Minor League Thread 2017-18: Part VIII

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wafflepadsave

Registered User
May 28, 2011
4,258
1,354
Franklin, Tn
So
THRID PERIOD

Lias is good on faceoffs, amazingly good for a teen in his D+1 year because most kids his age get abused in the circle. He's not a future 1C, but at the very least he should be a great 3C and hopefully a good 2C.

3 on 1 against the Pack, but Helgesen actually blocks it. Puck behind the net comes out on the other side, a Bird is there all alone, shoots on Geo, highway robbery.

Someone needs to explain to me how Bigras was once viewed as a top prospect for Colorado. He's not bad, but he looks like a typical AHL who gets a few NHL cups of coffee before he retires at 28-29.

Birds outshooting the Wolves with double the shots: 40-20.

Melanson with a good shot.

At least in game 1, Ronning is not close to the NHL, much closer to the ECHL than the NHL right now. We'll see next year.

Big save from up close by Geo, then a save on a big shot. 44 shots for the Birds and it's still 10 minutes to go.

Fogarty playing well, just not sure that he has the talent to play in the NHL. He's already 25 and he's good in the AHL, just nothing special.

Even with all the top Packers sent back now that the Rangers are eliminated, this team is still an embarrassment. Total domination by the Birds with Pack shots coming mostly on quick rushes up the boards, then a poor angle shot with nobody fishing for rebounds. 47 shots in 53 minutes.

Down 2 goals, the Pack apparently decided to go into turtle mode. This would make some sense if they were up, but somehow the other team has all the initiative offensively with a meek effort by the Pack.

Geo pulled with 1:37 to go, but it looked like a disaster waiting to happen as they choked up the puck twice while Geo was skating to the bench.

Chytil, Vinni, Schneider, Ronning, Lias are the 5 forwards, Bigras as the only defenseman on the 6-on-5. Vinni wins the faceoff, good chance to shoot by ROnning, but blocked. Chytil shoots, but high. Ronning with a shot after shot, but at least one of 3 got blocked. For a guy known as a scorer, Ronning should've scored there.

Gropp, Rambo, Fogarty, Pedrie, Fontaine and someone else finished the game 6-on-5, but almost their whole shift was in the Pack zone despite the empty net. I guess the Pack need their best players all out there, and to have 6 skaters just to be even with another AHL team. What an embarrassin s--t show.
basically everyone sucks?
 

Ola

Registered User
Apr 10, 2004
34,597
11,595
Sweden
So

basically everyone sucks?

Sometimes I think there is a risk to look too much at the result and if individuals can have an impact on the results.

Looking at like Traverse the team struggled too and we saw some legendary terrible ‘scouting reports’ from a few fans butt hurt from our kids losing on the score board. If we win it’s the complete opposite, a Danny Kristo is a lock to score 50 goals in the NHL.

I love reading beacons report but win 5-0 or lose 5-0, what does it matter? Many players on Buffalo look horrible but would be legendary on better teams. Hockey is becoming more and more and more of a team game. We changed our blueline in HFD from top to bottom. A lot of players up and down.

It doesn’t sound like the effort was perfect, but OTOH it was a meaningless game. Still you always like to see an effort.
 

Beacon

Embrace the tank
May 28, 2007
13,676
1,454
So

basically everyone sucks?

Most minor leaguers don't make the NHL. This is particularly true on a team that's nowhere near the playoffs. We have 2 kids in their D+1 season running out of energy (and being 1-2 years younger than most AHL rookies) plus a bunch of career minor leaguers who aren't even AAAA players, just run of the mill minor leaguers (Rambo, Gropp, etc).

Then there are guys who may make it some day, just not quite there yet. Geo did well except he has rebound control issues, as do most AHL goalies. It's the most common reason a guy stays in the minors vs being at least a backup in the NHL. There's a reason someone is in the AHL not the NHL, he must have some kind of flaws, no? Why shouldn't my reports reflect that?

This was an especially terrible game. If a team gives up 50 shots and loses in a shutout, and I wrote that they are doing well, wouldn't you get a bit suspicious?
 
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CHRDANHUTCH

Registered User
Mar 4, 2002
35,232
4,218
Auburn, Maine
Has anyone else noticed that the Maine Mariners are owned by Comcast Spectrum, the Governor of the team is Paul Holmgren, and the guy running day-to-day operations is Danny Brière? They're basically the ECHL Flyers. I imagine it doesn't make a big difference, these are all professionals, but are there any other minor league teams so closely related, in terms of front office, with one NHL team, but affiliated with another (let alone a division rival)?

this is the Alaska Aces franchise previously, 007.... Briere played with Chris Drury in Buffalo, and where is Drury now, running Hartford for the Rangers, the other connection, is Spectra also operates XL and Hartford's business ops off ice, so that's where the connections between the two exist.... the Rangers wanted to come here to Portland.

Comcast doesn't own the franchise, Spectra owns the franchise, much like MSG owns Hartford.
 

007

You 'Orns!
Feb 11, 2004
3,757
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Mannahatta
this is the Alaska Aces franchise previously, 007.... Briere played with Chris Drury in Buffalo, and where is Drury now, running Hartford for the Rangers, the other connection, is Spectra also operates XL and Hartford's business ops off ice, so that's where the connections between the two exist.... the Rangers wanted to come here to Portland.

Comcast doesn't own the franchise, Spectra owns the franchise, much like MSG owns Hartford.
Ah, I see the connection. To be sure, I understand that there must be some corporate walls between Spectra and the Philadelphia Flyers (though I believe they both have the same parent company in Comcast Spectator). It's fascinating to me as an insight into the business of sport (as opposed to the fan experience), that Holmgren and Brière have been drafted in to run the Mariners, I'm assuming as they're already employees of Comcast Spectator. I wonder if on a business level, there is an argument for Comcast Spectator to not have their ECHL franchise affiliated with their NHL franchise.
 

CHRDANHUTCH

Registered User
Mar 4, 2002
35,232
4,218
Auburn, Maine
Ah, I see the connection. To be sure, I understand that there must be some corporate walls between Spectra and the Philadelphia Flyers (though I believe they both have the same parent company in Comcast Spectator). It's fascinating to me as an insight into the business of sport (as opposed to the fan experience), that Holmgren and Brière have been drafted in to run the Mariners, I'm assuming as they're already employees of Comcast Spectator. I wonder if on a business level, there is an argument for Comcast Spectator to not have their ECHL franchise affiliated with their NHL franchise.

ACTUALLY, Cross Arena, 007, if you ever have seen the outside view of it, was modeled after the Flyers original home arena, the Spectrum, which closed back in 2009....
 

Edge

Kris King's Ghost
Mar 1, 2002
34,749
42,578
Amish Paradise
Most minor leaguers don't make the NHL. This is particularly true on a team that's nowhere near the playoffs. We have 2 kids in their D+1 season running out of energy (and being 1-2 years younger than most AHL rookies) plus a bunch of career minor leaguers who aren't even AAAA players, just run of the mill minor leaguers (Rambo, Gropp, etc).

Then there are guys who may make it some day, just not quite there yet. Geo did well except he has rebound control issues, as do most AHL goalies. It's the most common reason a guy stays in the minors vs being at least a backup in the NHL. There's a reason someone is in the AHL not the NHL, he must have some kind of flaws, no? Why shouldn't my reports reflect that?

This was an especially terrible game. If a team gives up 50 shots and loses in a shutout, and I wrote that they are doing well, wouldn't you get a bit suspicious?

It's always hard to remind people that the development of a prospect, whether they make it or don't make it, is going to take a bit of time and that far more guys will be washouts than NHL players.

Getting beyond the usual names, we're going to see a lot of guys who, at best, are bit of a ways away from challenging for a spot --- if they ever truly challenge at all.
 

wafflepadsave

Registered User
May 28, 2011
4,258
1,354
Franklin, Tn
Hartford wins 2-1 in overtime. Schneider with the game winning goal. Last game of the regular season is tomorrow. Hartford's record is 33-33-9. They win tomorrow and they'll be over .500---considering how they did last year---that's fairly decent progress.
What’s everyone ‘s take on Schneider? I thought from what little I saw of him in preseason, that he had potential as a fourth liner. Thoughts?
 

Beacon

Embrace the tank
May 28, 2007
13,676
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Gabriel Fontaine got the Pack Unsung Hero Award.

Fogarty with a Character Award.

Cousin Vinny named Fan Favorite.
 
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Beacon

Embrace the tank
May 28, 2007
13,676
1,454
Yesterday's game vs. Bingo, our former minor league home, now the home of the Little Devils.


FIST PERIOD

Geo in the net.

DeSalvo with a good shift.

Leedahl lets a Devil skate right past him.

Bigras thinks he can stickhandle, but cannot.

Lindgren with a save! A Devil is all alone on the RW, go around Geo, hits the post, empty net goal, but no, Lindgren with a pad save in the crease!

Tambellini is supposed to have a great shot, but it's great at the Juniors level, it's nothing special in the AHL.

Watching the Pack is feeling like watching a 60-minute PK. All turtle, all the time.

Lindgren is looking better than I thought he would. It's only his 9th AHL game and he's younger than most AHL rookies - he started the season as a 19 year old, almost all AHL rookies start the season at the age of 20 or older.

Lettieri with a good shot. I think I heard Ronning's name there too.

Bigras around a Devil, good shot. He'll eventually be a AAAA player who gets $300k to play in the AHL and will make some bonus money for an occasional NHL callup. Not much more, but I guess not a bad way to earn a top 1% living.

Lindgren takes a hit to make a defensive play.

Rambo getting himself open for shots, but nothing spectacular to finish it.

Fogarty playing really well since he got his NHL time. Visible on offense and defense.

PP Goal: Fogarty from behind the net to de Salvo on the right boards, Bigras on the right point, snap shot from the blue line, pad save, rebound Fogarty, goalie on his back, Gropp picks up the garbage a foot away from the crease and knocks it in the empty net. Most of the credit for the goal to Fogarty who looked like a real vet leader there. 1-0.

Ronning gets humiliated with a Devil going around him by sending the puck between Ronning's legs. This is some beer league play you do with hockey beginners. Had to rewatch it a few times just to make sure I saw what I thought I saw.

But now Ronning with a good forecheck and an effort along the boards behind the enemy net.

Fogarty looking really good at making smart little plays. Nothing that you would rave about just right play after right play after right play. Even that goal came from hard work and intelligence, nothing spectacular just doing the right thing every time.

Lettieri can take faceoffs surprisingly well for a winger.

Lindgren again takes a hit to make the right play to prevent the puck from getting inside the blue.

Fontaine with hard work to get the puck transported from his own end to the offensive third.

Hartford with the last 8 of 9 shots of the first period. That PP really helped turn things around.

END OF THE FIRST
 

Beacon

Embrace the tank
May 28, 2007
13,676
1,454
SECOND PERIOD

Albert showing good speed, going around the net with a wrap around shot.

Schneider gets a big rebound in front of the net, but misses.

Ronning is over his head here. He needs ECHL time. Maybe the development camp, Traverse, preseason will get him to pick up his game to AHL level, but at this stage, he doesn't look like someone who should be in the AHL. It's not that he's totally awful, but he looks more like an ECHLer first liner than an AHLer right now. We'll see next season.

Watching Lindgren makes me happy. Good angles, hard work in the corners, smart beyond his age in his own end.

Fontaine with a great stickhandling move undressing a Devil defenseman, then a good shot.

More smart plays from Fogarty. Not sure how he is in the locker room, but on ice, he looks like someone who could really wear a letter, maybe a C next season.

Lettieri with a failed clear.

Ronning flashing skill to outstickhandle a Devil, but then needs to quickly dump in because he doesn't seem to be up to AHL speed yet (the speed of thinking, not the speed of skating).

Craw with a turnover. He has potential, but still extremely raw.

Now Craw with a rough defensive play, but Fogarty was there.

Bigras is a good AHLer, better than Graves, but Graves had some tools that could possibly make him an NHLer, I just don't see that with Bigras - he's good all-around, nothing special and I don't see what he adds to an NHL team.

Pack PK. Lindgren sacrifices his body to block a shot. He looks like one of those warrior players.

Craw with a blocked shot on the PK.

Geo makes every save look easy at this level.

3 on 2 by the Pack. Rambo to Lettieri back to Rambo, shot, rebound, Ronning crashes the net, but it doesn't go in. But Ronning does draw a power play there by driving to the net.

Fogarty seems to be out there every other shift. Looks really inspired.

Rambo creating chances by always putting the puck on the net.

I tune in to watch Ronning, but Lindgren is easily the bigger addition to the Pack, at least so far.

Crawley with a big slap shot from the blue line, but took too long on the windup.

Ronning with a forecheck in the corner to cause a turnover. Later with a good backhand shot.

The Pack outshooting the Devils 16-5 over the last 21 shots.

Bigras skating, pass to Fogarty, hard shot, rebound, Leedahl with a shot, but a big save.

Ronning almost went on a breakaway, but pulled down. No penalty.

END OF TWO
 

Beacon

Embrace the tank
May 28, 2007
13,676
1,454
THIRD PERIOD

Craw with another hard shot after taking too long to get it off. If he learns to shoot faster, he could be a weapon from the blue line.

Fontaine with a steal and a shot.

Devil with a shot right in front of Geo, but he makes a big stop, making it look easy, barely moving.

Lettieri tries to stickhandle, but it was a stupid play. It's a Leetch play, not a Cousin Vinni move. Gotta know your limitations.

SCORE: Bingo had 2 guys, Pack had 4 guys surrounding them, somehow the result of it is a guy going all alone on Geo. Quick, hard shot perfectly into the right corner, nothing Geo could do. 1-1

Ronning tries to make a board play, but he gets abused by a much bigger guy. Second penalty drawn by Ronning this game.

Speaking of PPs, why isn't Gilmour in the AHL? Is he now too good for it? Pionk?

Cousin Vinni with a slash in the offensive zone. Dumb.

Leedahl with a lazy play, fails to clear.

Fogarty with a blocked shot.

Geo with a sliding bad save to stop an up close shot.

Pedrie with a good defensive play.

Ronning working hard along the boards.

Evan Jasper is an ECHLer, rookie pro and playing only his 3rd AHL game, has worse linemates, yet looks better than Ronning. That's not a statement about their future, Jasper will be lucky to even be an AHLer some day, but as of today, that tells you where Ronning is starting his pro career.

Ronning's goal for next year is to establish himself as an AHL PP specialist who is good on the forecheck 5-on-5. Forechecking is how he'll stay in the AHL. The idea that he'll be a big time or even top-6 AHLer next season seems to be more a fantasy than a realistic goal.

De Salvo shot, rebound by Schneider, but a big save to keep it even. The play started on a smart little play by Fogarty that nobody noticed. Best game I've ever seen him play.

Ronning looking lost as far as where to go on an offensive rush.

Lindgren with a big shit to stand up the Devil trying to enter the Pack zone. Real good old-time hockey by Lindgren. Just overall looks like a textbook defensive defenseman.

With one minute to go Ronning got open, Vinny almost got him the pass in front of the net, but it didn't quite get there.

Stick save by Geo with 6 seconds to go on a partial breakaway.

END OF THE THIRD
 

eco's bones

Registered User
Jul 21, 2005
25,987
12,221
Elmira NY
Pack win 4-2. End the season one game over .500--which IMO is not bad considering they had the worst record in the league last year and they had a bunch of first and second year players.

Mazanec gets the win. Fontaine (2nd star), Lettier, Gropp (game winner and 1st star) and Tambellini into an empty net.
 

Irishguy42

Mr. Preachy
Sep 11, 2015
26,789
19,036
NJ
Will be interesting to see next years team with a lot more talent as rookies and then the current guys being the vets.
 

Beacon

Embrace the tank
May 28, 2007
13,676
1,454
Last game of the season, also against the Little Devils.

FIRST PERIOD

Bigras with Helgesen starting on the blue line, Fogarty between de Salvo and Schneider up front. Mazanec is the net.

Incredibly good feed from the Bingo arena. It's actually HD whereas the Hartford feed is a cheap camera that isn't even as good as an old 1980s TV.

Ronning still taking regular shifts with Lettieri, arguably the best offensive talent on the team right now.

Pack with an early penalty. Leedahl. Not sure why he was signed to an NHL contract when he's an ECHLer. He's terrible at the AHL level.

Bigras growing on me. Maybe he does get an NHL future. He'll certainly get a few cups of coffee between the ages of 23 and 25 to show what he's got. Maybe he gets a career as a 6/7 NHL D.

SCORE: Swiss cheese goal: snap shot from the top of the left circle that Mazanec saw the whole way.

De Salvo is a pretty good AHL player.

Ronning getting PP time. Got a pass from in front of the net, quick one timer, but the goalie closed the 5 hole on him.

SCORE: Bigras with a quick snap shot from the point, redirected by Fontaine, tying the game at one. Gropp also got an assist by didn't do much, just a short pass to Bigras.

Leedahl takes a big hit, knocked down, then later the same shift, a massive killer mid-ice hit on Ronning. Not the first time other team's big guys tried to take advantage of Ronning's size.

Ronning prevents an icing with a hustling play.

Ronning doesn't know where to go without the puck, either on defense or offense. Looks like a kid lost in the woods, just looking around confused.

Schneider on a short breakaway, beats the goalie, but hits the post.

Mazanec makes his saves, but with too many movements. Doubt he holds up as a full time NHLer.

Fogarty skating around some Devils to create a shorthanded chance, but doesn't have the ability to finish.

Bigras moved off the puck by a stronger opponent.

END OF ONE
 
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