Flint Firebirds 2018 Offseason Thread

[TcNorth]

It is a big secret.

 

[CJinGrandBlanc]

For those of you not aware, no local radio broadcast for tonight's game vs. the KINGSTON "Frontenacs" - 7:00 PM (EDT).

Don't know why Dominic Hennig didn't mention in his game day press release (another secret), but the game can be heard on CKYM 88.7 FM Kingston/Napanee, Link to broadcast......

http://radio.securenetsystems.net/v5/CKYM

 

[MJ5]

Back end very sloppy, Cavallin played alright. Team left him hanging a few times. Couple of those nothing he could do.

 

[Savard18]

I am sooooo tired of seeing superstar snipers just standing in front of/next to the net just being completely ignored. Adam Mascherin, Ryan Suzuki, Jonathan Ang, Brett Nuemann just all alone like there's no need to pay attention to them. SOMEone or everyone should be aware of where they are at all times. An opposing forward grabs the puck and takes it behind the net or into the corner and all 5 Firebirds slowly glide towards him just mesmerized. 77 games of Ouhlahen coaching and I've never seen so much puck watching out of any team ever. It's too much to ask of any goalie, let alone one playing in his first game. Cavallin looked really good, especially being his first game. What does practice with Greg Stefan look like? Does he just have them spend all day going post to post as fast as possible? It might be the best thing to do. Still, Peterborough and Kingston are two of the best in the East and the Birds have been getting their chances and the PP looks improved. Wells and Helvig are two of the best in the O and they showed it. That D still looks rough. Nilsen kept it simple and looked better but it was Alexandrov's turn to just get walked around. I expected to see some improvement out of Hunter Holmes but he's looked really good so far. Just everywhere tonight. CJ Clarke looked ready to take off this year in preseason but it hasn't quite happened yet. It appears as though they're just gonna rotate the C. Collela last night, Caamano tonight. Moore on Sunday?

 

[Toldyaso]

Yea I'm thinking they are waiting for one of those guys to step up and be the leader. I don't see any of them standing out from the rest as the teams leader. To be truthful I'm seeing Dellandrea standing out more than anyone but that is just my personal take after watching the last 3 games.

 

[Savard18]

Yeah, he's definetly Captain material. If not just yet then in the very near future. For those asking about Busby, it's a broken collarbone....so probably just a little bit longer? His return should help a lot.

 

[Firebrd828]

Yea I'm thinking they are waiting for one of those guys to step up and be the leader. I don't see any of them standing out from the rest as the teams leader. To be truthful I'm seeing Dellandrea standing out more than anyone but that is just my personal take after watching the last 3 games.

My understanding is that Moore, Colella, and Caamano are going to rotate the "C", and that Dellandrea and Busby (I think it is Busby) are going to share an "A".

 

[CJinGrandBlanc]

This team is in dire need of someone stepping up and taking the leadership role for the youth on this team. I saw this going way back to the pre-season games I attended in Buffalo. The potential is there. I was hoping some sort of announcement (another secret?) that something (bonding) would happen with this current three game road trip.

Usual healing time for a collarbone on a young adult is 4-8 weeks, depending on the severity.

 

[Firebrd828]

Looking over the upcoming schedule, and noticed that after this weekend, 16 of the next 21 games are on home ice.

 

[TcNorth]

Does anyone know when Busby separated his collarbone or is that a secret too?

 

[Toldyaso]

He did it in one of the games in buffalo.

 

[CJinGrandBlanc]

Does anyone know when Busby separated his collarbone or is that a secret too?

It happen the first game in Buffalo against Windsor a 4-3 loss on Friday, September 1st. I was in town for a convention and attended the game. Busby has not played since then. If there are no problems with recovery (secret), look for him to be in the lineup maybe sometime next weekend, which would be six weeks.

Does anyone know if the Firebirds are at tonight's Red Wings/Ottawa game or is that a secret too?

 

[TcNorth]

Flint needs to get back on track against a good Guelph team Wednesday Night!

 

[OHLInTheKnow]

Kole Sherwood is being returned to the Flint Firebirds

 

[Firebrd828]

Kole Sherwood is being returned to the Flint Firebirds

Whaaaaaaat???? That's interesting....especially since he'll be a OA if this is true. What's your source???

Let the talk of which OA is being let go begin......NOW.

 

[MJ5]

Whaaaaaaat???? That's interesting....especially since he'll be a OA if this is true. What's your source???

Let the talk of which OA is being let go begin......NOW.

If True its gotta be Collela right? Or do you think they might try and trade Kole?

 

[Savard18]

I don't see anything on EliteProspects about it yet but if I'm remembering correctly, OHLInTheKnow nailed his last prediction. I think it was Saginaw related. I'd love to watch Kole in Flint for another season but....he is tradeable, Colella possibly not and he's been performing awfully well again this year.

 

[MJ5]

Asked a Columbus scout at the game tonight if he knew if Sherwood was coming back, his words "your guess is as good as mine".

 

[FireBird71]

Flint with the beat down

 

[MJ5]

Pretty surprised tonight. (Missed the first 10 minutes or so).

Wismer-Holmes-Keppen line looked great. Keppen looked very smooth tonight.

Alexandrov got hurt (I didn't see it), Gretz and Pilon played a decent amount of minutes. Didn't notice a ton of Gretz, which can be a good thing. Pilon made a few plays, looked pretty good. Hakon was the only one I saw make a couple mistakes trying to play with the puck. Overall pretty solid performance all the way around.

Forrest again very solid.

 

[Savard18]

Their best game of the season tonight. Came out with a jump in their step from the 1st shift. Welcome back to Flint Mr. George Burnett. Nice to finally see Moore and Caamano flying for a full 60 minutes. They can be a dominant line this year and this was the first game I saw that out of them for a full game. Nilsen looked good except for fanning on a couple one timers, one which created a two on one the other way but they both looked like they would have been hard to get ahold of and the rest of his night was pretty solid including him throwing his body around a bit. Gretz was impressive, couple of slick outlet passes along with a couple others. It looks like the kid has really good vision and as Toldyaso pointed out to me, he's still just a 15yo for another month+. Pilon looked much better tonight, I think he'll be fine once he gains a little more experience at this level. The one thing I'd nitpick was Dellandrea being slow on the back check for Guelph's goal. I know that's not like him, but c'mon Ty, move your feet and engage your guy, Garrett's 12 minutes away from a shutout and you know he deserves one. The youth looks really good here for all the talk about getting kids to report, their group of 16 and 17 yo's continue to impress me. Nice to see guys not being wide open for back door slam dunks all night tonight.

 

[Gensdef]

Pretty solid all around game last nite by the Birds. Was impressed with some of the younger kids. As far as Sherwood we will see. A note though both him and Smereck were scratches for their teams opening nites.

 

[Toldyaso]

Yea I would describe Gretz's game last night as efficient. Seemed to be in pretty good control all night not really needing to scramble around much and no hesitation when he had the puck. executed some really nice outlets but what I was impressed with most was how composed he was just quietly going about his business getting the puck and executing exactly the right pass. He has soft hands and doesn't overplay the puck when he passes it. I thought that was pretty impressive from a 15 yr old and he's just going to get better.

 

[MJ5]

@FlintFirebirds: The Columbus @BlueJacketsNHL have reassigned RW @92KSherwood to the @FlintFirebirds. He had 85 points (33G, 52A) in 60 games last season....


Let the speculation begin.

 

[Savard18]

That means we owe London another 2nd round pick. Most teams are already full on OA's and you won't be getting a 2nd rounder for Colella. I'm not sure what Moore or Sherwood could fetch at this point. Together they should rip this league apart this year. I would think whatever is going to happen, Columbus mgmt has worked it out with Barclay Branch who so far has been in house and on the concourse for both home games so far.