tourney as the best goalie and left the same.

 

[aresknights]

2 other hosts both from the West, Saskatoon was one of them entered the tourney similar to Windsor,one was knocked out in the tiebreaker and the other in the semi final game, Windsor the 1st team to make it the finals and win as well.
What moves the needle for me is that the St.John's coach said Erie and Windsor were the best teams his team had played all season,both teams skills were better then what they had faced in his league.

So did Windsor get the host gig by default? As usual and elided to by Spits fans, you dont answer questions?
And who cares what SJ coach said? You keep bringing this up but its meaningless That is an issue with their league, it doesnt make Windsor better in tbe OHL. They were a 5th place conf team eliminated in rd 1, with one piece out of the lineup in that td.. Excuses over n over. You play with who you have. Other teams could have had better finishes in the standings with healthy lineups/ whatever, as well but their fans dont whine about injuries. Parsons was the single biggest game changer in the O this year (see POs vs Erie) but no whining from us we coulda finished higher if he didnt miss half the year out or playing injured.

As we all saw, the competition from the Q and W was soft this year. It was obvious head to head with the OHL Im sure OS, London, SSM and probly even Missy would have done just as well as the default host did.

So was Windsor a default host? The only one to bid?

Erie was the best team in the CHL last season.
Windsor was the Memorial Cup champs. Due to hosting the tourney.
JMO

 

[hockeylegend11]

Spits

So did Windsor get the host gig by default? As usual and elided to by Spits fans, you dont answer questions?
And who cares what SJ coach said? You keep bringing this up but its meaningless That is an issue with their league, it doesnt make Windsor better in tbe OHL. They were a 5th place conf team eliminated in rd 1, with one piece out of the lineup in that td.. Excuses over n over. You play with who you have. Other teams could have had better finishes in the standings with healthy lineups/ whatever, as well but their fans dont whine about injuries. Parsons was the single biggest game changer in the O this year (see POs vs Erie) but no whining from us we coulda finished higher if he didnt miss half the year out or playing injured.

As we all saw, the competition from the Q and W was soft this year. It was obvious head to head with the OHL Im sure OS, London, SSM and probly even Missy would have done just as well as the default host did.

So was Windsor a default host? The only one to bid?

Erie was the best team in the CHL last season.
Windsor was the Memorial Cup champs. Due to hosting the tourney.
JMO

Sounds like sour grapes to me,you can try and de- legitimize if wish,
I can't hear,, the Mem Cup rings are pinching my ears, yes Windsor was 5th in the conference,make that the league, London 4th, your team couldn't get past the 2nd rd,so what's your point,last l looked West and Quebec were still part of Canada,don't think Missy could be put in the group of 5,at the end of the day not much separation between most of the teams, Windsor was strong in most of the metrics people want to see,PK,PP, goals against, goaltending,goal scoring could have been better, though with a healthy lineup that changed in the Mem Cup, average of 4.50 per game,and 4.00 per against Erie in the 2 wins against them.
Windsor didn't make the rules for entry only followed them.London got in the tourney in 2014, despite being knocked out early, didn't go all in like Windsor did this year and we saw what happened.
I make no apologies for Windsor being in,they were competitive regardless of your view,were the ones to guarantee millions like your team did previously,only difference Windsor won.
By the way I take what the coaches say then one who is bias and refuses to acknowledge the metrics of a team was competitive as any regardless of standing especially this year more then any,the toughest one in Canada.
In the end it was those metrics that you chose to ignore that carried the day, especially against a difficult team like Erie, those 2 games were the best of the tournament, especially the last one,win in areas,of PP,PK, goaltending,team defense, and one area that Windsor needed to do scoring,and with a healthy lineup they did.

 

[ohloutsider]

So did Windsor get the host gig by default? As usual and elided to by Spits fans, you dont answer questions?
And who cares what SJ coach said? You keep bringing this up but its meaningless That is an issue with their league, it doesnt make Windsor better in tbe OHL. They were a 5th place conf team eliminated in rd 1, with one piece out of the lineup in that td.. Excuses over n over. You play with who you have. Other teams could have had better finishes in the standings with healthy lineups/ whatever, as well but their fans dont whine about injuries. Parsons was the single biggest game changer in the O this year (see POs vs Erie) but no whining from us we coulda finished higher if he didnt miss half the year out or playing injured.

As we all saw, the competition from the Q and W was soft this year. It was obvious head to head with the OHL Im sure OS, London, SSM and probly even Missy would have done just as well as the default host did.

So was Windsor a default host? The only one to bid?

Erie was the best team in the CHL last season.
Windsor was the Memorial Cup champs. Due to hosting the tourney.
JMO

Nobody has ever been given an answer on this but we all know that nobody else put in a bid - having said that it is nothing more than hindsight to say if someone else would have bid they would have been the hosts - Windsor was a good option at the time and even if someone else had put in a bid that Windsor still would have been the favorite to host? I would speculate that others decided not to bid knowing that Windsor was the likely choice this time around. All of this is just speculation but to say Windsor did not deserve to win this because they were the only team to bid is weak at best - just looking for another angle to marginalize the win. Windsor was selected as hosts and won - they are not the bad guys here.