SSM Greyhounds 2023-24 Season Thread (Part 2)

[HF92]

The site has Allard and Beck as assistant captains tonight.

 

[DWI Dale]

maybe the easiest tap-in of Gavin Hayes career. tic tac toe.

 

[nelli27]

"[Wolves] must have stopped in Blind River for some Duchies... They're slow".
--Mark Matier

Funny guy!

 

[DWI Dale]

god awful turnover by karki.

 

[Fischhaber]

Van Vilet not getting a star after flipping off children in the crowd is sweet justice. Nice job by the folks in the booth for taking note and a great game tonight.

 

[Wolfman Jack]

"[Wolves] must have stopped in Blind River for some Duchies... They're slow".
--Mark Matier

Funny guy!

Or six players with the flu! Villeneuve left the game as well. Maybe Matier can do some homework as they were missing McCoy, Konyen, Coughlan, Vondras and Villy among others playing under the weather. But sure Duchies in Blind River it is Mark!

WJ

 

[nelli27]

Or six players with the flu! Villeneuve left the game as well. Maybe Matier can do some homework as they were missing McCoy, Konyen, Coughlan, Vondras and Villy among others playing under the weather. But sure Duchies in Blind River it is Mark!

WJ

I don't like raisins.

 

[Fischhaber]

My thoughts on the game:

Any story of this game has to start with Vandenberg. Wow. The game is probably 6 or 7 to nothing in the second if not for his efforts.

A lot of Sudbury players were missing in action tonight. For a player as talented as Goyette to put up such a stinker must be infuriating for Wolves fans. He was as lazy as I've ever seen a star player. Sickness isn't an excuse (if he was ill). Giving a half effort (if that) all night looks really bad.

Travis Hayes continues to impress. With all due respect to Martin, he's been the best rookie on this team. Instead of wilting under the pressure of a big rivalry game, he's just found another gear. He was the best Hayes on the ice as well, with his brother missing a few easy chances.

Jacob Frasca had his best game as a Hound. He's going to be a real asset if we meet a physical team like Sudbury in playoffs.

The officiating was just awful tonight. I don't know that I've seen worse all year. There were several blown offsides and number of ridiculous missed calls. Gavin Hayes almost had his helmet removed by a Sudbury stick inside his visor and the ref watched the whole 5-10 second play unfold without making a call. I couldn't believe it.

 

[HockeyPops]

This team has a lot of work to do in a short period of time. You can't play half a game and expect to win many. Tonight was another example of a game we probably should have lost. Sure we can give some credit for finding a way to win, but in reality this game should never have been close.

Holding a 3 goal lead at the halfway point should be like money in the bank for any aspiring contender. But for this team it's more "buckle up and get ready for a wild finish."

If things don't change in short order, I am not feeling great about our post season chances.

 

[staubitz]

I agree. Once they had the nice lead, their play seemed to become very low intensity with unforced errors/turnovers on nearly every possession. There were a couple of PPs they didn’t even get set up because they kept turning it over at the blue line.

I find Beck in particular gave away the puck quite a few times on errant passes that were nowhere near the mark. Not sure if it’s a lack of effort because he seemed to be giving it his all.

 

[staubitz]

And I wonder why assign the 2nd and 3rd ‘A’s to Beck and Allard only now towards the end of the season? And why only the one up until now?

 

[HF92]

I agree. Once they had the nice lead, their play seemed to become very low intensity with unforced errors/turnovers on nearly every possession. There were a couple of PPs they didn’t even get set up because they kept turning it over at the blue line.

I find Beck in particular gave away the puck quite a few times on errant passes that were nowhere near the mark. Not sure if it’s a lack of effort because he seemed to be giving it his all.

Ya it’s odd cause he’s leading the team in points so it’s not a lack of trying. They’re trying too much. They are thinking about winning, they’re embracing the position they are in too much instead of just playing hockey. Some teams are peaking high right now while we aren’t, I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing, that’s opinion I guess. Maybe we hit our peak at the right time.

This team in terms of talent can beat any team in a 7 game series when they play their game.

 

[Riverfront]

don't like the fact that Dean plays his top 3 forwards on one line. If he keeps that
up we will have no shot in the playoffs. He will overplay those 3, meaning BMB, Hayes &
Beck and opposing teams will play there top 2 D against them and shut them down, and
scoring from the other 3 lines will be a major problem.
BMB with Hayes + ?
Allard with Beck + ?
( should be our top 6 )

 

[HF92]

don't like the fact that Dean plays his top 3 forwards on one line. If he keeps that
up we will have no shot in the playoffs. He will overplay those 3, meaning BMB, Hayes &
Beck and opposing teams will play there top 2 D against them and shut them down, and
scoring from the other 3 lines will be a major problem.
BMB with Hayes + ?
Allard with Beck + ?
( should be our top 6 )

I agree.

I actually want to see Brady Martin on line 1 or 2.
Bmb with Hayes and Martin
Frasca with Mignosa and Cloutier
D’intino Allard Beck

See what happens once Mignosa is back and we are full line up again. Maybe it’ll stay that way for more than one game lol

 

[HF92]

My thoughts on the game:

Any story of this game has to start with Vandenberg. Wow. The game is probably 6 or 7 to nothing in the second if not for his efforts.

A lot of Sudbury players were missing in action tonight. For a player as talented as Goyette to put up such a stinker must be infuriating for Wolves fans. He was as lazy as I've ever seen a star player. Sickness isn't an excuse (if he was ill). Giving a half effort (if that) all night looks really bad.

Travis Hayes continues to impress. With all due respect to Martin, he's been the best rookie on this team. Instead of wilting under the pressure of a big rivalry game, he's just found another gear. He was the best Hayes on the ice as well, with his brother missing a few easy chances.

Jacob Frasca had his best game as a Hound. He's going to be a real asset if we meet a physical team like Sudbury in playoffs.

The officiating was just awful tonight. I don't know that I've seen worse all year. There were several blown offsides and number of ridiculous missed calls. Gavin Hayes almost had his helmet removed by a Sudbury stick inside his visor and the ref watched the whole 5-10 second play unfold without making a call. I couldn't believe it.

I felt like Martin at times was our best player and has been for a few games now. Hes hit probably 6 crossbars in 3 games, was nice to see him score one last night. I love Travis Hayes but I don’t see him above Martin right now. They are going to be a nice one-two punch though!!

 

[HockeyPops]

Bmb with Hayes and Martin
Frasca with Mignosa and Cloutier
D’intino Allard Beck

I don't know how much stock this team puts in handedness, but those lineups would end up with 3 wingers playing their off wing. One of the many issues with this lineup right now. lol.
R - L - R
R - R - R
L - L - L

 

[Kingpin794]

I don't know how much stock this team puts in handedness, but those lineups would end up with 3 wingers playing their off wing. One of the many issues with this lineup right now. lol.
R - L - R
R - R - R
L - L - L

That's a lot of right shots. Usually teams are in short supply of those.

nvm: maybe not. Saginaw has 6 regular F's that are righties.

 

[Houndzfan20]

I felt like Martin at times was our best player and has been for a few games now. Hes hit probably 6 crossbars in 3 games, was nice to see him score one last night. I love Travis Hayes but I don’t see him above Martin right now. They are going to be a nice one-two punch though!!

Agreed. I will say that Hayes has been able to finish better than Martin but imo there's no way he's been more dominant. Martin drives the play almost every shift and makes everyone better. And like hpf said, he's hit a number of cross/posts the last month.

Hayes can finish tho, and will be exciting to see what they can do the next few years.

 

[HockeyPops]

Yep, no doubt those two will be the core we build around. They complement each other extremely well. Hayes can make a great pass to start a rush, or he can get to the dirty areas and finish. But Martin will drive the line, cycle down low, throw a big hit, pick someone's pocket on a back check, and generally plays a complete 200 ft game. Exciting times to watch these players develop over the next few seasons.

 

[IcemanTBI]

This team has a lot of work to do in a short period of time. You can't play half a game and expect to win many. Tonight was another example of a game we probably should have lost. Sure we can give some credit for finding a way to win, but in reality this game should never have been close.

Holding a 3 goal lead at the halfway point should be like money in the bank for any aspiring contender. But for this team it's more "buckle up and get ready for a wild finish."

If things don't change in short order, I am not feeling great about our post season chances.

Agreed 100%. 2nd round exit is what I am seeing with this team right now, unless they get their act together and quick.
Friday will be a real test to see if we are contenders or pretenders.

 

[DWI Dale]

the future is very bright.

in the present, this team needs to figure out a way to string together 3 consistent periods. sure this is a bit cliched but it feels like they are capable of more if they find some consistency.

 

[DWI Dale]

Agreed 100%. 2nd round exit is what I am seeing with this team right now, unless they get their act together and quick.

that has been my fear this season. a tough 2nd round series will demand consistency we haven't seen yet from these guys.

 

[HockeyPops]

Friday will be a real test to see if we are contenders or pretenders.

I get what you are saying about Friday, but the real issue with this team is definitely consistency. You aren't going to suddenly get there overnight. We have 16 regular season games left and we need to start playing at least 2 full periods ASAP so that by the end of the regular season we are hopefully up to 2 1/2 periods per game playing the way we want. I would take 50 minutes a night entering the playoffs at this point. A full 60 minutes is tough for any team, even in the Pros.

 

[HF92]

I don't know how much stock this team puts in handedness, but those lineups would end up with 3 wingers playing their off wing. One of the many issues with this lineup right now. lol.
R - L - R
R - R - R
L - L - L

Not much as they didn’t address it at deadline. Agreed.

 

[HockeyPops]

Shocked today when I saw that the Greyhounds are 5th best in the league for goals against (only 4 goals out of second though, and only 15 goals behind London for first).

Maybe this team is closer to being contention-ready than I give them credit?