Windsor Spitfires 2021-22 Season Thread (Part 6)

[Cherrydon]

Better than D'amico. Just saying

 

[ohloutsider]

Better than D'amico. Just saying

Not better than Cuylle.

 

[OHLTG]

I'd rather have Cuylle and Johnston together, but that's just me.

 

[Cherrydon]

43 is a detriment. Period. If that was Zito hitting D'amico it would have been a major. Better 2nd. Perrott proved why he should be 1st unit PP. WJ is tuned in as usual. Finish strong in the 3rd.

 

[Cherrydon]

Ps funny they limit fans to 500 and bunch them all on one side.

 

[nelli27]

Did Guelph use that aggressive forecheck when you guys were on the PP? If so, how did you counter it? Starting from your own end, behind the net, were you able to skate the puck up ice, and gain the zone without much difficulty?

 

[2023]

43 is a detriment. Period. If that was Zito hitting D'amico it would have been a major. Better 2nd. Perrott proved why he should be 1st unit PP. WJ is tuned in as usual. Finish strong in the 3rd.

no kidding, I thought the same. Poor kid has no luck.

 

[hockeylegend11]

After a slow start,giving Guelph a 2-1 lead,and being outshot 17-7 at the end of 1,Spits in fine fashion completely outplayed the Storm the last 2 periods scored 4 straight including an empty netter,enroute to a 5-2 win at the WFCU Center.
Spits got goals from Wyatt Johnston, Jacques Maillet, Andrew Perrott, game winner,Daniel D'amico and the empty netter from Ethan Miedema, solid goaltending from Xavier Medina,Cuylle and Maggio both had 2 assists on the night,though they played on different lines,strong games from Sobolev, Renwick, Ribau and the aforementioned Perrott,Abraham also played very well too despite being pointless.
Spits now have won 3 straight,7-2 in their last 9 after their trades,and in their last 18 a very impressive 13-3-2.
Xavier Medina who some think unbelievably is inconsistent became the 3rd goalie in 3 games to beat Guelph for Windsor, Downey and Onuska the 2 others.
Spits have outscored Guelph in 3 meetings 14-7 and Guelph has only scored 3,5 on 5 goals vs Windsor this season.
Medina 's goals against average now 2.91 with a .898 save per centage and currently sits 5th in OHL goaltending average and 2nd best in the conference behind Brett Brochu from London.
Forgot to mention Spits are 7-0-1 in their last 8 at home.
Guelph as mentioned had 17 shots on goal in the 1st
The 2nd and 3rd they had 6 and 5 shots respectively, Spits shut them down.

 

[hockeylegend11]

Interesting there are those who think Windsor is not a contender amongst the teams in the Western Conference despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary
For example after tonight's victory the Spits are 12-3-0-1 against the other 4 leading teams in the Conference, London,SSM,Guelph and Flint combined,in fact since after game 4 of the season when Windsor was 0-1-0-1 against London,they have gone 12-2 against the 4 teams I mentioned and neither of those loses was Medina in goal.
Here are their records against the 4 teams
London 1-2-0-1,Flint 4-0,Gue 3-0,SSM,4-1
London is 6-6-1 against ,Windsor, Guelph,SSM and Flint
Guelph is 7-8-1 vs Windsor,Flint,SSM and Ldn.
SSM is 6-6-1 against Windsor, London ,Guelph and Flint,though note they are 0-0-1 vs Flint,4-2 vs Guelph, 0-1 vs Ldn
Flint is 3-4-0-1 vs Windsor, London, Guelph and SSM,1-1 vs Ldn,1-0 vs SSm and 1-0 vs Guelph, vs Windsor 0-3-0-1.
With Windsor's record compared to any of the other 4 how can anyone with a straight face say Windsor is not a contender in the West.
One other thing London as we know started the year 9-0,including 5-0 vs Owen Sound.
Since then they have gone 12-10-1 in their last 23 games.
Windsor started the year 3-4-2 in their 1st 9 games an admitted slow start
Since then in their last 27 games Windsor has gone 18-7-2-0.
I dont get the negatrons thinking, like I said the numbers are compelling.

 

[OHLTG]

The good:

- Medina was strong. Sure, it wasn't a pretty first period for the club, but he made some big saves when he had to and let the offence worry about their game.
- Wyatt Johnston doing Wyatt Johnston things.
- Perrott is so much fun to watch. Stuff starts, he skates in, nobody wants to go near him.
- Johnston/Cuylle/Maggio on the PP is gold.
- Great to see the fans there.

Bad:

- Put. Johnston. And. Cuylle. On. The. Same. Line!!
- I liked the idea of Miedema on the top line but he felt slower than he needed to be. That'll be an off-season thing for him.

 

[spits]

Nice win. Didn't play well in the first period but that's hockey, outplayed Guelph the rest of the way. This team can score goals out of nowhere and quick. Wyatt Johnston wasn't quite as noticeable as usual but still finishes with 3 points, elite hockey IQ player.

Savard really needs to re-unite Cuylle with Johnston. Miedema is a great talent but is a rookie, Cuylle needs to be on that line. Medina was solid. Two players that are solid every night but aren't talked about are Renwick and Ribau, two good acquisitions made from a real good GM.

Spits lead the OHL in goals per game and now just 4 points back of the SOO with 4 games in hand, in real good shape. The division is Windsor's to win.

 

[hockeylegend11]

After last nights win vs Guelph,Windsor goalie Xavier Medina 's record against London,Flint,Guelph and SSM is 7-1-0-1 combined,1-1-0-1 vs Ldn,3-0 vs SSM,1-0 Guelph, 2-0 vs Flint.
Only London has beat him so far in regulation, once in a shootout, and that was in the 1st 4 games of Windsor's season.
Since then Medina is 7-0 against the 4 teams mentioned combined.
His goals against average for the 9 games is 2.33 and a save percentage of .922
His last 7 games against the 4 teams his goals against average is 1.89 and his save percentage is .933.
If that's inconsistent goaltending folks can I have 2 of them please.
He has been excellent against the conference's best teams.

 

[windsor7]

Ps funny they limit fans to 500 and bunch them all on one side.

The thought process....

 

[windsor7]

Good 2 points earned last nite.

 

[hockeylegend11]

Last time Windsor lost at home in regulation was Nov 24 vs London 5-2 (empty netter)
They did lose in OT vs Erie 5-4 on Dec 2.
Tovell was in goal for the London game
Downey was in goal for the Erie game
The last time Medina lost at home in regulation it was opening night vs Sarnia.
2 games later vs London Medina and Windsor lost in a 4-3 shootout.
Medina has not lost a game at home vs the other top 4 teams in the conference in regulation.
In fact he has only lost once on the road against the top 4 teams and that was 1 game later after the shootout loss to London,in London game 4 of the season Windsor and Medina lost 5-1.

 

[member 71782]

All this hero worship over Medina and how consistent some think he is.

19 GP
5 GP with 5 or more GA.
3 or 4 GP where the team won in spite of a poor outing by Medina.
Never been able to maintain a + .900 save % for more than a game or two.
In spite of improved numbers over past performance and in spite of higher numbers compared to much of the league in some areas he has not demonstrated an ability to be a top goaltender in an average year.

Better numbers in some areas vs much of the league presented completely out of context does not make him a top or consistent goaltender.

Any goaltender with a sub .900 save % is average at best and if he's near the top of the league in GAA and still has a sub .900 save % it shows the team is responsible for more of his success than he is.

There's about 8 to 10 goaltenders in the league that I would take over Medina based on past and current performances combined when the context of their current team's success.

Medina has not proven to be consistent. Competent behind one of the highest scoring teams in the league? On most nights, yes but that doesn't equate to consistency.

 

[TheGremlin]

Ps funny they limit fans to 500 and bunch them all on one side.

I’m sure they did that so they only needed to open 1 concession area and people didn’t need to walk around the arena to get to one.

 

[member 71782]

Interesting there are those who think Windsor is not a contender amongst the teams in the Western Conference despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary

I know this is most likely directed at me and as usual it is taking what was posted completely out of context to fit the narrative of a bullshitter.

This comes from when I posted after the deadline that adding at the deadline, particularly Perrott were moves a buyer would make while moving McDonald, who had the 2nd most goals on the team at the time while not replacing his goals with another addition was normally a seller's move.

Keeping Henault, the team's worst D, particularly in his own zone, neutral zone and trying not to turn over the puck at the offensive zone blueline was a big mistake. Having made that mistake while adding a number one D and keeping Henault as the team's number one D is an even bigger mistake that quite possibly will cost this team when the playoffs come around and D play becomes more prevalent.

Failing to go all the way with assets left was extremely poor decision making by Bowler and likely costs this team.

A team built on the premise that they can outscore opponents on a run to a championship when anyone who has ever watched more than one playoff game at nearly any level knows that's not how you build a contender, particularly when you trade one of your top scorers without replacing the goal scoring dealt away.

People trying to sell this crop as the right moves are either clueless or full of something that they don't make waders big enough to wade through.

The team is doing well, 100% agree.

The team is built for a long playoff run, certainly doesn't look like it when the moves made appear to contradict the approach taken.

Is this team a contender? For a regular season title they are.

Are they likely to get to the Memorial Cup tournament? I wouldn't bet on it.

 

[Teflon]

Ok so you 2 aren’t going to agree at all. But this also shows how stats can be interpreted differently. Again it’s why I love the eye test. Imho he’s inconsistent, but like I also said he can change that narrative.
This team is playing better and it shows. Still concerns that persist, they refuse to play 60 minutes!! That’s huge, can we all imagine just how good they could be??? There’s some internal strife that needs to get ironed out. The D needs to figure a few issues out, clearing the net/slot area and the decision making of a few. Where is the actual spot the goaltending sits?? Can it get better, is this it, injury issues…? Can they figure out how to keep the goals coming in a stifling D push from the other side? That’s something they are struggling with and that’s what they likely see in the playoffs.
Cautiously optimistic for sure but still to many uncertainties to nail this team down.
Let’s see them beat Brochiu tonight, that may answer some questions I have. They MUST figure him out!

 

[ohloutsider]

Curious to see who starts in net tonight? Does Marc do the obvious or does he go on maybe somebody wants to show their former team why they shouldn't have been traded? Time will tell.

 

[member 71782]

Curious to see who starts in net tonight? Does Marc do the obvious or does he go on maybe somebody wants to show their former team why they shouldn't have been traded? Time will tell.

Just my opinion but they have to run with Medina. He gas to be able to prove himself every night, back to back etc. Whomever is the starter comes playoffs, I expect it will be Medina has to be zone to play every game over the long haul. That's something Medina hasn't had the chance to do yet.

I think London trading Onuska was more a favour to him then not believing in him. He was never going to steal the starter's role from Brochu and as an 02 this is really his last chance to show his value to the rest of the league for an opportunity next year. It's also one of the few spots where he could steal a starter's job on a team with the hopes of going deep.

Medina is the starter and unless something drastic changes he will remain the starter but with how he's performed as well as injury issues this year the chance of things changing, while not likely are still possible.

Medina could go back to how the season started.

As Medina gets more starts he could show he struggles too often.

Injuries, while hopefully never become an issue are always a possibility, particularly after one that kept him out for a decent stretch then shortly after he returned he looked like he tweaked it again, thankfully it's looked relatively fine since but he still looks to be moving a bit different at times.

 

[nelli27]

Who gets the start?

 

[member 71782]

Who gets the start?

Medina IMO

 

[FiveHoleo]

Inconsistent goaltenders in the OHL? Naw, couldn't be. I thought Andrew Engelage was hot wet garbage for most of his time as a Spitfire, he couldn't cover a loose puck in his crease to save his life, but he got the job done when it was required of him. Those tears would be better wasted on our 3 point import forward in my opinion, go home already.

I get why people would prefer Cuylle and Johnson to play together, however everyone knows a one line team can be stopped in the playoffs. Its to the team's benefit to take as much time as possible to find a workable lineup that has them on different lines if that is possible. If Savard can do that, he'll have the option to play them together in his back pocket when required. If you play them together, where do you go from there? This is the right thing to do in my opinion, obviously others disagree.

 

[Cherrydon]

I’m sure they did that so they only needed to open 1 concession area and people didn’t need to walk around the arena to get to one.

For sure that was the reason. My point was if spectators are capped at 500 and all are crammed in only a few sections, it defeats the purpose of limiting fans. Why not allow half capacity and spread them away from each other all around. Just shows the restriction is stupid and does not promote the distancing it was intended to do.