Windsor Spitfires 2016-17 Season Thread (Part 5)

[hockeylegend11]

Spits

Seeing Knott a lot more I can see why he has never come close to another 25 goal season. He's not active enough he has a chance to play with Brown/Bracco and he's not hunting for pucks he's playing 60 feet away from the net. This team is 7th for goals in the western conference if the philosophy doesn't change they will have a hard time winning 16 playoff games 2-1 and 3-2 there's just too many variables, having to get your D and G to play out of their minds, to having to depend always on the PK, to always being disciplined "oh there's McCool punching another guy in a scrum."



I think the Soo is still the best team in the conference. I have seen them win twice in London I know Parsons wasn't playing but it still isn't an easy place to play. I have seen them beat Windsor twice, one of those teams take it to them pretty good in the Soo. I also saw them look quite comfortable playing against London this past Sunday even in a close game. They don't have great goaltending but I think they're good enough to adapt.



It's all fair when you blow multi goal leads a couple times in 4 nights.

Sergachev 1st rounder
Stanley 1st rounder
Day NHL pick
Chatfield OA

that's a lot of assets dedicated to a D that can't protect a lead. Unfortunately there's so much stress put on the D because they struggle to score goals and goaltending to pretty much stand on their head the dam is going to break especially when this has been the recipe all year.

The Hounds with the 6th best goaltending in the conference, behind,London, Windsor, Erie,Owen Sound and Kitchener,have also been beaten twice by Windsor,and recently got hammered by Missy 6-2 and Owen Sound 6-1, u want to complain about Windsor's D,when it comes to crunch time their D and goaltending are not championship worthy.
For a team,SSM,I mean gets alot more praise from you, despite a mere 3 point lead, more games played,more home games played,6 game disparity in Windsor's case,18 home games 24 road, a team with a 726 winning percentage and they get bashed.
That might be more palatable if u talk about near 750 win percentage, only 2 regular season losses at home, how can u not admit 15-2-1 at home is fantastic period no buts.
This team like every team in the top 5 has warts,a separation of 5 points shows very little difference if any.

 

[hockeylegend11]

With 2 Eastern Conference teams due in Windsor Thursday and Saturday,Ottawa first up on Thursday,I am predicting big nights from Logan Brown and Jeremiah Bracco,Gabe Vilardi,time to take advantage of a young team's D.
I would go with these lines to make things happen
Brown-Bracco-Addison-Vilardi
Luchuk-Vilardi-Digiacinto
Boka-Knott-Laishram
McCool-Purboo-Corcoran

Now that changes if Nattinen is able to play,he goes to line 2, Luchuk drops to 3, Laishram to 4 and Purboo comes out.

 

[ohloutsider]

Hard to be a "happy fan" when you see these 3rd period let downs and a team that has no killer instinct. That is 2 games in a week that they have blown leads. 2 points lost that you can't get back - at the end of the year those lost points will have a big impact. Both players and coach need to step up - players need to play with more intensity, focus. Day just plain gave up on the puck on the 2nd goal - can't have these moments. This time of year the play/games becomes more important and teams that are lossing in the third find another gear - Spits need to match that - it is not playoff hockey yet but it is getting closer - Spits don't seem prepared to match this - players and coaches need to step up.
Said a lot in the last few weeks about line juggling but Really! When is this going to end - makes for some awful mistakes when guys have no idea where their line mates are going to be! This to me is poor coaching and it is starting to really show.
Shoot out last night - Laishram takes the last shot while players like Addison ( already scored a dandy) and Knott sit on the bench - and you wonder why I'm questioning the coaching - Time for the coaching staff to find their intensity and step up.

 

[hockeylegend11]

Outsider

Agree about the giveaway by Day, thought nice bounce back goal by Boka would have stood to win 3-2,then Dipietro who was fantastic allows what I consider a bad goal with a bit more then a minute left to send game into OT
Thought Spits were fine in OT,got the only 2 shots on goal by either team,go to the shutout,my feelings are if Brown doesn't hit the post we would not be worrying about about who was selected or not to shoot.That being said I would have put Addison before Laishram and probably Bracco too.
Sean Day needs to get back to form, pointless in his last 5 games, and a huge gaffe last night that led to the tying has not been his usual play since he got here.

 

[RayzorIsDull]

The Hounds with the 6th best goaltending in the conference, behind,London, Windsor, Erie,Owen Sound and Kitchener,have also been beaten twice by Windsor,and recently got hammered by Missy 6-2 and Owen Sound 6-1, u want to complain about Windsor's D,when it comes to crunch time their D and goaltending are not championship worthy.
For a team,SSM,I mean gets alot more praise from you, despite a mere 3 point lead, more games played,more home games played,6 game disparity in Windsor's case,18 home games 24 road, a team with a 726 winning percentage and they get bashed.
That might be more palatable if u talk about near 750 win percentage, only 2 regular season losses at home, how can u not admit 15-2-1 at home is fantastic period no buts.
This team like every team in the top 5 has warts,a separation of 5 points shows very little difference if any.

A mere 3 point lead? The Hounds have been alternating between a 5 and 3 point lead for the past 10 games. What has prevented Windsor from overtaking the Soo to this point since it's such a small lead???

The Soo has played 1 more game than Windsor and they have played the same amount of road games so I am not particularly sure what you're getting to in regards to the schedule.

I never said Windsor can't win a championship I just have my doubts this team is capable of playing at the highest level possible to win 16 playoff games. After all if you're asking about a team to win a championship that's what you're asking of them to win 16 playoff games.

You talk about the Soo's goaltending but in 4 games the Spits have scored 12 goals 2 of them being en's. So 10 goals in 4 games against a team with that goaltending isn't that great. This is what I mean though you're throwing these numbers out but nothing in regards to the Spits exploiting the Hounds.

A home record is only as good if you have home ice advantage in the playoffs and at this rate that would be for only 1 round.

 

[nelli27]

Seeing Knott a lot more I can see why he has never come close to another 25 goal season. He's not active enough he has a chance to play with Brown/Bracco and he's not hunting for pucks he's playing 60 feet away from the net. This team is 7th for goals in the western conference if the philosophy doesn't change they will have a hard time winning 16 playoff games 2-1 and 3-2 there's just too many variables, having to get your D and G to play out of their minds, to having to depend always on the PK, to always being disciplined "oh there's McCool punching another guy in a scrum."



I think the Soo is still the best team in the conference. I have seen them win twice in London I know Parsons wasn't playing but it still isn't an easy place to play. I have seen them beat Windsor twice, one of those teams take it to them pretty good in the Soo. I also saw them look quite comfortable playing against London this past Sunday even in a close game. They don't have great goaltending but I think they're good enough to adapt.



It's all fair when you blow multi goal leads a couple times in 4 nights.

Sergachev 1st rounder
Stanley 1st rounder
Day NHL pick
Chatfield OA

that's a lot of assets dedicated to a D that can't protect a lead. Unfortunately there's so much stress put on the D because they struggle to score goals and goaltending to pretty much stand on their head the dam is going to break especially when this has been the recipe all year.

Excellent post as usual, Rayzor...you're obviously someone who has a good sense of what's going on around the league. I agree that the Soo could very well be the cream of the crop in the West. For those who have watched them closely, they are a well-oiled machine. Stingy on defence--i.e. they don't give up a lot of quality scoring chances (remind me of Windsor in that respect), and so Raaymakers is not called upon as often to make the big save--he doesn't need to.
They also have a ton of skill up front; fast team that thrives on puck possession--the Hounds are a pleasure to watch.

RE: Windsor, Erie and London's deadline deals.
It seems as though all 3 of these teams are going through something quite similar. The teams haven't showed signs of gelling. I think that this is to be expected--it will take time for the new guys to fit in.
Bracco WILL find his identity and make a difference.
Same with Cirelli...
Same with Stephens...
Looking forward to the playoffs.

 

[RayzorIsDull]

Excellent post as usual, Rayzor...you're obviously someone who has a good sense of what's going on around the league. I agree that the Soo could very well be the cream of the crop in the West. For those who have watched them closely, they are a well-oiled machine. Stingy on defence--i.e. they don't give up a lot of quality scoring chances (remind me of Windsor in that respect), and so Raaymakers is not called upon as often to make the big save--he doesn't need to.
They also have a ton of skill up front; fast team that thrives on puck possession--the Hounds are a pleasure to watch.

RE: Windsor, Erie and London's deadline deals.
It seems as though all 3 of these teams are going through something quite similar. The teams haven't showed signs of gelling. I think that this is to be expected--it will take time for the new guys to fit in.
Bracco WILL find his identity and make a difference.
Same with Cirelli...
Same with Stephens...
Looking forward to the playoffs.

In regards to the Soo as of this point what's helping them is that Senyshyn is playing at a totally different level than a lot of guys, he's only 36th in overall points but is a pure sniper 27 goals in 34 games, and 18 in his last 13 games. I'm not sure there's a Spitfire that can produce at that kind of level. Looking deeper into that stats and just not a 5 game snap shot.

Shots For
Soo 1481 2nd
Win 1300 16th

Shots Against
Soo 1292 13th
Win 1212 16th

Shot Differential
Soo 189 4th
Win 88 8th

High Density Shot For
Soo 160 3rd
Win 145 5th

High Density Goal For
Soo 48 1st
Win 41 2nd

High Density Shot Against
Soo 128 10th
Win 114 14th

High Density Goals Against
Soo 27 12th
Win 22 19th

Medium Distance Shot For
Soo 228 10th
Win 227 12th

Medium Distance Goals For
Soo 38 11th
Win 45 7th

Medium Distance Shot Against
Soo 177 20th
Win 188 17th

Medium Distance Goals Against
Soo/Win 16 tied for 17th

Long Distance Shots For
Soo 1093 3rd
Win 928 18th

Long Distance Goals For
Soo 87 3rd
Win 57 19th

Long Distance Shots Against
Soo 987 12th
Win 910 16th

Long Distance Goals Against
Soo 76 7th
Win 56 19th


For all the angst about the Soo and their questionable goaltending the Soo has given up 25 goals against Windsor/London/Erie in 9 games, 2 goals in the empty net. So 23 goals over 9+ games to account for a couple OT games I would say goaltending really hasn't been an issue against those teams. It all boils down to matchups and for instance I would prefer if Windsor didn't have to face OS or Kitchener in round 1. Windsor hasn't looked good against either team thus far. They can still turn that around but barring Windsor exploding for 8-9 goals against Kitchener I have seen 3 games against them and that's enough for me. The same goes for the Soo in facing Owen Sound who they have not played well against but right now the Soo is #1 in the conference and I don't believe they would fall that far off to face Owen Sound in round 1.

 

[tomschman]

Midterm Central Scouting Rankings have been released:

North American Skaters
3. Gabriel Villardi
194. Cole Purboo
211. Luke Boka

North American Goaltenders
7. Michael DiPierto

I think Boka is a better player than Purboo and also has a greater upside.

If there are 6 Goaltenders in North America that are draft eligible, this is the best draft class EVER.

 

[OHLTG]

I think scouts are looking at Purboo's size and hoping he can develop speed. Otherwise, it doesn't make much sense to me that he's above Boka.

Re goalies: I was looking at the rankings and the ones above DiPietro are scattered around various leagues, not including the CHL. One guy has similar numbers to DiPietro but is 6'6 205. I'd imagine that played a part.

 

[may know]

Since the league went the shootout route here are the number of losses the OHL champion has had during the season.

05-06 Peterborough - 21
06-07 Plymouth - 19
07-08 Kitchener - 15
08-09 Windsor - 11
09-10 Windsor - 18
10-11 Owen Sound - 22
11-12 London - 19
12-13 London - 18
13-14 Guelph - 16
14-15 Oshawa - 17
15-16 London - 17

16-17 Windsor currently at 15

This season for Windsor is mirroring the 2013-14 London Knights season and that team went 49-19.

 

[Opak]

Windsor at Kitchener, Dipietro in goal for Windsor, Opilka for Kitchener.Corcoran and Robertson are in.Not dressed for Windsor, Nattinen ( concussion),Nother(healthy scratch), Angle (healthy scratch)

Ducks fan, coming in peace.

I was wondering if somebody could elaborate on the bolded part. When/where/why did he get concussed, and any word on what his current condition is? Any other info would be appreciated as well. Thanks in advance.

 

[Buttsy]

This season for Windsor is mirroring the 2013-14 London Knights season and that team went 49-19.

Probably not the season that you want to mirror the Knights results, finished very ugly.

 

[hockeylegend11]

Rayzor

A couple of things you failed to mention regarding the 4 games Windsor and SSM have played.
The Hounds currently the 2nd highest scoring team in the O,only have scored 10 goals vs Windsor excluding 1 empty netter,4 the last game they played against,a game in the Sault where the Spits were missing Brown, Stanley, Vilardi, Addison and Digiacinto, while Hounds were missing only Blake Speers,huge difference,u honestly feel if the rosters were reversed that night and the game were in Windsor the Hounds would emerg victorious, when during the previous 3 games that Hounds mustered 6 goals.In game 3 in Windsor the Spits won 5-2 with an empty netter,both teams had full rosters, including Speers for Hounds,but not Sergachev for Windsor.Take in the fact the Hounds did little at the deadline, in fact failed to the fill their open O/A
spot,only got dman Noah Carroll, hardly the same as Windsor getting Bracco, Laishram and Robertson.
When the 2 teams have met without the lineup favouring SSM because of player absences,the Spits have been the better team.
In the end Hounds D and goaltending I predict will be their undoing,it will be the opposite for Windsor imo.

 

[punch1943]

New OHL under - 18 Draft...

The OHL has introduced an under-18 draft for kids passed over before. First one will be April 8 for 99 and 2000 b-days; will go four rounds
JANUARY 18, 2017
OHL Introduces Under-18 Priority Selection
UNDER-18 PRIORITY SELECTION

Toronto, ON – The Ontario Hockey League today announced the introduction of an annual Under-18 Priority Selection for Midget AAA hockey players in Ontario.


The inaugural OHL Under-18 Priority Selection will take place on Wednesday April 12, 2017, beginning at 7:00 pm with picks submitted online by OHL member clubs and displayed in real-time at ontariohockeyleague.com.

“Midget hockey in Ontario features hundreds of talented players who continue to develop their game,” said OHL Commissioner, David Branch. “Working with our Minor Hockey partners, the OHL Under-18 Priority Selection will serve to assist in the continued growth of Midget hockey and provide further opportunities for players at different stages of their overall hockey development.”

The concept of the OHL Under-18 Priority Selection has developed with full support from Hockey Canada’s three Ontario Branches including the Ontario Hockey Federation (OHF), Hockey Eastern Ontario (HEO), and Hockey Northwestern Ontario (HNO).

“The Ontario Hockey League has long been a leader in the advancement of young athletes and the new Under-18 Priority Selection is a continuation of that development,” said OHF President, Tony Foresi. “We believe this second draft will offer players a chance to develop at their own pace while still working toward their hockey goals.”

“The OHL has added a great incentive for those players who may have required an additional year or two of development to reach their full potential,” said HEO President, Ron McRostie. “HEO is excited that some late developing athletes may have an additional opportunity of reaching their goals.”

“The new Ontario Hockey League Under-18 Priority Selection is a great opportunity for players that have continued to develop in Midget AAA hockey within the province,” said HNO President, Glenn Timko. “We see this U18 draft as a positive opportunity for players in the Northwest, to have another chance at being selected by an Ontario Hockey League club.”

The OHL Under-18 Priority Selection will be held in addition to the league’s current Priority Selection process which takes place this season on Saturday April 8, 2017, for all 2001 birth year players and those eligible players currently not playing Midget hockey.

Eligibility for the OHL Under-18 Priority Selection includes all Midget players (1999 and 2000 birth years for 2017 draft) not currently on an OHL Member Team Protected List who were carded with an Ontario based Midget AAA Hockey Club within the OHF, HEO, or HNO in the current season.

The order of selection for the Under-18 Priority Selection shall be the same as the Under-16 Priority Selection format which is determined through the final preceding regular season schedule. The non-playoff teams shall select first determined by inverse order of finish, followed by all other teams with the selection position also determined by inverse order of finish.

The inaugural Under-18 Priority Selection will be capped at four rounds with all OHL Member Teams required to draft a minimum of four players.

To enhance opportunities specifically for goaltenders, should an OHL Member Team select a goaltender with one of their selections, the club has the option to select another player (skater only). An additional round will be added to facilitate the drafting of any additional skaters utilizing the same selection order and process.

 

[Crease Master]

The sky is falling,the Spits are
are 5-1-1-1 in their last 8,3 points out of 1st,tied for 3rd,have only lost 4 games in regulation in the past 30, and the knives are out wow

Nobody is complaining about the Spits record, they are complaining about blowing games in spectacular fashion. We've talked on here about a perceived lack of leadership and Warren spoke prior to the deadline about fixing that. In the games since the deadline would you say the leadership has been good?

 

[hockeylegend11]

Spits

Nobody is complaining about the Spits record, they are complaining about blowing games in spectacular fashion. We've talked on here about a perceived lack of leadership and Warren spoke prior to the deadline about fixing that. In the games since the deadline would you say the leadership has been good?

Ask me after 10 games, post trade deadline to give a fair answer,6 points out of 8 is good enough for me for the last 4 games,won't blame lack of leadership for allowing teams back into games that should not have happened, play the systems Incorporated by the coaching.

 

[OHLTG]

Nobody is complaining about the Spits record, they are complaining about blowing games in spectacular fashion. We've talked on here about a perceived lack of leadership and Warren spoke prior to the deadline about fixing that. In the games since the deadline would you say the leadership has been good?

They are talking about record, though. That's been one of the focal points of the forum this year, how Windsor is in fourth and not in second where they should be.

 

[RayzorIsDull]

Rayzor

A couple of things you failed to mention regarding the 4 games Windsor and SSM have played.
The Hounds currently the 2nd highest scoring team in the O,only have scored 10 goals vs Windsor excluding 1 empty netter,4 the last game they played against,a game in the Sault where the Spits were missing Brown, Stanley, Vilardi, Addison and Digiacinto, while Hounds were missing only Blake Speers,huge difference,u honestly feel if the rosters were reversed that night and the game were in Windsor the Hounds would emerg victorious, when during the previous 3 games that Hounds mustered 6 goals.In game 3 in Windsor the Spits won 5-2 with an empty netter,both teams had full rosters, including Speers for Hounds,but not Sergachev for Windsor.Take in the fact the Hounds did little at the deadline, in fact failed to the fill their open O/A
spot,only got dman Noah Carroll, hardly the same as Windsor getting Bracco, Laishram and Robertson.
When the 2 teams have met without the lineup favouring SSM because of player absences,the Spits have been the better team.
In the end Hounds D and goaltending I predict will be their undoing,it will be the opposite for Windsor imo.

Senyshyn has played only in 2 games against Windsor this year as well and might be the hottest goal scorer in the OHL right now.

Why do you keep on bringing up all these qualifiers? If the lead in the west division is so close why hasn't Windsor done much to cut into the lead this has been a lead for about a month now. As I said earlier people don't realize how difficult it is to cut into even a 4 point lead if the opposition is winning at 75% clip. Here's the issue the Spits blew a chance against Kitchener to get 2 points. They play 3 games in 4 nights coming up and they can't play DiPietro all 3 they have to go back to Culina who was responsible for them blowing the Sarnia game.

You can predict that goaltending will be the Hounds undoing just as another random fan can say they predict Windsor's inability to put teams away, tight scoring contests will come back to haunt them.

 

[OHLTG]

To be fair, teams missing players is fairly important. The Hounds have done much better than expected but so has Windsor. This gap between them isn't insurmountable. Windsor has a potential for six points this weekend with all three games at home. SSM has two on the road - Flint and Sarnia. Both will be tough. Windsor also has two remaining games with SSM (home + road). Advanced stats like which team has the most short-handed goals while skating on one foot between the blue-line and faceoff circle during the second period are great. If you like that stuff, that's your choice. I see the schedule and what could happen. The last thing I'm going to do is count Windsor out.

 

[aresknights]

Ask me after 10 games, post trade deadline to give a fair answer,6 points out of 8 is good enough for me for the last 4 games,won't blame lack of leadership for allowing teams back into games that should not have happened, play the systems Incorporated by the coaching.

Lets be honest here, based on your past 5 year posting record. It wont be any diffetent after 10 games. They show leadership, youll point it out. They dont, youll bring up "factors".

Once ahaimn as always its a selective use of stats. Razor brings up great points n stats and theres no direct response to them.
JMO, but if ya wanna be the stats guy you gotta respond..... And not only look at one side.

At the end of the day you are what your record says you are. Period. And itll become more clear as we move thru Jan/Feb.

Going to be fun to watch.

 

[OHLTG]

OHL Scores tonight:

Flint 5 SSM 4 in a shootout

Sarnia 3 London 2 in a shootout.

 

[tomschman]

OHL Scores tonight:

Flint 5 SSM 4 in a shootout

Sarnia 3 London 2 in a shootout.

SSM blew a 3 goal lead in the 3rd. Why does that sound familiar?

 

[hockeylegend11]

Hounds

SSM blew a 3 goal lead in the 3rd. Why does that sound familiar?

Yes,and the Hounds lead 2-0 vs Mississauga on Saturday and got beat 6-2
Must be a leadership issue, that or their goaltending and D is just fine

 

[RayzorIsDull]

Lets be honest here, based on your past 5 year posting record. It wont be any diffetent after 10 games. They show leadership, youll point it out. They dont, youll bring up "factors".

Once ahaimn as always its a selective use of stats. Razor brings up great points n stats and theres no direct response to them.
JMO, but if ya wanna be the stats guy you gotta respond..... And not only look at one side.

At the end of the day you are what your record says you are. Period. And itll become more clear as we move thru Jan/Feb.

Going to be fun to watch.

I am good if people just want to look at the win loss record. Of course that seems like boring analysis just as for a long time in baseball all people cared about was BA, HR, RBI, for pitchers it's the W, L and ERA!!!! Of course all these stats paint a picture and after 68 games you will truly know where you stand. I find all these stats fascinating because shot differential means a lot, where the shots come from matter, it creates a picture of what teams are good at puck possession etc.. More information is terrific for the fans, the players don't care but organizations certainly value it. If fans really want organizations to do well shouldn't fans value those stats because the organizations should?

 

[OHLTG]

While analytics are fun to look at sometimes, at the end of the day, wins-and-losses are the stats that truly matter. As long as Windsor racks up the wins, the more detailed stats become secondary.