Erie Otters 2018-19 Season Thread (Part 2)

[Generalsupdates]

The St. Catharines GM/Head Coach is Frank Girhiny. One of the assistants is Rick Girhiny.

With St. Catharines being an affiliate team of the Niagara IceDogs and the IceDogs having an opening for an overager, could they call him up from time-to-time?

No, they'd have to trade for him, or pick him up off waivers. there's also a Gens prospect who plays on St. Catherine's

 

[NOA]

The St. Catharines GM/Head Coach is Frank Girhiny. One of the assistants is Rick Girhiny.

With St. Catharines being an affiliate team of the Niagara IceDogs and the IceDogs having an opening for an overager, could they call him up from time-to-time?

Can you guys stop with this..

Look, Girhiny was a fine bottom roster OHL player. But as an OA, it’s virtually a waste to have him eat up roster time over better, younger players. He’s not talented enough to be a top 9 forward. Even in Erie who is rebuilding. He’s a vastly undersized 4th liner. He managed to have 10pts in the first 14 games last year but finished with 25 pts in 56 games

Don’t look at the 10 points in 11 games and think he can provide you 50-60 points. He can’t. He had 4 points in the first game of the year when Erie racked up 12 goals vs flint. Has had 6 in the last 10 games. He’s a 20-30 point player. That’s maxed out for his offensive production.
He didn’t leave Erie to focus entirely on school. He left because Erie wanted to force him out and play youth on the 4th line.. the 4th line where Girhiny would only be good enough for. This is the honest truth. He wasn’t a top 9 forward on Erie. Yes sure a 4th liner but a 21 year old 4th liner is less than ideal

 

[OHLFan90]

Can you guys stop with this..

Look, Girhiny was a fine bottom roster OHL player. But as an OA, it’s virtually a waste to have him eat up roster time over better, younger players. He’s not talented enough to be a top 9 forward. Even in Erie who is rebuilding. He’s a vastly undersized 4th liner. He managed to have 10pts in the first 14 games last year but finished with 25 pts in 56 games

Don’t look at the 10 points in 11 games and think he can provide you 50-60 points. He can’t. He had 4 points in the first game of the year when Erie racked up 12 goals vs flint. Has had 6 in the last 10 games. He’s a 20-30 point player. That’s maxed out for his offensive production.
He didn’t leave Erie to focus entirely on school. He left because Erie wanted to force him out and play youth on the 4th line.. the 4th line where Girhiny would only be good enough for. This is the honest truth. He wasn’t a top 9 forward on Erie. Yes sure a 4th liner but a 21 year old 4th liner is less than ideal

There is nothing wrong with Duke Guy asking a legitimate question. Why are you taking it so personal?

 

[NOA]

There is nothing wrong with Duke Guy asking a legitimate question. Why are you taking it so personal?

It’s not personal. I have just heard it explained by 4-5 Erie posters that he wasn’t a top 9 forward and that Erie probably forced him out
That would have answered his question if he read the comments before.

 

[Duke Guy]

Sure, but I have seen players like this before improve when placed in a new setting. Different coaching/late bloomer.

 

[aresknights]

Can any1 post me an update on how Hoffman has looked in his games played.
Feel free to PM if ya don't want to post it here or can say hello for me.

 

[buzzworthy]

Hoffman has looked pretty decent the last several games. He had a big goal against Ottawa, and a couple of good rushes the past several games. He seems to have found his confidence.

 

[three dog night]

Watched Girhiny last night in my new home town Thorold set up one goal then scored in an empty net probably one of the fastest players last night but that mighy be the difference between the OHL skill level and junior b .See what he does tonight at the Jack and the smaller ice surface.

 

[aresknights]

Hoffman has looked pretty decent the last several games. He had a big goal against Ottawa, and a couple of good rushes the past several games. He seems to have found his confidence.

Thank you!

I hope he does well for Erie and gets a good 3 yr run. I dont see top line potential but hopefully an important depth player. Good kid.

 

[EON]

Wow what a comeback! Down 3-0 after the 1st, Erie comes back to win it in OT. Impressive, now a 4 game winning streak. That's also their first road win of the season.

 

[7D442]

Agree...that’s a good comeback win ..This type of effort is what we were hoping for from the get-go..

 

[three dog night]

Watched Girhiny last night in my new home town Thorold set up one goal then scored in an empty net probably one of the fastest players last night but that mighy be the difference between the OHL skill level and junior b .See what he does tonight at the Jack and the smaller ice surface.

Girhiny home debut four goal performance

 

[buzzworthy]

Very big comeback by the Otters. It is not an easy thing to do on the road, especially with Guelph. One could argue that the Storm let off the gas, but I think that this club has shown that they can be giant killers. They stifled Ottawa last week, and they have depth throughout their lineup. I still say that this club will be very tough next year, and even better the following year.

 

[NOA]

Thank you!

I hope he does well for Erie and gets a good 3 yr run. I dont see top line potential but hopefully an important depth player. Good kid.

You never know what he can be. I thought the same with Chad Yetman (10th rounder) and so far he has 6 goals and 10 points in 12 games. Erie loves their late round picks and they find a way to develop them. So far I like what Hoffman provides and how he has played. I definitely feel he can develop into a nice 3rd line player (I think Nick Betz, Kyle Pettit, Jake Marchment). Someone with size who plays a complete 200 ft game but still can provide 40+ points

There is a nice article on Hoffman/Sellan/D’Amato and their role on the team. Article on GoErie. Otters' young trio making impact on ice
Hoffman with a few quotes

 

[aresknights]

Thank for the article OG

 

[ohloutsider]

Watched some of the game last night. Very impressed with Drysdale - sure doesn't look 16 out there.

 

[NOA]

Watched some of the game last night. Very impressed with Drysdale - sure doesn't look 16 out there.

It’s amazing how comfortable he looks. Obviously the skill is there but the maturity for a 16 year old is beyond impressive. But I’m not totally shocked by it. When I heard his interviews after the draft I definitely saw that he was mature and confident beyond normal rookies

 

[buzzworthy]

Two games and 2 good efforts by the Otters. The NB game was a tough one for the Otters. I usually am pleased with the refs, but not on Saturday night. NB got away with some calls, and it seemed that the Otters had some real marginal calls against them. Coach needs to say something to the refs in situations like that. It plants the seed. Sunday's game was a doozey. The boys fought back against a very good club. The refs let them play. I am really disappointed in the attendance so far. Granted, it was the Steelers vs. Browns, but it still stinks. This group is fun to watch. They just don't quit.

 

[NOA]

Two games and 2 good efforts by the Otters. The NB game was a tough one for the Otters. I usually am pleased with the refs, but not on Saturday night. NB got away with some calls, and it seemed that the Otters had some real marginal calls against them. Coach needs to say something to the refs in situations like that. It plants the seed. Sunday's game was a doozey. The boys fought back against a very good club. The refs let them play. I am really disappointed in the attendance so far. Granted, it was the Steelers vs. Browns, but it still stinks. This group is fun to watch. They just don't quit.

Though they lost vs NB, it was impressive to see them claw their way back after falling behind 2-0. They made it a 2-2 game.

Since Singer has returned from suspension, Erie is 5-2. They have beaten some good opponents too in niagara, Ottawa, Missy

They also have been resilient.

Down 2-0 to Ottawa in the 3rd period, won game 3-2 in OT

Down 3-2 middle of 3rd to Windsor, won in SO.

Down 3-0 to Guelph on the road, won game 5-4 in OT

Down by 1 goal on 3 occasions vs Missy, won game in OT

this is a big difference over last year with Erie, where generally the team was the one blowing the leads. In fact, Erie lost 11 games last year where they had a 2 or 3 goal lead at some point.

 

[buzzworthy]

Well said, Ottersguy. Also, I am seeing some other good signs for this team such as Fowler felling his mojo, Murphy playing pretty well, the 4th line doing what 4th lines are supposed to do, and G-Pod shooting the puck. All of these signs point to a hell of a deep team the next 2 years. These Otters are really hard to play against. Should they make the playoffs, they may surprise us all with a win or 2. Certainly it is better to be an overachiever than an underachiever.

 

[Duke Guy]

Otter Fans: I know it is still early in the season but are you a little surprised to be sitting in the final playoff spot tied with the Spits?

 

[NOA]

Otter Fans: I know it is still early in the season but are you a little surprised to be sitting in the final playoff spot tied with the Spits?

I think the team is right about where I expected them to be. I might have guessed like a 7-6-1 start compared to a 6-7-1 start but overall they are basically a .500 team thus far, which is what I figured they could be. If you mean suprised in a good way, no I’m not. Erie fans all expected to be better than last year.. everyone else for whatever reason had us finishing dead last in the league. I knew that wasn’t happening. Suprised in a bad way.. no not at all. They have had their ups and downs but are 5-1 in their last 6 games

Currently, they would be on pace for about 63 points and 29 wins. I said 28-32 is what I wanted to see and I predicted 28-30 wins. So this is exactly where I had them.
Singer was suspended for 7 games, Martin has missed 5 games, Gritz has missed 4, Fowler missed 2, and Kischnick has been out. So they have dealt with some injuries too. Honestly, I expected this. The only “suprise” is that their goalie play hasn’t been a little better. That has been the one consistent issue and if that was better, we might have 2-3 more wins on the year.

 

[Lycanthrope]

I think the team is right about where I expected them to be. I might have guessed like a 7-6-1 start compared to a 6-7-1 start but overall they are basically a .500 team thus far, which is what I figured they could be. If you mean suprised in a good way, no I’m not. Erie fans all expected to be better than last year.. everyone else for whatever reason had us finishing dead last in the league. I knew that wasn’t happening. Suprised in a bad way.. no not at all. They have had their ups and downs but are 5-1 in their last 6 games

Currently, they would be on pace for about 63 points and 29 wins. I said 28-32 is what I wanted to see and I predicted 28-30 wins. So this is exactly where I had them.
Singer was suspended for 7 games, Martin has missed 5 games, Gritz has missed 4, Fowler missed 2, and Kischnick has been out. So they have dealt with some injuries too. Honestly, I expected this. The only “suprise” is that their goalie play hasn’t been a little better. That has been the one consistent issue and if that was better, we might have 2-3 more wins on the year.

Looking forward to seeing the Otters on Friday. Definitely seem like they can’t be taken lightly.

 

[NOA]

Looking forward to seeing the Otters on Friday. Definitely seem like they can’t be taken lightly.

They have been battling for sure. Don’t quit. Again, better goalie play (currently getting .874 save percentage) and this team has 2-3 more wins is like 9-5 on the year.

Though they have been good, they have struggled on the road dating back to the beginning of last year. Only 7 roads wins. 7. Since the beginning of last year. That has to change. The team is more talented than a year ago and they seem to have more confidence but the road play has to be better

 

[buzzworthy]

Any word on Gritz, Martin or Kischnick?