Erie Otters 2018-19 Season Thread (Part 2)

[NOA]

Poddubnyi 2nd in points and the only + on the team. Erie needs to be more responsible on the defensive end

It’s not about their defense.. it’s their goalie play..

.841 and .873.. that’s the save percentage of our two goalies.

The goalies face an average of 29 shots a game. It’s not on the defense at all. That’s the goalie play. In my opinion the team defense is okay. That’s not the issue. Give this team a middle level, average goalie and they would have about 15-20 less GA on the year and another 3-5 wins.

If I’m Dave Brown, I’m not waiting on this issue. This crap goalie play can’t continue

 

[NOA]

I've often wondered if they said London Sucks during sweet Caroline every game or just when playing London lol. I personally find it flattering. The Knights are living rent free in the heads of an entire fan base all season long.

Not really actually. Most fans don’t follow the league beyond the otters. So I guarantee they don’t know much of your success. It’s just at this point a song that has stuck and won’t stop now. Nothing more than that.
Reminds me of the fans doing the wave for 2 playoff runs. It happened, it stuck, it continued for a bit. Another example was the Cotton eye joe song and dancer back in the mid 2000s. It happens, it stuck, it continued. Things like that just sort of become tradition. The fans aren’t actually saying London is talentless and most don’t even know their record

 

[three dog night]

Is that four straight home losses.

 

[buzzworthy]

So, did Aidan Campbell report to the Otter's training camp? Any inclination as to where he wants to play? Being that he is from Cranberry, PA, as is Gritz, maybe a connection there. Yes, I thought the goalie situation would be a bit better than it is. It seems that lately we have not done well with our goalie picks. Maybe we need to spend more time and money scouting in Europe for a good goalie.

 

[NOA]

So, did Aidan Campbell report to the Otter's training camp? Any inclination as to where he wants to play? Being that he is from Cranberry, PA, as is Gritz, maybe a connection there. Yes, I thought the goalie situation would be a bit better than it is. It seems that lately we have not done well with our goalie picks. Maybe we need to spend more time and money scouting in Europe for a good goalie.

Campbell went to the rookie camp in May. Don’t believe he was at the training camp. I don’t know if he is the answer. Maybe in the future but even if we signed him, he will still be a 16 year old and only 17 next year.

Goaltending is an issue. It was last year. It remains this year. Heck it wasn’t really that great from 2014-2017. Williams was solid but never elite. Lawr was a bust. Timpano was good for half the year but collapsed at the end, Murdaca saved the day but even he was just solid.

Williams is the last goalie we drafted, developed. But he was never elite. Before that, the import draft supplied us with Dansk and Sadikov. Before that it was Josh Disher. Add Janus from the import draft. Other than that our goalie play has been crap for 10-15 years. Idk what the solution is. Import draft this year is an option but with a top 15-20 pick in the draft, I prefer we go after a young forward. Imo Brown should try to find a Murdaca like goalie trade. Someone who is more stable in net for the rest of this year and next year as a veteran. Than hopefully we can get someone like Campbell to sign and maybe he’s the guy.

To be fair to Erie, they have drafted some good goalies but haven’t signed them. Colton Point would have been elite but he went to college. Mitchell Gibson also could have been special, but he chose college route. Both Point and Gibson went on to be nhl drafted in the 5th and 4th round respectively.

The other issue? We don’t draft goalies in higher rounds.. since 2012, we have taken 12 goalies

2nd round - Lawr (major bust)

Other than that these are the rounds in which we have picked goalies since 2012:
8th round
9th round (2 times)
10th round
11th round
12th round (2 times)
14th round
15th round (3 times)

Maybe if we used more resources (higher picks) we would have better success. I would like to see more 4-7th round picks of goalies

 

[Puckit97]

Campbell went to the rookie camp in May. Don’t believe he was at the training camp. I don’t know if he is the answer. Maybe in the future but even if we signed him, he will still be a 16 year old and only 17 next year.

Goaltending is an issue. It was last year. It remains this year. Heck it wasn’t really that great from 2014-2017. Williams was solid but never elite. Lawr was a bust. Timpano was good for half the year but collapsed at the end, Murdaca saved the day but even he was just solid.

Williams is the last goalie we drafted, developed. But he was never elite. Before that, the import draft supplied us with Dansk and Sadikov. Before that it was Josh Disher. Add Janus from the import draft. Other than that our goalie play has been crap for 10-15 years. Idk what the solution is. Import draft this year is an option but with a top 15-20 pick in the draft, I prefer we go after a young forward. Imo Brown should try to find a Murdaca like goalie trade. Someone who is more stable in net for the rest of this year and next year as a veteran. Than hopefully we can get someone like Campbell to sign and maybe he’s the guy.

To be fair to Erie, they have drafted some good goalies but haven’t signed them. Colton Point would have been elite but he went to college. Mitchell Gibson also could have been special, but he chose college route. Both Point and Gibson went on to be nhl drafted in the 5th and 4th round respectively.

The other issue? We don’t draft goalies in higher rounds.. since 2012, we have taken 12 goalies

2nd round - Lawr (major bust)

Other than that these are the rounds in which we have picked goalies since 2012:
8th round
9th round (2 times)
10th round
11th round
12th round (2 times)
14th round
15th round (3 times)

Maybe if we used more resources (higher picks) we would have better success. I would like to see more 4-7th round picks of goalies

Great post. Erie has a real bad track record of drafting goalies high in the OHL priority selection, Lawr being the most recent example.

Although the goaltending has been far from stellar I don’t think it’s been as horrendous as some other posters. Will the current two steal a game? No but I Battalgia did play well last night. Erie doesn’t give up 50 shots a game like they did 7-10 years ago but they still have bad turnovers that leave both goalies hanging out to dry. I think both need improvement.

Unrelated but does anyone think Gpod could get moved? He has improved greatly defensively this season but with another high import pick likely he would have to be the odd man out next season. Would have to think the being an import would make him hard to move though.

 

[NOA]

Unrelated but does anyone think Gpod could get moved? He has improved greatly defensively this season but with another high import pick likely he would have to be the odd man out next season. Would have to think the being an import would make him hard to move though.

I have heard rumors that Poddubyni is not coming back for an OA season. Potentially has the chance to go pro in the KHL. Idk how true that is but imo if he’s told the team he’s for sure leaving next year or even a 80-90% chance.. yes I would look to move him. I’m not sure what we could get but if a decent offer is there , yes.

We desperately need the picks and to get younger. Brown failed on the Lodnia trade. He has to make up for it now. In an ideal world we move Mak and Podd for good picks. Simple: don’t trade them if a good offer isn’t made. Then we get a top 3/4 pick again this year and a top 15 import. Also attempt to sign Alexander. That should be our plan

 

[buzzworthy]

I also heard that about G-Pod. As far as the Lodnia "trade" goes, we did get hosed on that one. However, how much of that is on Brown I am not so sure. Lodnia was never a part of the team. His parents moved to Erie, and he was about his own development. Never a team guy, he had removed his name from his locker late last season. His parents had moved away. With the way his contract was set up, only 2 teams were on his list. And so it goes...

 

[EON]

Do any contenders have an open import spot? Poddubnyi has been much improved this season, to his credit. And as useful as he is, I would rather Erie move on next season and use their high import pick to land another player like Cajka (or maybe even a goalie). He could probably land them a pick or two.

In interesting alumni news, Dylan Strome was traded to Chicago last night. I hope they reunite him and DeBrincat on a line together.

 

[Puckit97]

I also heard that about G-Pod. As far as the Lodnia "trade" goes, we did get hosed on that one. However, how much of that is on Brown I am not so sure. Lodnia was never a part of the team. His parents moved to Erie, and he was about his own development. Never a team guy, he had removed his name from his locker late last season. His parents had moved away. With the way his contract was set up, only 2 teams were on his list. And so it goes...

The only aspect I blame Brown for is waiting to trade him until his value was so low. As a GM he should have seen that coming and moved him early last season. It’s not like it would have changed their record that much.

 

[Puckit97]

Yeah it’s almost certain GPod won’t be back next season. For his sake hopefully he gets a deal in the KHL but for this season he could add great 3rd line scoring depth to a contending team. Unfortunately I’m pretty sure all contending teams are set on their imports.

 

[NOA]

I also heard that about G-Pod. As far as the Lodnia "trade" goes, we did get hosed on that one. However, how much of that is on Brown I am not so sure. Lodnia was never a part of the team. His parents moved to Erie, and he was about his own development. Never a team guy, he had removed his name from his locker late last season. His parents had moved away. With the way his contract was set up, only 2 teams were on his list. And so it goes...

I don’t necessarily think that Brown got screwed because he was stupid. Yes the 2 teams only thing sucked. But I still would demand more than what we got out of a respect thing. Even if it were just a 3rd round pick and Singer.. that’s better than a 5th. And if Niagara is unwilling then you make lodnia sit. Maybe he will reconsider and open it up to 2-3 additional teams. He was our last bigger fish to trade and we got nothing for him

 

[NOA]

The only aspect I blame Brown for is waiting to trade him until his value was so low. As a GM he should have seen that coming and moved him early last season. It’s not like it would have changed their record that much.

100% agree. He waited and waited. Though do we buy the rumors that lodnia didn’t want traded last year? If that’s the case, then nothing for brown to do.

I was expecting.. at minimum.. a 2nd and a 3rd for him. We didn’t even get 1 of those picks.
So PP, I agree with your earlier post that said maybe moving Podd would make sense. Guelph could use an import upgrade. But EON is right, there aren’t many teams that even have a spot for one. Which makes his value almost nothing. Mak on the other hand has to be moved

 

[buzzworthy]

Here's hoping that Niagara, being Brown's old team, will do us a favor in the future. There may be a few hidden cards that we don't know about. I hope that is the case.

 

[Puckit97]

100% agree. He waited and waited. Though do we buy the rumors that lodnia didn’t want traded last year? If that’s the case, then nothing for brown to do.

I don’t buy that rumor at all. I remember hearing from a realiable source he wanted out before last season even started. I think it’s pretty cut and dry that he should have been traded before he held all the cards and that’s what hurt Erie.
I do like Dave Brown and I think he’s done a great job since taking over. This would be the only deal that he made that looks bad in hindsight IMO.

 

[Puckit97]

And that post is no slight to Singer but trading Lodnia at the start of the season last year would have really upped his value.

 

[NA Hockey]

 

[NOA]

Playoffs aren’t happening this year. It was a goal of mine and I’m sure the team. But the goalie play through the first 1/4 of the season cost this team 4+ wins. The goalie play has been a disaster and I expected it to be much better than this. Not great but certainly at least average. It hasn’t been that. Ironic too because Murphy stood on his head tonight during our most lopsided performance of the year

Reality is though we need to trade Maksimovich
Ottawa has a billion picks and guess what?? They have just 1 OA. The other reality for Ottawa is that they could use the experience on a relatively young team. And they don’t really need center or RW help. How does 55 playoff games for Mak sound, Ottawa?

I hope Brown is aware. And I hope he doesn’t think we can wait. We should honestly try to move Mak before Christmas break. We need assets. We need top level talent. At this point the team is not ready for the playoffs. So start preparing for trades. Getting a 2nd and two 3rds for Mak is both realistic and a MUST. Another option is Guelph. They could afford an OA upgrade

A team like Missy could also afford to swap out an OA for Poddubyni. So erie could trade Podd for another teams import player who has less of an impact. Erie could add an additional 3rd round pick to the deal.

At this point I want another top 4 pick (use on a forward), a top 15 import (use on goalie or forward) and some more 2nd/3rd round picks

 

[nofriendsinhockey]

51 shots, Erie allowed 51 shots...enough said

 

[OttersFan]

Have followed this board for a long time, yet made an account recently and really don't post, but wow, Erie needs to pick it up.

Tonight was brutal and all Owen Sound. 6 on 5 when the goalie pulled and no one seemed to skate or move the puck. Every PP opportunity, OS had the chance to score SH.

Erie needs to work on their defense and PP/PK. No way should a team walk all over with 51 shots, yet we barely had 20 (only 3 in the 3rd). We should have 20 shots after 1-1.5 periods.

Next 15/22 on the road... any predictions for record? Or who we can beat on the road?

 

[NOA]

51 shots, Erie allowed 51 shots...enough said

Yes not good. But has to be the most they have allowed all year. Rarely see them allow over 40, let alone 50. Let’s not act like this has been a common trend

Reality is that unless you are a top 5-10 team in the league, these types of performances will happen. Heck even when Erie was winning 50 games a year they had bad nights

The only being proved with the recent losses is playoffs just isn’t going to happen. We had to be at about 18-20 wins past the trade deadline. So about .500 or above. We won’t be that. Goaltending the problem early. Now without Fowler, the depth/offense is also at a disadvantage.
Only thing I’m worried about is brown not pulling the trigger on trading Mak

 

[Puckit97]

Yes not good. But has to be the most they have allowed all year. Rarely see them allow over 40, let alone 50. Let’s not act like this has been a common trend

Reality is that unless you are a top 5-10 team in the league, these types of performances will happen. Heck even when Erie was winning 50 games a year they had bad nights

The only being proved with the recent losses is playoffs just isn’t going to happen. We had to be at about 18-20 wins past the trade deadline. So about .500 or above. We won’t be that. Goaltending the problem early. Now without Fowler, the depth/offense is also at a disadvantage.
Only thing I’m worried about is brown not pulling the trigger on trading Mak

If Brown doesn’t trade Mak then this is Bassin all over again. Mak deserves to play his last season out with a winning team.

 

[EON]

Well, goaltending showed up last night, the good Murphy made an appearance. But that was a pathetic effort after the 1st from the skaters. As much as I'd like Maksimovich to finish his career here and set the GP record, they need the picks and I'm sure he'd like the chance to win it all again.

 

[buzzworthy]

This will all take time to sort out for this team. My main concerns going forward are:
Do we need new goaltending, or is it just because we are young? Trust me-we are not the only team with goaltending questions. Just ask the OS fans.
Do we need to look at a coaching change? That is the thing I am the most worried about. Hartsburg DOES NOT have all the right ingredients to coach these kids in my opinion. He NEVER smiles, pats the kids on the back when they do well, and all he does on the bench is growl and make faces. I know for a fact that this has led to discontent from some of the players. This has me worried.
As to the Owen Sound game last night, as I posted before, OS has one very good team. Their weakness is goaltending. No team has dominated the Otters this season like OS. Maybe the pathetic effort is frustration from the players not getting what they need, which is some encouragement and some teaching skills.

 

[NOA]

This will all take time to sort out for this team. My main concerns going forward are:
Do we need new goaltending, or is it just because we are young? Trust me-we are not the only team with goaltending questions. Just ask the OS fans.
Do we need to look at a coaching change? That is the thing I am the most worried about. Hartsburg DOES NOT have all the right ingredients to coach these kids in my opinion. He NEVER smiles, pats the kids on the back when they do well, and all he does on the bench is growl and make faces. I know for a fact that this has led to discontent from some of the players. This has me worried.
As to the Owen Sound game last night, as I posted before, OS has one very good team. Their weakness is goaltending. No team has dominated the Otters this season like OS. Maybe the pathetic effort is frustration from the players not getting what they need, which is some encouragement and some teaching skills.

Goaltending- yes. Probably needs addressed if both guys don’t show improvement by end of season

Coaching - I believe it’s a concern. Hartsburg now calling out the players in every post game loss and that’s not how you act.. especially with a rebuilding and very young team that honestly has been porked by poor goalie play most of the year. He either has already lost the locker room or will if that continues. And that can’t hapoen with a young group. We have enough talent (other than in net) to be more competitive. Yet the team has taken slumps recently and are inconsistent- I blame that on coaching