Windsor Spitfires 2016-17 Season Thread (Part 8)

[OHLTG]

Big doesn't mean squat when u r as slow as he is. And he barely shoots. N when he does it barely hits the net. His defensive skills r not steller either. Just another warm body in the lineup I c.

Currently we have:

Serg - Chatfield
Day - McEneny
Nother - Robertson

You'll essentially be moving McEneny down to play with Nother, and Stanley replaces McEneny on the second pairing.

Would you rather have Robertson or Stanley? You can't say Robertson and keep a straight face. As much as I respect Robertson, there's zero chance he's on the same level as Stanley.

 

[RayzorIsDull]

Quite simply, this is not true

He has 4 goals in 94 shots on net hardly accurate.

 

[Percyma]

He has 4 goals in 94 shots on net hardly accurate.

I was responding to one of your fellow always-negative posters whose claim that Stanley can barely hit the net with his shot is utter nonsense. I strongly suspect that he has the physical strength to get his shot to the net.

 

[RayzorIsDull]

I was responding to one of your fellow always-negative posters whose claim that Stanley can barely hit the net with his shot is utter nonsense. I strongly suspect that he has the physical strength to get his shot to the net.

Sorry to annoy you the last 6 seasons have been dreadful hockey and if Riolo was owner there would be a lot of people out with knives. With Rychel he's teflon doesn't get any blame and still living off past glory. We will see what Rocky puts together in 3 weeks all the cameras will be on the Spits a referendum you might say for this current rebuild.

 

[windsor7]

I was responding to one of your fellow always-negative posters whose claim that Stanley can barely hit the net with his shot is utter nonsense. I strongly suspect that he has the physical strength to get his shot to the net.

His accuracy is not good.
Always rushes his shot.
Shoot way wide or over net.
If he pinches he alwys gets caught n there will be a 2 on 1 other way for other team.

Sorry if reality hurts. I just post as I watch the games.

 

[Sec108]

What, exactly, is this BS of Rocky that you are referring to?

What Im referring to is his style of coaching and systems, which doesnt translate to successful hockey.

He was given talent and couldnt bring them above mediocre.

2 seasons in a row we exit 1st rd.

This season with a 3-1 series lead.

What would you call his tenure in windsor???

 

[Sec108]

The Spits next game is in 22 days. I'm sure the buzz will pick up as we get closer.

The buzz will be created by the other league's fan's coming in to the city.

We can only hope.............

 

[scokan]

since in years past the host team has rocked new jerseys for the opening of the memorial cup and ideas of what the Spits are doing? are the getting new jerseys or just going to use one of the alternates they already have?

 

[Purple Phart]

If the attendance and local support for the Memorial Cup doesn't materialize, how do you think this will be viewed by the league ? From my perspective, the hosting duties were foisted onto Windsor by the league, since I do not believe that they had any bona fide competitive bids. The Spitfire organization took this on to raise their profile and reputation, but at some monetary risk to themselves. Unfortunately the success or failure will also reflect on the community as a whole, and David Branch may very well find himself unable to spin this effort as " the best tournament ever" as he usually does.

A national event like this should be well attended, and past tournaments were often sold out. So, if sales are such that empty seats are likley, what do the hosts do at that point ? Do they "comp" tickets to show a full house ? That'll mean a loss of revenue. Do they allow the empty seats, so that those will represent the lack of community support when given the opportunity to showcase Windsor ?

How do you see this playing out ?

 

[ohloutsider]

since in years past the host team has rocked new jerseys for the opening of the memorial cup and ideas of what the Spits are doing? are the getting new jerseys or just going to use one of the alternates they already have?

They have original opening night jerseys. I believe there was something on their website about that a couple of months ago. They will be auctioned off for charity after.

 

[youngblood10]

If the attendance and local support for the Memorial Cup doesn't materialize, how do you think this will be viewed by the league ? From my perspective, the hosting duties were foisted onto Windsor by the league, since I do not believe that they had any bona fide competitive bids. The Spitfire organization took this on to raise their profile and reputation, but at some monetary risk to themselves. Unfortunately the success or failure will also reflect on the community as a whole, and David Branch may very well find himself unable to spin this effort as " the best tournament ever" as he usually does.

A national event like this should be well attended, and past tournaments were often sold out. So, if sales are such that empty seats are likley, what do the hosts do at that point ? Do they "comp" tickets to show a full house ? That'll mean a loss of revenue. Do they allow the empty seats, so that those will represent the lack of community support when given the opportunity to showcase Windsor ?

How do you see this playing out ?

All the buzz of this league and team is long dead in Windsor. Sanctions, bad teams and league politics (2011 Cup). The product is generally boring and over priced tickets, WJHC for example. Too many other entertainment options in the area. And nobody cares, tough sell to the locals.

 

[RayzorIsDull]

What Im referring to is his style of coaching and systems, which doesnt translate to successful hockey.

He was given talent and couldnt bring them above mediocre.

2 seasons in a row we exit 1st rd.

This season with a 3-1 series lead.

What would you call his tenure in windsor???

A lot of fans got suckered into the catch phrase "Rocky Hockey." He won over a lot of fans in the opening press conference. He also won regular season games but as the season turned into January both years there were was down tick and play and clear struggles. Both years those issues were not solved. Rocky can win you hockey games during the year his teams aren't built well for a best of 7 series because they don't know how to exploit the opposition in those series. They may very well win a game maybe 2 in the Memorial Cup because the format isn't a best of 7 and there isn't a long grind involved. It's a one week sprint and maybe that squirrel will find a nut.

 

[Buttsy]

Kind of sad as we all know for many of the kids on the teams coming to play for the Memorial Cup this will be the highlight of their careers in hockey? To bring it to a City that are not only indifferent about it but almost appear to want it to fail is really sad. Like many of you have posted perhaps the out of towners can bring the enthusiasm that the City appears to not have for the event and make it memorable for the participants that have reached the pinnacle of their careers. Hopefully the OHL learns from this and keeps it in the Cities that will give it the attention the Memorial Cup deserves. I know it gets bad press because then they get accused of pandering to a select few teams but keep it in Kitchener, London, Hamilton, Oshawa, Niagara etc....... Always the innocent (in this case young men) that seem to pay the price for poor administration.

Hopefully it's not as bad you all think but I'm fearful it is.

 

[OHLTG]

Let's not be mistaken - the city isn't ready to fail. It's this board. Windsor has already created events for families, for the community, and they're ready to go. I hear Memorial Cup talk when I'm out and about on a weekly basis. Some people are scratching their heads from time-to-time on social media but the majority of the talk is intrigue and curiosity.

 

[Sec108]

Kind of sad as we all know for many of the kids on the teams coming to play for the Memorial Cup this will be the highlight of their careers in hockey? To bring it to a City that are not only indifferent about it but almost appear to want it to fail is really sad. Like many of you have posted perhaps the out of towners can bring the enthusiasm that the City appears to not have for the event and make it memorable for the participants that have reached the pinnacle of their careers. Hopefully the OHL learns from this and keeps it in the Cities that will give it the attention the Memorial Cup deserves. I know it gets bad press because then they get accused of pandering to a select few teams but keep it in Kitchener, London, Hamilton, Oshawa, Niagara etc....... Always the innocent (in this case young men) that seem to pay the price for poor administration.

Hopefully it's not as bad you all think but I'm fearful it is.

No Spitfire fan asked for this mem cup at this present time.When we should have had it and the whole city was all in we were denied.

Now were supposed to wash everything that has been done to us under the carpet and embrace it with dollars and excitement??? Sorry it doesnt work that way.Its a 2 way street and Mr. Branch cant even meet us half way with some help in the last draft or anything else.

If its deemed a failure the whole debacle is laid at Branches feet imo.His lack of foresight and pettiness and cronyism put fans in the mood they are in.

I dont think you will notice anything bc tickets will be comped to local everything just to make it LOOK nice and arena packed.Plus we will have alot of out of town fan's.

This time of year in owned by the Detroit Tigers, not a league that has been indifferent to this city and its fans since the B2B days.What does anyone expect??

 

[Sec108]

Let's not be mistaken - the city isn't ready to fail. It's this board. Windsor has already created events for families, for the community, and they're ready to go. I hear Memorial Cup talk when I'm out and about on a weekly basis. Some people are scratching their heads from time-to-time on social media but the majority of the talk is intrigue and curiosity.

For all the talk your supposedly hearing all season , it sure didnt add up to any sellouts.There were the most empty seats since the building opened.

All this spitfire talk is a big joke.......

 

[rangersblues]

My somewhat uneducated view of Windsor has evolved, even since they were eliminated. When healthy, as they were in the playoffs, they were one of four teams that had a legitimate shot at an always tough west conference. They lost a very competitive series in 7 games to London who in turn lost in OT game 7 to Erie. Who wins the west between Erie and Owen Sound is anyone's guess. Not much separating those 4 teams imo.

I don't think you can write off the entire season as a disaster from a competitive stand point. Especially when you consider how handicapped Windsor was with limited assets to trade at the deadline. That said it's going to be extremely difficult to be competitive in the Memorial Cup after such a long layoff.

 

[rangersblues]

If the attendance and local support for the Memorial Cup doesn't materialize, how do you think this will be viewed by the league ? From my perspective, the hosting duties were foisted onto Windsor by the league, since I do not believe that they had any bona fide competitive bids. The Spitfire organization took this on to raise their profile and reputation, but at some monetary risk to themselves. Unfortunately the success or failure will also reflect on the community as a whole, and David Branch may very well find himself unable to spin this effort as " the best tournament ever" as he usually does.

A national event like this should be well attended, and past tournaments were often sold out. So, if sales are such that empty seats are likley, what do the hosts do at that point ? Do they "comp" tickets to show a full house ? That'll mean a loss of revenue. Do they allow the empty seats, so that those will represent the lack of community support when given the opportunity to showcase Windsor ?

How do you see this playing out ?

I think support for Memorial Cups is going to become more than a Windsor problem in the near future. What they are charging for ticket packages is astronomical. Couple that with the limited venues that the CHL, and OHL in particular, are willing to hold the event, and I think there could be a problem brewing.

Even the 2014 Memorial Cup in London wasn't as well supported as people think. Yes the ticket packages sold initially. But when it was apparent that the Knights weren't going to be as competitive as people imagined early in the season, tickets were readily available for resale on kijiji for half he price.

 

[windsor7]

Let's not be mistaken - the city isn't ready to fail. It's this board. Windsor has already created events for families, for the community, and they're ready to go. I hear Memorial Cup talk when I'm out and about on a weekly basis. Some people are scratching their heads from time-to-time on social media but the majority of the talk is intrigue and curiosity.

How many people actually talk about the memorial cup that u don't know?
I hear ZERO buzz.
No idea where this buzz is coming from you are talking.
People wont blink a eye when this event is going on and when it is over with. They are looking forward to their summer plans and spending time elsewhere than spending it in an arena on a nice day watching hockey.

 

[youngblood10]

Kind of sad as we all know for many of the kids on the teams coming to play for the Memorial Cup this will be the highlight of their careers in hockey? To bring it to a City that are not only indifferent about it but almost appear to want it to fail is really sad. Like many of you have posted perhaps the out of towners can bring the enthusiasm that the City appears to not have for the event and make it memorable for the participants that have reached the pinnacle of their careers. Hopefully the OHL learns from this and keeps it in the Cities that will give it the attention the Memorial Cup deserves. I know it gets bad press because then they get accused of pandering to a select few teams but keep it in Kitchener, London, Hamilton, Oshawa, Niagara etc....... Always the innocent (in this case young men) that seem to pay the price for poor administration.

Hopefully it's not as bad you all think but I'm fearful it is.

As horrible as you think it is to have a host city that isn't interested. It wasn't like the CHL had much choice with only one bid. Lol

 

[Purple Phart]

The financial guarantees demanded by the league when awarding the hosting duties has pretty much excluded those smaller venues from even making a presentation toward hosting. That severely limits the field from which to choose, and basically denies those small market franchises any hope of participation. So, what happens when those larger market teams decide that they won't pony up those huge guarantees that the league has been accustomed to getting ? The Windsor situation might be a harbinger of things to come, and Mr. Branch's cash cows will begin to dry up.

As a Londoner, the Memorial Cup was great, first time around, but when it returned ( too soon IMHO ) the experience wasn't anywhere near what that first one delivered. That's the risk of limiting the hosting duties to those bigger venues. Given a fair shake, I've absolutely no doubt that places like Barrie, Kingston, Sarnia, Sault St. Marie, etc would wholeheartedly embrace the Tournament, because for them, it would be HUGE ! It's the showcase for Major Junior hockey, but for many of the long time franchises, Mr. Branch has appropriated the event from their grasp. I suspect that if it came down to getting more money if TV sponsorship requested that the military involvement be " toned back ", he'd ditch that in a heartbeat. After all, the "grassroots fans" seemingly are of little significance, when that almighty bottom line is considered.

I can emphathize with those disgruntled and disinterested Windsor fans.

 

[windsor7]

The financial guarantees demanded by the league when awarding the hosting duties has pretty much excluded those smaller venues from even making a presentation toward hosting. That severely limits the field from which to choose, and basically denies those small market franchises any hope of participation. So, what happens when those larger market teams decide that they won't pony up those huge guarantees that the league has been accustomed to getting ? The Windsor situation might be a harbinger of things to come, and Mr. Branch's cash cows will begin to dry up.

As a Londoner, the Memorial Cup was great, first time around, but when it returned ( too soon IMHO ) the experience wasn't anywhere near what that first one delivered. That's the risk of limiting the hosting duties to those bigger venues. Given a fair shake, I've absolutely no doubt that places like Barrie, Kingston, Sarnia, Sault St. Marie, etc would wholeheartedly embrace the Tournament, because for them, it would be HUGE ! It's the showcase for Major Junior hockey, but for many of the long time franchises, Mr. Branch has appropriated the event from their grasp. I suspect that if it came down to getting more money if TV sponsorship requested that the military involvement be " toned back ", he'd ditch that in a heartbeat. After all, the "grassroots fans" seemingly are of little significance, when that almighty bottom line is considered.

I can emphathize with those disgruntled and disinterested Windsor fans.

Very well written.
Agree 100 percent.

 

[ScoresFromCentre]

My somewhat uneducated view of Windsor has evolved, even since they were eliminated. When healthy, as they were in the playoffs, they were one of four teams that had a legitimate shot at an always tough west conference. They lost a very competitive series in 7 games to London who in turn lost in OT game 7 to Erie. Who wins the west between Erie and Owen Sound is anyone's guess. Not much separating those 4 teams imo.

I don't think you can write off the entire season as a disaster from a competitive stand point. Especially when you consider how handicapped Windsor was with limited assets to trade at the deadline. That said it's going to be extremely difficult to be competitive in the Memorial Cup after such a long layoff.

100% agree with RB on this, though I'd put SSM in this group too. Windsor and London were always going to have a tough time getting out of the west because they had to play each other in Round 1, but I think talent-wise the west's top teams were fairly even, and any could legitimately have won it all.

No Spitfire fan asked for this mem cup at this present time.When we should have had it and the whole city was all in we were denied.

Now were supposed to wash everything that has been done to us under the carpet and embrace it with dollars and excitement??? Sorry it doesnt work that way.Its a 2 way street and Mr. Branch cant even meet us half way with some help in the last draft or anything else.

If its deemed a failure the whole debacle is laid at Branches feet imo.His lack of foresight and pettiness and cronyism put fans in the mood they are in.

I'm really interested in your thoughts here--you think the Spits should have been given a break on the sanctions because they agreed to host the Cup?

 

[ohloutsider]

Just to be clear there are lots of people exited about the Memorial cup in Windsor - even with the team out in the first round the core hockey fans are still excited - just a tough sell to the casual fans - I personally have friends/family members coming in from northern Alberta for the week - and not from a CHL city as well as friends of my daughter are coming in from Seattle for the week - it is a big deal to hockey fans - yes it would help if the Spits had made it a couple of more rounds - if the price was family friendly - but the closer we get tickets will sell - I would think any of the remaining fan bases -OS, Erie, Missy will have fans buy late if their team gets in - not that far to drive from any of those locations. Ask OS fans how many came to the Missy Memorial cup. Most games are 3/4 sold around 5000 from what I hear so it won't to hard to move the rest of the seats - and if it doesn't sell out - prices may drop at the door. I won't be losing any sleep over attendance.

 

[Buttsy]

Most games are 3/4 sold around 5000 from what I hear so it won't to hard to move the rest of the seats - and if it doesn't sell out - prices may drop at the door. I won't be losing any sleep over attendance.

Ticket Sales actually sound fairly decent and I agree either a bunch from Owen Sound or a couple from Erie or Missiassauga will snap up the bulk of what it is left depending on who gets thru. Like I say hopefully the Teams get a Tournament they deserve and that it turns out well regardless of what side of the fence you are on. Curious are the Spits Games all sold out?