20 Thoughts That Are Really Five Thoughts by the CCHL Commissioner

 As the Backstreet Boys once said, "Oh my god we're back again!" and well, I am back with another five outstanding revelations on the happenings in the CCHL!  

I promise the rest of the blog will be Backstreet-less and it'll be worth the read.  Well, maybe.  You can be the judge of that but let's get to the meat and potatoes of why we are here.  

1)  The CCHL looks like the overall standings will show that the league has more parity than the previous couple of seasons.  I'm completely curious as to why that might be but I have a few theories.  

The first theory is that teams are seeing the fruits of their previous drafts arriving in the NHL at a faster pace than normal and with more high-end skill than a lot of other years.  NHL teams are not holding back the young guns anymore and it's allowing the CCHL teams to reap the benefits of that faster.  

My other theory is that the removal of the two bye spots and adding two playoff teams in each conference has also inspired teams to be more competitive so they can get their hands on that cold, hard playoff cash.  

Either way, it is wickedly refreshing to see that the parity in the league is at its highest point in the last bunch of seasons.  

2) Tampere once again is open and we are searching for an owner.  If you know anyone, please feel free to send them my way to discuss things.  We've had a few nibbles but nothing close to completion.  A big challenge is that there is a lot of "Yahoo" kind of people that come forward and want to participate but get scared off by the technology (even though it's not hard to send a lineup) or the depth.  

I had a new one this week where for the first time somebody said they didn't want to participate because a season takes too long.  I found that comment interesting because all Yahoo pools take that kind of time as well because we run the length of a hockey season (well actually about 3 months less).  

We will keep pounding the pavement but really this was inevitable given that Tampere, even with an owner, had invalid lineups 15 times in the 30+ games an owner was in place.  

3)  Speaking of illegal lineups, we have two teams that will fail to qualify for any bonus money and four that are losing the majority of their lineup bonus cash, and could soon be at zero.  

On the positive side, we have eight teams that are perfect so far and six others with just one invalid lineup so most of the bonus money is on pace to be collected.  

While we have slipped off the record-setting pace for lineups, we are still on track to have the second most lineups submitted for the 11 seasons it has been tracked.  Even being second, the difference is on track to be less than 10 in difference so that's a strong thing for the league as a whole.  

One interesting note has one team with more invalid lineups than the actual lineups sent which is a significant concern.  If you are concerned this is you, please contact me for the details.  

4)  I was studying goals for and against this year in comparison to last year and the same number holds true for each season surprisingly.  I didn't expect that given the top-end scorers in the NHL last year had some pretty gross seasons but that hasn't translated to our league this year.  It could be the fact that with 22 teams, talent is spread more evenly than with the NHL's 31 teams.  

5)  As of this writing, the trade deadline is just six days away.  I'm curious if any major deals take place given the parity of the league but something tells me it could be one of the quieter deadlines yet.  Now that I've said that, somebody is going to try to prove me wrong - I can feel it!  

Well, we've hit five thoughts and my laundry just finished (nope, the CCHL Commish isn't paid enough to have a laundry person yet!) so I'll end this blog now.  Hopefully, I can return next week with a recap on the trade deadline and more!  

State of the Loons

 

With just over two weeks until the trade deadline, the Loons have begun making some moves. We would love to get our word count up and break down all of our minor moves built around trying to squeeze a few more wins out this year, but no one wants to read about how Riley Sheahan will fit into our lineup. The big news is around our captain Pierre Luc Dubois. Rumors continue to swirl around an unhappy PLD being traded to his hometown team the Montreal Canadiens. Loons fans along with Loons management do not share the same love of the Canadiens and there has not been a Canadien player or prospect on the Capeside roster in our history. So what will happen if Dubois becomes a Canadien? Is he that good for us to break our personal policy on the hated Montreal Canadiens? Not likely. What is more likely is that Dubois will be on the move in the CCHL as well. 

 

Multiple CCHL general managers who maintain a twitter account have already reached out either extending offers or just letting us know that they are ready to make a deal. So lets make some bonus money with a blog while setting the groundwork. Dubois is just 22, so we are not looking to take on any 30 year old players to replace him. A deal we will most likely be looking for will mirror the NHL rumors of 2-3 high end prospects, likely a center and a defenseman. It's no secret that the Loons suck and are in financial trouble after our large investment in last years draft, so we would be looking to add two or three prospects ready to contribute to the Loons roster while playing on their rookie deals as we keep our payroll low. So there it is. If crazy Joe Davola... I mean John Tortorella keeps making a scene and PLD gets his dream of playing on the big stage in his hometown - Dubois could be yours.

 

In other news Craig Janney and the Loons have mutually agreed to part ways just weeks after agreeing to a contract extension. Janney's personal views that he has been sharing publicly on twitter do not match the views of the Loons organization and it snowballed enough to make a change. After Siberia refused our request to interview their head of public relations, we ionically announced today, inauguration day, that Steve Heinze has become the second ever Loons Head Coach. Steve was born in Lawrence, MA and played 3 years at Boston College and then 9 years for the Bruins. As a lifelong Massachusetts resident, Steve knows the passion that our fans have and will work hard to eventually lead a winning team in Capeside. Joining Steve in Capeside is fellow local kid, Adam Gaudette. After bringing the Ottawa Barracudas to Capeside, our first scouting trip was 3 years ago to the Beanpot where we watched a younger Gaudette score a hat trick to give Northeastern its first Championship in 30 years. That day we made our first of many offers to Siberia, many were done just so we could facetime that hard working Director of Entertainment and Public Relations. Still working on that relationship however!

The Nickel Report – Evaluating the 2020-21 Sudbury Miners: Volume 7

CANADIAN PRESS (Sudbury, ON):

 

Up to games ending on January 30^th, 2021

Miners 10-Game (Double Nickel) Record:  8 wins, 2 losses, 0 OT loss.

Miners League Standing:  35 wins, 16 losses, 7 OT Loss = 77 points total.  Currently sit in 2nd place in the Canosa Conference, 4th overall in the CCHL.

Miners Special Teams:  Power Play – 22.5% (4th); Penalty Kill – 82.8% (3rd)

Miners Scoring Leader:  Winger Johnny Gaudreau (30G – 43A = 73 pts; 6th Overall in the CCHL)

 

Given their recent stretch, the Miners appear to be coming together at just the right time, as they look to push up higher in the standings in the final third of the 2020-21 CCHL Season.

With an 8-2 record in the past 10 games, the Miners have now vaulted into 2^nd place in the Canosa Conference, and are nipping at the heels of the divison leading Siberia IceCats.

“We are playing some good hockey right now”, stated Coach Derek Sutton.  “It seems like some of the changes we have made, have given us some good depth and balance.  It’s a nice position to be in as a coach”.

Miners management continues to try and bolster his team prior to the upcoming trade deadline.  General Manager Terry James was able to orchestrate a pair of trades, bringing in wingers Jaden Schwartz and Zach Parise to add skill and depth to their wings.   Parise is clearly a rental for the remainder of this season, as he will be a UFA in May.

But, the message was sent to the players loud and clear.  With all of the changes this season, Miners management believes the window is wide open and feels that they are one of a handful of teams that has a real shot at winning the Kehler Cup this year, and it looks like the players are starting to believe it as well.   

 

MINERS PLAYER PROFILE OF THE WEEK:  Chandler Stephenson

Stephenson, who came to the Miners via a trade with Tampere, is a versatile, swift forward who can play all three forward positions, and excels in defensive situations.  He has worked very hard to improve his game, and has shown that he can produce good offensive numbers at lower levels.  With that being said, he lacks top-end offensive ability and could stand to display greater playmaking qualities.  He is seen as a solid depth forward, with limited upside.

 

MINERS PROSPECT NEED TO KNOW:  Mike DiPietro

The former Canadian World Junior goaltender and Memorial Cup winner often flashes tremendous reflexes in the crease area, and he never quits on a play.  His attitude is what you want to see for the goaltending position at the CCHL level.  His positioning is good and he also has a solid glove hand.  The knock on DiPietro is that he does not have ideal height (6’ 0”) for a starting goalie and he must become a little more consistent.  CCHL arrival:  2024-25.

20 Thoughts That Are Really Five Thoughts by the CCHL Commissioner

 Hey everyone,

Welcome back to another edition of your favorite CCHL column by the Commissioner and well, really, the only one by the Commish!  

Alright, let's get right to the heart of the matter already as I'm not paid by the letter here.  

1)  I'm starting to give some thought to our annual offseason free-agent bonanza and draft periods.  While I haven't discussed anything with the executive committee yet, I lean towards keeping our free-agent period in May or early June and moving our draft until the day after the NHL draft has been completed.  

While we won't have a disk for free agency, this league has rarely done free agency when we've had a disk in hand.  Did it ever happen for APBA?  It's happened for this league but with the Showtime rating set, they have a section on a website where we can view likely ratings at that point in time for the upcoming season.  In order to get that significant task done, I think we try to stay on schedule for late May/early June.  

The entry draft I feel different about.  For 2020 we didn't wait on the NHL to do their draft as we had no clue when it was and I did not want to start the new season without.  This year we have certainty that this will happen in July so I think it's best we wait until then.  When you factor in that so many of these kids haven't really been playing, it's absolutely best in my eyes to wait.  

If anyone has any reasons why this should be different I'd definitely love to hear them discuss with the executive committee.  

2) Lineups are interesting this year as we are trending to have an all-time high in the number received for the season.  I'm still getting the same via email as I did the simulator and the change in the process really has not amounted to more than two extra minutes (thankfully) each day due to a shortcut I found I could take.  

Having said that, there are four or five teams I have significant concerns about for lineups.  We have four teams above seven in lineup violations with one already having forfeited all bonus money this season.  We also have six teams with six or more lineup violations. 

After this, it drops substantially with most teams being at zero or one.  

I cannot help but insist to those that don't send lineups regularly that they need to use the copy all for their rosters and lines button to cover them for more than just the next game.  I know I've said this a lot but I do think that some of this could be avoided.  Having said that, for two teams I think I've received one lineup combined in the last month and one has a streak of zero valid lines for 2021.  Not ideal.  

3)  Injuries have been an interesting thing this season.  Fort Erie finally had their full lineup together for the first time and Wisborg is experiencing life without Shea Weber for over a month.  Injuries at the wrong time could really make an impact that an organization is not banking on and this year it seems to be more impactful than our other two Simon T seasons.  

4)  The trade deadline is after games on day 111.  That's just 19 days away from now so while most have done their work really it seems, there are still 19 days to make that big move to put a team over the top.  

5)  The introduction of slack this year has been good in my opinion.  In saying that, it definitely appears that a lot of those active teams on the transaction sheet are certainly using it well for trade activity in the rooms.  The issue is that those not signed up are missing out on trading and league activity, but are also amongst the lowest in terms of league participation.  I recognize everyone has different levels of time to give the CCHL but I highly recommend joining us on slack as it has really helped keep our inboxes cleaner from trade block emails.  If you need an invite, let me know (one was sent previously).  

That's all for this spine-tingling rendition of 20 thoughts that are really five.  I hope 2021 is treating you well and that soon the virus will be a thing of our past.  

The Nickel Report – Evaluating the 2020-21 Sudbury Miners: Volume 6

 ANADIAN PRESS (Sudbury, ON):

 

Up to games ending on January 13, 2021

Miners 10-Game (Double Nickel) Record:  6 wins, 4 losses, 0 OT loss.

Miners League Standing:  26 wins, 15 losses, 7 OT Loss = 59 points total.  Currently sit in 3rd place in the Canosa Conference, 6th overall in the CCHL.

Miners Special Teams:  Power Play – 19.9% (13th); Penalty Kill – 80.9% (8th)

Miners Scoring Leader:  Winger Johnny Gaudreau (23G – 30A = 53 pts; 15th Overall in the CCHL)

 

After seeking it for most of this season, the Miners appear to have found what they have been looking for in terms of on-ice play – consistency.  And their record is now beginning to show this.

With a record of 12-6-2 in their past 20 games, it appears that the moves that General Manager Terry James has made this season, appear to being paying dividends.   But with that being said, this team will ultimately be judged in how far it can go in the playoffs.

“We are enjoying a good run right now”, stated Coach Derek Sutton.  “But, our division is getting so tight……you can be in 1^st place one night, have a couple bad games and drop down to 5^th!  We simply can not afford a bad stretch, or you could quickly find yourself in some trouble”.   

 

 

MINERS PLAYER PROFILE OF THE WEEK:  Auston Matthews

Matthews is an outstanding offensive talent, and also has great size for the center position.  He knows how to use his size to his advantage and is great at protecting and maintaining possession of the puck. His shot is also lethal.  Despite his size, he doesn’t play very physical and lacks a bit of a mean streak.  While he has plenty of defensive ability, he is prone to lapses from time to time.  With that being said, with all his skills and abilities there is no question that Matthews is a top-5 player in the league.  A franchise center……who rocks a dirty mustache!

 

 

MINERS PROSPECT NEED TO KNOW:  Spencer Knight

A superior athlete with excellent size for a goaltender, he is usually in perfect position to make the routine save. He thinks the game well and can anticipate shooters' tendencies.  He can clear the puck quickly and tracks it very well. He possesses a quick stick when clearing the crease and he has quick reflexes.  Knight won’t make “wow” saves, but that is a good thing - it means he isn’t being caught out of position.  He recently added the 2021 World Junior Championship his resume, with his 2-0 shutout of host Canada in the final.  CCHL arrival:  2024-25.