Windsor Spitfires 2018-19 Season Thread

[FireBall959]

Awful hockey. Not a lot of positives tonight.

one positive is our 3 16yr olds definitely look more ready for the step up to this level than last year. Not a knock on last years kids just was impressed with what I saw. I like how these kids understand how to use their bodies to protect/ handle the puck.

 

[robp1219]

Sting fan here, did any player stand out on the sting roster? Did any player look real bad?

 

[Teflon]

First of all. Not fake rumor. He's back from NHL camp and has to play. EVERY word I spoke was factual. Be careful calling someone out!! I'll preface this by saying I know it was preseason. The Finn was terrible! He's not used to ohl shooters being able to pick corners the way they can. Needs work but not unexpected he's young. My bigger concern is the D! It was abysmal and that's generous. Same mistakes as last year. Starting to make me wonder what they are coaching these players! The over all lack of fire is concerning let's hope it's just pre season blahs!!!

 

[windsor7]

First of all. Not fake rumor. He's back from NHL camp and has to play. EVERY word I spoke was factual. Be careful calling someone out!! I'll preface this by saying I know it was preseason. The Finn was terrible! He's not used to ohl shooters being able to pick corners the way they can. Needs work but not unexpected he's young. My bigger concern is the D! It was abysmal and that's generous. Same mistakes as last year. Starting to make me wonder what they are coaching these players! The over all lack of fire is concerning let's hope it's just pre season blahs!!![/QUOTE

I don't care if he had to play or not.
He played. End of story.

 

[OHLTG]

Yes, Salinitri played. No, that doesn't mean the rumours are false. People can say "fake news" all they want. It really doesn't change much.

As for the game itself...

4-1 Sarnia final.

It took a while for either team to really get going. I thought the first period for sure, and even part of the second, was very tentative. Very cautious. There were a few minor scrums but those died down near the end of the first.

As the game continued, the speed picked up a bit and you could tell Foudy and Cuylle were getting more comfortable. They have the vision and ability, but couldn't really get past the Sting defence. I said a few times that Sarnia played really well in the slot and didn't let much get to their netminders, in terms of quality at least.

Sarnia got a couple of late goals to seal the deal.

Piiroinen played well at times, but he looked shaky at other times. The first goal was a blast from Calvas that I don't think Piiroinen expected; a long shot high blocker. One of the Sting goals was bar-down, which was a pretty shot. Full credit for that. Late in the game was a breakaway that the guy picked the high blocker on him. Again, maybe he should have had it, but a breakaway is a breakaway. Given it's his first home game, probably had some jitters. I wouldn't read anything into it.

That said, the defence needs to tighten up. They kept some guys to the perimeter but it didn't feel forced. There wasn't much grit involved.

Interesting incident in the third - I didn't see how it started, but I see McDonald's stick go flying (swinging? caught and let go??) and it hit someone on Sarnia. Josling immediately grabs McDonld, who really has no interest at all. That brings everyone in. Josling and McDonald got penalties for their efforts; had a bit of a "this could boil over" feel to it.

Overall - it's the first pre-season game. There were highs. There were lows. In terms of the little things, lots to work on but there were a lot of positives. Once the four players return, deals happen, roster sets, etc., and they've got time to gel and get settle into the city, all will be okay. I won't judge, in either direction, based on a single game.

 

[robp1219]

Wait until you play london, their rookie squad took it to our vet squad, they will be a skilled team this year

 

[TheGremlin]

Not sure what game you watched but i didn’t see many highs and lots of lows. I will give this Finn kid some time but he struggles with the glove hand and iffy low blocker. He hasn’t shown well in any of his 3 games but at least his sv% was almost respectable tonight. To me no one really stood out. Hearing all this talk of Foudy in camp maybe made me expect more from him but i rarely noticed him. Yes i understand he is a rookie and know he will get better. Tonight just wasn’t the type of game i was expecting

 

[OHLTG]

Not sure what game you watched

Ah, I was watching Barrie/NB. My bad

The stuff I said in camp was legit (re: Foudy). Like I said in my post, it's the first home game and there's lots of adjusting going on. I don't expect Foudy, Cuylle, Piiroinen, or any other youngster to be amazing night-in and night-out. That'll come in due time. I loved what I saw in camp. Tonight was hit-and-miss.

 

[TheGremlin]

Ha ha aren’t you funny.

I also think you are talking about McDonald and not McDougall. Im not worried one bit about Foudy or Cuylle. Piiroinen on the other hand does. Lot of times imports seem to struggle thru first have of the year. Is Spits do plan on trading Mikey they better wait until Piiroinen is comfortable playing this style of hockey or else you could really mess with this kid confidence.

 

[OHLTG]

Yeah, I meant McDonald. Good catch.

 

[aresknights]

First of all. Not fake rumor. He's back from NHL camp and has to play. EVERY word I spoke was factual. Be careful calling someone out!!

Why did he have to play? Just curious.
Other players in the OHL have sat out awaiting/forcing a trade.
Players that have attended pro camps have done it as well, upon return to OHL club.
Just confused with the "has to play" comment after the comment saying he "Had a chat today. Salinitri has made it very clear he wants to come here. Has gone as far as holding out from any pre-season activities."

Maybe I misread and you meant he held out of pre season activities previously? And no has returned ending his hold out?

Either way, no player " has to play" Always options for kids.

 

[OHLTG]

Maybe it's an "if you want to be dealt, you'll play until the vets are back" thing? (spitballing)

 

[aresknights]

Maybe it's an "if you want to be dealt, you'll play until the vets are back" thing? (spitballing)

Maybe, but he still didn't "have to play" as stated.
Other players have sat out in similar scenarios if they really wanna force a deal and have already sat out pre season activities.

 

[tomschman]

Lackluster performance at best. Just a preseason game and it doesn't matter, which looked exactly how the team played.

I was very disappointed in Piiroinen's performance. Each goal was a shot that he should have clearly seen. I know that we are spoiled, but I believe that DiPietro would have stopped at least 3 and maybe all 4. One of the goals, Ladd pushed the Sarnia player outside and the shot was from a difficult angle. All 4 goals, there was no deception just a quick shot and Piiroinen was badly beaten on all 4.

The only Defenceman that stood out was Ladd. I thought he played a strong game.

I thought D'Amico was the top forward. He seemed to play with a lot of desire.

The Purboo-Larionov-Kuckevicius line was the best line. They put some good pressure on Sarnia and scored the only goal.

The passing looked like something that you would see in a preseason game.

Cuylle, Foudy and Frasca played together on a line and were invisible. Three rookies on a line may not be the way to go.

McDonald played like a kid that wants to stay in the OHL and not go to Jr. B.

 

[RayzorIsDull]

Maybe, but he still didn't "have to play" as stated.
Other players have sat out in similar scenarios if they really wanna force a deal and have already sat out pre season activities.

The quote was this.

Had a chat today. Salinitri has made it very clear he wants to come here. Has gone as far as holding out from any pre-season activities

That's fine but that's an absolute by saying he's gone as far as holding out from any team pre-season activities and he plays tonight against the team he supposedly wants to play for? People talk about others being negative but don't blink an eye about mentioning players in rumors? That's not the first time it's happened. Maybe at some point someone should start looking at their source. Of course not that won't happen because people live for rumors and to throw trades against the wall and see if they will stick.

 

[OHLTG]

Being negative and throwing out names in rumours are two completely different animals, though. The name idea is tougher because, for all we know, the conversation could have happened and there were things going on behind-the-scenes that none of us know about. We KNOW that people have posted stuff in the past that was deemed true, but it ended up falling through, or changed of the course of time. I don't get the impression that people on here throw names out there lightly (when it comes to rumours). This is why you can't compare names to being negative.

 

[RayzorIsDull]

Being negative and throwing out names in rumours are two completely different animals, though. The name idea is tougher because, for all we know, the conversation could have happened and there were things going on behind-the-scenes that none of us know about. We KNOW that people have posted stuff in the past that was deemed true, but it ended up falling through, or changed of the course of time. I don't get the impression that people on here throw names out there lightly (when it comes to rumours). This is why you can't compare names to being negative.

You still don't get it. So from what I can gather your post you are fine with people throwing out names and it doesn't happen. Remember this player was going to sit out preseason activities. Be careful with how you respond because what windsor7 said isn't wrong. I can tell you 4 names off the top of my head this person has thrown out in the past 9 months and less than 1 has happened. I will let that marinate with you.

 

[OHLTG]

What I said was we don't know what happens in conversations and throwing names out there isn't something most people take lightly. If a name is out there, chances are there's a reason. Does eveything come to fruition? Of course not. Does it mean that person is full of it? Of course not.

 

[RayzorIsDull]

What I said was we don't know what happens in conversations and throwing names out there isn't something most people take lightly. If a name is out there, chances are there's a reason. Does eveything come to fruition? Of course not. Does it mean that person is full of it? Of course not.

So what you're saying is it's fine to throw out names in trade conversations as long as you say "this is what i heard" that's acceptable and fair game?? Because that's what you're actually saying.

 

[OHLTG]

Names are generally not thrown around willy nilly. Most veteran posters wouldn't just do that. So, if a name is tossed out there, I'd wager they know something about what's going on (even if it doesn't come to fruition, which I've experienced myself). You could get the odd poster who comes on a newbie and says they hear something, but you can judge that on a case-by-case basis (one of the bigger trades we've made was actually broken that way, too). I wouldn't personally say a trade/signing will go down unless I hear something concrete. That's why I've mentioned both of the names because it's not just here that I've heard it. I'd imagine others are the same way, too. You also will get a lot of names tossed around by NHL media members on social media and it's no different. That being said, if you don't like a poster, chances are you won't believe them, regardless. That's the nature of the beast.

 

[RayzorIsDull]

If a new poster comes on here and their first post is "I hear Player X is going to be dealt to Team A tomorrow", then that's one thing (though, that actually became a trade way back in the day). If someone who is known around here says "I'm hearing the deal for Player X is almost done", then that's a different story. It's no different than a media member on Twitter throwing out a name that they've heard from multiple sources (which is quite common). You really can't say "yeah, it's always good" or "no, it's always bad", because we both know that's not reality.

In this case, the names that have been tossed around (Salinitri/Lynch)... this isn't the only place I've heard them. So, I'm more comfortable saying "yeah, it could happen" and I trust the people who have said things. Maybe neither one happens. Doesn't mean they're not credible, though. Personally, I wouldn't throw a name out there unless I'm confident it'll go through. I'd imagine others are the same way, too.

Then again, if you don't like a poster, you might think they're full of it no matter what, so this could all be completely moot.

Frankly, a whole lot could happen before the season starts next week, or nothing could happen at all. It's TBD.

Media members use more discretion in regards to players because there can and might be backlash.

Why can't you make a conclusion in regards to if it's good or bad?? This a black or white thing there is zero grey.

So you're more comfortable in saying it might happen in regards to a couple players. If it doesn't happen will you say anything??? I think you will pull a dre/snoop dogg it's on the next episode. You wouldn't throw a name out there but you would be okay with others doing that and support them??

I will make it clear there isn't a poster "I don't like" but if they want to act like Billy Bad --- and act like an insider then that person should have to answer for things.

Just chalk it up to TBD that's a great out for you. See you next Thurs look forward to seeing you 34 times a year.

 

[OHLTG]

If the players don't show up, then so be it. I'll say something, sure. Does it mean we didn't have info before hand? No. Again, not everything goes down 100%. Things happen. I've seen it first hand. Going "if it doesn't go down, everyone was full of it"...not so much.

LOL you going to actually come say hello this time?

 

[RayzorIsDull]

If the players don't show up, then so be it. I'll say something, sure. Does it mean we didn't have info before hand? No. Again, not everything goes down 100%. Things happen. I've seen it first hand. Going "if it doesn't go down, everyone was full of it"...not so much.

LOL you going to actually come say hello this time?

Why throw names around though? What do people get from that??? Especially when the guy is batting .000?? I dare you to say something. Whoops it happened 9 months ago and it didn't happen and you said nothing. I will never say hello to you be certain of that.

 

[OHLTG]

It's a message board - people put out info if they have it. That's kind of the point of this place lol

LOL what is this "you said nothing" stuff from 9-months ago? I'm more than happy to say hello. I've done it multiple times.

 

[RayzorIsDull]

It's a message board - people put out info if they have it. That's kind of the point of this place lol

LOL what is this "you said nothing" stuff from 9-months ago? I'm more than happy to say hello. I've done it multiple times.

There is someone who threw out names about players being offered up to Windsor 9 months ago and they are still with their current team. Must have missed your comment. No longer interested saying hello long past that and that's on you.