Windsor Spitfires 2019-20 Season Thread (Part 2)

[TheGremlin]

Game notes - need/must stay out of the penalty box. Surprisingly Windsor is on the low end for the league in penalty minutes but our PK has been brutal this year ( we are 19th) - come on coaches we use to be one of the best teams at PK.

They need to find a spot on the 3rd line for McDonald. He is as strong on the puck in the corners as anyone on the team. Good hands around the net. He could fit in the line up anywhere Purboo plays.

Medina was fine - at this point I don't see much difference with Piiroinen or Medina so keep platooning them until 1 of them fights their way to the top.

Douglas - this has been a good start to the season for him - last year came back from camp and looked disinterested. This year he is out the gate full tilt. Very impressed with him on the PK - he was dominate on 1 PK and gave Ottawa fits in their own end. Laid out 2 nice bodies last night - we need more of that from him - make other teams look over their shoulder when he is on the ice.

And yes Ottawa is a top team this year so end result was around what you would expect.

Why do you like Douglas so much on PK? He cost us a goal cause he tried doing to much instead of dumping it and going for a change and another time he tried to rush thru 3 guys and lost the puck for odd man rush the other way while killing a penalty.

 

[Cherrydon]

I some up the game on 3 horrible"P's" Penalties,Powerplay,Purboo. TL needs to crack down on penalties. Especially early in the game. Shaking his head in disgust on the bench isn't obviously getting the message through. Pretty simple stuff. Warn your players next stupid lazy penalty gets 10 min of pine riding. 2 by one person in the same game nets you a night off next game. That would make your healthy scratch decisions easy. Just think of many big names in the past that Dale Hunter sat to straighten them up. Not rocket science.

 

[BarberPole9]

Agree with most but there is no way Ottawa is nations best. The rankings are so flawed this early. How they rank #1 winning 2 games in shootout and the other in OT and loss to the Petes. Hardly dominate team right now.

You guys have a great team but with all due respect, you don't have a forward like Marco Rossi and neither has Ottawa in the past three games due to his suspension. With him in the lineup, they are a different team. On the back-end, Nikita Okhotyuk is also missing. He's a 2nd round NHL DC by NJ who played like a beast in the second half of last season and on into the playoffs.

There isn't a team in the league that will look like itself when missing two of its best players, including its undisputed best up front.

 

[ohloutsider]

Why do you like Douglas so much on PK? He cost us a goal cause he tried doing to much instead of dumping it and going for a change and another time he tried to rush thru 3 guys and lost the puck for odd man rush the other way while killing a penalty.

What I like is where he is at from last year to this year - yes his PK play is not Boka but he is improving. Lots of mistakes but his PK effort was off the charts, just needs to learn how to play the PK. He played a little last year on the PK but if he can figure it out with that effort he could very well be a top PK guy for the Spits. His skating also looks better this year and that helps with the speed needed to play PK.

 

[RayzorIsDull]

As for the discussion if Ottawa is the best team in Canada it's pretty subjective at this point. The 67's were missing by all accounts a consensus 2020 1st round NHL pick in Rossi. They were also missing 2019 NHL 2nd round pick Okhotyuk. They have played 4 of their first 5 on the road as well. They might not be the #1 team in Canada at this very moment but I don't believe anyone would be surprised if they're a consistent top 3-5 team in Canada throughout the year.

 

[DetSpitsFan]

I agree that McDonald could fit in where Purboo’s at. If there’s an OA we need to move, I think it’s Purboo. I don’t feel like his skating has improved much, and I rarely notice him out there. He bangs enough in to rack up points, which could fetch us an O-K return, but I just don’t think he really fits this team right now.
Boka plays his role well. Haven’t been in the room with him, so can’t speak on “captain” material, but someone thought he was and that’s why he has the ‘C’. Stevenson nor Boka could bring us a return that purboo would, so I say move him.
Not to mention the soft pass across the middle of our defensive end in OT. OOF. That was brutal.

On the goals against last night, I definitely think an OA handing the puck over in the middle of the ice is a much worse offense then the trickler Medina gave up.
Personally I like Medina so far over Kari, but I agree a rotation should be put in effect.

Yes, they’ve both been playing pretty similar in the small sample size.
However, ones in his 2nd year, and taking an import spot. Long term, I favor the other if they’re equal. Time will tell, and hopefully they don’t mismanage goalies the way they have in the past.

Should be a fun season with the possibility of FINALLY winning a playoff round, interesting to see what happens, but I’ll be a tad disappointed if some moves aren’t made at the deadline. We’ve definitely got the potential to make a go for it in the near future

 

[three dog night]

Saw the box score nice comeback for the point slim crowd announced.

 

[TheGremlin]

What I like is where he is at from last year to this year - yes his PK play is not Boka but he is improving. Lots of mistakes but his PK effort was off the charts, just needs to learn how to play the PK. He played a little last year on the PK but if he can figure it out with that effort he could very well be a top PK guy for the Spits. His skating also looks better this year and that helps with the speed needed to play PK.

I agree his effort level was high. I’m hoping they start getting some of the younger guys involved with penalty kill since playfair and boka won’t be here forever. Also Douglas is much better then this time last year.

 

[windsor7]

Saw the box score nice comeback for the point slim crowd announced.

Yes the promotions have people lined up eager to see them play. Lol

 

[OHLTG]

I'm curious, W7, what realistic promotions would you develop?

The tricky thing with Douglas last night was... if he doesn't do much, people rag on him. If he does too much, people rag on him. I said it last night and I'll say it here - I was happy with his effort. The play along the benches that led to the 67's goal was because the puck hit a patch of snow at the bench door. He skated over it, couldn't react in time, and they came back to score. (at least from what I recall) Do I think he was overused at times? Yes. Did I like his overall effort? Yes.

 

[RayzorIsDull]

Yes the promotions have people lined up eager to see them play. Lol

1st intermission on am 800 they had a discussion between Bell and Kakuk. It was interesting because Bell brought up how empty the arena was with "the best team in Canada" in town. He brought up the Spits being good and if fans just don't want to go out. Kakuk brought up the elephant in the room and how they're still rebuilding and the past couple years weren't good.

I think overall it's an eye opener to how fans feel (right or wrong) and how it will take a stretch(few years) of good hockey to bring the fans back. From 2012 and it's been a slow decline and there's been a disconnect between the organization and fans. They really are showing signs of skipping a generation of possible fans.

 

[TheGremlin]

I'm curious, W7, what realistic promotions would you develop?

The tricky thing with Douglas last night was... if he doesn't do much, people rag on him. If he does too much, people rag on him. I said it last night and I'll say it here - I was happy with his effort. The play along the benches that led to the 67's goal was because the puck hit a patch of snow at the bench door. He skated over it, couldn't react in time, and they came back to score. (at least from what I recall) Do I think he was overused at times? Yes. Did I like his overall effort? Yes.

See the snow wouldn’t have been an issue tho if he just dumped it in once he got it. He was so tired he never should have tried to skate it up the ice. For me it was he was trying to do to much on the PK. Other then that i thought he was fine.

 

[TheGremlin]

1st intermission on am 800 they had a discussion between Bell and Kakuk. It was interesting because Bell brought up how empty the arena was with "the best team in Canada" in town. He brought up the Spits being good and if fans just don't want to go out. Kakuk brought up the elephant in the room and how they're still rebuilding and the past couple years weren't good.

I think overall it's an eye opener to how fans feel (right or wrong) and how it will take a stretch(few years) of good hockey to bring the fans back. From 2012 and it's been a slow decline and there's been a disconnect between the organization and fans. They really are showing signs of skipping a generation of possible fans.

This morning on AM 800 Beller was talking again about the fans for poor attendance and comparing them to London and saying why does london care about their team and windsor doesn’t and they seat 3000 more then here. Maybe he forgot London always in the top of league and windsor is rarely there the past few seasons

 

[RayzorIsDull]

See the snow wouldn’t have been an issue tho if he just dumped it in once he got it. He was so tired he never should have tried to skate it up the ice. For me it was he was trying to do to much on the PK. Other then that i thought he was fine.

Agreed, he tried to do too much. Yes the puck hit the snow but they he tried to stick handle a few more times. Later on a PK it looked like he had a break and a guy chased him down who was trailing him by probably 20 feet. Obviously dead tired Douglas instead of going to the bench continued to try to skate back and kill a penalty? Why?? I don't know. Douglas isn't the only one who seems to try and do too much though there are probably 4-5 other forwards as well. This is the issue with this Letowski letting them free lance more. Since he never encouraged the prior couple years now you have guys that want to go all out and do too much. The issue becomes if they can't find the middle ground of being creative but responsible defensively. They have lost 2 games giving up 6 goals and 5 goals. Won a game by giving up 6 but getting 9. The first game that stuff isn't sustainable and it would behoove the Spits to tighten up defensively because this team isn't equipped to win games that get into 5 goals 6 goals etc..

 

[RayzorIsDull]

This morning on AM 800 Beller was talking again about the fans for poor attendance and comparing them to London and saying why does london care about their team and windsor doesn’t and they seat 3000 more then here. Maybe he forgot London always in the top of league and windsor is rarely there the past few seasons

I like Beller but man that sounds bad. The only stretch where Windsor was clearly better than London was through 08 to 10 and even then those 2 years London had 100+ points. What followed is 3 years of London having 100+ points and 2 other years of having 99 points. Since then Windsor has just had 1 season of 90 points. Not far to compare the two franchises and the difference comes from the leadership at the top and behind the bench.

 

[OHLTG]

See the snow wouldn’t have been an issue tho if he just dumped it in once he got it. He was so tired he never should have tried to skate it up the ice. For me it was he was trying to do to much on the PK. Other then that i thought he was fine.

I don't disagree at all. Just saying that the one goal was as much the snow's fault as his. Should he have been out there that long? No.

As far as the attendance comment goes - when you're getting fewer than 3,000 people at a game, questions are going to be raised. When it's done by one of the most well-recognized faces/voices/names in the region, you start to listen.

 

[Cherrydon]

I like Beller but man that sounds bad. The only stretch where Windsor was clearly better than London was through 08 to 10 and even then those 2 years London had 100+ points. What followed is 3 years of London having 100+ points and 2 other years of having 99 points. Since then Windsor has just had 1 season of 90 points. Not far to compare the two franchises and the difference comes from the leadership at the top and behind the bench.

Exactly the point. As a Red Wing fan during the lean years and then finally long run of sucess your expectations change forever. Once Windsor won mem cups 3 times in last 11 yrs, It's hard to accept anything but at least a perennial contender. I believed we caught up to London as a successful winning franchise and once again the Spits have faded back. A lot of fringe fans were disgusted and disappointed when the Spits were disciplined by the league for recruiting violations. Some felt we must have won by cheating and left a bad taste in their mouth. The recent ownership debacle was the icing on the cake. The fact that most still feel current ownership wants out only aggrevates the uncertainty. A lot believe TL should do better with the personal he's had than the results achieved. I wish I had a dollar for every time I have heard the ownership is too cheap to fire the coaching staff. Yet the ticket prices keep slowly rising and the product on the ice has fallen at the same time. The disconnect keeps growing.

 

[OHLTG]

Once Windsor won mem cups 3 times in last 11 yrs, It's hard to accept anything but at least a perennial contender

Junior hockey and the NHL are two different beasts, though. You can be in the 3-6 range every season, but you'll rarely win anything, or you can be 1-2 and then 8-9. Unless you're a London, of course, then it's a different story.


That said, the disconnect is real, though I give the team credit for trying to different things. They've already announced their "theme nights" and they're doing concession things (I didn't get a good look at the prices last night as the boards kept changing and I wasn't sticking around to wait).

 

[TheGremlin]

I don't disagree at all. Just saying that the one goal was as much the snow's fault as his. Should he have been out there that long? No.

As far as the attendance comment goes - when you're getting fewer than 3,000 people at a game, questions are going to be raised. When it's done by one of the most well-recognized faces/voices/names in the region, you start to listen.

Problem is Beller has brought this up before. Has anything changed from his past comments? Nope. Just gotten worse.

 

[TheGremlin]

Junior hockey and the NHL are two different beasts, though. You can be in the 3-6 range every season, but you'll rarely win anything, or you can be 1-2 and then 8-9. Unless you're a London, of course, then it's a different story.


That said, the disconnect is real, though I give the team credit for trying to different things. They've already announced their "theme nights" and they're doing concession things (I didn't get a good look at the prices last night as the boards kept changing and I wasn't sticking around to wait).

The whole concession deal thing has so decent deals and some not. Jumbo dog is 4.25 or 5.25 i forget which and small pop is 4.25. So you are saving a grand total of 1.50 at the most. I really doubt that will do much of anything. Nacho deal you were at least saving just over 3$ i believe

 

[OHLTG]

The concessions are a start. Not ideal, but a start.

As for Beller - I'm the "better to say something than ignore it" type. Will it change anything? Not likely, but if everyone kept silent, nothing would happen at all.

 

[SpItFiReZ]

This morning on AM 800 Beller was talking again about the fans for poor attendance and comparing them to London and saying why does london care about their team and windsor doesn’t and they seat 3000 more then here. Maybe he forgot London always in the top of league and windsor is rarely there the past few seasons

Winning year in and year out helps.

Or it could be that London is stuck about 2 hours away from anything other then the Knights, concerts held at the arena and what they have locally?

We’re spoiled here with everything we have surrounding us.

 

[windsor7]

I'm curious, W7, what realistic promotions would you develop?

The tricky thing with Douglas last night was... if he doesn't do much, people rag on him. If he does too much, people rag on him. I said it last night and I'll say it here - I was happy with his effort. The play along the benches that led to the 67's goal was because the puck hit a patch of snow at the bench door. He skated over it, couldn't react in time, and they came back to score. (at least from what I recall) Do I think he was overused at times? Yes. Did I like his overall effort? Yes.

Ir maybe douglas was on the ice for more than a minute n was gassed. He could barely skate. Please dont use the snow as a excuse.
Im not in marketing department. However what they r doing fans r ignoring. U can eat all the nauchos. Lol

 

[windsor7]

Problem is Beller has brought this up before. Has anything changed from his past comments? Nope. Just gotten worse.

Yes just worse

 

[windsor7]

The concessions are a start. Not ideal, but a start.

As for Beller - I'm the "better to say something than ignore it" type. Will it change anything? Not likely, but if everyone kept silent, nothing would happen at all.

Nothing is happening with it being said too.