Meanwhile, folks in Central NY just look on and sigh in envy of Orlando getting all this attention including a preseason game.
Python, as you know, do not expect physical players to be brought in via Tampa, those will have to be Orlando signed. If anything, the Crunch roster looks even smaller (but more talented) this year than they were last year. After last year's fiasco of a protector (no size, no talent, no ice time), there is still a hole for someone who can provide some form of protection to keep the more talented, skilled players out of the box for having to protect themselves. Tom Sestito is available, local guy with NHL/AHL experience who is looking for a East Coast team to finish his career with. Started as a pro in Syracuse with the Crunch, would be fitting to see him end his career here as a pro as well.
It does feel sort of odd for me how little attention Syracuse is getting from the Orlando end. In OSB's past affiliations, the AHL team has in actuality been the biggest part of the affiliate, but here because of geography, overlapping fanbases, and the math right now promising a few TBL ELC's coming our way, Syracuse doesn't really get mentioned yet.
From experience, I have to expect it to be a lot of Drake dealing with JBB/Syracuse.
and not everyone sent to Orlando needs to be big and physical. The ECHL is more undersized generally, but each guy that isn't suited to the heavy game makes OSB incrementally less capable of playing the way they need to.
I don't want to dump on Toronto, but I got the feeling that a lot of guys they sent us were initially thinking that they were going to play Leafs style hockey at every level, and I want to overcompensate now with an organizational philosophy that gets guys who will at least be prepared (and will look forward) to shifting gears to our style of play.
I think that the meme about Toronto being a "true three-tiered system" might have done some of that work.
Brassart, Bourke, (and Ouellette) all are ECHL experienced and look like they fit OSB's style. Archambault would work for us too, although I think he was too productive last year with the Crunch. I'm not worried about any of them. The 2-3 ELC's shouldn't tear our identity apart. I'm not too concerned at this point, but I want everyone on that bubble to have realistic expectations of the style we're going to play.
I didn't mean it as a chest bumping. Just something I do for funzies.
