Windsor Spitfires 2018-19 Thread (Part 5)

[OHLTG]

Maybe I'm alone in this, but signing Foudy, Cuylle, Piiroinen, and McDonald is a pretty good off-season for any club.

In order for the Spits to finish first...

SSM currently is on pace for 91 points. For Windsor to get 92 points, they need 61 points the rest of the way, which is 37 games. That's, roughly, 28-29 wins, give or take for shootout/OT losses. Even with a good young team, that's not realistic. Heck, with a good veteran team, that's tough to pull off. Add in other teams doing well and... let's be fair.

Clearly, the young players are reporting and realize something good could happen here. Otherwise, Piiroinen/Cuylle don't come, right?

Knowing WR, no off-season is typical or worth of a shoulder-shrug. He finds a way.

 

[windsor7]

Windsor should win tonight. However u have to play the game still. Never know what will happen.

 

[Teflon]

Think it would be pretty cool if a few of the US flyers would show up. There’s some big talent there, could step in and help this team now. So much outside pressure from US groups about coming to the CHL. Could be one hell of a team in a couple years.

 

[RayzorIsDull]

They didn't have to that last year,and Will Cuylle wanted to come here,l am thinking playoff series wins were a non factor signing this kid,I would say the signing of 4 D and several other players such as Dipietro and Vilardi,toss in Bracco Addison the year or less before was an attraction to come here.He and his agent could have said no deal here,we know what happened.

Shouldn't the goal of every offseason is to have a big offseason? The point is every team in the OHL hopes to have a big offseason the question is if they will.

 

[RayzorIsDull]

Windsor should win tonight. However u have to play the game still. Never know what will happen.

First game of playing 3 in a week is the most important because if you win the first all you need to do is split the other two games and you have 4 of 6. The Saginaw games will be interesting they have had better results in the short term since they fired Smith.

 

[punch1943]

First game of playing 3 in a week is the most important because if you win the first all you need to do is split the other two games and you have 4 of 6. The Saginaw games will be interesting they have had better results in the short term since they fired Smith.

Then again if the lowly Otters beat you your prospect of losing all three becomes very realistic.

 

[hockeylegend11]

Windsor vs Erie
Piironen and Murphy are the starting tenders
Not dressed for Windsor, Staios 3rd game of 4 game suspension, Playfair concussion, Robinson extra
Returning to lineup Tyler Angle and
Luke Kitkevicious.
Also dman Grayson Ladd returns to lineup after missing the last game vs Sarnia.

 

[TheGremlin]

Looks like it turned out to be a good thing teddy bear toss wasn’t tonight since it one of the smaller crowds of the year.

 

[OHLTG]

7-4 erie final. Thats 17 goals against in three games since DiPietro dealt. Incze replaced Piiroinen tonight but still allowes three. Kind of feels like a confidence issue. One mistake and scrambling ensues.

 

[Teflon]

Didn’t go but just got a phone call. Goalies appear to have stunk it up tonight. That said PP was again abysmal, even had 2 5-3 with no goals. Lots of running around and lack of chemistry. I expect issues but the PP and chemistry are coaching problems. Yep I’m frustrated!!

 

[member 71782]

That was, for the most part ugly.

While there are no doubt possible confidence issues I think it's as much that this team is being exposed for what it really is, a team in transition that has some good young talent but lacking leadership and depth when it comes to the vets.

Some of the vets on this team are nice complimentary pieces on a more talented team but, due to their lack of consistency they can't be relied on to lead the way on a nightly basis. The vets have the consistency you would expect from the rookies which raises the question

Why are they here? Why are they still playing such prominent roles?

Two more games until the break. Hopefully they can regroup over that time and get things going in the right direction.

IMO there's a few moves that need to be made to complete this transition then the focus can be placed solely on the future.

 

[windsor7]

That was UGLY
Goalies cant stop the puck. Allowed way too many goals to a team that is almost last in the league.
Defense was LOUSY again. GHOSTS.
Offense was NO SHOW for most of the night again.
PP WHERE?
2 almost full 5 on 3 pp and ONLY 1 goal?
Penalty kill did a decent job, however Windsor was on the pp a lot this game.
ONLY 13 shots thru 2 periods? Really? TERRIBLE coaching job AGAIN!
MOST of the VETS played horrible again. Purboo played ok, Angle gave a bit of a spark. Rest were pretty much no shows.
Young kids had some spark. Wish the vets played better. Young kids need more ice time.
Pretty sure smallest crowd of the year. I am sure they announced over 3000, however there couldn't possible be that many at the game. The promotion of 13 dollars for a tix. THAT promotion TANKED like most of the others have.
2 points WASTED again!

 

[OHLTG]

While the goaltenders/defence weren't on their game tonight, the 5-on-3 powerplay was the turning point. You have to get the puck to the net. That much hesitation and indecision is going to cost you every time. Even if it's a flutter puck to the net and look for a bounce, it's at least on net. I've said before that they look like they're trying to follow systems to a "T" and, when it doesn't happen, they appear lost. It's tough to back away from that opinion right now. Mind you, they had a few chances but you should get 8-10 chances on two-man advantages.

 

[ohloutsider]

Yikes - need to get this fixed asap before it gets too entrenched and losing becomes the culture. You can blame this on 100 things that went wrong but it just looks like a team out of sinc right now. This is how good coaches earn their money - fixing these types of things.
Did enjoy watching Drysdale.

 

[ohloutsider]

So the conference is tight right now - Spits sit 4 points out of 4th place and 4 points out of 9th place. Really not a good weekend to go on a losing streak.

 

[scokan]

refs did all they could to help windsor this game with the penalties being called... too bad windsor couldn't get anything going.. unfortunately we probably will see many more games like this going forward.. buckle up it's going to be a bumpy ride

 

[spits]

I feel some are too hard on this team. Not sure what some expect when your test best players are rookies in Cuylle and Foudy. This team is clearly in a rebuild. Some of it is Rychel's fault for hyping the team up right before the season started. Next year they will be much better.

 

[DetSpitsFan]

Seemed like a couple weak calls both ways that mostly evened out, spits favorable if any.

Kari looked a little rough, giving a couple easy goals. Wonder how they’ll finish out the weekend as Piiroinen has been pulled out in the last 2. I say give Incze the start tomorrow and see what happens.

Big 2 games in Saginaw and any moment going into the break would be nice. Not hopeful with getting 1 point in 3 games vs Sarnia, Sarnia and Erie.

The 2nd 5 on 3 was a bit rough. PPs need work, but I wouldn’t say the offense was dead. 4 goals should be enough to win a hockey game. Coming back from down 4-2 is a good sign, but the third period is not.

Last 2 have been frustrating to watch, I may need a game or two off lol! Good to see Angle and Ladd back in the lineup.

Did anyone see what the Allen call was for? They announced roughing, and I know the guy kinda dumped in the boards, but did I miss something after?

 

[OHLTG]

The Allen thing, from my angle, appears to be him trying to get at Maksimovich multiple times. Mak wanted nothing to do with it (for obvious reasons), but Allen wasn't letting it go. Ref gave him a bit of a leash but finally had enough. Honestly, it wasn't a smart penalty. I love Allen's "I don't care who you are, I will hit you" approach but, there, no need for a penalty. Take a number and hit him later.

 

[TheGremlin]

I feel some are too hard on this team. Not sure what some expect when your test best players are rookies in Cuylle and Foudy. This team is clearly in a rebuild. Some of it is Rychel's fault for hyping the team up right before the season started. Next year they will be much better.

Problem is your best players shouldn’t be rookies and that is why fans are hard on this team.

 

[TheGremlin]

I am now getting frustrated with the coaching. Last thursday Foudyband Cuylle clicked well on PP. got 2 goals. Tonight they weren’t on the PP together and Foudy barely got any PP time. Why is one of your best playmakers not even on the ice for 5 on 3’s with all that open space and out there with a guy who he has some chemistry with?? Once again the lines started to get shuffled a bit in the 3rd. I’m not going to get worked up over Kari yet hopefully he settles in as starter. He May be putting to much pressure on himself. I think now that mikey is gone more people will realize just how much the team leaned oh him and his leadership.

 

[NOA]

Then again if the lowly Otters beat you your prospect of losing all three becomes very realistic.

The difference between Erie and Windsor through the first half of the year was goaltending. One team had .875 and lower save percentage while the other had the best goalie in junior hockey. But in terms of everything else, pretty even teams. And now with that goalie gone, it’s even closer to even...

 

[OHLTG]

The issue is that when you rely on guys who weren't relied on before, they can struggle a bit. We've been through this exact topic before, too. They can rely on the younger guys but still have a very valuable and useful role for the 98s/99s.

 

[OHLTG]

Comments in the paper from Letowski kind of hit the nail on the head - the 5-on-3 can't happen like that and Piiroinen seems to be letting the pressure get to him. We KNOW the kid has talent. That's undisputable. What he needs is to breathe a bit and not be worried about allowing a couple of goals. Bad goals happen to everyone. Refocus and stop the next one, and the next one, and so on. Imagine being put in the position he is? That's not easy. Fans need to be patient.

 

[RayzorIsDull]

So that wasn't a good performance. There needs to be a lot of questions asked of management/coaches/players after this type of game.

1. WR was going to make a trade regardless. He wasn't happy with what the team was to date and this was his only asset left (his words). Did anyone consider that Piroinen might not be ready to actually be a #1 goalie and they are just thrusting him in this role?

2. The PP has been discussed it's not necessarily about systems especially when you have a 2 man advantage. It's about having chemistry, understanding time and space and realizing you have 2 more players on the ice than the opposition. Of course you still see the choppy passing, offsides etc..

3. The young guys aren't the problem the veterans are you can't continue to rely on the 98's and 99's for the present or future. Those guys are sunk costs at this point and you already know what those players are.

4. Why do people talk about pressure being too much? Pressure is a good thing that means there are expectations put upon you. It means you learn more about the players and what they're made of.

5. Seeing games like this it makes you ask the question what do they need most? Playmakers, goalscorers top tier forwards? Or certainly seeing this D with DiPietro not being able to bail them out do they need a stud D? Drysdale was terrific tonight, I would take him over any Spitfire D moving forward. Unfortunately you don't get a Drysdale at pick 8-10. If the organization is going to push Piroinen to be #1 then you will need a backup for him because it won't be Incze taking up an OA slot as a backup.

It all comes down to being better, they aren't consistent. They get dominated for 20+ minutes and somehow this group thinks they can just find a way. It doesn't work that way especially when you play a 68 game schedule. At some point your team is exposed for what they are. I think we are at the point that this coaching staff is running out of ideas and answers. Just saying you're young, be patient, stay with the plan doesn't necessarily work when you have coached over 200+ games in the OHL. After that amount of time you must have seen so much nothing is new. Figure it out. If you can't either WR needs to get you more talent or he needs to make a decision. I doubt he would go to that length though certainly not at this point.