Owen Sound Attack 2018 Offseason Thread

[Pond Hockey]

Tough loss, indeed. The one good thing about losing a game like that is being able to play again the next afternoon. Short memory, put the loss behind you, focus on your next opponent.

7 straight losses against divisional rivals. Sitting in 8th spot now, 3 pts behind the Knights for 7th but with 2 games in hand. With the way things are shaping up in the West so far, 7th spot doesn't look all that bad (although a lot can change over the second half of the season).

Zippy looked good last night. He looked engaged in the play, not just going through the motions. He deserved the second star.

Suzuki...likely drained from the week at selection camp. Hoping for a bounce back game from him today.

The more I see Cameron up front, the more I like him. Wishing we still had King for some D depth with Cameron and Beamish seeing so much forward action lately.

Kudos to the Fronts' PK last night. I mean, we sure could have used Durzi back there, but the Kingston PK unit did a superb job of keeping the box formation and eliminating the passing lanes, keeping the puck largely on the perimeter.

I liked seeing their coach giving an earful to the refs in the 3rd about the penalty calls. Would love to see the same emotion from our coach once in a while.

Hoping to see Durzi in the lineup tonight.

Go Attack!!

 

[Pond Hockey]

The Attack's PK needs work. They don't maintain any discernible formation (e.g., box, diamond) in front of their net. Hence the Knights were able to work the puck into the middle of the ice and scored while the PK unit is scrambling around.

Compare that to London's PK unit. They're keeping a tight box formation (each PK'er is a corner of a box). Highly effective at keeping the puck to the perimeter, taking away the passing lanes through the slot area. Attack has had few, if any, quality scoring chances on the PP.

 

[Pond Hockey]

Win the puck possession game and dominate the shot clock, only to lose the game while handing the opposing goalie first-star honours. How many times have we seen that this year?? Last night it was Helvig, today it's Raaymakers' turn.

 

[Millpond]

Irony, both winning goalies were on DeGray's wish list.
I'll take lefrenniere. Two great performances

Time to deal for assets .

 

[Pond Hockey]

Irony, both winning goalies were on DeGray's wish list.
I'll take lefrenniere. Two great performances

Time to deal for assets .

Another irony: Lafreniere's Attack debut ended the same as ZB's...a shootout loss at home with 0 saves made.

Last night's shootout aside, I've been very impressed with Lafreniere's play. He seems very confident, very sure of himself in the crease. One of the consequences of playing a puck possession game is that your goalie tends to face fewer shots since the other team has the puck less. (Sound familiar?! I think the Attack have outshot their opponents in all but 2-3 games this year so far...something like that anyway). I noticed the Knights had something like 1 shot in the 1st. I was wondering whether Lafreniere might be a bit 'cold' without seeing much rubber and let one in. But to his credit he stood tall and stopped everything he could have, even when the shots on him were few and far between. When you play behind a puck possession team, you have to be able to stop shots whenever they come. Lafreniere has been able to do that (whereas ZB wasn't, unfortunately).

Obviously only 2 games so far in an Attack jersey, but if he keeps this up we might be out that conditional 3rd round pick! Not a bad problem to have if it ends up happening. Keep up the good work, Oli!!

 

[Savard18]

Uh-oh. I didn't see it coming from Olivier but OS might have found their goalie. You know the offense will come back around soon, if goaltending remains like that.......seems like I heard about the Attack really getting things going in the second half of a season once before. Maybe it was just a rumor.

 

[Noofgoof]

Uh-oh. I didn't see it coming from Olivier but OS might have found their goalie. You know the offense will come back around soon, if goaltending remains like that.......seems like I heard about the Attack really getting things going in the second half of a season once before. Maybe it was just a rumor.

Ironically folks who talked about Gill as a coach also said his teams perform better in the second half from previous seasons.. lets hope that is the case.. its early but so far OLI looks like the goalie we have needed for the first half of the season by no means were either game his fault he deserved a better fate.. this team can score goals we all no that and if we can start keeping pucks out of the net we could be in for a fun finish. I think we are 2 peices away from a real run and they are easier to get then a goalie.. as long as Oli stays solid. Interestingly i have thought the teams played better defensively the last few games even though they havnt turned in to wins.. like i said though its easier to find a guy who can put the puck in the net then a guy that can keep it out.. well its early but a .941 save percentage through two games.. we all said we need atleast a .900 Ill take that any day..

 

[OHLFan90]

I echo the same things that have been said.


However I am fairly conflicted.

I want to sell, well part of me does.


But, 2 of the 3 things that are constantly complained about have settled down for the weekend at least.


Defence and Goaltending,

If the goal scoring can make its return, and the defence and goaltending has infact settled down, the 2nd half can be pretty special.

I think DD is going to make a move. Bring in an O/A. Someone who can play on the 3rd line that has the ability to play top 6 mins.

A few names that interest me a bit that wouldn't break the bank are

Jake Smith (Spitfires)
Maurizio Collela *Spelling (Flint)
Trent Fox (Sauga)


Brett McKenzie would be interesting, Would cost a bit more but adds valuable experience.



Be an interesting few weeks!

 

[Petes]

Wells to Owen Sound has to happen ... Right?

 

[Millpond]

Wells to Owen Sound has to happen ... Right?

Why?

 

[Pond Hockey]

The two home games this past weekend illustrate well what I've said a few times recently...that goaltending isn't the team's biggest challenge.

 

[Pond Hockey]

The first 9 games we scored as follows:
3 goals Loss
4 goals Win
6 goals Win
6 goals Win
9 goals Win
1 goal Loss
5 goals Win
12 goals Win
4 goals Win

We need 4 to 6 goals to be sure of a win. A .900 goaltender would win us many more games where we score 3 goals or less.

The remainder of the games still proves the point:
4 goals Loss
3 goals Loss
5 goals Win
3 goals Win
4 goals Loss
5 goals Win
1 goal Loss
7 goals Win
0 goals Loss
6 goals Win
3 goals Loss
3 goals SOW
3 goals Loss
2 goals Loss
4 goals Loss
5 goals SOL
3 goals Loss
5 goals Win

We can score.....we just need to stop a few more.

Based on these numbers...the first 9 games the team scored 5.56 goals/game, and then 3.67 goals/game over the the rest of those games. That's a fairly big drop. My point was that the secondary scoring dropped off after the first 9 games (6-1-0-2 start), so these numbers just help make my point.

And the team got its .900+ save % this past weekend that many people wanted to see (0.943 by my count)...still no dice in the W column, despite tremendous performances by Oli.

Goaltending wasn't/isn't the team's biggest challenge.

 

[Pond Hockey]

Wells to Owen Sound has to happen ... Right?

The time for that move to happen was about a month and a half ago (actually, back in the offseason would have been best). With the team picking up Oli Lafreniere last week, I don't see any more moves happening in the crease---especially if Oli keeps up the awesome play from this past weekend.

 

[OHL insideout]

Have to disagree with you Pond Hockey.
Goaltending has been the biggest challenge that this team has faced this season. Wait until the roster is full again, healthy and ready to do battle, then we'll revisit this chat!

 

[Millpond]

Based on these numbers...the first 9 games the team scored 5.56 goals/game, and then 3.67 goals/game over the the rest of those games. That's a fairly big drop. My point was that the secondary scoring dropped off after the first 9 games (6-1-0-2 start), so these numbers just help make my point.

And the team got its .900+ save % this past weekend that many people wanted to see (0.943 by my count)...still no dice in the W column, despite tremendous performances by Oli.

Goaltending wasn't/isn't the team's biggest challenge.

Not the same roster this past weekend compared to first 9 games .

 

[Generalsupdates]

The time for that move to happen was about a month and a half ago (actually, back in the offseason would have been best). With the team picking up Oli Lafreniere last week, I don't see any more moves happening in the crease---especially if Oli keeps up the awesome play from this past weekend.

He's a .883 save % goalie in 46 career OHL games before coming to OS. I don't think the .941 save % from his 120 minutes in OS so far is going to last..... Lol

 

[Noofgoof]

The two home games this past weekend illustrate well what I've said a few times recently...that goaltending isn't the team's biggest challenge.

You are out of your mind if you are basing this weekend on blaming secondary scoring.. uhh last i checked we were runnin a 3 d power play on thursday and using 2 dmen on forward all weekend .. we are quite thin with players away and injured.. not much you can do about that.. sure we could use more scoring but that was not our weakest link this year at the moment.. lets hope Ollie the Goalie will help solve our real weak link.. it starts with goaltending and having confidence. If you cant be confident in your goalie that they can preserve a lead or make a big save you tend not to play as hard pretty much anyone can tell you that.. You feel like no matter what lead you have its not safe.. hopefully olli can settle that down and this team will turn around

 

[Pond Hockey]

Have to disagree with you Pond Hockey.
Goaltending has been the biggest challenge that this team has faced this season. Wait until the roster is full again, healthy and ready to do battle, then we'll revisit this chat!

We've had consistent goaltending numbers between Bowman/Guzda all year long. There has been no real drop in goaltending numbers over the season. Yet, the first 9 games team went 6-1-0-2, then played a solid month of 0.500 hockey from late October to late November, now since Nov. 24 has 1 W in the last 10 games. Downward trending in the W column despite consistent goaltending numbers, and this downward trend continued with good goaltending numbers this past weekend. This is why I don't see goaltending as the biggest team challenge.

Unfortunately we may never see Gadj in an Attack jersey again, nor some other older players if management decides to sell. But yes, here's hoping the team finds its way after Christmas and makes a run with the current roster intact, so we can resume this discussion!

 

[Pond Hockey]

Not the same roster this past weekend compared to first 9 games .

Maybe not, but the Soo is still rolling without Katchouk/Timmins, London is winning without Thomas/Formenton. I know we have some injuries (Hancock, Roberts, now maybe Durzi too). I've never thought injuries/absences were an excuse, anyway.

 

[Pond Hockey]

He's a .883 save % goalie in 46 career OHL games before coming to OS. I don't think the .941 save % from his 120 minutes in OS so far is going to last..... Lol

Seems like you’re nitpicking here. I did not say that I think his numbers from last weekend will continue in all games going forward. I was just saying, I don't think a deal for a goalie (the post I was replying to was asking about a trade for Wells) will happen now that we just got Lafreniere, and it would be even less likely if Oli keeps up his awesome play from last weekend (whether the save % stays the same or not).

 

[Pond Hockey]

You are out of your mind if you are basing this weekend on blaming secondary scoring.

The team did not win this past weekend because the team did not score. Primary/secondary scoring just wasn’t there.

 

[Bear in the Woods]

You are out of your mind if you are basing this weekend on blaming secondary scoring.. uhh last i checked we were runnin a 3 d power play on thursday and using 2 dmen on forward all weekend .. we are quite thin with players away and injured.. not much you can do about that.. sure we could use more scoring but that was not our weakest link this year at the moment.. lets hope Ollie the Goalie will help solve our real weak link.. it starts with goaltending and having confidence. If you cant be confident in your goalie that they can preserve a lead or make a big save you tend not to play as hard pretty much anyone can tell you that.. You feel like no matter what lead you have its not safe.. hopefully olli can settle that down and this team will turn around

Agreed......P.H is not seeing clearly today!

 

[Pond Hockey]

We've had consistent goaltending numbers between Bowman/Guzda all year long. There has been no real drop in goaltending numbers over the season. Yet, the first 9 games team went 6-1-0-2, then played a solid month of 0.500 hockey from late October to late November, now since Nov. 24 has 1 W in the last 10 games. Downward trending in the W column despite consistent goaltending numbers, and this downward trend continued with good goaltending numbers this past weekend. This is why I don't see goaltending as the biggest team challenge.

Agreed......P.H is not seeing clearly today!

Hey, if you or anyone else has an explanation for my quote above, please share!

 

[bobber]

Hey, if you or anyone else has an explanation for my quote above, please share!

If you don't score even Carey Price won't help you win games. I took a shot

 

[MJFAN]

Hey, if you or anyone else has an explanation for my quote above, please share!

If OL sees a total of 22 shots every 2 games yes the goaltending issues will be gone. Saying that you may want to look at his career #s.