Guelph Storm 2023-24 Off-Season Thread (Part One)

[Living Vicariously]

Beer officiated game 2 in the Bay with Ferguson. Absolute dumpster fire of a performance from both. You can see Ferguson skating around and smirking while the entire crowd boos him after a missed call. I’m not suggesting it’s intentional behaviour but when you consistently get ripped on by various crowds it might be time to sit back and think “Hey maybe I am as dogshit as they say I am” OR better yet the employer (OHL) should start holding them accountable for poor performance. Quick to suspend these kids in the name of player safety but what about the guys that manage the game? We as fans pay good money to attend these games and poor officiating can kill a good game. Seems more apparent this season than years past

That you mentioned Ferguson smirking just drives home that the ego of some of these clowns is far bigger than their abilities. Burchell is another one that tends to make things personal out there and last night, Beer made it obvious that he can’t deal with someone questioning what his “job” is as a managing official either. It’s time for the league to do a comprehensive review of the quality of officials they are paying to screw up games and either clean house and set new standards or start to lose paying league followers.

 

[MidwestStorm]

Ik

the league should look at the context id hope.

No suspension but a $ 500 fine

 

[Riverfront]

are karabella or bauman expected back tonight ?

 

[bobber]

That you mentioned Ferguson smirking just drives home that the ego of some of these clowns is far bigger than their abilities. Burchell is another one that tends to make things personal out there and last night, Beer made it obvious that he can’t deal with someone questioning what his “job” is as a managing official either. It’s time for the league to do a comprehensive review of the quality of officials they are paying to screw up games and either clean house and set new standards or start to lose paying league followers.

If these are the best referees the league will find a hard time replacing them. They already had to make the entrance wider to get their big heads through the opening.

 

[StormWatcher]

are karabella or bauman expected back tonight ?

Bowman is on crutches... Karabela was walking around OK on Monday so unsure of his status.

 

[Northern Maroon]

Burchell and Ferguson get the assignment tonight. 32 years experience between the 2 of them. So the OHL must be taking this seriously. Right?

Ontario Hockey League

Official Website of the OHL

chl.ca

 

[LostRangers]

Beer officiated game 2 in the Bay with Ferguson. Absolute dumpster fire of a performance from both. You can see Ferguson skating around and smirking while the entire crowd boos him after a missed call. I’m not suggesting it’s intentional behaviour but when you consistently get ripped on by various crowds it might be time to sit back and think “Hey maybe I am as dogshit as they say I am” OR better yet the employer (OHL) should start holding them accountable for poor performance. Quick to suspend these kids in the name of player safety but what about the guys that manage the game? We as fans pay good money to attend these games and poor officiating can kill a good game. Seems more apparent this season than years past

Or maybe we start treating this like a development league for officials, like we do the players and coaches. Seems like a lot of these calls come with an air of arrogance from senior members of the officiating team. Would you rather watch the Beers, Burchells and Fergusons of the league continue to mess up, or see a junior ref make a mistake, but learn from it, and hopefully improve because or if.

 

[WolvesFanInNorthBay]

Burchell and Ferguson get the assignment tonight. 32 years experience between the 2 of them. So the OHL must be taking this seriously. Right?

Ontario Hockey League

Official Website of the OHL

chl.ca

I was just coming on here to wish you all good luck with that referee duo.

 

[howler2]

Burchell and Ferguson get the assignment tonight. 32 years experience between the 2 of them. So the OHL must be taking this seriously. Right?

Ontario Hockey League

Official Website of the OHL

chl.ca

Ferguson got rid of 2 Sting coaches in one game because they dared to question his performance. Both will miss first 2 games next seaason.

 

[SSMHoundsFan]

Ferguson got rid of 2 Sting coaches in one game because they dared to question his performance. Both will miss first 2 games next seaason.

I don't think that track record, combined with last game's shenanigans, bodes well for Wiseman if Guelph gets into penalty trouble this evening

 

[SpezzaNoLookDropPass]

Or maybe we start treating this like a development league for officials, like we do the players and coaches. Seems like a lot of these calls come with an air of arrogance from senior members of the officiating team. Would you rather watch the Beers, Burchells and Fergusons of the league continue to mess up, or see a junior ref make a mistake, but learn from it, and hopefully improve because or if.

Stop youre using way too much common sense

Burchell and Ferguson get the assignment tonight. 32 years experience between the 2 of them. So the OHL must be taking this seriously. Right?

Ontario Hockey League

Official Website of the OHL

chl.ca

Woof good luck folks

 

[HockeyPops]

I think Guelph fans deserved at least a couple more games the way the team played. Their physical play gave the Soo fits for much of the series, and overall it was a much closer series than the word "sweep" would indicate. Unfortunately, the injury bug hit at exactly the wrong time and Guelph was unable to overcome it.

Looks like next year is probably a rebuild year, but I look forward to seeing what the next iteration of the Guelph Storm looks like.

 

[MidwestStorm]

Appreciate the comments HP.
Injuries continued as Buchinger wasnt playing at the end of the game. Have not heard how or why but he was holding his wrist on the bench and was not moving his arm in the line. Did not look good.
Our 4 07's played a lot this year, even in this series, which will bode well for next year.
Looking forward to the draft next week.

 

[StormWatcher]

Gotta feel for Bowman in particular, such a hard worker and as captain it's got to be hard to end the OHL chapter watching from the stands. I hope he gets a pro contract somewhere... definitely deserves it.

 

[StormWatcher]

Looking forward to the draft and next season... the priority has to be forwards who can score, preferably righties.

We are set in net and returning defense is
Budnick/Allen
?/Beauschesne
Topp/Singh

I'd imagine the ? is filled via trade with an older D as they're usually late bloomers.

A lot of question marks in terms of OA's depending on who signs pro.
If Karabela isn't signed, it's hard not to think he is one spot as he's a hometown top-6 kid.
I doubt they trade Budnick as he's the only leftie left and they traded for him likely looking ahead to next season.
I hope they keep Namestnikov, assuming he doesn't turn pro. Hold on to his and Karabela's rights (unless getting a good trade return) until there is absolute certainty.

I love what I'm seeing from our '07 group, it will be strong, but it would also be a loss not to build around Luchanko. Assuming he doesn't go the way of Poitras that would make next year the year to set the table and 2025/2026 the all-in year.

 

[HolyRoller]

thats what they do, they cut the video and send it into the league.

The league already has it. Trust me.

 

[StormWatcher]

Karabela/Luchanko/? Romani would fit nicely here.
Alriksson/Namestnikov/Paquette
Snelgrove/McFadden/Serlin
McKenzie/Malhotra/?

I don't hate it... lets see what George can pull out of his hat tomorrow.

 

[DB26]

Interesting to see who the Storm select today. I am wondering if there is a move at goaltender at some point as well. Both Slavik and Gillespie are 05's. you could use the import spot on a positional player and maybe move Slavik to a spot where he will play more.

 

[MidwestStorm]

I agree completely it makes sense to move 05 Slavik and draft an import forward. Also a number of teams seem to be looking for an import goalie? Slavik is a known commodity and played well when given the opportunity this year. We need a couple of forward adds and this would be a low cost add. Timing is right with a relatively low pick and more players available with Russians this year.
Don't believe trade can happen until the trade window opens up before the import draft.
Looking forward to tonight with high expectations.

 

[thenumbersguy]

Attended the orientation camp today. All the picks for this and last draft attended except the 3rd round pick defenseman from last week’s draft. It was mentioned that he’s still keeping his options open.

The first round pick looked good and the goalie from last week’s draft looked solid. Planning on going again Saturday morning.

 

[MidwestStorm]

I thought all 4 goaltenders played very well with some big saves.
Score was 3 - 1 with an empty net goal.
Mclean with the 3 goals.