Windsor Spitfires 2020 Offseason Thread (Part 3)

[OHLTG]

Sometimes comfort helps a situation. Hes showing the talent is there so props to him.

 

[windsor7]

Sometimes comfort helps a situation. Hes showing the talent is there so props to him.

For stopping the puck?
He is a goalie.

 

[Otto]

There's always that one special segment of people who would rather dump on a teenager then see them develop their skills

 

[Teflon]

Sure he struggled. No argument. But let’s be honest, goalies need extra, euros need a bit more as well. He wasn’t getting support from the staff and that translates to lack of team support and a loss of confidence. I’m not saying he’s great but I am saying he got a raw deal here. I know for fact he personally felt slighted, Rafkin was in agreement, as was his family. This is just one reason I’m so anti TL. Info is credible or I wouldn’t be on this soap box. WJ is high level hockey and u don’t get to the semis playing sub par.

 

[aresknights]

Sure he struggled. No argument. But let’s be honest, goalies need extra, euros need a bit more as well. He wasn’t getting support from the staff and that translates to lack of team support and a loss of confidence. I’m not saying he’s great but I am saying he got a raw deal here. I know for fact he personally felt slighted, Rafkin was in agreement, as was his family. This is just one reason I’m so anti TL. Info is credible or I wouldn’t be on this soap box. WJ is high level hockey and u don’t get to the semis playing sub par.

I know he did have at least 1 staffer supporting him and someone you are fan of And seems that many are.
Good guy and has his positional players best interests first in line. Need more of those people around. Just my opinion.
Good on him for heading home and having a solid tourney.
Sometimes things arent a good fit, for any # of reasons. Not judging in this case but always root for the players success at the end of the day.

 

[Teflon]

You are exactly right, but that one guy doesn’t call the shots. Only guy on the staff I’d keep lol.

 

[ohloutsider]

Goalies are all about skill and confidence. Without support in the dressing room it is hard to keep the confidence up.
Kari struggled with ( and still does) rebound control. He also struggled with making a save when he really needed to make a save so team mates had a hard time with that.

Playing with the Fins means higher end D core in front of him so rebounds don't come back to haunt him like they did in Windsor.

Kari just needs to work on a few things re- rebound control and the confidence will come back. He has the skill just needs to put that together. Kids are learning at this age, hard as fans to understand that. We expect NHL quality from 17 yr old kids.

 

[Cherrydon]

Kari played well until the Dipietro trade his 1st yr. Chanting from the crowd we want Mikey in the 1st game after the trade certainly didn't help his confidence. Add a less than stellar D with a 17 yr old import kid. Good grief what did you expect. The team defensively grew knowingly having Mikey as a saviour back there for years and never adjusted having an average goalie. Mediocre team with mediocre coaching. Too many years where the preview is well if Windsor gets outstanding goaltending we will finish mid pack. There were lean years with Mikey in net and goaltending wasn't the issue.

 

[stips]

There's a recurring theme on this thread.....the coaching is not developing the talent.....imports want out...top picks only so good....can't make playoffs (or win any games when they do)...tentative management...ect

Tough times and tough decisions ahead or the fan base will continue to go away!

 

[TheGremlin]

Now let me be clear about how i’ve looked at things. With Kari i didn’t feel he improved from year 1 to year 2 much. He also didn’t really improve from start of year to end of year. Yes it would always be nice to see a kid develop and hopefully he will but to come on here and say he has great numbers in his new league which for all i know is like a junior b league here talent wise or he is having a great WJC to me is a bit exaggerated. I will say it looks like he is having fun again which is nice to see. He will do well and WR didnt help by hyping him up and putting even more pressure on him. I agree that the coaches can’t develop these kids. Foudy, Douglas, Cuylle among other have all suffered from this. Only coach i want to keep is the goalie coach.

 

[windsor7]

There's a recurring theme on this thread.....the coaching is not developing the talent.....imports want out...top picks only so good....can't make playoffs (or win any games when they do)...tentative management...ect

Tough times and tough decisions ahead or the fan base will continue to go away!

Exactly

 

[OHLTG]

Chanting from the crowd we want Mikey in the 1st game after the trade certainly didn't help his confidence. Add a less than stellar D with a 17 yr old import kid. Good grief what did you expect.

I've said from the start that coming in after DiPietro was going to be a challenge for anyone, let alone a rookie who's new to the country. They brought in Incze to help, which I applaud, but the pressure must have been immense.

Piiroinen still has some stuff to work on, but he looks like he's enjoying himself out there, which is key. He's comfortable, he's growing, and he'll be fine. He just wasn't in the right situation here and, frankly, I'm not sure any young goaltender would have succeeded at that time.

 

[RayzorIsDull]

Now let me be clear about how i’ve looked at things. With Kari i didn’t feel he improved from year 1 to year 2 much. He also didn’t really improve from start of year to end of year. Yes it would always be nice to see a kid develop and hopefully he will but to come on here and say he has great numbers in his new league which for all i know is like a junior b league here talent wise or he is having a great WJC to me is a bit exaggerated. I will say it looks like he is having fun again which is nice to see. He will do well and WR didnt help by hyping him up and putting even more pressure on him. I agree that the coaches can’t develop these kids. Foudy, Douglas, Cuylle among other have all suffered from this. Only coach i want to keep is the goalie coach.

I would agree with this. I am not that hung up the goaltending coach and the reason I say that is because with the questionable coaching if a person came in and wanted to sweep out everyone including the goaltending coach I wouldn't be bothered.

It's fine Piiroinen has had a good tournament that doesn't make me feel any different in how he played in Windsor. You can make the case in the WJs that out of the 4 teams remaining that Piiroinen is the weakest of those goalies. For better or worse it really doesn't matter to me how he does. He's not in Windsor, there probably won't be hockey this year and he wasn't going to be back for 21-22.

 

[Teflon]

To move on. AHL teams are submitting plans for the season. Some are opting out, which in turn has nhl teams making agreements to share AHL squads. This, like I said, is going to leave a bunch of players twisting in the wind as there will be far fewer places to play. If the OHL does get going there’s going to be a ton of OA’s looking for somewhere to play. In fact guys like Affy will likely need a home. I have to wonder if they all. One back and play is this a good team? If the O doesn’t start up what happens to all the players on the AHL bubble? Some very tough decisions coming...

 

[OHLTG]

Finland wins the Bronze. Congrats to Rafkin and Piiroinen!

 

[windsor7]

Finland wins the Bronze. Congrats to Rafkin and Piiroinen!

Small golf clap.
Not on Windsor any longer....

 

[Cherrydon]

Absolutely sweet to see Kari smile like that. Solid game. Hopefully he will be on the radar for a contract in the future. Looked like monkey was off his back. You know Mikey has been texting him as they had developed a relationship when Dipietro was mentoring him that 1st yr. Now time for Canadians to bury the U.S.. Lets go boys!!!!!

 

[stips]

Small golf clap.
Not on Windsor any longer....

Biased coaching chased them away!!!!!!!!!

 

[windsor7]

Biased coaching chased them away!!!!!!!!!

Bad coaching by the entire staff has chased more than 1 player away.

 

[stips]

We would like to thank the Spitfire Coaching Staff for playing Boka, Purboo,Angel, Playfair, Stevenson, and Corcoran ahead of us. This helped make our decision to leave the team much easier!

 

[ohloutsider]

We would like to thank the Spitfire Coaching Staff for playing Boka, Purboo,Angel, Playfair, Stevenson, and Corcoran ahead of us. This helped make our decision to leave the team much easier!

Not sure what this post means - Kari is a goalie, Igor played 1st and 2nd line minutes, Rubin was a 1st year 17yr old player. He would never play in front of Corcoran on any team? Igor got more ice than Playfair and Purboo. The only ones that holds water is Boka and Stevenson.
I'm not a fan of this coaching staff but not sure where you are going with this? I think other players on the Spits would fit the narrative better, McDonald comes to mind.

 

[Teflon]

I liked the comment just because the intent was right. Absolutely could have chosen some better names lol. I’m betting at least 2 of them are using it to rub it in... good for them!

 

[OHLTG]

It's unfortunate that things didn't work out with the two; they have the talent but got caught up in the chaos here. I'm glad they're doing well back home.

 

[stips]

Maybe the reason for not wanting to play for Windsor is the coaching decisions??????

 

[windsor7]

Maybe the reason for not wanting to play for Windsor is the coaching decisions??????

Terrible coaching by the whole staff is a start.