Windsor Spitfires 2019-20 Season Thread (Part 2)

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Sounds good, perpetual mediocrity and call them an elite franchise because they've had four or five good or decent seasons out of a decade and a half. Puts them a step or two above Those franchises most think are permanent cellar dwellers.

What would they need to actually make a solid run.

How's the goaltending? Improving? Yes but I doubt it's capable at this time of taking them on a run. An 18 year old most fans have little confidence in and a 17 year old with 5 games of experience. Both with a sub .880 save % and both hovering around a 3.50 GAA. A more experienced goaltender that's proven a bit more might be the first addition you might want to make. Oh that's right, there's not many better options available.

How about the D? You have an OA most thought shouldn't be on the team playing in the top pairing and two 17 year old rookies playing significant minutes and roles. Now they're playing well but do you think any of those three would be a sought after piece by a contender? Probably not. As part of a return from a contender the 17 year olds would be sought after but the OA would probably be waived if replaced. They could probably get away with two upgrades on D since the rest are basically 3/4 D on any team let alone a contender. That's not going to come cheap.

What about the forwards? Off to a great start offensively but the vets are doing what they've done the last couple of years for the most part, a solid start and if they follow their past performance it doesn't improve in the second half, see Purboo and D'Amico among others. Where would most of our vets fit on a contender? Second line/middle six and a couple on the fourth line. Probably need to upgrade with a top line centre and top line RW that would drop a couple firwards down a line to give solid depth all around up front.

There's 5 high end pieces to make them serious contenders. I'm sure because it's Windsor and you're such a big fan they can get them for spare parts and a couple of picks right?

How've they played this year? Overall, definitely improved but looking at some of those wins, they're very fortunate to have their record.

They beat Sarnia few weeks ago to get this win streak going 8 - 5. They were outshot by a team that had no points, missing 3 or more of their top players and kept up with them all game. Poor goaltending hurt Sarnia as much as missing thise players. If Sarnia has those players does Windsor win, even with the goaltending? There's a number of wins like that this year where they got the win but were fortunate to do so.

They've beaten some good teams and lost to some not so good teams and won a number of games that could have went either way.

So maybe they add a small piece, if the price is right, tinker a bit. That'll put them over the top. Spend a bit for what might be a slight improvement as everyone who loads up adds real talent. Next year though, if everyone returns with fewer assets to deal then, yeah, then they'll be big spenders with less to spend, if everything goes their way. If not then don't worry, they're the Spits and it'll be OK just because. The 80% of the last decade they did nothing in doesn't matter as long as they have one good season every five everyone should be happy licking the boots of such an elite organization. Why should anyone be upset with six first round playoff exits and twice missing the playoffs when they went to a conference final nine years ago and won a MC after being knocked out in the first round doing exactly what some are proposing, spend to hopefully improve a roster for a one year shot at a better playoff finish while likely getting four more years of futility as a reward.

Maybe the 30-40% drop in attendance is all just negative people who are wrong or simply petty for expecting more than one good year out of every five. If your standards are that low than enjoy the product but if expecting more makes some of us negative so be it but someone with such low standards, now that sounds like more of a tool than someone who expects more.
 
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youngblood10

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Jan 26, 2010
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Really, this was something I loved about WR. Bowler is very, very tight-lipped and it's strange to deal with.

I'm curious about something - if Windsor was ranked #1 in a couple of weeks, would people shrug it off because it's only November? Maybe I'm wrong, but it feels like the goalposts are being moved because it's not the second half. I go back to what I said earlier; if you told anyone on this board that the Spitfires would be sniffing the Top 10 come Oct/Nov, you'd have been laughed and, and maybe rightfully so. Now, we're #8, but it's too early. Sorry, it makes me scratch my head a bit.

I don't want to poo poo on a precived good thing or draw the curtain back but you do realize the top ten is just a marketing tool that they can slap a sponsorship on. It means less than nothing if its September or March.
 
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Crease Master

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Dec 17, 2016
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The point is the team can still make moves and be fine this year while extending an opportunity to be a consistent team year after year. If they moved certain pieces while retaining Foudy/Cuylle/MacDonald/Robinson/Rafkin/D'Amico etc... then you can set yourself up better for the future. A lot of talk of Boka but he has a 30% shooting % that isn't sustainable in the least. They're getting the most they can out of some guys right now. Why not see if someone thinks the same and you can get assets in return.

This isn't knocking #8 ranking but what matters more if they have staying power and can still be #8 say 3 months from now. That's the bigger test and what matters more than what is going on Nov 6th 2019.
I wouldn't waste a season when London is mediocre, when the planets align I think you go with it. What happens if we trade a few assets at the deadline to set up for some future run that perfectly coincides with London assembling a monster with all of their assets? We'll be sitting there watching our better future get stomped and wishing we hadn't wasted 2020 for that privelege.
 
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