31 Thoughts that are actually 5 thoughts by the affable CCHL Commissioner

 Welcome, welcome, welcome back to the second edition of your favorite weekly column - 31 thoughts that I condense into five!  

Alright, enough of the appetizer, let's get to the meat and potatoes of this thing, shall we?  

1.  Through the early part of the season it's been one of those things where it seems the teams are really struggling with respect to the penalty kill.  It seems there are a lot of teams that are really below where one would think is an acceptable level; well perhaps that level is 90% if you are an old school guy like I am.  

However, when you actually look, CCHL teams were averaging 81.7% as a whole killing penalties this week which is actually just under two percent better than what the NHL was in 19-20 at 79.9.  

The best of our PK teams is five percent over the average and the worst is three percent under. It's always frustrating to lose a game because your penalty killers couldn't get the job done, but from a recreation standpoint, they are doing quite well compared to that other league, the NHL.  

2.  A few surprises in the top ten scoring with Jake Guentzel, Brock Nelson, and Bryan Rust all seeing their name appear in the top ten at this point.  Guentzel is obviously talented but is playing a ton of minutes which is something Tampere should be concerned about given his questionable durability rating.  

GM Gayle Zuk should be pleased with Nelson's production as it's finally meeting the expectations that the Express has had on him since the day his gigantic body was drafted.   Nelson's former teammate Rust is also flourishing in Sudbury but with 88-90% of the season still to play, a lot can change.  

3.  Through eight games this season, the Niagara Falls Thunder have only scored a paltry 15 goals.  It's almost impossible to believe that a team with Stamkos, Couture, Doughty, Reinhart, and Marchand would be having trouble scoring goals.  Aside from Stamkos, the other three forwards mentioned only have three points in eight contests which is massively underachieving for a group that talented.  Something tells me that the group is due to explode soon or their GM might be forced to look at a hard trade in order to give the group a much-needed spark.  They are a playoff team so it's only a matter of time until they show that in the standings.  

4. The CCHL is on the way to a record pace in terms of waivers this year.  Seven players have found the waiver wire in the last week with only Carter Hutton being claimed by a team.  It's interesting to see the team's so willing to pay to get rid of players compared to past years.  

5.  The CCHL is also on the way to setting a record for most profiles received in a season.  I am not sure if it's the result of just having to hit yes to upload and making it easier or something else.  It's definitely nice to see though and I appreciate everyone keeping up with their rosters to ensure they do not have illegal lineups.  So far we have only had 4-5 illegal lineups so it's good to see that at the current pace, everyone should get something in terms of bonus cash for keeping their rosters updated!  

That's all for this week's thoughts.  Until next week, for the CCHL Commissioner, I'm the CCHL Commissioner.  Bye!

The Nickel Report – Evaluating the 2020-21 Sudbury Miners: Volume 1

 CANADIAN PRESS (Sudbury, ON):

 

Up to games ending on October 18, 2020

Miners 5-Game (Nickel) Record:  2 wins, 1 losses, 2 OT loss.

Miners Season Record:  4 wins, 2 losses, 2 OT losses.

Miners League Standing:  4 wins, 2 losses, 2 OT Loss = 10 points total.  Currently sit in 4th place in the Canosa Conference, 8th overall in the CCHL.

Miners Special Teams:  Power Play – 22.7% (7th); Penalty Kill – 83.3% (13th)

Miners Scoring Leader:  Winger Bryan Rust (4G – 7A = 11 pts; 6th Overall in the CCHL)

 

The weather is quickly becoming a little more like true hockey weather as the calendar turns to mid-October.  And with it, the CCHL season is now in full swing.

For the Sudbury Miners, they are looking to build on last season’s playoff run.  With the number of off-season acquisitions, management has given this team their best shot to potentially go on a playoff run and give the hard-working fans in the Nickel City something to cheer about.

“We are still trying to shake off some of that summer rust and figure some things out.  There has been a lot of changes here, so building some chemistry takes time”, stated new Miners defenseman Roman Josi.  “We just need to continue to work our asses off, and the wins will follow more consistently.  We will get there”.

 

MINERS PLAYER PROFILE OF THE WEEK:  Artemi Panarin

One of the big acquisitions for the Miners this off-season, Panarin is one of the best offensive talents in the CCHL.  He is a supremely skilled winger who oozes creativity and is equally adept at setting up his line-mates and finishing off plays himself.  His puck skills are off the charts and his shot is wicked.  He is a true game-changing talent in the CCHL and big things are expected of him in Sudbury this year.

 

MINERS PROSPECT NEED TO KNOW:  Barrett Hayton

One of the Miners top prospects, Hayton is seen as a sure-fire CCHL player with top six upside and a middle six floor.  He is a good playmaker with a very high hockey IQ. The captain of last year’s Gold Medal winning team for Canada at the World Juniors, Hayton plays a very mature game and can be used in all game situations He may not have as much upside as a goal-scorer compared to current players such as Jonathon Toews for example, but his game is similar.  Expected CCHL arrival:  2021-22.

State of the Loons; NHL Draft edition

 Nothing is normal in 2020 and that also goes for the CCHL. For nearly 20 years the NHL draft provided CCHL general managers a road map during the entry draft. In 2020 - we were on our own, and I for one loved it. Going in to this draft our front office made the decision to prioritize this year's draft as the corner stone of our rebuild. After multiple trades and CCHL dollars we ended up with 31 picks. My favorite aspect of being on our own I loved having to rely on my research, the Loons hired 7 different online "scouts" and from there I put together my own draft board. Obviously it will take a few years until we really know how well our draft went, but for now lets compare my general managing skills to the paid professionals.

1.2    Tim Stutzle : CCHL (2) NHL (3)  Our most criticized pick and biggest gamble even though only 1 spot different the the NHL. 9 out of 10 gms would have gone Byfield but not us after Bob McKenzie got in our ear.                                                                       Stutzle has already has broken his arm so we are not off to a great start - time will tell. Wisborg rating +1

1.22  Jacob Perreault (22) / (27)         Even though he was selected lower in the NHL - we are thrilled to see him end up in Anaheim. Perreault a pure goal scorer alongside an pure passer in Zegras sounds like CCHL                                                                       success. Wisborg rating +7

2.7    Lukas Reichel  (29) / (17)           Not out best bargain but considering its 12 spots in the 1st round it might end up being our most impactful. WIsborg rating -12

2.15  Drew Commesso (37) / (46)       Our favorite pick of the draft. Many CCHL gms snickered when we traded up in the draft and took Commesso at 37. Drew was not expected to be taken til the late 3rd round at best in                                                                the NHL. Wisborg rating +9

3.14  Theodor Niederbach (58)/(51)     Anytime Steve Yzerman agrees with your pick you can't help but have high hopes. WIS rating -7

3.20   Yan Kuznetsov (64)/(50)            Strong D minded defenseman with offensive upside. Went to Calgary so may end up with Eugene at some point. WIS rating -14

5.3    Ian Moore  (91)/(67)                    Was on our radar due to being a local kid - Bob Murray and I have a special mind meld going. WIS rating -24

5.11  Emil Heineman (99)/(43)             Our first big steal. WIS rating -56

6.8    Theo Rochette  (118)/ NA           Our first big dud. Our scouts loved him, women loved him enough to give him mono. NHL scouts hated him. Hoping for next year and to settle down with a nice lady. WIS doesn't                                                                   rate the misses but we will take a +25 for a 6th round miss.  CAP rating +25

6.18  Ryder Rolston (128)/(139)          We remember the great times we had watching his dad in a Bruins uniform. WIS rating +11

6.21  Thimo Nickl  (131)/(104)              Bob Murray and I at it again. Unfortunately Thimo was sent off to Bismark for Blake Biondi. We will be reconnecting with Mr. Condon in order to bring this Mighty Duck home. WIS                                                                  rating    -27 

7.2  Landon Slaggert  (134)/(79)           Borat would call this a great success! Probably a reach by the Black Hawks but we will take it. WIS rating -55

7.9  Artem Shlaine  (141)/(130)             Artem took the time to like us on twitter when we announced his - we have his back! WIS rating -11

8.2  Lucas Mercuri  (156)/(159)             We thought we reached for him at 156 since he is headed to UMASS but Carolina agreed with us so who knows. WIS rating +3

8.5  Devon Levi  (159)/(212)                 With 31 picks and being weak at goaltending prospect this is where we started to take some chances. WIS rating +53

9.2  Jakub Konecny (178)/(212)            Just happy he was drafted. WIS rating +34

9.4  Wyatt Schingoethe (180)/(195)       WIS rating +15 

9.9  Brayden Peters (185)/ NA               Took a risk on a goalie that didn't work out - hopefully 2021   CAP rating +10

9.11  Will Cranley  (187)/(163)               We hit on the goalie. WIS rating -24

9.12  Garin Bjorklund (188)/(179)          Two in a row! WIS rating -9

9.13  Hayden Fowler (189)/NA               NHL gms didn't want to take a chance on him and his injury history was probably the reason. Was overage going into this draft so probably was a wasted pick for us. CAP rating                                                                     +10

9.18  Oliver Tarnstrom (194)/(92)           Now we're talking! We liked him but not as much as the Rangers. Full credit to out "scout" Larry Fisher on this one. WIS rating -102

10.1  Alex Jefferies  (199)/(121)             We love our local kids and love it even more when NHL teams do too. WIS rating -78

10.5  Trevor Kuntar  (203)/(89)              Ok so ... Let's me honest. We drafted him cause his name was Trevor and he is an American. But then the Bruins drafted him! If we didn't hate Don Sweeney we would be threw                                                                     the roof. WIS rating -114

11.1  Jake Ratzlaff  (221)/NA                 The pick we are most angry about. Our scouts really liked Jake but Jake screwed us. Just make up your damn mind Jake! He is still deciding between hockey and football. I'm                                                                       sure not being drafted won't help him pick hockey. We still think highly of him and will hope for next year.  CAP rating +5

11.2  Max Glotzl  (222)/NA                     We are just sad about this one. We bragged about what a steal he would be for us after drafting him and now we look like idiots. Let's hope he works on his shot and gets drafted                                                                   next year. CAP rating +5

11.22 Riley Duran (242)/(182)               A home run for us as Riley was selected by his home town team the Bruins. Again with Sweeney picking who knows - but we love our Bruins in Capeside. WIS rating -60

12.1  Tucker Tynan (243)/NA                We knew that this was likely a wasted draft pick after a horrendous injury was likely to scare off NHL teams. We believe in Tucker and hope he rebounds and is drafted next year. 

                                                              CAP rating of -5 (we are taking a - since its a feel good story)

12.2  Tomas Chlubna (244)/NA             We couldn't even find his picture on the internet so we didn't have high hopes. CAP rating 0

12.7  Alex Ljungkrantz (249)/(90)          We would be running our mouths here but we will save that for our next pick - plus this has a big bust factor but who care is was pick 249 for us. WIS rating -159

12.11 Gage Goncalves (253)/(62)        HOME RUN! Credit to Bill Placzek for this one. He was higher on our list and honestly we just forgot about him as he blended in with all the cross outs. This second year eligible                                                                    player put on muscle to go with his strong offensive skills.  Nothing beats getting a NHL second rounder on the stanley cup champs in the 12th round! WIS rating -191

How many of you made it to the end of this blog to see me pat myself on the back? So for the final results.......... I was a -765 overall!!!!!! If i can bring my scouts with me (Cam Robinson, Bob McKenzie, Larry Fisher etc) I think it may be time for me to take over for Don Sweeney, right? I would love to do the draft like this every year

31 Thoughts that are actually 5 thoughts by the affable CCHL Commissioner:

 1)  Welcome to our new GMs Richard and Sylvain.  We're happy to have you aboard and look forward to seeing what you do with your teams to get them moving in the right direction again.  Both come with challenges, no doubt.  Hamilton is scraping the bottom of the fiscal Barrell while Tampere was hampered by the previous owner's inability to actually make a decision.  Sorry if that seems harsh but being half-pregnant is not the way to run a CCHL team.  Fortunately for the league, both franchises will have stable management going forward.  

2) Speaking of returns, BIS is off to a solid start under the returning Matt Condon.  Yes, any team with Auston Matthews should be remotely decent but Mr. Condon has added some nice pieces in his time with the league.  

3)  Speaking of surprises, did anyone see the Amos Comets soaring out of the gates like this?  A solid 4-0 start has Maxime Quesnel pretty happy.  There was a lot of player movement to get there and even Maxime would likely agree that he's surprised by his team's hot start.  

4)  Through the first week of the year it appears that special teams will be so very important in the CCHL this season.  Seven teams are over 20% on the powerplay while seven are under 80% on the penalty kill.  It could literally make or break a team making the playoffs given the large swing from the top of the leaders to the bottom.  

5)  Does somebody want to tell the Moscow Freezing Bears it's important to win the faceoff in the offensive or defensive zone.  48.73% in the defensive zone and 47.85% in the offensive zone is offset by a 58.18% when the puck is dropped in the neutral zone through the first week.  I guess this shouldn't be a surprise if Kadri is taking most of the offensive draws given his 46.32 success rate in the circle.  

That's it for this week's inaugural edition of 31 Thoughts that are actually 5 thoughts.  For the CCHL Commissioner, I'm the CCHL Commissioner. 

Draft comparision -Wisborg Donuts

 Draft comparision -Wisborg Donuts

The NHL draft has just about finished and it is time to see how the blind draft went for Wisborg Donuts.

Lucas Raymond- a bit surprisingly Byfield fell into the hands of Fort Erie when Stutzle and Raymond was pushed up a notch and taken as number 3 in CCHL. Lucas went as the more forecastered number 4 pick in NHL. So a pick later (+1) in NHL.

William Wallinder- was pick number 25 in the CCHL draft, while he fell to the top of the second round in the NHL So a draft postion at 25 was transformed to number 32 (+7).

Zion Nybeck- was picked with number 47 in the CCHL draft while he fell massively in the NHL to number 115. The explanation is probably more size related than talent related. Time will tell who was correct but a diffenrence of +68 picks.

Calle Clang- was chosen by Donuts at pick 113 but the NHL teams where more positive to his skill set and picked him at number 77. So the first player so far that was a bargain for Donuts, at -36 picks.

Oskar Mangusson- picked as number 135 by Donuts in CCHL but fell pick 211 by the hands of the NHL teams. So another +76 picks later.

Leo Loof- went as number 157th pick in the CCHL draft but the turned out to be a bargain in comparision to the NHL as he was picked already at slot 88. So a solid -69 slot bargain for me!

The four last players picked by Donuts where not favoured by the NHL gods and was left undrafted and can't be in this comparison.

So out of the 6 players 2 turned out to be bargains for Donuts while 4 could have been waited on if the NHL bosses are correct. But I can see both Lucas and William taken in the right range and would I have waited with them for my next pick, they would probably be off the board. Trying to weigh in the first picks as most important the big miscalculation on the Donuts is Zion Nybeck who went a lot later than expected and far later than projected by all scouting services. All in all I lost 47 draft positions compared to the NHL draft. But who says the NHL GMs are right anyway....

Amos first blog

 Amos, QC

07-10-2020

 

At a couple hours of the official start of the CCHL 2020-2021 season, we are quite excited.

After a long summer of trade talk and players movements, we are finally at one day of our season debute against the Victoria Ronin.

 

It all starts in March when I receive an e-mail from Mr. Young regarding to see if I had interest in filling a GM spot for a Team in the CCHL. I hesitated a bit because it was way different from usual league I used to see. I finally accepted the challenge and decided to move the team in our brand new arena here in Amos, which I never regretted.

The Dispersal draft was really exciting to participate in. Couple of nice players, prospects and picks later, I managed to build a not that bad team with a lot of players to trade. Not knowing all the salaries aspect and rules made me do a couple beginner mistakes. I worked hard and build a team that was about to do right in the upcoming season. But it was that, didn’t really liked the players I had and decided to turn everything around and restart with young players I really like this time.

 

So, players Suzuki, Schmaltz, Kunin to only name few of them were acquired from big names we had. I’m really happy with the result. I think that The Amos Comets became a really young balanced team that can do great things.

I Still have a lot to learn about some rules but learnt to know a couple of really great people that helped me a lot through the process that I would like to thank. Some particular thanks to Silvio & Trevor for the big help this summer. A special thank to Matt for making me a CCHL GM, for the great hockey talks and sharing his knowledge with me.

Chinook 2020/21 Season Preview:

 Chinook 2020/21 Season Preview:

 Some positive signs coming during Calgary Chinook rebuild 

Led by new GM Eugene Yip, the Calgary Chinook will look to continue rebuilding, with a good crop of young guns set to become regular NHLers in the not so distant future. The results won't be pretty, but it's still an exciting time for Chinook fans. 

Last season, general manager Eugene Yip decided go into a full rebuild, parting ways with captain Mark Giordano and dealing Panarin, O’Reilly, Carlson, Letang, Pietriangelo, and Backlund before the trade deadline. Returning are young and promising players and prospects such as Matter Tkachuk, Brady Tkachuk, Nils Hoglander, Fiala, Mangiapane. 

With the hockey god at their side, they eventually turned one of the 1st round pick into this year draft top prize left winger Alexis Lafreniere. “Yeah, we got really lucky. “ Said GM Eugene “With Lafreniere in our system, I can say we are one or two years ahead of our rebuild. “ The Chinook also drafted Center Anton Lundell and Right Winger Tyson Foerster. They don’t stop there, with four more 1st round pick coming in the 2021 draft. The Calgary Chinook are filling the cupboard as fast as they can. 

“We are still looking to stay competitive this year, our main goal is to make the playoff and eventually win another Kehler cup for the city of Calgary.” Said GM Eugene. “Our first line (Barkov, Gaudreau and Pastrnak) is as lethal as any team’s first line. The Tkachuk brothers with Derek Ryan will be tough to play against nights in and nights out. 

With the addition of UFA signings such as Carl Hagelin, Core Perry, Patrick Marleau, Dan Hamuis, Jamie Oleksiak and PK Subban, these veterans will be mentors to some of our young stars in the team. 

The CCHL veterans are expected to bring experience to a fresh-faced lineup as well as help with toughness and scoring. 

"They've been in the league for awhile and they know what it takes already," Barkov said. "Whereas trying out young guys, you're not sure sometimes how they're going to pan out or if they're going to break into the league. It's nice having guys who've been there and done that." 

Calgary will kick off the season Wednesday when they battle the Portland Owls in Calgary.

Sudbury Miners - 2020-21 CCHL Season Preview

 

Sudbury Miners - 2020-21 CCHL Season Preview

 

CANADIAN PRESS (Sudbury, ON):

 

The Sudbury Miners appear to have turned a corner.  Based on their past couple of seasons, they have continued to make progress and have even enjoyed some small successes.  Their young core got another taste of the playoffs in 2019-20, and if last year’s first round win versus Springfield was any indication, they are ready to contend.

 

Kehler Cup odds: 15-1

Key Additions: Brayden Point - C;  Artemi Panarin - LW;  Seth Jones - D;  Roman Josi -D.

Key Departures: Sean Monahan - C;  Dylan Larkin - C;  Mikhail Sergachev - D;  Kyle Palmieri - RW.

 

The Sudbury Miners ended their 2019-20 season with a 41-30-11 record, good for 6^th in the Canosa Conference and were able to clinch a playoff berth on the second last game of the season.  They were able to avenge the previous seasons’ playoff loss to the Springfield Isotopes, before bowing out to the eventual champion Siberia Ice Cats in 6 games.

But, now pressure begins for the Miners.  Management feels that the time has come for the Miners to truly contend, and made a number of off-season moves to support this.  They are deeper and more talented than last year’s team but with that, expectations are much higher.  This rabid fan-base, is starting to grow impatient when it comes to a lack of playoff success and is looking for a long playoff run this season.   Anything short of a Conference Final berth would be deemed a disappointment.

 

UP AND COMING PLAYER TO WATCH

Highly touted winger, Travis Konecny is looking to continue his upward trend as one of the top producing wingers in CCHL.  He has the offensive skills and grit to become one of the Miners most productive players.  He is slated to start on a newly formed second line with Brayden Point and Zach Hyman.  The hope is that with Point’s playmaking abilities, Konecny can fill the net and add to what appears to be a dangerous Miners attack.  It is not unreasonable to expect 25-30 goals from Konecny this season.

 

WHAT A SUCCESSFUL 2020-21 SEASON WOULD LOOK LIKE

After a couple of years of progress with their young core, it seems that simply making the playoffs again this year will not be enough.  This fan-base is hungry for a winner.  A first round bye and winning a playoff round, (or maybe even two) would have to make one think that the season would be a success.  Whispers around the Nickel City is that management has expectations of a Conference Final berth with this team.  One thing is for certain - remaining at status quo is not an option this year.

 

BIGGEST REMAINING QUESTION

Ideally, all of the off-season changes work out perfectly and the Miners do contend as expected.  But, the CCHL season is long and there are always events that happen to change things during the season.  The real question is that with these heightened expectations, how will this team respond when they are expected to win?

 

TOP 10 PROSPECTS

1.  Spencer Knight, G – Boston University (NCAA)

2.  Grigori Denisenko, LW – Yaroslavl (KHL)

3.  Victor Soderstrom, D – Brynas (Swe.)

4.  Cole Perfetti, LW – Saginaw (OHL)

5.  Peyton Krebs, C/W – Winnipeg (WHL)

6.  Philip Broberg, D – Skelleftea (Swe.)

7.  Nick Robertson, LW – Peterborough (OHL)

8.  Lassi Thomson, D – Ilves (Fin.)

9.  Dylan Holloway, C – Wisconsin (NCAA)

10.  Connor Timmins, D – Colorado (AHL)

 

PREDICTION:  2^nd in Canosa Conference.

Sudbury Miners - 2020 End of Summer Review

 

Sudbury Miners - 2020 End of Summer Review

 

CANADIAN PRESS (Sudbury, ON):

 

The completion of CCHL Entry Draft usually signifies that summer is here and it is supposed to be a time of rest and relaxation.  But for Sudbury Miners General Manager Terry James, it was the opposite.

With a number of significant moves made just before and after the draft, James feels that he has put together the best team he has had during his time in Sudbury and feels that they have a real shot at creating some noise this upcoming season.

“As a management group, we felt that with the development of some of our younger players and with the prospect depth we had, we were comfortable making some aggressive moves in order to give our team its best shot going into the 2020-21 season”, stated James.  “We know we are in a tough conference this year, with a lot of good clubs, so we knew moves had to be made in order for us to challenge.  We are excited for this year to start”.

During his end of summer press conference, James talked about the major moves he made this summer in detail and the expected impact each will have on the team.  Each move has been summarized below.

 

·         FOR trades S. Jones & I. Mikheyev to SUD for M. Sergachev, A. Stralman, Akil Thomas  & SUD 2nd-20

With this deal, Sudbury acquires a true top pairing defenceman, who will pair with Roman Josi, acquired at the end of season.  Mikheyev provides good depth, is solid defensively and comes in at a good cap hit.   The price was not cheap, as Sergachev is just starting to scratch the surface of what he can become.  A solid deal for both teams involved.

 

·         SUD trades S. Monahan & SUD 1st-21 to BIS for Lassi Thomson, BIS 1st-21 & BIS 1st-22

With the acquisition of both Brayden Point and Pierre-Luc Dubois at the end of last season, to go along with Sebastian Aho, Monahan was an expensive luxury that the Miners could not afford to have on their 4^th line.  They were able to move him for a top prospect and a couple of first round draft picks to re-stock their prospect cupboard.

 

·         SUD trades T. Seguin, Hendrix Lapierre, Justin Barron & Gabriel Fortier  to AMO for A. Panarin

This was a deal that surprised a lot of people as the Miners traded fan favourite Seguin in the deal.   But when a player of Panarin’s calibre becomes available, you got for it.  He gives the Miners a true top scoring winger and he is slated to start the season on the top line with Aho.   The pairing has the potential to be something special and the Miners hope they can wreak havoc in the Canosa Conference.

 

·         SUD trade D. Larkin, Alex Formenton-p & SUD 3rd-21 to GEO for B. Boeser, B. Hayton-m & GEO 2nd-22

It was clear with this deal, that the Miners were dealing from a position of strength at center, already having Aho, Point and Dubois as their top 3, not to mention prized rookie Kirby Dach waiting in the wings.  The Miners needed to upgrade their talent and depth on wing, and were able to get that in Boeser, while also securing a top prospect in Hayton.   A good deal for both teams.

 

·         SUD trades K. Palmieri, Simon Holmstrom-p and $2M to ISL for B. Rust...

It was no secret that James was looking for some more scoring on the wing, and he was finally able to find that in Rust.   A responsible forward in his own end as well, Rust is slated to start the season on the top line with Aho and Panarin.  That trio could pose some problems for opposing goalies this upcoming season.

 

There has been a substantial amount of roster turnover since their second round loss to Siberia last spring, but given all of their off-season moves, the Miners are deeper and more talented than the roster they ended with last season.  Fans and Management are optimistic and hopeful in the Nickel City, that James has pulled the right trade strings this off-season and they will be rewarded with a long playoff run in 2020-21.

Maybe even win it all.   You never know……stranger things have happened.