Well we are close to the last playoff spot and hanging by a thread ..
We had our chances though -going 6-12 since Feb 1 effectively did us in ..we made no real push at the seasons end to get in ..
Usually doesn’t work out when you need help such as SSM to get a win ( they didn’t) and when Flint is up on WSR 3-1 and then looses ..
As much as like this team - this season needs to be over .. this year was a year of massive injuries to key players -at times I believe was anywhere between 4-5 of your top tier players down for months at a time .. Forwards In Fowler and Golod to D ( Beamish and Martin) to Murphy in G are just some of them - not an excuse just reality ..was too much talent loss to overcome ..
I’m just glad this didn’t happen in 2017 when we won the Championship ..A lot of things had to go right in order to win that - and they did - those were the days
Everyone needs to look at the bigger picture
Yes we had our chances but as noted, we were dealing with more injuries than we have had in some time. And of course these were to critical players. Fowler missing 41 games the biggest of all
The other reality is that we had the honor of playing London, Niagara, Guelph a total of 18 times. 7 of which came in the 6-12 stretch you are talking about
In fact, when all is said in done, in our last 20 games - we played London, Niagara, Guelph, SSM, and Oshawa a combined 11 times.
That’s a ridiculously tough schedule and doesn’t include the two 3-in-3s and the final 4 games coming within 5 days. All that with massive injuries.
So it is what it is. Let’s move on to next year. The team still was better than last year because they were dealing with more injuries yet managed more wins and managed to be much more competitive vs the top teams in the leagues
Reminder that we won 50 games for 4 straight years. Something that was NEVER done before. After Guelph won 39 games the year before their championship team, they then won 38 games the following year. The next two years? 13 wins and 21 wins
Let us all understand that this is how it works. Erie imo is actually ahead of schedule. Their rebuild so far is 23 and then 26 (maybe 27-28) wins. This after being dominant for 4 straight years.
Next year we definitely will have the talent and the experience to win more than 30 games. And being a 30 win team is where about half the league is every year. once we are back to winning 30 or more games.. we are fine. It’s just a matter of building back up for title.
But this current cycle has been better than I thought. I expected a 19 or less win season. Expected it to get ugly and for our depth to suffer (no 2/3rd round draft picks for years). But that hasn’t been the case. Our depth is definitely good. Heck we might have too many OHL players next year if we get some college guys to sign. The only problem now is youth (which will fix itself) and maybe finding the star player (which also could fix itself with the assets we have)
We . Are . Fine
In the words of Aaron Rodgers..
R-E-L-A-X..
relax
