Wisborg Wisdoms Part 2

 WIS Player of the Month -October

This year the team will name a Player of the Month (POM). It will be a player that has displayed results beyond expectation.

Player of the Month for October is:

Adrian Kempe

Motivation:

Leading the way as the top scorer on a team loaded with high end talent. His results and expectations for the season is good but in comparison with others that even are kept off roster, are great. He averaged a point per game in NHL but so far in CCHL he has done 1.5 points per game. He is also team leading with points per 20 min.

As a price Adrian will receive a bag of Donuts!

Wisborg Wisdoms

 So 23 games into the season we starting to get a grip on this season. There is no reason to try to sweet talk this. The Donuts are set for a run at the playoffs again, no kidding. We are again in a race but maybe not as close as it was last year at this time, where it was around nine teams neck and neck down to the wire.

This season Donuts choose to load up even further. The Donuts probably have the highest payroll that the CCHL has ever seen, over 2 mil a game. The team is so loaded that we have goal scorers that could fit on any team, on bench to wait out injuries.

So is this sane or not? Time will kind of tell. The stakes are high. The fall could be disastrous but the rewards can also be sweet. It is a gamle and nothing is ever certain in CCHL. Donuts have been knocked out 2 years ago, was on the losing end of a deciding 7th game before turing it around in OT three years ago. There is actually a lot of things that can go wrong.

So after all this where is the Donuts after 23 games? We ar e riding in a fairly comfortable first place so far and having a bit of a cushion to a mob of around five teams chasing. Lots of time remain, lots of trades will be done but so far I guess I am right where I wanted to be.

Every win is a paycheck, but the bonus money is in the equation as well. Let's see how we are doing.

Of course Donuts have a first line, but with lots of talent you can switch around fairly comfortable. So with three high end lines it is scoring on a committee. That translates to only one player in top 15 goal scorers, and only 2 players in the top 30 point collectors. That wont give a lot of bonus money.

With so many scorers on the team it should be no problem setting a great power play together. But the team scores in the top goals per game but comes in at a dismal 17th place in power play goal percentage. That wont give a lot of bonus money.

It is a no brainer that the road to the finals goes through series in own conference. A bit worrying then that 2 out of the 3 games so far against Victoria has been lost, and none has been won in regulation time. We will met up in 6 games this season so it can change. But I would lie if I am not worried, it could end in the start of playoff and that will spell a much smaller amount of bonus money.

Time will tell.

Miller's Musings

 n the heels of an impressive 8-2 run to get the team to a respectable record after their horrid start, the Millers dealt forward Yanni Gourde to Fergus for prospect F William Zellers. 

The Millers then acquired F Joel Armia from Val-d’Or for minor league D Jaydon Struble. 

Moving Out:

Gourde had fallen out of favor, having been a healthy scratch after registering 0 points and a -5 in 10 games. After initially starting the season on the 3rd line with Rossi and Guenther, Gourde’s struggles saw him relegated to 4th line duty and ultimately to the press box. At a $5.5 million salary he was an expensive scratch. His lineup spot on the 4th line was taken by Andres Athanasiou. Gourde was counted on to be a key penalty killer but the PK has been near the top of the league without him. His 2nd go-around in Georgetown ended up being a massive disappointment. 

Struble was acquired this off-season in the Marco Rossi trade. Always viewed as a bottom-pairing or depth defenseman he was currently 10th on the team’s blue line depth chart and didn’t seem likely to move much higher next season with David Jiricek and Jack Thompson potentially moving up to the club. Val-d’Or gives him a much better path to playing time. 

Coming In:

Like Gourde. Armia was a vet who had slid down the depth chart and was a frequent healthy scratch. The Millers are intrigued with his speed and defensive ability and plan to use him regularly in the bottom 6 and on the PK. He’s likely to replace Athanasiou in the lineup. A UFA at season’s end, he is a long shot to be re-signed. 

Zellers was the 85th pick in the 2024 CCHL entry draft. The Minnesota native is currently playing in the USHL with Green Bay and will be attending college at North Dakota. On the small side at 5’10, 170 lbs, Zeller is lauded for his hands, hockey sense and offensive ability. He needs to improve his all-around game and become more dynamic in his skating, as it’s good but he’ll need another gear to make an impact in the pro game at his size. He’s a good 4 to 5 years away from the pros. He profiles as a middle 6 winger if he puts it all together. 

Notes:

Another Miller expected to be an important cog who has recently found himself on the outside looking in is D Mario Ferraro. Ferraro has not shown any real chemistry with any of his defense partners this year, including Shea Theodore, Shane Gostisbehere and Jake Walman. After Theodore returned from injury it was Walman who was chosen to play on the 1st pair with him. The Millers have no plans to move Ferraro out, as he’s still considered a key part of the team’s present and future. 

Recent acquisition Connor Ingram seems to have leaped ahead of Lukas Dostal as the team’s starter in net. The Millers are expected to ride the hot hand this season, and even giving up 6 goals on Thursday still left Ingram with a .902 save % since joining Georgetown. That would rank 6th in the CCHL if he had enough games to qualify.