Stretch drive in the East

[Bra Wavers]

Well, here we are in the stretch drive and IMO I'm not sure how things will look when the dust settles on March 26th.
Well, that's not entirely true.....here's what we do know

67s are safely in first.

Colts and Battalion battle for 2nd - both have a home heavy schedule left and don't face each other again.
The difference in their schedules?
Barrie has extra games vs Kingston, Ottawa and Owen Sound while North Bay has extra games vs Peterborough, Oshawa and Niagara
Too close to call at this point

Then we arrive at the mushy middle......all teams have 12 games remaining.
Peterborough and Hamilton have road-heavy schedules while the rest are balanced.

Petes........... 63 pts
Missy........... 61pts
Hamilton.....58pts
Sudbury.......56pts
Oshawa........54 pts
Kingston......51pts

When the regular season is complete......

• The bottom team of these six misses the playoffs and joins the draft lottery.
• The top two teams will face each other in the 4vs5 first round
• 3rd and 4th of these teams will face NB/Bar
• 5th (2nd last) of these will face the 67s in round 1

If you are the Petes, who would you rather face in the 4vs5 matchup.......Missy or Hamilton?
Either matchup will be intriguing given the trades made at the deadline.

Strap your seatbelts on, it should be a wild ride!

Click to read more...

 

[sbpointer]

Wouldn't it be something if either or both of Hamilton and Mississauga pass the Petes before seasons end.

 

[OMG67]

Wouldn't it be something if either or both of Hamilton and Mississauga pass the Petes before seasons end.

A Barrie vs Peterborough round one would be EPIC! Maybe not for those two teams because one would be out in Round one but it would be a great series. Most series in round one are a dogs breakfast.

 

[Bra Wavers]

Wouldn't it be something if either or both of Hamilton and Mississauga pass the Petes before seasons end.

I know anything can happen especially in junior hockey, but I expect the standings to end up the way they are right now. As a Petes' fan, I don't want them to fall to 6th and face NB or Barrie in the 1st round, but I won't be too concerned if the Petes slip to 5th.
I think 4th/5th will end up being a good spot for the Petes.
IMO they respond better in situations where they are the underdog, reacting to some adversity.....time will tell.

 

[Hammer9001]

View attachment 659054

Well, here we are in the stretch drive and IMO I'm not sure how things will look when the dust settles on March 26th.
Well, that's not entirely true.....here's what we do know

67s are safely in first.

Colts and Battalion battle for 2nd - both have a home heavy schedule left and don't face each other again.
The difference in their schedules?
Barrie has extra games vs Kingston, Ottawa and Owen Sound while North Bay has extra games vs Peterborough, Oshawa and Niagara
Too close to call at this point

Then we arrive at the mushy middle......all teams have 12 games remaining.
Peterborough and Hamilton have road-heavy schedules while the rest are balanced.

Petes........... 63 pts
Missy........... 61pts
Hamilton.....58pts
Sudbury.......56pts
Oshawa........54 pts
Kingston......51pts

When the regular season is complete......

• The bottom team of these six misses the playoffs and joins the draft lottery.
• The top two teams will face each other in the 4vs5 first round
• 3rd and 4th of these teams will face NB/Bar
• 5th (2nd last) of these will face the 67s in round 1

If you are the Petes, who would you rather face in the 4vs5 matchup.......Missy or Hamilton?
Either matchup will be intriguing given the trades made at the deadline.

Strap your seatbelts on, it should be a wild ride!

As a Bulldogs fan, I would say Missi is who the Petes want.

I believe Hamilton has gone close to 50/50 with the Petes this year so far, and Hamilton seems to be able to beat the likes of the loaded up Ottawa and North Bay, but then somehow lay eggs vs Sudbury and Oshawa.

 

[rangersblues]

If Peterborough would lose to Hamilton that could mean the end for Oke. Especially if Lardis and Panwar come up big.

 

[Bra Wavers]

If Peterborough would lose to Hamilton that could mean the end for Oke. Especially if Lardis and Panwar come up big.

That's crazy talk.....IMO, 19 other GMs in the league would have made the same deal if they were in Oke's position.
Also......in a 7 game series, this won't happen.
Interesting series? definitely
Petes lose series to Hamilton? no way

 

[OMG67]

That's crazy talk.....IMO, 19 other GMs in the league would have made the same deal if they were in Oke's position.
Also......in a 7 game series, this won't happen.
Interesting series? definitely
Petes lose series to Hamilton? no way

Sorry, Bra. I disagree with you on that one. Hayes and White are good players, no doubt. But, I can’t see any reason to trade Lardis other than horrible asset management making it necessary to make a deal like that. Oke went into a “must win” season without the assets necessary to acquire ”win now” players without decimating his team for the next few years. Worse still, they are not improved at all. At least not to date. They are 9-10 since the deadline. Only two of those nine wins are against teams above .500. Both of those games were on Peterborough ice against Western Conference teams that had to travel a decent distance to get there on a Thursday night.

That deal has not made Peterborough better. At all. Neither has the Beck deal. Beck and JVV each have 12 points Since the trade. That may be even more embarrassing. The fact that Panwar and Lardis are performing at a higher level and producing at a higher level and JVV is producing at the same level as Beck suggest they were either not used properly or the system they were in was not very good. Some really good players got added to Peterborough and they are not producing. It has been 19 games now post-deadline. We can’t look at the player acquisitions and suggest for a second that they are still learning how to play together. Or the team is still trying to figure it out. Strong teams find ways to win. Peterborough finds ways to lose.

Conversely, Mississauga is 11-8 since the deadline with 4 wins against teams above .500. That is a team that sold at the deadline….big time.

Peterborough may be able to turn it around. It’s possible. However, they have shown nothing of consequence since the deadline to suggest anything will change significantly enough to make them more than a coin flip in round one. Missy is younger so they probably have an edge there. IF they go up against Barrie, they would be a serious underdog.

 

[Bra Wavers]

Sorry, Bra. I disagree with you on that one. Hayes and White are good players, no doubt. But, I can’t see any reason to trade Lardis other than horrible asset management making it necessary to make a deal like that. Oke went into a “must win” season without the assets necessary to acquire ”win now” players without decimating his team for the next few years. Worse still, they are not improved at all. At least not to date. They are 9-10 since the deadline. Only two of those nine wins are against teams above .500. Both of those games were on Peterborough ice against Western Conference teams that had to travel a decent distance to get there on a Thursday night.

That deal has not made Peterborough better. At all. Neither has the Beck deal. Beck and JVV each have 12 points Since the trade. That may be even more embarrassing. The fact that Panwar and Lardis are performing at a higher level and producing at a higher level and JVV is producing at the same level as Beck suggest they were either not used properly or the system they were in was not very good. Some really good players got added to Peterborough and they are not producing. It has been 19 games now post-deadline. We can’t look at the player acquisitions and suggest for a second that they are still learning how to play together. Or the team is still trying to figure it out. Strong teams find ways to win. Peterborough finds ways to lose.

Conversely, Mississauga is 11-8 since the deadline with 4 wins against teams above .500. That is a team that sold at the deadline….big time.

Peterborough may be able to turn it around. It’s possible. However, they have shown nothing of consequence since the deadline to suggest anything will change significantly enough to make them more than a coin flip in round one. Missy is younger so they probably have an edge there. IF they go up against Barrie, they would be a serious underdog.

The facts you’ve mentioned are true - no denying it; but the games played since the deadline don’t matter in the big scheme of things. The time from the TDL until the playoffs start is similar to spring training in MLB…..work out the kinks, try some different things, build chemistry……it’s just a dress rehearsal for the playoffs.

I am concerned about Beck’s play but the Petes still have a dozen games left until the real games start so I’m cautiously optimistic that he can turn it around……maybe playing in front of so many more fans at the PMC than in Missy is an issue.

The Petes have 8 of their 12 remaining games on the road which should help to develop stronger team chemistry and have them battled tested and ready for road games come playoff time - they will have to win at least one road game in most series they play in.

 

[Generalsupdates]

That's crazy talk.....IMO, 19 other GMs in the league would have made the same deal if they were in Oke's position

I agree that Oke's job probably isn't in jeopardy as he's put together a really good team on paper. That's really all he can do. Then it's up to the coach and the players, which hasn't happened.

But I definitely don't agree that every GM would've done the Lardis deal. He drastically overpaid what market value is for 2 OAs who are good but weren't even the best OAs on the block. Very, very rare someone as good as Lardis goes for an OA, let alone not even the best one on Hamilton.

The Othmann and Beck trades, yes every GM of a good team who's all-in would've done those. But don't agree about giving up Lardis

 

[NorthernVoice]

I agree that Oke's job probably isn't in jeopardy as he's put together a really good team on paper. That's really all he can do. Then it's up to the coach and the players, which hasn't happened.

But I definitely don't agree that every GM would've done the Lardis deal. He drastically overpaid what market value is for 2 OAs who are good but weren't even the best OAs on the block. Very, very rare someone as good as Lardis goes for an OA, let alone not even the best one on Hamilton.

The Othmann and Beck trades, yes every GM of a good team who's all-in would've done those. But don't agree about giving up Lardis

My educated guess is that the Petes targeted endgame for the trade deadline was Wright and Othmann and that at some point they came to a realization that to get Wright here they were possibly going to have to trade Lardis (Because of the lack of draft pick capital).

I think they were in on Wright a long time and Wright/Seattle was willing to waive to come to Peterborough.

At some point it probably became clear that wasn't going to happen and they were going to have to pivot to other options and they'd in their heads been willing to move Lardis, so they did the best they could to add for this year. White had a bit of a rough start in Peterborough but has been really good lately and undeniably brings an element the Petes were missing. I was all for bringing him in though I didn't think the cost would be so steep.

The reality is the Petes need to be in the Conference Final at least for the trades to not be a disaster and it's hard to be super optimistic about that given the past couple months. If they don't get there, I think anything could happen for next year in terms of coach/GM.

 

[Generalsupdates]

My educated guess is that the Petes targeted endgame for the trade deadline was Wright and Othmann and that at some point they came to a realization that to get Wright here they were possibly going to have to trade Lardis (Because of the lack of draft pick capital).

I think they were in on Wright a long time and Wright/Seattle was willing to waive to come to Peterborough.

At some point it probably became clear that wasn't going to happen and they were going to have to pivot to other options and they'd in their heads been willing to move Lardis, so they did the best they could to add for this year. White had a bit of a rough start in Peterborough but has been really good lately and undeniably brings an element the Petes were missing. I was all for bringing him in though I didn't think the cost would be so steep.

The reality is the Petes need to be in the Conference Final at least for the trades to not be a disaster and it's hard to be super optimistic about that given the past couple months. If they don't get there, I think anything could happen for next year in terms of coach/GM.

Yeah thats probably accurate. Oke is in a similar situation to a Kyle Dubas where if they don't win they could be fired but also can likely sleep well at night being like well what else did you want me to do.

The Hayes/White trades are mainly overpayments because they haven't looked great for the Petes and Lardis/Panwar have looked great in HAM. If the Petes win the 2023 Mem Cup then no Petes fan would give a shit that Lardis got traded or if every pick for the next 4 years did as well