Windsor Spitfires 2018 Offseason Thread

[4 Bobby ORR]

With regards to captaincy- I say let's pull a Vancouver and give it to DiPietro. Be kind of funny seeing him skating to centre ice to address the stripes.

 

[stips]

Brock Baier needs to show the form he had in Jr. B. He has not shown he can handle Jr. A at all. He needs to be more determined to prove himself, or call it a wrap!

 

[punch1943]

Brock Baier needs to show the form he had in Jr. B. He has not shown he can handle Jr. A at all. He needs to be more determined to prove himself, or call it a wrap!

Baier has to this point appeared in parts of 5 games, not a huge number of minutes. So far he has not overwhelmed many people, however I’m sure he is determined to to prove himself but will he get the chance? Perhaps he’d be doing better with a goalie coach like the team had last season. At this stage my feeling is he will leave the team if he doesn’t get some playing time. Whether he is good enough or not his career is going down the tube as he sits 3rd on the totem pole.....

 

[windsor7]

Every game matters. Every player should be playing to win the game as well as for their future. If a player or coach goes into a game thinking it doesn't matter they should be gone. Players should not be playing for a higher draft choice.

Very well put.

 

[RayzorIsDull]

Yes. Games always matter. You will want to win games to ensure the playoffs. No, I'm not going to sweat losing back-to-back to Sarnia, one of the most high-powered offences in the league. This team isn't going to win every night. If they show they're developing and improving, especially when you play the elite teams, I'm good with that. If they show they're competitive and are giving it everything they have for 60-minutes, I'm good with that. If they have a lackluster effort against a bottom-dweller then, no, that's not acceptable. (is that what you were looking for?)

Well they didn't really show up for either game against Sarnia. They didn't look prepared on Thurs and clearly outclassed on Friday. You pretty much admitted in your post the losses don't matter though. The development and improvement is a participation ribbon though.

 

[RayzorIsDull]

Nice ceremony for Stamkos, and he is sure a great orator.I was really impressed by his speech.

and then can u believe it in the OHL a hockey game broke out.lmao........

Nice to see Starikov say enough is enough, but after that bad blind side hit by Ernst, when the 3rd started Letowski should have had Shankar out on Ernst next shift next to him at the faceoff.If this guys gonna protect then lets do it and quit F'n around.Now thats old school dont work now I know but no better way to build team togetherness and chemistry then sticking up for each other when needed.

Spits lost the handle in the 3rd but up till then didnt play bad for a young team.Patton got some time in and gets more of a handle on how fast this game is and the speed of the pucks next to jr B.I hope we can have a 3 tender rotation if its allowed or not I dont know.Let the team take their lumps they will be better for it next season is always the thinking.Were in a rebuild right???

One thing to watch with Starikov though is last night he was clearly the 7th D, not many shifts. Will be interesting to watch moving forward because he was their other import selection. If he continues to be a 7th D and they dress 7 that doesn't bode well for him.

 

[hockeylegend11]

One thing to watch with Starikov though is last night he was clearly the 7th D, not many shifts. Will be interesting to watch moving forward because he was their other import selection. If he continues to be a 7th D and they dress 7 that doesn't bode well for him.

It has more to do the last 2 games that he was playing under the weather then anything else# inside info

 

[OHLTG]

Heard rumors on why Baier is not playing and it really makes you wonder when they sit their #1 guy and leapfrog to their #3 guy- stay tuned.

Any details?

Nice to see Starikov say enough is enough, but after that bad blind side hit by Ernst, when the 3rd started Letowski should have had Shankar out on Ernst next shift next to him at the faceoff.If this guys gonna protect then lets do it and quit F'n around.Now thats old school dont work now I know but no better way to build team togetherness and chemistry then sticking up for each other when needed.

Only issue is you have to be careful that Ernst won't go, especially off a draw. I like how Starikov did it; wait for him to not expect it, then give him no real choice.

Baier has to this point appeared in parts of 5 games, not a huge number of minutes. So far he has not overwhelmed many people, however I’m sure he is determined to to prove himself but will he get the chance? Perhaps he’d be doing better with a goalie coach like the team had last season. At this stage my feeling is he will leave the team if he doesn’t get some playing time. Whether he is good enough or not his career is going down the tube as he sits 3rd on the totem pole.....

I said before the deadline that if DiPietro wasn't dealt, I could see Baier or Patton requesting a change. Baier moreso at this point, it appears. He needs to play, for better or worse.

Well they didn't really show up for either game against Sarnia. They didn't look prepared on Thurs and clearly outclassed on Friday. You pretty much admitted in your post the losses don't matter though. The development and improvement is a participation ribbon though.

They played well on Thursday night. The crowd was right into it and it was a solid effort to me. If you think I said that "losses don't matter", that's on you. Development and improvement, at this stage, is crucial. It IS a development league, right?

One thing to watch with Starikov though is last night he was clearly the 7th D, not many shifts. Will be interesting to watch moving forward because he was their other import selection. If he continues to be a 7th D and they dress 7 that doesn't bode well for him.

They've had him all over the map in recent weeks (dating back to December). On Thursday, Stevenson was 7D. It feels more like finding right fit than a personal thing.

 

[Duke Guy]

Last night in his first game former Spit Adam Kadlec scored as his Sioux City Musketeers defeated Team USA 5 to 4 in an overtime shootout in the USHL.

 

[SpItFiReZ]

Baier has to this point appeared in parts of 5 games, not a huge number of minutes. So far he has not overwhelmed many people, however I’m sure he is determined to to prove himself but will he get the chance? Perhaps he’d be doing better with a goalie coach like the team had last season. At this stage my feeling is he will leave the team if he doesn’t get some playing time. Whether he is good enough or not his career is going down the tube as he sits 3rd on the totem pole.....

If I was him, I would leave and go play JR A especially after Rychel saying in the paper today that Patton is the number two but not backing up since he is only on a B card. Why waste your career when you’re not going to get a chance to play again. Go play and prove yourself to make it back somewhere else and hopefully play CIS.

Windsor does have a goalie coach as well with Perry Wilson.

 

[punch1943]

If I was him, I would leave and go play JR A especially after Rychel saying in the paper today that Patton is the number two but not backing up since he is only on a B card. Why waste your career when you’re not going to get a chance to play again. Go play and prove yourself to make it back somewhere else and hopefully play CIS.

Windsor does have a goalie coach as well with Perry Wilson.

Certainly Windsor does have a goalie coach but what I was getting at is they had an NHL quality goalie coach last year in Jim Bedard now in Dallas

 

[SpItFiReZ]

True, losing Bedard was a big loss.

 

[RayzorIsDull]

They played well on Thursday night. The crowd was right into it and it was a solid effort to me. If you think I said that "losses don't matter", that's on you. Development and improvement, at this stage, is crucial. It IS a development league, right?

They gave up a goal real early in 1st and late in the 1st that's a horrible recipe. That's not a solid effort being down 3-0 after 1, and following it up by giving up a goal real early in the 2nd. It was 4-0 and 21 minutes into the game that's not a solid effort. That's a young team not being prepared to play and not pay attention to the little things. Down 4-0 with almost 40 minutes left in the game you don't have a game and any development/improvement has to be taken with a grain of salt due to the fact it really wasn't a game anymore. Easy to play a game when down 4-0, a lot harder to play a game when it's being contested and both teams are pushing for that result. That wasn't Thursday.

 

[Sec108]

TG....when I said Shankar to take a faceoff next to Ernst I didnt mean for him to go with him not if he wasnt willing.I meant it as a warning for a hit like that on Boka.Im just saying if Shankar is to be used to police things then let him do it.Its too bad a import player had to do what a canadian kid should have been more than willing to do.Maybe the kid is fighting for a job ya gotta like that in Starikov.

And lets not kid ourselves if Letowski is going to move to the pro ranks he has to play the game and be seen as embracing this new style less physical OHL like he will in the NHL.I like Letowski but thats the way of the world now.Im sure we can relate to that even in our own workplace.The guys that arent embracing the new way dont move up in the company.Thats why Im just a labourer Im old school and never gonna change, ...lmfao

 

[three dog night]

When Shanker next suspension over and under ten games.

 

[OHLTG]

.Its too bad a import player had to do what a canadian kid should have been more than willing to do.

I don't care where they're from; standing up for your teammates is a universal thing. Starikov has shown a lot more jam over the last month so if he wants to be the guy who does the job, I won't complain.

 

[Sec108]

I don't care where they're from; standing up for your teammates is a universal thing. Starikov has shown a lot more jam over the last month so if he wants to be the guy who does the job, I won't complain.

I see nothing has changed on this board, your still missing the point..........lmfao

 

[OHLTG]

I see nothing has changed on this board, your still missing the point..........lmfao

Then explain it. You said Shankar should have been out there as a "warning" (given he's here to stand up for the youngsters) and...

Its too bad a import player had to do what a canadian kid should have been more than willing to do.

Where was I mis-reading you? This sounds like Shankar ("Canadian kid") should have been more willing to do what Starikov ("Import player") did. Am I wrong?

On a side-note: I'm proud of Starikov for doing what was needed. Good to know that he has that in him and, apparently, knows his way through a tilt... to some degree.

 

[Sec108]

My point was if you watched the game, Starikov looked frustrated enough that he took it upon himself to get into it.Why??? BC none of the rest of his teamates were going to do something about the chipiness going on.

Usually imports dont engage but he had to.Did our past imports have t0 fight like koko or Kuhnhackl?? no, why bc we had a player that would be the fixer.

Yes I also like that Starikov can play that way with some snarl, nice to see.

If WR got Shankar like he says to be a vet and leader and police it for the star rookies then undo the leash let him do the job.Its not about fisticuffs.

Boka can handle himself and didnt think he would need the assistance of Shankar for the blind side hit.

When yrs ago we got Bezzo for the same role, I remember his first shift and someone did a bad hit I think on Locke and he made someone pay and the crowd went nutz.He knew his what he was brought in for.

Not going to beat a dead horse on this subject............................

 

[OHLTG]

I don't think it should matter who goes. Shankar was brought in for that element, but if Starikov wants to go and can handle himself, by all means. The more guys willing to defend teammates the better.

 

[Sec108]

I don't think it should matter who goes. Shankar was brought in for that element, but if Starikov wants to go and can handle himself, by all means. The more guys willing to defend teammates the better.

It should matter TG , bc of injuries to your most important players.Every player should not be in there.Thats the point of 1 or 2 policemen or enforcers from seasons past.You of all people should have known that.............lol.

 

[OHLTG]

I agree, there are some who I wouldn't want going because we don't need them hurt when their job is to put the puck in the net. I wouldn't want McDougall, Morgan, Smith, etc. fighting. If guys like Starikov, Shankar, Boka, Douglas, etc. want to go, that's fine with me. They're built for that. The more guys like that, the better. If McDougall was to get hurt by a cheap shot, I don't care which "scrapper" (if you will) is out there to defend him, as long as someone does.

 

[Sec108]

Were really wasting our breath bc the days of the scrapper are over in the OHL and NHL for that matter.We just got our blood pressure going for nothing.....haha!!!!

 

[OHLTG]

Haha on here? Never!

I don't think the days of scrapper are completely over. The days of one-dimensional enforcer are, but you've still got guys who can seriously throw 'em - Douglas, Carbonara, Allen (Osh), the Pilons in Sudbury, Pezzetta, etc. I don't think you'll ever get rid of that style 100%.

 

[punch1943]

Were really wasting our breath bc the days of the scrapper are over in the OHL and NHL for that matter.We just got our blood pressure going for nothing.....haha!!!!

Think it was Conn Smythe owner of the Leafs long ago talking about fighting in the NHL, who coined the phrase we gotta stop all this fighting or people are gonna keep coming to these games.