WBS Penguins 2015-16 season discussion

[Jacob]

Erie's in 1st place this year so far too without McDavid.

 

[Malkinstheman]

If nothing else Knoblauch (or someone else that's up-and-coming) will be poached by some other team and we'll get a draft pick out of it.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=791590

Draft pick compensation will end starting January 1st

 

[DesertedPenguin]

Erie's in 1st place this year so far too without McDavid.

They were far more than McDavid last year. Defenseman Travis Dermott is headed to the World Juniors and was an early 2nd round pick by Toronto. Dylan Strome was the 3rd overall pick in the 2015 draft.

Taylor Raddysh is currently ranked among the Top 30 draft eligible prospects.

And perhaps the best one is Alex Debrincat, the reigning OHL Rookie of the Year who had 51 goals last year and has a league-leading 33 goals in 30 games this year. If he wasn't 5-foot-7, he'd be in the discussion for the No. 1 pick in this year's draft.

 

[66-30-33]

WBS get spanked 5-0. Where is Jarry? injured?

 

[Burgs]

The Baby Pens ruined Clark Donatelli's debut by continuing their tradition of stinking in the first game after the holidays. They have now lost five years straight, with a combined score of 1-19.

WBS get spanked 5-0. Where is Jarry? injured?

Yes, Jarry is day-to-day with a "lower body injury". The Baby Pens have to play two Wheeling call-ups in net now, Brian Foster and Casey DeSmith. Both are New Hampshire graduates. Foster is a veteran ECHL journeyman with 19 previous AHL games, he is the Baby Pens' designated 3rd goalie. DeSmith only had 2 pro games at any level prior to his call-up (tryout). Foster got lit up yesterday but earned a shutout in the previous game.

 

[Jacob]

0-2 with 0 GF and 8 GA under the Donatelli regime so far.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

This team has issues finding suitable coaches at any level.

 

[Jacob]

You're saying this mug doesn't instill you with confidence?

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Granted, I haven't watched the games, but I'm guessing that losing both your goalies, 3 of your best forwards, and a coach you've had success with all at once would affect a team's performance.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

You're saying this mug doesn't instill you with confidence?

He has the wholesome look of someone that isn't allowed 100ft of a children's playground.

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

He has the wholesome look of someone that isn't allowed 100ft of a children's playground.

 

[Jacob]

He's that uncle that gets drunk every Thanksgiving and gives his very strong opinions about blacks & Mexicans.

 

[clefty]

Granted, I haven't watched the games, but I'm guessing that losing both your goalies, 3 of your best forwards, and a coach you've had success with all at once would affect a team's performance.

They went 3-0-1 with Jay Leach sans those players.

I just find a 50-year-old who's never coached above ECHL the level (and with mediocre results to boot) to be a massively uninspiring choice.

I don't know why you wouldn't just go with Leach until the end of the season. I know he's only been coaching a year and a half, but Bylsma didn't have much more experience than that when he took over from Todd Richards, nor did Reirden when he took over from Bylsma. And it's not like Donatelli has all that much coaching under his belt himself.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

They went 3-0-1 with Jay Leach sans those players.

I just find a 50-year-old who's never coached above ECHL the level (and with mediocre results to boot) to be a massively uninspiring choice.

I don't know why you wouldn't just go with Leach until the end of the season. I know he's only been coaching a year and a half, but Bylsma didn't have much more experience than that when he took over from Todd Richards, nor did Reirden when he took over from Bylsma. And it's not like Donatelli has coached that much himself.

Ah, didn't realize Jarry had been out for that long.

 

[clefty]

Well, I don't know if it was all four without Jarry now that I think on it, but I do know they definitely won games with some dude from Wheeling they signed in the offseason.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Why was Jay Leach not given more of a chance?

I feel like this paedo looking dude is one of the Assistant Gm's buddies or something, I am guessing Morehouse.

 

[PensFan68]

From looking at the box scores they're 1-2-1 with Foster in goal. I'm in no means sticking up for this Donatelli who I know nothing about, just don't think you can make an honest assessment of him given the circumstances. They're on their third string goalie who doesn't even seem like a great number one in the E.

However I agree that we should've given Leach a chance. Donatelli has done great in wheeling but I don't see him moving on given his age (although guess that doesn't matter as long as he's good where he is).

 

[Burgs]

Looks like the coaching decision came down to seniority, maybe excessive loyalty and not wanting too much change. I don't think Donatelli is anything special or even anywhere near Sullivan's level, but he was in his 5th year with Wheeling and already had applied for the WBS job this off-season. They almost hired him in the summer because "you want to be an organization that looks internally first" (Botterill). Ultimately they got an outsider in Sullivan but kept Donatelli on the shortlist. And with the Baby Pens off to a great start they didn't want big changes so they picked someone already familiar with much of the team. Leach stays on as associate head coach, Nailers asst. coach David Gove (a WBS captain in the late 2000s) takes over in Wheeling. I have no idea for how long either coach has been signed but I expect WBS will re-evaluate all of them next off-season. As Sullivan has shown bringing in someone from outside the organization sometimes might not be the worst idea.

 

[Burgs]

The Baby Pens finally won their first game under Donatelli, 4-1 against Springfield. Murray made 30 saves. Archibald scored his first goal of the season (and first in 36 games). Rust got only his second goal of the season, though he's played just 14 games. Jarry still injured but close to returning.

 

[Jacob]

Probably best to get Jarry some starts in the ECHL when he comes back. With Murray's call up and Jarry's injury there aren't enough games remaining in the schedule for each of them to see the ideal amount of starts (at least 45 for MM and at least 35 for TJ).

 

[Jacob]

I noticed they started DeSmith over Murray today and he got the win, but DeSmith only had 90 minutes in the ECHL this year so far? Was he hurt? He seems like a better goaltender and with more upside than Foster.

 

[Zen Arcade]

I noticed they started DeSmith over Murray today and he got the win, but DeSmith only had 90 minutes in the ECHL this year so far? Was he hurt? He seems like a better goaltender and with more upside than Foster.

I was wondering why Foster was playing over DeSmith too.

I don't follow Wheeling much, so I wasn't really sure what was going on. Foster just seems like a warm body to me.

Murray wasn't even dressed for today's game. Hopefully nothing is wrong there.

 

[clefty]

Yeah, the Nailers signed another goalie like a week out from the season opener, even though there were already six goaltenders scattered through the organization. Not only that, but the guy they signed (he played for them last year on assignment from Hamilton) was immediately inserted as the starter and DeSmith just never dressed. Weird.

Also with Murray, Donatelli said yesterday he was going to rest him for the Hartford game.

 

[Jacob]

I was wondering why Foster was playing over DeSmith too.

I don't follow Wheeling much, so I wasn't really sure what was going on. Foster just seems like a warm body to me.

Murray wasn't even dressed for today's game. Hopefully nothing is wrong there.

I noticed that on the boxscore, but I think it's a mistake. The PBP guy tweeted that Foster was a scratch and Jarry is still injured. I think Murray was the back-up.

So I'm wondering if DeSmith was hurt, or if he was still dealing with the off-ice stuff that caused him to leave college, or if maybe they were trying to 'vet' him as a person before they decided to give him playing time?

Prior to the off-ice stuff, which as far as I know he was completely exonerated from, he was considered a decent prospect.

 

[clefty]

Well they signed him in the summer, so not only did they presumably have a lot of time with him, but they signed largely because Mike Buckley personally vouched for him as his former coach. I also just checked the press release for the Nailers opening roster, and he wasn't one of the players on IR.

I have no idea what they were doing. Maybe he just borked it in the preseason? Even then, seems like a waste.