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

[PuckLucker]

This is playoffs and taking the some of the most undisciplined penalties all year at inopportune times. I already mentioned the Burns and Schmidt penalties last game and tonight. Then we get a goal to get a bit of momentum and Miedema punches a guy in the back of the head that is on the ice???? What are you doing punching anyone? You are not going to fight. Start benching guys. This is crunch time. The only penalties acceptable are if you are trying to prevent a goal. Not this crap we have seen over two games. I keep hearing we have a "pro" coach!. Hmmm.. starting to wonder about that. If we get a PP early and he runs the same unit out there I will be questioning that even more.

 

[PuckLucker]

This is playoffs and taking the some of the most undisciplined penalties all year at inopportune times. I already mentioned the Burns and Schmidt penalties last game and tonight. Then we get a goal to get a bit of momentum and Miedema punches a guy in the back of the head that is on the ice???? What are you doing punching anyone? You are not going to fight. Start benching guys. This is crunch time. The only penalties acceptable are if you are trying to prevent a goal. Not this crap we have seen over two games. I keep hearing we have a "pro" coach!. Hmmm.. starting to wonder about that. If we get a PP early and he runs the same unit out there I will be questioning that even more.

That wasn’t even worthy of a penalty on #15, just a shove after a hit and some chirping.
Immediately afterwards #44 takes a weak slashing penalty ( shouldn’t have been a penalty) because he got beat by the streaking NB winger.
#29 had an easy tap-in but missed, uncle Troy won’t be happy about that.
Not the Fronts game, let’s hope the Slush Puppie Place is kind

 

[190 is almost 206]

Well, that was an awful period. Only chance to win this series is if we continue to injure their players. No idea how Mann doesn’t pull Vaccari after 4 goals on 9 shots. Then he gives up a 5th. Sigh.

It’s very clear that this is their intention.

 

[ottsabrefan]

It’s very clear that this is their intention.

We don’t have enough physical players to really do that. I think it has been a bit of bad luck on NB’s part as I feel like the Fronts are having trouble with NB’s physical play.

 

[beastintheeast]

It’s very clear that this is their intention.

The problem is you pull Vaccari who do you put in?

 

[frontsfan67]

Very interested about a few things

1- is Romani and Divinctiis back?

2- is vaccari starting?

3-will kingston come out firing now that it’s their home game? Kingstons gotten absolutely destroyed in the first 10 minutes of both games thus far and it’s clear that the north bay crowd helped them- kingston down 2-0 in the series will need lots of crowd support (we probably won’t even get 3500 LOL)

 

[Logosarejusttargets]

Very interested about a few things

1- is Romani and Divinctiis back?

2- is vaccari starting?

3-will kingston come out firing now that it’s their home game? Kingstons gotten absolutely destroyed in the first 10 minutes of both games thus far and it’s clear that the north bay crowd helped them- kingston down 2-0 in the series will need lots of crowd support (we probably won’t even get 3500 LOL)

Romani I hear is out for 3 weeks.
Vaccari is starting - not sure Mann has trust in either of the goalies anyway.
Kingston isn't that much better at home than they are on the road 0 why should that matter. Having a home playoff game on the monday of a long weekend could go either way for fan attendance. I think Wednesday will be sparse no matter what.

Mann doesn't bench anyone other than Chromiak -- Holmes, Uens, McNamarra, Thibodeau, Miedema can be mistake prone and ineffective and expect to be playing a regular shift.

You’re giving Troy Mann way too much credit as a coach. He’s great at interviews and loves the spotlight.
You will see his favourite players with -4 numbers tonight and no in-game adjustments.
I’ll eat my shoe if I’m wrong but he very stubborn and set in his ways.
Credit to NB, #14 looks dominant out there.
NB almost scoring on half their shots, physical play and many of the small speedy Fronts playing scared.

The only front forward that looks scared is McNamarra

 

[Truthking]

Romani I hear is out for 3 weeks.
Vaccari is starting - not sure Mann has trust in either of the goalies anyway.
Kingston isn't that much better at home than they are on the road 0 why should that matter. Having a home playoff game on the monday of a long weekend could go either way for fan attendance. I think Wednesday will be sparse no matter what.

They better have a heck of a walk up crowd. It looks like about 800 people right now.

 

[WolvesFanInNorthBay]

They better have a heck of a walk up crowd. It looks like about 800 people right now.

Going to look like a Steelheads game in there tonight

 

[WolvesFanInNorthBay]

Vaccari is in for you guys... Divincentiis not in for North Bay...

Ontario Hockey League

Official Website of the OHL

chl.ca

 

[leafs4life94]

Chromiak out, Williamson in, no Romani, A. Leblanc or Divincentiis for NB.

Need to take advantage of a depleted NB lineup and avoid the 3-0 hole.

 

[leafs4life94]

Just saw the lines - a lot of shuffling

Battaglia-Ludwinski-Soto
Poole-Dubois-Hemstrom
Miedema-Frasca-Heyes
McNamara-Hopkins-Thibodeau

 

[frontsfan67]

Just saw the lines - a lot of shuffling

Battaglia-Ludwinski-Soto
Poole-Dubois-Hemstrom
Miedema-Frasca-Heyes
McNamara-Hopkins-Thibodeau

Was about to say the same lol. Glad they’re trying that top line again.

Second line is a little confusing but I think they’re going to use that as a shut down line all 3 are great defensively and if Dubois gets kicked out of faceoff circle Poole isn’t a big drop off.

3rd line there looks good I think Heyes will surprise some people. He has skill but on the 4th line that’s never his job to showcase it. Will be interesting how he meshes with frasca (and miedema but they’ve been playing the last few games together)

4th line I don’t think will be getting many shifts. None of those players have been very good this series imo. Maybe Mann thinks putting all 3 together surely something works eventually.


For the defence I’m glad they have Williamson in. Again taking out Chromiak I seriously don’t think they’ll be bringing him back. Mann doesn’t seem to like him much and I’m sure they can get a better quality player. He’s had flashes of brilliance but lots of brainless moments too.

Holmes 3 line is confusing but maybe they’re trying to even out the lines a bit or Mann hasn’t been impressed with him.

 

[ottsabrefan]

Good win tonight! Nice bounce back by Vaccari. Win game 4 and it will shift the pressure back on them!

 

[leafs4life94]

If Ethan Miedema can really hone in on this $h!t disturber/physical role he will be an extremely valuable piece next year, tonight was the most involved I've seen from him in ages.

 

[frontsfan67]

If Ethan Miedema can really hone in on this $h!t disturber/physical role he will be an extremely valuable piece next year, tonight was the most involved I've seen from him in ages.

Absolutely. By far the best player on the ice for both teams tonight. Hopefully mann tells him this is how he has gotta play. Could’ve scored 3 in the first there, couple big hits and nonstop back and forth between him and J Leblanc all night long.


Refs weren’t too bad but I feel they did miss a lot of calls in the last 10 mins. North bay dove quite a few times and i believe ertel gave miedema a good 2 hand slash to the back of his leg when he was coming off and of course no call.


I understand why they didn’t call it(close game in the last 10 mins of a playoff game) but if you’re gonna call diving on miedema you should definitely be looking at north bay and how they embellish stuff too.


Great game by the fronts very happy they got the win. Anyone have an idea how long DiVinctentiis is out for?

 

[Handcuffhockey]

I thought Miedema was getting better every game playing a physical style game the way Poole and Heyes do, tonight he played with a ton of confidence, and was by far his best game of the year. Mann deserves credit for starting the fire, happy for Miedema, he was put on the forth line and he fell into a role that he was promoted from. Hard work pays off. The lines were all great tonight, every line played well, but I didn’t see much of the 4th once NB scored, nice to see Hopkins and Thibideau contribute with a point. I know they sat a lot with McNamarra but the team won the game tonight which was the biggest of their season and tomorrow is another day.

What impressed me the most was how good those first three lines were with the changes that were made, I loved Soto going back to the first, Poole took a puck in the face and looked like he had a face full of stitches and returned, but that line pinned the Arnsby and Wakely line in their own end almost every shift. Frasca played better and Heyes and Miedema played with a ton of grit.

The d played fantastic tonight, I could write great comments about each one, but McGowan was a brick wall, there are going to be about four NB players feeling like they got run over by a truck.

Last but not least, Vaccari was excellent. This was a great team game tonight, exciting to watch and the players showed up. What was embarrassing was the attendance, sad that the building was packed on the weekend but empty today for one of the most exciting playoff games Kingston has played.

 

[ScoutLife4]

Miedema basically had his best game of the season last night.
Kingston defense had some rough times in their own end trying to break out the puck when under pressure. -Would love to see them stop throwing the puck out in front of their goalie into the slot.

That attendance was an embarrassment. There's no way there was anything close to the 2,500 there the ohl site states. It seems like the city has already wrote them off.
This is similar to what Oshawa had happen last season in round 1.

 

[ktownfan]

Great job boys, yes they were depleted, but you still have to play. And we did

 

[FrontalLobe]

Well. I don't mind eating crow when called for and glad that I am right now. After questioning Mann for not changing things up at all, he makes some big changes that immediately paid huge dividends. This is the coaching I was hoping for all along. So smart to move both Heyes and Poole up in the line up and even more so splitting them up. I love them together but they both bring it every shift and can energize two lines now instead of one.

Also putting McGowan and Uens with the Dubois line against Wakely's line was brilliant - far less scoring chances for that line last night. It wasn't working with Schmidt and Burns and I like when those two are more on the offensive side of things generating offensive zone time. I would have liked to see Holmes and Williamson get a few more shifts though as it seemed like they were running four for the most part but NB were running their top two lines a lot in an attempt to get back in it.

Ethan Miedema! No one has been harder on the kid than me. What a game! Please do not go into hiding again now after a game like that. Bring that same effort and energy Wednesday night. Even without the goal that was his best game as a Frontenac. Effort!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've felt all along that NB is the top team in the East. Are they banged up? Yes. But that's part of playoffs. Win again on Wednesday night and anything can happen. We definitely have their attention.

Speaking of banged up. I bet the ice packs were in full force in the Fronts room after the game. Those blocks by Ludwinski, Uens , and Dubois on the Ty Nelson one timers looked painful. And players taking hits to make plays and being first to loose pucks all night - that normally don't do so. Great job by the entire team!

Lastly, the city of Kingston should be ashamed! What a pathetic turn out for the first home playoff game in two years. Absolutely embarrassing. The smallest crowd of the entire season. 2500 plus my %ss. There may not have been 1000.

 

[Logosarejusttargets]

Miedema basically had his best game of the season last night.
Kingston defense had some rough times in their own end trying to break out the puck when under pressure. -Would love to see them stop throwing the puck out in front of their goalie into the slot.

That attendance was an embarrassment. There's no way there was anything close to the 2,500 there the ohl site states. It seems like the city has already wrote them off.
This is similar to what Oshawa had happen last season in round 1.

There was 2500 there - it was about half full - and the attendance numbers are based on scanned tickets now, not like the old days of tickets sold. That being said it's pretty pathetic. I know it was a Monday blah blah blah - but there is ZERO advertising or promotion anywhere. The people that already have tickets (STH's) get promo material - but they really need to saturate the queens, SLC crowd

 

[Logosarejusttargets]

Well. I don't mind eating crow when called for and glad that I am right now. After questioning Mann for not changing things up at all, he makes some big changes that immediately paid huge dividends. This is the coaching I was hoping for all along. So smart to move both Heyes and Poole up in the line up and even more so splitting them up. I love them together but they both bring it every shift and can energize two lines now instead of one.

Also putting McGowan and Uens with the Dubois line against Wakely's line was brilliant - far less scoring chances for that line last night. It wasn't working with Schmidt and Burns and I like when those two are more on the offensive side of things generating offensive zone time. I would have liked to see Holmes and Williamson get a few more shifts though as it seemed like they were running four for the most part but NB were running their top two lines a lot in an attempt to get back in it.

Ethan Miedema! No one has been harder on the kid than me. What a game! Please do not go into hiding again now after a game like that. Bring that same effort and energy Wednesday night. Even without the goal that was his best game as a Frontenac. Effort!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've felt all along that NB is the top team in the East. Are they banged up? Yes. But that's part of playoffs. Win again on Wednesday night and anything can happen. We definitely have their attention.

Speaking of banged up. I bet the ice packs were in full force in the Fronts room after the game. Those blocks by Ludwinski, Uens , and Dubois on the Ty Nelson one timers looked painful. And players taking hits to make plays and being first to loose pucks all night - that normally don't do so. Great job by the entire team!

Lastly, the city of Kingston should be ashamed! What a pathetic turn out for the first home playoff game in two years. Absolutely embarrassing. The smallest crowd of the entire season. 2500 plus my %ss. There may not have been 1000.

How do you say 1000 people...seriously give your head a shake - that rink holds 5000+ it was half full - mostly concentrated in the middle sections on either side......again, as I said above the attendance is still pathetic but the team holds more of the responsibility - they haven't won jack in 50 years, haven't done much to build community foundation (One of the very few cities where our minor hockey teams are not called "Jr XYZ". Our AAA program is named after the university (which population never supports the team anyway) plus the AA and lower are still named the Canadians.... not only do the habs suck but come on it's been 35 years of the FRONTENAC name.

 

[beastintheeast]

Well. I don't mind eating crow when called for and glad that I am right now. After questioning Mann for not changing things up at all, he makes some big changes that immediately paid huge dividends. This is the coaching I was hoping for all along. So smart to move both Heyes and Poole up in the line up and even more so splitting them up. I love them together but they both bring it every shift and can energize two lines now instead of one.

Also putting McGowan and Uens with the Dubois line against Wakely's line was brilliant - far less scoring chances for that line last night. It wasn't working with Schmidt and Burns and I like when those two are more on the offensive side of things generating offensive zone time. I would have liked to see Holmes and Williamson get a few more shifts though as it seemed like they were running four for the most part but NB were running their top two lines a lot in an attempt to get back in it.

Ethan Miedema! No one has been harder on the kid than me. What a game! Please do not go into hiding again now after a game like that. Bring that same effort and energy Wednesday night. Even without the goal that was his best game as a Frontenac. Effort!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've felt all along that NB is the top team in the East. Are they banged up? Yes. But that's part of playoffs. Win again on Wednesday night and anything can happen. We definitely have their attention.

Speaking of banged up. I bet the ice packs were in full force in the Fronts room after the game. Those blocks by Ludwinski, Uens , and Dubois on the Ty Nelson one timers looked painful. And players taking hits to make plays and being first to loose pucks all night - that normally don't do so. Great job by the entire team!

Lastly, the city of Kingston should be ashamed! What a pathetic turn out for the first home playoff game in two years. Absolutely embarrassing. The smallest crowd of the entire season. 2500 plus my %ss. There may not have been 1000.

Why only 2500

no offence but

Tuesday after a long easter weekend
school night
team has been blah all year
down two games to 0

Queens and SLC are going to need to be improved. They need to attract families. Queens and SLC are gearing up for exams and getting all their papers done and handed in,

 

[leafs4life94]

How do you say 1000 people...seriously give your head a shake - that rink holds 5000+ it was half full - mostly concentrated in the middle sections on either side......again, as I said above the attendance is still pathetic but the team holds more of the responsibility - they haven't won jack in 50 years, haven't done much to build community foundation (One of the very few cities where our minor hockey teams are not called "Jr XYZ". Our AAA program is named after the university (which population never supports the team anyway) plus the AA and lower are still named the Canadians.... not only do the habs suck but come on it's been 35 years of the FRONTENAC name.

To be fair, the Frontenacs were the AAA sponsor for 10 years until Queen's decided to scoop up almost every single minor sports association in town.

As for why they don't cater to the Queens audience - I think there's too much of a NIMBY mindset. Residents and students have gone at it for ages around the partying and stuff - and when a group of students do get group seats, there's lots of complaints about how they're too rowdy and disrespectful.

 

[frontsfan67]

and when a group of students do get group seats, there's lots of complaints about how they're too rowdy and disrespectful.

that’s the problem with Kingstons fan base most of the fans are all old and very casual so seeing a bunch of university guys getting all excited and having a great time wouldn't be right up Kingstons alley. Whoever is in charge of ticket sales needs to put the tickets to 10-15 dollars for people in school. You’ll get way more people that way so it works out in the end and you don’t have the place half full for a playoff game.

Hypothetically if kingston wins a few rounds it makes sense to jack up the prices then when there is more hype around the team and there is better hockey but this is round 1 against the 2 seed so I don’t know why they’re this expensive I can understand why many probably won’t be going.