Wolfman Jack
Registered User
- Jan 19, 2009
- 3,264
- 2,503
There are a lot of teams in the 705 area code. Seems like a silly way to refer to Sudbury in my opinion.
We the TRUE North! Silly you didn't get the point.
WJ
There are a lot of teams in the 705 area code. Seems like a silly way to refer to Sudbury in my opinion.
What 2 jobs? Are you talking about Barclay Branch? Sudbury GM + son of David Branch?
Steve Staios and coach John Gruden of the Hamilton Bulldogs. The franchise is regressing again with little improvement from a year ago with its recent string of 10 losses in their last 13 games, and the team in jeopardy of losing its Memorial Cup bid in 2018 if things don't improve after Christmas. If they blow this weekend series vs. Oshawa and Missy, and the Erie series after Christmas, Gruden and Staios are likely gone.
While injuries are an issue, the team's defense and power play/penalty kill numbers stink (15th in PP, 18th in PK). They've actually regressed from last year.
The CHL is looking at this team--they will not grant a Memorial Cup to a team that doesn't project to be championship calibre next year, which this team isn't right now. They're actually likely to be sellers at the deadline instead of buyers.
And of course, the attendance issues continue to be a problem..
IIRC, they were promised a Memorial Cup when they moved--but with the team's performance, the CHL is risking another Hamilton Dukes situation if they award it there. The league cannot afford this to happen again--it would embarass the credibility of the CHL. The Memorial Cup will go to the team that best looks like they'll be a strong contender who won't be embarassing in the tournament in 2018--and right now, this Dogs team is looking at 2019 or later before being a contender, and that's dependent on the roster developing.
And right now, this Dogs team is going backwards--while they started strong, it mostly came from facing drained teams who had talent at NHL camps. Since then, they've dropped significantly, going 6-10 plus a few OT losses, so they're even worse than that. The power play's regressed from last year when Burnett was coaching them, (15.6% PP compared to 17% last year) and the penalty kill has regressed badly (77% vs 80.6% last year). And Staios has been with the team for 2 years..
embarrassment of watching Belleville(where the OHL Bulldogs came from) get an AHL team while Hamilton lost one is going to make the city seethe and make it difficult for Andlauer to get another lease on Copps without him making major concessions.
There are so many other factors that go into the Memorial Cup selection that you're just not even taking into consideration. Do you know someone on the selection committee or something and can difinitivley tell us that the Bulldogs are blowing their shot at hosting?? I doubt it
And holy hyperbole about the Dukes lol. Give me a break man, this is a decent, playoff-bound team this year and they will be even better next year (particularly if they know their hosting the Memorial Cup and are able to load up).
We the TRUE North! Silly you didn't get the point.
WJ
Take off the rose-coloured glasses--they are not a decent team. That 7-2 start basically masked a lot of issues,and was heavily inflated by feasting on teams missing players who were at NHL camps. Since that start, which they had a 49-31 (+18) goal differential, they are a mediocre 6-10-3-2, and they have a 53-72 differential, which would near the bottom of the Eastern Conference, and a -1 goal differential overall. Injuries hurt, but the talent isn't helping either.. a lack of scoring, plus terrible defense and issues on the power play/penalty kill are sending this team towards a low seed to get destroyed by Oshawa, Peterborough or whoever wins the Central (the only reason Hamilton is even the playoff mix--that division is AWFUL) in the 1st round.
Of course their goal differential has been good--but on the bad way, because the East is garbage. And they're barely trying to hold off "rebuilding" Kingston and Ottawa, along with surging Missisauga and Sudbury, who aren't that far behind.
And a rough patch? Losing 10 of their last 13 games and struggling to avoid last place in their own division in a weak East is a bad sign..
And another thing--just because Hamilton has a big arena and is a large city, they aren't deserving of it--especially when the team struggles to draw 3000/night (excluding School Days), and it's likely worse if season tickets are taken out of the equation. Oshawa and Regina have strong OHL history and markets--something Hamilton lacks.
Take off the rose-coloured glasses--they are not a decent team. That 7-2 start basically masked a lot of issues,and was heavily inflated by feasting on teams missing players who were at NHL camps. Since that start, which they had a 49-31 (+18) goal differential, they are a mediocre 6-10-3-2, and they have a 53-72 differential, which would near the bottom of the Eastern Conference, and a -1 goal differential overall. Injuries hurt, but the talent isn't helping either.. a lack of scoring, plus terrible defense and issues on the power play/penalty kill are sending this team towards a low seed to get destroyed by Oshawa, Peterborough or whoever wins the Central (the only reason Hamilton is even the playoff mix--that division is AWFUL) in the 1st round.
Of course their goal differential has been good--but on the bad way, because the East is garbage. And they're barely trying to hold off "rebuilding" Kingston and Ottawa, along with surging Missisauga and Sudbury, who aren't that far behind.
And a rough patch? Losing 10 of their last 13 games and struggling to avoid last place in their own division in a weak East is a bad sign..
And another thing--just because Hamilton has a big arena and is a large city, they aren't deserving of it--especially when the team struggles to draw 3000/night (excluding School Days), and it's likely worse if season tickets are taken out of the equation. Oshawa and Regina have strong OHL history and markets--something Hamilton lacks.
I didn't wanna be that harsh but that about says it I think. Still, think it's early to fire Staios and a bit quick on Gruden too.
Take off the rose-coloured glasses--they are not a decent team. That 7-2 start basically masked a lot of issues,and was heavily inflated by feasting on teams missing players who were at NHL camps. Since that start, which they had a 49-31 (+18) goal differential, they are a mediocre 6-10-3-2, and they have a 53-72 differential, which would near the bottom of the Eastern Conference, and a -1 goal differential overall. Injuries hurt, but the talent isn't helping either.. a lack of scoring, plus terrible defense and issues on the power play/penalty kill are sending this team towards a low seed to get destroyed by Oshawa, Peterborough or whoever wins the Central (the only reason Hamilton is even the playoff mix--that division is AWFUL) in the 1st round.
Of course their goal differential has been good--but on the bad way, because the East is garbage. And they're barely trying to hold off "rebuilding" Kingston and Ottawa, along with surging Missisauga and Sudbury, who aren't that far behind.
And a rough patch? Losing 10 of their last 13 games and struggling to avoid last place in their own division in a weak East is a bad sign..
And another thing--just because Hamilton has a big arena and is a large city, they aren't deserving of it--especially when the team struggles to draw 3000/night (excluding School Days), and it's likely worse if season tickets are taken out of the equation. Oshawa and Regina have strong OHL history and markets--something Hamilton lacks.
Def add staios and gruden name to list.. if u don't make changes and such in this kind of slump you should be fired
It seems foolish to treat the 7-3 start an outlier but not the recent stretch of losses. Are they as good as they were at the start of the season? Probably not. Are they as bad as they are playing right now? Probably not. Niki Petti is an integral part of their team and his injury earlier in the year was significant. He still doesn't look 100% so the break will most definitely help.
I'm confident that the Bulldogs will finish in the 4-6 seed for the playoffs. The team didn't make the playoffs last year so expecting a worst to first sort of year is unrealistic. The team has some good young players and a few of the best OAs in the league. A trade for some PP help on the backend is likely incoming and will help out immensely.
With respect to be Memorial Cup, I'm not a guy that is in favour of Hamilton getting it (I think Oshawa is the most deserving for such a historical tournament). My point is that the Bulldogs' roster will be of no detriment to them during the bidding process. They are a decent team this year and will be on the upswing even more so next year. To compare them to the Dukes is ridiculous.