Kingston Frontenacs 2023-24 Off-Season Thread (Part 3)

[ScoutLife4]

I like the NB matchup over Oshawa for Kingston.
I also think the Steelheads goalies would just steel them the games in any series against Kingston if it was close.
Sudbury although super skilled is just in defensive and goaltending shambles right now. -I wouldn't be shocked to see them out first round against any team the way they are playing.

 

[frontsfan67]

I like the NB matchup over Oshawa for Kingston.
I also think the Steelheads goalies would just steel them the games in any series against Kingston if it was close.
Sudbury although super skilled is just in defensive and goaltending shambles right now. -I wouldn't be shocked to see them out first round against any team the way they are playing.

Oshawa games are always close same with Ottawa that’s why I’d rather have one of those 2(Ottawa won’t finish first in division though)

north bay is built for the playoffs through the whole lineup. Important to note they were missing therrien and ertel and who knows who else when the fronts played them. Still haven’t forgotten about that 9-1 game.

And I agree. Although Sudbury is probably the most complete team on paper (minus goaltending) their goaltending will inevitably let them down if they get in a series with someone like Leenders, or ivankovic, or divincteniis. If depending on who they play round 1 I could see them going out. Definitely won’t make it past round 2 though cause they’re gonna have to play one of those teams with good goalies.

Even though a lot of people are underestimating brantford here I wouldn’t be shocked to see them knock out Sudbury either as drobac has a lot of experience and has always been a pretty steady goalie.

 

[ScoutLife4]

NB also didn’t have Ethan Procyszyn last weekend when Kingston beat them.
That definitely was not the true NB in Kingston but it was still a good morale boost heading into the playoffs.

 

[dirty12]

DiVincentiis was not that impressive against the Petes in the Eastern Conference Final last year.

I agree DiVincentiis was not exactly stellar at all times in that series. But he did finish with 0.926 SV% over 20 games, so he must have been mostly good over the seven games against the Petes

 

[OMG67]

It is actually kinda funny in many respects, talking about Kingston a 7th seed potentially winning a playoff round vs a division winner #2 seed. This is a funny year where that is far more possible than most previous years. It is a clear indicator on how close this Conference is in general. Kingston only 15 points behind North Bay as of this post.

 

[frontsfan67]

It is actually kinda funny in many respects, talking about Kingston a 7th seed potentially winning a playoff round vs a division winner #2 seed. This is a funny year where that is far more possible than most previous years. It is a clear indicator on how close this Conference is in general. Kingston only 15 points behind North Bay as of this post.

me personally- I think they’re losing every series unless they play you guys but you won’t be winning the division.


Reason why I’m hoping for Oshawa would be because that the series would be a lot closer In score and I’ll make the trip up once or twice.


If we play north bay we’re getting blown out every game by 4+. Sudbury although I think we could probably take a game off them- there would probably be lopsided games too like 6-2/8-4/5-2 something like that. Mississauga the same.

 

[ScoutLife4]

me personally- I think they’re losing every series unless they play you guys but you won’t be winning the division.


Reason why I’m hoping for Oshawa would be because that the series would be a lot closer In score and I’ll make the trip up once or twice.


If we play north bay we’re getting blown out every game by 4+. Sudbury although I think we could probably take a game off them- there would probably be lopsided games too like 6-2/8-4/5-2 something like that. Mississauga the same.

I don't disagree with you.
Ottawa is the best matchup for Kingston but its not going to happen.

Anything can happen in the playoffs though.
Bet yea that Windsor superteam didn't think they would be swept in round 1 last season either.

 

[Logosarejusttargets]

me personally- I think they’re losing every series unless they play you guys but you won’t be winning the division.


Reason why I’m hoping for Oshawa would be because that the series would be a lot closer In score and I’ll make the trip up once or twice.


If we play north bay we’re getting blown out every game by 4+. Sudbury although I think we could probably take a game off them- there would probably be lopsided games too like 6-2/8-4/5-2 something like that. Mississauga the same.

personally I'd be happy with Oshawa or Mississauga as it is the easiest to get to go and watch (Missy will be super easy to get tickets, Oshawa may be a bit harder - but at least it's a reasonable drive) - as I don't foresee a round 2 no matter who they play.

 

[ktownfan]

I think we will make a series of whoever we play, but I agree, we don't get to round two. I would love to eat my words

 

[leafs4life94]

Two races to watch for Kingston: Race for 2nd (I'm considering Oshawa as having locked up the 1 seed) and the race for the 6th pick.

Race for 2nd: (GR = games remaining)
Mississauga - 66GP, 82 pts (36 ROW) - GR @ NIAG, VS NB
North Bay - 65GP, 81 pts (36 ROW) - GR VS BAR, @ MISS, VS PET
Sudbury - 65GP, 79 pts (35 ROW) - GR VS BAR, @ NIAG, @ OSH

North Bay likely has the advantage but it's very likely gonna come down to that NB/MISS game next friday.

Race for the 6th pick:
Flint - 65GP, 65 pts (28 ROW) - GR VS ERIE, @ SOO, vs SAR
Owen Sound - 66GP, 66 pts (28 ROW) - GR @ GUE, VS GUE
Kingston - 66GP, 66 pts (30 ROW) - GR VS OTT, VS BFD
Erie - 65GP, 67 pts (27 ROW) - GR @ FLNT, @ WSR, VS KIT
Guelph - 64GP, 67 pts (27 ROW) - GR @ KIT, VS OS, @ OS, @ LDN

Kingston's ROW hurts them for tiebreakers - but they do have one of the tougher schedules with the most GP.

Update to this - Oshawa is currently at 85 with games against Kitchener and Sudbury left - far from the lock for 1st I said before (I think I was looking at the divisional race)

Race for 2nd: (GR = games remaining)
Mississauga - 67GP, 84 pts (37 ROW) - VS NB
North Bay - 66GP, 83 pts (37 ROW) - @ MISS, VS PET
Sudbury - 65GP, 79 pts (35 ROW) - GR VS BAR, @ NIAG, @ OSH

Race for the 6th pick - Erie and Guelph both hit 71 points so Kingston can't catch them and are guaranteed at worse the 8th pick.
Flint - 66GP, 65 pts (28 ROW) - @ SOO, vs SAR
Owen Sound - 67GP, 66 pts (28 ROW) - VS GUE
Kingston - 66GP, 66 pts (30 ROW) - GR VS OTT, VS BFD

I doubt Kingston will end up with the 6th pick, but the 7th pick is in the cards if they go 0/2 against two teams battling for seeding in the East and Flint beats Sarnia.

Ultimately though - I'd rather they go into the playoffs with a little bit of momentum with two solid showing against teams well above them and make the first round interesting as opposed to gaining one spot in the draft - I wonder if they'll give Salajko a start this weekend to keep Vaccari fresh.

Has there been any word on Heyes/Poole? If they're borderline able to play I'd definitely rather the rest up to go into next week as close to 100% as possible.

 

[OMG67]

Update to this - Oshawa is currently at 85 with games against Kitchener and Sudbury left - far from the lock for 1st I said before (I think I was looking at the divisional race)

Race for 2nd: (GR = games remaining)
Mississauga - 67GP, 84 pts (37 ROW) - VS NB
North Bay - 66GP, 83 pts (37 ROW) - @ MISS, VS PET
Sudbury - 65GP, 79 pts (35 ROW) - GR VS BAR, @ NIAG, @ OSH

Race for the 6th pick - Erie and Guelph both hit 71 points so Kingston can't catch them and are guaranteed at worse the 8th pick.
Flint - 66GP, 65 pts (28 ROW) - @ SOO, vs SAR
Owen Sound - 67GP, 66 pts (28 ROW) - VS GUE
Kingston - 66GP, 66 pts (30 ROW) - GR VS OTT, VS BFD

I doubt Kingston will end up with the 6th pick, but the 7th pick is in the cards if they go 0/2 against two teams battling for seeding in the East and Flint beats Sarnia.

Ultimately though - I'd rather they go into the playoffs with a little bit of momentum with two solid showing against teams well above them and make the first round interesting as opposed to gaining one spot in the draft - I wonder if they'll give Salajko a start this weekend to keep Vaccari fresh.

Has there been any word on Heyes/Poole? If they're borderline able to play I'd definitely rather the rest up to go into next week as close to 100% as possible.

Oshawa in the running for 2nd as well as Brantford. A few funky things may need to happen but still very possible.

If Oshawa only gets one point (or less), they can still win the division but lose the Conference giving them 2nd place. They hold the tie-breaker with Brantford so under that scenario, Brantford could get as many as 4 points and finish behind Oshawa depending whether Oshawa ends up with 85 or 86 points.

If Oshawa loses their last two games and Brantford wins their last two games, Brantford wins the division but loses a potential tie-breaker with Mississauga and would finish behind North Bay depending on the outcome of tonight’s game between NB and Mississauga. That scenario puts Brantford in 2nd.

Oddly enough, there is a scenario where Oshawa finishes as low as 5th! It would be a three way tie with 85 points where Oshawa loses the tie-breaker and falls down far enough to lose home ice advantage. For that to happen, Oshawa loses their two games vs Kitchener and Brantford, Mississauga beats North Bay, North Bay beats Peterborough, Brantford wins their last two, and Sudbury wins their last three. Oddball scenario but none of that is out of the ordinary.

It is really crazy this year where a team first in the conference (alone) going into the last weekend can drop as low as 5th!

 

[HockeyPops]

I went back and couldn't find any other year where 6 teams from the same conference all had 80+ points. This has been a strange season.

 

[leafs4life94]

Oshawa in the running for 2nd as well as Brantford. A few funky things may need to happen but still very possible.

If Oshawa only gets one point (or less), they can still win the division but lose the Conference giving them 2nd place. They hold the tie-breaker with Brantford so under that scenario, Brantford could get as many as 4 points and finish behind Oshawa depending whether Oshawa ends up with 85 or 86 points.

If Oshawa loses their last two games and Brantford wins their last two games, Brantford wins the division but loses a potential tie-breaker with Mississauga and would finish behind North Bay depending on the outcome of tonight’s game between NB and Mississauga. That scenario puts Brantford in 2nd.

Oddly enough, there is a scenario where Oshawa finishes as low as 5th! It would be a three way tie with 85 points where Oshawa loses the tie-breaker and falls down far enough to lose home ice advantage. For that to happen, Oshawa loses their two games vs Kitchener and Brantford, Mississauga beats North Bay, North Bay beats Peterborough, Brantford wins their last two, and Sudbury wins their last three. Oddball scenario but none of that is out of the ordinary.

It is really crazy this year where a team first in the conference (alone) going into the last weekend can drop as low as 5th!

I'm not sure I can ever remember a year in either the OHL or the NHL for that matter where the seedings were this wide open - the 3-6 and 4-5 series in the east should easily be the best first round series', considering the west has a 13 point gap between 4th and 5th.

If I had to make a prediction - I say Oshawa beats Kitchener and Mississauga beats NB tonight to lock the two of them in as the 1/2 seeds.

I think one of the craziest aspects of the race is the insane ripple effect that Charlie Robertson's injury last night will have on this race. Guy goes 43/43 against Mississauga, gets hurt with 8 minutes left and Flores comes in and gives up 2 goals on 6 shots to lose the game for Niagara.

If Robertson stays in that game - Niagara likely wins completely off his back, and Misssissauga is in an steep uphill battle for the division, and could've ended up as low as 5th depending how everything else shakes out.

 

[OMG67]

I'm not sure I can ever remember a year in either the OHL or the NHL for that matter where the seedings were this wide open - the 3-6 and 4-5 series in the east should easily be the best first round series', considering the west has a 13 point gap between 4th and 5th.

If I had to make a prediction - I say Oshawa beats Kitchener and Mississauga beats NB tonight to lock the two of them in as the 1/2 seeds.

I think one of the craziest aspects of the race is the insane ripple effect that Charlie Robertson's injury last night will have on this race. Guy goes 43/43 against Mississauga, gets hurt with 8 minutes left and Flores comes in and gives up 2 goals on 6 shots to lose the game for Niagara.

If Robertson stays in that game - Niagara likely wins completely off his back, and Misssissauga is in an steep uphill battle for the division, and could've ended up as low as 5th depending how everything else shakes out.

I realize the Kingston series in the 2 v 7 is still an unlikely upset BUT it is far less of an upset than almost any other year. The same goes for the Barrie series. Barrie has some crazy good players and are capable of surprising any team. I wouldn’t place a wager in favour of either Kingston or Barrie but I would not be shocked. It sort of reminds me of last season in the Western Conference. Kitchener was 22 points behind Windsor and Peterborough was 23 points behind Ottawa so these upsets (when only considering the Final Standings) do happen. Kingston is looking like they will only be about 20 points back so well within the realm of reasonable possibility.

I’d love to see Kingston win in round one. Although I have been critical about the Fronts goal suppression and IMO, it will take Mann through the offseason to reconfigure the roster to his needs, there are a lot of good players on the fronts and I would like to see them be successful in round one to give some momentum into next year. I think it is important for experience.

EDIT:
Looks like there will be an OMG67 sighting tonight in Kingston….. run for cover….

 

[Logosarejusttargets]

fI'm not sure I can ever remember a year in either the OHL or the NHL for that matter where the seedings were this wide open - the 3-6 and 4-5 series in the east should easily be the best first round series', considering the west has a 13 point gap between 4th and 5th.

If I had to make a prediction - I say Oshawa beats Kitchener and Mississauga beats NB tonight to lock the two of them in as the 1/2 seeds.

I think one of the craziest aspects of the race is the insane ripple effect that Charlie Robertson's injury last night will have on this race. Guy goes 43/43 against Mississauga, gets hurt with 8 minutes left and Flores comes in and gives up 2 goals on 6 shots to lose the game for Niagara.

If Robertson stays in that game - Niagara likely wins completely off his back, and Misssissauga is in an steep uphill battle for the division, and could've ended up as low as 5th depending how everything else shakes out.

I think it's crazy that with one weekend left, some teams can finish as high as first as low as fifth or sixth.
Eastern Conference

X – 1. Oshawa Generals, 85 pts. (38-19-7-2)
The Generals can finish as high as first place or as low as fifth
2 Remaining: at KIT, vs. SBY

X – 2. Mississauga Steelheads, 84 pts. (38-21-8-0)
The Steelheads can finish as high as first place or as low as fifth
1 Remaining: vs. NB


X – 3. North Bay Battalion, 83 pts. (37-20-7-2)
The Battalion can finish as high as first place or as low as sixth
2 Remaining: at MISS, vs. PBO

X – 4. Brantford Bulldogs, 82 pts. (36-20-8-2)
The Bulldogs can finish as high as first place or as low as sixth
2 Remaining: at KGN, at OTT

X – 5. Ottawa 67’s, 79 pts. (36-23-5-2) (35 ROW, OTT wins season series vs. SBY)
The 67’s can finish as high as third place or as low as sixth
2 Remaining: at KGN, vs. BFD

X – 6. Sudbury Wolves, 79 pts. (36-22-4-3) (35 ROW)
The Wolves can finish as high as first place or as low as sixth
3 Remaining: vs. BAR, at NIAG, at OSH

X – 7. Kingston Frontenacs, 66 pts. (31-31-4-0)
The Frontenacs will enter the playoffs as the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference.
2 Remaining: vs. OTT, vs. BFD

X – 8. Barrie Colts, 58 pts. (27-35-4-0)
The Colts will enter the playoffs as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.
2 Remaining: at SBY, vs. PBO

 

[Logosarejusttargets]

Update to this - Oshawa is currently at 85 with games against Kitchener and Sudbury left - far from the lock for 1st I said before (I think I was looking at the divisional race)

Race for 2nd: (GR = games remaining)
Mississauga - 67GP, 84 pts (37 ROW) - VS NB
North Bay - 66GP, 83 pts (37 ROW) - @ MISS, VS PET
Sudbury - 65GP, 79 pts (35 ROW) - GR VS BAR, @ NIAG, @ OSH

Race for the 6th pick - Erie and Guelph both hit 71 points so Kingston can't catch them and are guaranteed at worse the 8th pick.
Flint - 66GP, 65 pts (28 ROW) - @ SOO, vs SAR
Owen Sound - 67GP, 66 pts (28 ROW) - VS GUE
Kingston - 66GP, 66 pts (30 ROW) - GR VS OTT, VS BFD

I doubt Kingston will end up with the 6th pick, but the 7th pick is in the cards if they go 0/2 against two teams battling for seeding in the East and Flint beats Sarnia.

Ultimately though - I'd rather they go into the playoffs with a little bit of momentum with two solid showing against teams well above them and make the first round interesting as opposed to gaining one spot in the draft - I wonder if they'll give Salajko a start this weekend to keep Vaccari fresh.

Has there been any word on Heyes/Poole? If they're borderline able to play I'd definitely rather the rest up to go into next week as close to 100% as possible.

Heyes and Poole are expected to play, as is Holmes.

 

[ScoutLife4]

I realize the Kingston series in the 2 v 7 is still an unlikely upset BUT it is far less of an upset than almost any other year. The same goes for the Barrie series. Barrie has some crazy good players and are capable of surprising any team. I wouldn’t place a wager in favour of either Kingston or Barrie but I would not be shocked. It sort of reminds me of last season in the Western Conference. Kitchener was 22 points behind Windsor and Peterborough was 23 points behind Ottawa so these upsets (when only considering the Final Standings) do happen. Kingston is looking like they will only be about 20 points back so well within the realm of reasonable possibility.

I’d love to see Kingston win in round one. Although I have been critical about the Fronts goal suppression and IMO, it will take Mann through the offseason to reconfigure the roster to his needs, there are a lot of good players on the fronts and I would like to see them be successful in round one to give some momentum into next year. I think it is important for experience.

EDIT:
Looks like there will be an OMG67 sighting tonight in Kingston….. run for cover….

Damn, I'm scouting an AHL game tonight or i would have come and said hello.
Last night in Peterborough was quite the game.
Petes definitely wanted to go out with a bang.
Funny seeing McCaullum getting the best of Smyth in a fight when he had about 6" and 50 lbs on him Lol.

 

[HockeyPops]

Wow, 77 mins of penalties in that game. That might be the most for any game this season?

 

[OMG67]

Damn, I'm scouting an AHL game tonight or i would have come and said hello.
Last night in Peterborough was quite the game.
Petes definitely wanted to go out with a bang.
Funny seeing McCaullum getting the best of Smyth in a fight when he had about 6" and 50 lbs on him Lol.

Smyth is softer than pillows. He moves the puck well for a big lad and skates pretty well too but he’d be an NHL calibre prospect if he knew how to defend in front of his own net and actually hit guys leveraging his weight. Such a waste of size and overall hockey skill. As soon as he dropped the gloves, I was like, ut oh. This will be a mess.

 

[OMG67]

Wow, 77 mins of penalties in that game. That might be the most for any game this season?

Oddly enough, considering the number of penalty minutes, it wasn’t a Gong Show. It was more like the Petes jsut wanting to go out with a bang on their last Home Game and the 67’s mostly going along with it and not adding anything to the mix other than the perfunctory response.

Usually in games like that, things get out of hand. I think Ottawa had a few players with their 3rd fight already so many of them weren’t wanting the 2 game suspension jsut before playoffs. I’m sure if that were a mid-season game, things may have gotten a little out of hand.

 

[beastintheeast]

I can see Mann and Cooper are using the playoffs to see who they want to play next year.

This is a good chance for guys like Williamson and Vellaris to shine. I think you may see Uen or Chromiak sitting in the stands for a game, at least.

 

[ottsabrefan]

Oddly enough, considering the number of penalty minutes, it wasn’t a Gong Show. It was more like the Petes jsut wanting to go out with a bang on their last Home Game and the 67’s mostly going along with it and not adding anything to the mix other than the perfunctory response.

Usually in games like that, things get out of hand. I think Ottawa had a few players with their 3rd fight already so many of them weren’t wanting the 2 game suspension jsut before playoffs. I’m sure if that were a mid-season game, things may have gotten a little out of hand.

I’m sure they had a pretty good heads up from the coaching staff this would likely happen and to not take the bait and risk any suspensions right before the playoffs against a team that was not worth it.

 

[ottsabrefan]

Can someone please see if they can pull some strings and get us to play the 67s in the first round?!

 

[zaluty]

Can someone please see if they can pull some strings and get us to play the 67s in the first round?!

It would be the only way either of those teams make it to the 2nd round.

 

[frontsfan67]

Cheering for north bay and Sudbury today. Don’t want to be playing a healthy north bay. Would rather play the team that has won 11 or 12 in a row lol