F@ck COVID.....Positive Outlook to 2020/2021 OHL Season

[Saggy]

OK folks.....way too much doom and gloom out there so I'm going to take a positive view and say next year's OHL season will be launched in some way or form.

Having taken that position and understanding we still have an Import Draft to go, off-season trades to happen and decisions to be made on Overagers…….Let's all try and fill in the boredom with way too early predictions for next year.

Top 2 in each Division ….

1. East
2. Central
3. Midwest
4. West

Two Finalists and Winner if you are feeling lucky too

*** For Entertainment purposes only

Click to read more...

 

[MatthewsMoustache]

East- Oshawa, Kingston
Central- Barrie, Mississauga
Midwest- London, Guelph
West- Soo, Windsor

Finals- Soo, Oshawa. Soo wins

 

[Saggy]

East- Oshawa, Kingston
Central- Barrie, Mississauga
Midwest- London, Guelph
West- Soo, Windsor

Finals- Soo, Oshawa. Soo wins

Interesting picks......having a non-playoff team with a goalie tandem that has a total of 8 wins between them winning the whole enchilada would be very cool.....far fetched but cool.

 

[dirty12]

Oshawa
Mississauga, Barrie
London,
Flint,

yeah, too early to even guess. I’ll go with the top players from Kingston, Erie, Sarnia to lead their teams to 2nd place in division

 

[HockeyPops]

Interesting picks......having a non-playoff team with a goalie tandem that has a total of 8 wins between them winning the whole enchilada would be very cool.....far fetched but cool.

Well, technically, Taylor had 10 wins the year before so make it 18. However, many Soo fans aren't convinced Taylor is the backup next year, so maybe make it 5?

 

[MatthewsMoustache]

Interesting picks......having a non-playoff team with a goalie tandem that has a total of 8 wins between them winning the whole enchilada would be very cool.....far fetched but cool.

didn’t even realize that.. wild stat. they’ve just got so much depth it’s hard not to like them. 9 40+ point getters slated to return along with O’Rourke and potentially LeGuerrier on the back end.

 

[Generalsupdates]

Oshawa, Kingston

Mississauga, Sudbury

London, Guelph

Windsor, Saginaw

 

[Saggy]

Oshawa, Kingston

Mississauga, Sudbury

London, Guelph

Windsor, Saginaw

i think this is a VERY solid grouping. I do like SSM as was suggested but they need to find another top end goalie to chAllenge

 

[Saggy]

They could potentially snag one thru the Import Draft like Sudbury a few years back and then you have a contender. Same goes for Windsor

 

[HockeyPops]

Seems odd to start a thread, critique others' opinions, while not posting your own opinion.

 

[Generalsupdates]

i think this is a VERY solid grouping. I do like SSM as was suggested but they need to find another top end goalie to chAllenge

Yeah SSM is right there (similar to BAR in the East for me). I just really like the Perfetti/Suzuki pairing and Saginaw has shown they can bring in top Americans so maybe they're about to bring in some more. In the long run it'll come down to whoever adds better between SBY/BAR and SAG/SOO but I have SBY and SAG ahead right now so that's why I went with them, that was basically my logic. Although we all know how fast it can change in junior hockey

 

[HockeyPops]

Ottawa, Oshawa

Mississauga, Hamilton, Barrie

Erie, London

Soo, Flint

Edit: Hamilton always confuses me

 

[Generalsupdates]

Ottawa, Oshawa

Mississauga, Hamilton

Erie, London

Soo, Flint

Hamilton's in the East division with OSH/OTT

Flint's an interesting one. Think they'll be good next year even after losing Dellandrea/Durham/Tucker/Popovich etc?

Reading the WSR hfboards it seems like they aren't high on their team but as an outsider looking in they look like they're in the best shape of anyone in the entire league to me.

And then SAG having Perfetti/Suzuki both probably over 100 points is scary

 

[NOA]

Oshawa, Hamilton
Mississauga, Barrie
London, Erie
SSM, Saginaw

 

[Saggy]

Seems odd to start a thread, critique others' opinions, while not posting your own opinion.

Good point.....the boredom made me slip on that one...my apologies

1. Oshawa vs Kingston
2.Missy vs Barrie
3.Guelph vs London
4. Flint vs Saginaw

Oshawa/Missy vs London/Saginaw

Oshawa vs Saginaw......Oshawa in 6

 

[Saggy]

Typed too quickly....that should have been Windsor verse Saginaw (not Flint)

 

[ohloutsider]

Hamilton's in the East division with OSH/OTT

Flint's an interesting one. Think they'll be good next year even after losing Dellandrea/Durham/Tucker/Popovich etc?

Reading the WSR hfboards it seems like they aren't high on their team but as an outsider looking in they look like they're in the best shape of anyone in the entire league to me.

And then SAG having Perfetti/Suzuki both probably over 100 points is scary

I think most know in Windsor they will have a good team - the question is do they have the coach to lead them there?

 

[NOA]

I think most know in Windsor they will have a good team - the question is do they have the coach to lead them there?

That’s my concern with Erie too ..

 

[member 71782]

Hamilton's in the East division with OSH/OTT

Flint's an interesting one. Think they'll be good next year even after losing Dellandrea/Durham/Tucker/Popovich etc?

Reading the WSR hfboards it seems like they aren't high on their team but as an outsider looking in they look like they're in the best shape of anyone in the entire league to me.

And then SAG having Perfetti/Suzuki both probably over 100 points is scary

I think most know in Windsor they will have a good team - the question is do they have the coach to lead them there?

On paper, as of now Windsor's problem isn't talent even though they're probably still a year away. Their problems start with coaching and too many rumours of unhappy kids.

Change the coaching, clear up any off ice issues and Windsor should push for a long playoff run. If the coaching remains the same, personel and systems and there's any validity to half the rumours and Windsor will take a huge step back in the standings.

It's more potential off ice issues than talent but the off ice issues will determine what talent returns.

 

[Saggy]

You are the third person that has brought up Coaching concerns. What is the issue there??

 

[MatthewsMoustache]

You are the third person that has brought up Coaching concerns. What is the issue there??

everything has seemed to go wrong on that end of the spectrum since the whole owner situation with that guy trying to get all 3 of his kids on the team. I’m not sure what the issue is with the new coach, but I imagine he’s got 20+ sets of parents inspecting him with a fine tooth comb because of what nearly happened this season

 

[Savard18]

Flint's an interesting one. Think they'll be good next year even after losing Dellandrea/Durham/Tucker/Popovich etc?

For the majority of the season many of us were wanting to see Cavallin get the starting job over Popovich and he did outplay Popovich for stretches. At the end though, Cavallin was struggling with a groin injury and Popovich was really coming around while also handling an overload of minutes. I think Cavallin if healthy will be a slight upgrade in net next year. BUG though....? Durham’s numbers look better than his play. He was getting a ton of time ES and PP with Dellandrea and/or the top line. Late in the year he had worked his way down to the 4th line and when promoted back up the lineup occasionally, he didn’t do much with it. They played a good chunk of the season without Dellandrea and did well without him but he was sorely missed in the faceoff circle. Even he spent a good portion of the season as a 1.00-1.25 PPG player that hovered around even +/- and looked disinterested. He’ll surely be missed though and Tucker will be a major loss. They’re gonna have to move an OA too. If they make a really good move or two regarding the OA and remaining picks though, they can be back in the thick of it no problem. Theres quite a few top end players returning and I expect them to compete for a top 2 Division spot but I honestly don’t see them having the roster AND draft pick stockpile to be a threat in the final four though.....unless Branch really pulls off some magic.

 

[member 71782]

You are the third person that has brought up Coaching concerns. What is the issue there??

everything has seemed to go wrong on that end of the spectrum since the whole owner situation with that guy trying to get all 3 of his kids on the team. I’m not sure what the issue is with the new coach, but I imagine he’s got 20+ sets of parents inspecting him with a fine tooth comb because of what nearly happened this season

Skim through the last couple of Windsor threads for a more in depth view of things but I'll try to keep it short.

Prioritizes years of service over skill.

Poor decisions on matching skill sets.

Poor use of individual players skills within his systems.

Poor systems.

Poor in game decision making.

Poor game planning.

Prioritizes playing not to lose instead of playing to win. Having the team go to a trap style at the opening face off, playing the trap when trailing in games and putting offensively challenged players out in the last couple minutes of a game when they need a goal while players expected to score sit on the bench.

That scratches the surface. His first year I would give him a pass on some things being it was the start of a rebuild but the last two seasons this team had decent to good first halves and completely collapsed in the second half post deadline. Some of that blame can go to management's approach, no additions but also no sell offs either.

He's a decent assistant/associate coach but he's not a competent head coach.

 

[dirty12]

For the majority of the season many of us were wanting to see Cavallin get the starting job over Popovich and he did outplay Popovich for stretches. At the end though, Cavallin was struggling with a groin injury and Popovich was really coming around while also handling an overload of minutes. I think Cavallin if healthy will be a slight upgrade in net next year. BUG though....? Durham’s numbers look better than his play. He was getting a ton of time ES and PP with Dellandrea and/or the top line. Late in the year he had worked his way down to the 4th line and when promoted back up the lineup occasionally, he didn’t do much with it. They played a good chunk of the season without Dellandrea and did well without him but he was sorely missed in the faceoff circle. Even he spent a good portion of the season as a 1.00-1.25 PPG player that hovered around even +/- and looked disinterested. He’ll surely be missed though and Tucker will be a major loss. They’re gonna have to move an OA too. If they make a really good move or two regarding the OA and remaining picks though, they can be back in the thick of it no problem. Theres quite a few top end players returning and I expect them to compete for a top 2 Division spot but I honestly don’t see them having the roster AND draft pick stockpile to be a threat in the final four though.....unless Branch really pulls off some magic.

Flint should have as many or more picks than any team in their division once the OA situation is cleared up. The biggest problem for the firebirds may be their ability to retain and develop some or all of the ‘02, ‘03, & ‘04 D while attempting to ice a contender.

 

[StingUpdates]

For me-

Oshawa, Kingston

Mississauga, Sudbury

London, Erie

Windsor, Sarnia

In the west i think it could be a really interesting yr. For the first time in a looooong time the midwest looks rather weak. I honestly think the top 4 teams could be WSR/SAG/SAR/SSM.