#2 Saginaw vs #3 Sault Ste. Marie

[OSA]

After an intriguing 1st round of OHL playoffs (sarcasm intended), round 2 is now set.

Game #1 Fri. Apr. 5 SSM @ Sag 7:05pm
Game #2 Sun. Apr. 7 SSM @ Sag 5:30pm
Game #3 Tues. Apr. 9 Sag @ SSM 7:07pm
Game #4 Thur. Apr. 11 Sag @ SSM 7:07pm
Game #5 Fri. Apr. 12 SSM @ Sag 7:05pm*
Game #6 Sun. Apr. 14 Sag @ SSM 7:07pm*
Game #7 Tue. Apr. 16 SSM @ Sag 7:05pm*

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[soo hound girl]

I think hounds in 6
Playoff experience will be the difference
Saginaw top players not much playoff action over their careers
Hounds top players have ton of playoff experience
As long as Frost plays like the real Frost we will prevail

 

[WaW]

Rooting for the Sault but I think it's gonna be the Spirit in 6. Saginaw have just been unreal since getting Tippett and McLeod at the deadline.

 

[lazyboy]

Saginaw in 6.......I've been on the Spirit bandwagon all season long and not looking to jump off any time soon. SSM does have the huge edge in experience, but that's where it ends for me. I'll go so far as to say goaltending is a wash, I prefer Saginaw's D and Forward group better as a whole. Both sides have game breakers, but the Spirit just have more of them.

 

[Fischhaber]

I'm going to say Greyhounds in 7, but it's really close.

The Soo has a big advantage on the defensive side of things, but nothing close to the depth that Saginaw has up front.

The Soo has the playoff experience edge in some ways, but they have been dressing 10+ rookies regularly and are the second youngest team in the entire league. Saginaw has a veteran laden roster after loading up at the deadline. I think the whole experience thing is a bit of a wash.

It will come down to goaltending in my opinion. Villalta has proven to be an elite goalie, but was a little shaky in round 1. Prosvetov is new on the scene, but withstood a sustained offensive onslaught from Sarnia and looked really good.

 

[shot caller]

Decent lead up article -

Saginaw-Soo sneak peek - Welcome to Hockey News North

 

[ohloutsider]

Saginaw has had this series marked on their calendar for a while. Just hope they don't over think this one. Trying to keep that revenge energy under control may be an issue. I think Saginaw prevails but it will be a long tough series.

 

[Square Corners]

After having the worst deadline of any team in the OHL, this series will be lost by SSM because of it. To not buy or sell and only get Jaden Peca was beyond bad and because of it, SAG in 6 as they have the better goalie, more depth and their D core is considerably more talented. If Hayton makes Arizona next year then we'll really look back at SSM's deadline this year as one of the worst of the last decade.

 

[HockeyPops]

After having the worst deadline of any team in the OHL, this series will be lost by SSM because of it. To not buy or sell and only get Jaden Peca was beyond bad and because of it, SAG in 6 as they have the better goalie, more depth and their D core is considerably more talented. If Hayton makes Arizona next year then we'll really look back at SSM's deadline this year as one of the worst of the last decade.

The fact that you think SSM will push SAG to 6 games with the second youngest roster in the league renders your argument null. Not selling allows us to compete now (which you have agreed we will do). Not buying allows us to compete later. We are truly having our cake and eating it too up here.

 

[Square Corners]

The fact that you think SSM will push SAG to 6 games with the second youngest roster in the league renders your argument null. Not selling allows us to compete now (which you have agreed we will do). Not buying allows us to compete later. We are truly having our cake and eating it too up here.

Want to revisit this? Lol

The horrible deadline is embarrassing you now, and you will lose Frost+Villalta+Hollowell+Howdeshell+Sambrook and maybe Hayton so to say you can compete later just flat out isn't true. You'll lose so many goals and also your starting goalie. And both of your prior 1st round picks are Dmen, who's replacing the 175 points from Frost/Hayton if Hayton makes the show next year, which is probably likely at this point?

A rebuild is coming, which is why standing pat at this deadline makes absolutely no sense. Imagine how much better the coming rebuild would've looked with an '02 rookie and a bunch of picks for Frost? You still would've likely won a 1st round series so what would've the difference been? Either way 1 round win and 2nd round exit, but now you don't get the picks/player for Frost and he walks for nothing. Very puzzling

 

[HockeyPops]

Want to revisit this?

Sure, let's revisit. My post was based on your post. Your post said we will push Saginaw to 6. My post was based on that. Are you revisiting your post?

I am not revisiting my argument. One game does not negate a season of accomplishments. One game does not define a team. One game does not undo a season's worth of progress our young players have made. Nothing changes for the Greyhounds on their outlook for this series. They need to win their home games and steal a road game. Why are you counting us out already?

Imagine how much better the coming rebuild would've looked with an '02 rookie and a bunch of picks for Frost?

As far as selling goes, I would have been quite pleased to have received an '02 and picks for Frost. I think Raftis would have too. However, the market was too soft. You will notice the only '02 to be traded in the days leading up to the deadline was Lleyton Moore (that trade was agreed on before Christmas). Teams just weren't willing to part with their '02 players. For us, since we weren't in full rebuild, it made sense to stand pat if we couldn't get good return. Selling for little return would have pushed us to full rebuild. That would have made our deadline horrible. Glad we didn't have a horrible deadline.

 

[tony d]

Big win for Saginaw yesterday. 10-1 for them. I know the Greyhounds are going back home for the next few games but I think 10-1 will deflate them quite a bit.

 

[ohloutsider]

Interesting comment last night by the Soo announcer ( colour guy) . He made reference to the London/Guelph series and the fact that Guelph has allowed 17 goals in 3 games, not a good look for the Guelph organization was his comment. I had to chuckle as the Soo have allowed 21 goals in 3 games. I know others were commenting about the Saginaw announcers being homers but in reality all announcers at this level are homers and at this level you almost have to be to keep your fan base interest going. I'm glad these games are televised and if you take the comments with a grain of salt most broadcasts are enjoyable.

 

[Kingpin794]

Interesting comment last night by the Soo announcer ( colour guy) . He made reference to the London/Guelph series and the fact that Guelph has allowed 17 goals in 3 games, not a good look for the Guelph organization was his comment. I had to chuckle as the Soo have allowed 21 goals in 3 games. I know others were commenting about the Saginaw announcers being homers but in reality all announcers at this level are homers and at this level you almost have to be to keep your fan base interest going. I'm glad these games are televised and if you take the comments with a grain of salt most broadcasts are enjoyable.

Most everyone's gripe is with our color man specifically. He will actively cheer for the Spirit during games. He's basically like a regular fan in the booth with Joey but he's a local sports legend and we love him so he gets a pass from us even if he does irritate opposing fans when they listen in. If opposing fans are saying the weakest part of our game right now is our color commentator, that's just fine by me. Do your thing Rosie.

 

[LR8]

Some annoucers and media are much worse than others and struggle to be objective. That is when it becomes silly

 

[OSA]

I don’t mind the “homer” announcer tbh, as long as they’re fair in their analysis.

The actually quite like the Saginaw colour guy shouting “all right!!” when the Spirit score or whatever.

If the homerism bothers you, just switch to the other team’s broadcast.

 

[Finster8]

Rosie is retiring at the end of the season. He is having fun as you know our success history or lack of one. All teams announcers as stated before are are homers maybe not to the extent of Rosie but he loves his Spirit has played in Saginaw and is not going to change now.