Fort Erie GM Media Availability re-cap from Saturday

Earlier Saturday afternoon, Fort Erie Falcons GM Matt Young held his end-of-season media availability.  It was clear that the GM was not pleased about the earlier than expected exit from the playoffs but he was also very optimistic about the team’s future. 

Reporter #1:  So what went wrong in your opinion?  The second-round exit can’t make you happy.  Where did this team fail? 

Young:  Well, I think we really struggled in goal.  Holtby came in and really took the number one job but struggled in the playoffs and that caused us to turn to Mac.  He just doesn’t have the experience at this level and he played well, but he didn’t steal any games for us when we needed him.  That’s not an indictment on him so much as just a state of what happened.  He’ll be fine but Braden won’t be returning and has expressed a desire to move on. 

Reporter #2:  You seem to have a big talent issue with this roster.  Next year Strome, DeBrincat, Robertson, and Verhaeghe seem very ready to assume a spot.  What do you do to make room for them? 

Young:  Well, we never assume but there are four guys up front that are good to go and we feel that can make the team.  That means we’re going to have to give some veterans like Blake Wheeler, Reilly Smith and Bread (Panarin) an opportunity to play elsewhere to receive the minutes and contribute to the level they need to contribute at.  We loved their contributions here but we really need to give our young guys an opportunity too. 

Reporter #3:  What about Jeff Petry?  He barely played in the playoffs and does not appear to have a spot in the lineup going forward. 

Young:  Correct, we’re going to have to move him as well.  He was brought in to be on the team should we need him since he was going to miss the playoffs but Jeff’s known from day one it was likely a very temporary arrangement.  There should be a lot of teams after him given his offensive talent and great contract.  McNabb has also expressed a desire to go elsewhere to try to get more minutes as well after a great season with us.  We’ll respect his wishes as well. 

Shortly after the last question, Young’s phone rang and he had to abruptly leave the press gathering.  Was it the first deal of the off-season or something else?  Only time will tell but it should be a fun off-season in Fort Erie. 

Fort Erie Dressing Room Cleanout day

 

With an abrupt end of the season, the Fort Erie Falcons found themselves in a suddenly unusual position of packing up their dressing room stalls much earlier than normal. 

“It absolutely sucks” quipped Patrick Kane on cleanout day.  “I came here because I wanted to win a championship and we fell short.  The good news is I know with this organization, we’ll be back ready to go next year.” 

That’s the one thing about the Falcons, they never really seem to take a year off to rebuild whatsoever.  There is a strong pipeline of upcoming stars such as Jamie Drysdale, Phil Tomasino and Quinton Byfield. 

There are others coming as well, and we have not even begun to mention the young players on the roster that have yet to find a permanent home in the lineup. 

How will Dylan Strome, Nic Hague, and Alex DeBrincat all fit in here next year?  Will Vince Dunn make the leap into full-time status in the CCHL in Fort Erie after being re-acquired? 

Blake Wheeler can definitely see the writing on the wall in Fort Erie.  

"I expect to move on.  There is so much young talent coming in and my agent says there will likely be a big market for my game, so it's impossible to see myself back in this uniform next year.  I'd like to be as I think we have unfinished business, but the reality is that I don't see the minutes here with Mitch and Kaner ahead of me on the right side." 

One thing has to be certain and that’s that GM Matt Young will be looking for some goaltending help with Braden Holtby becoming a free agent this off-season.  Young has said Blackwood and Nedeljkovic will be the goaltenders next year, but it’s hard to believe the veteran General Manager would be comfortable going with such an inexperienced tandem.  The word around the league is that the team would like to bring in a veteran goaltender to step-in should the young goalies hit a speed bump in the ultra-competitive CCHL. 

One thing is certain, the Falcons will be competitive again in 2021-22.

Amos End of Season!

 Man.. What a run it was. You would have bet on us to lose in a 7th game in quarter finals vs Siberia?

Not even me!

Round #1 vs ISL

Won 4 - 2

Starting the Playoffs without our best players Logan Couture wasn’t an easy task even though we did pretty good. We had a 2 games slump after game one. But I was confident that key players would step up. That’s what Couture, Huberdeau & Hamilton did. They pushed us to a 3 wins streak to eliminate the Long Island team in 6 games.

Round #2 vs SIB

Lost 4-3

Starting with no confidence since SIB beaten us 6 times in 6 confrontation. But then, Patrice Bergeron was injured in game 1. This brings us a quick push of confidence. I was our chance to shine. But with a big rivalry in game 2, an injured Dougie Hamilton threw our confidence back down again. Big part of our PP, we knew Dougie wasn’t a player easy to replace. But we kept pushing and even in game 6 with our back against the wall, Andrei Vasilevskiy sent a powerful message that we weren’t dead yet! The reality hits us hard in game 7, with a couple of tired players including an exhausted Vasilevskiy, our great run ended in the wall in Siberia..

I want to thanks all the fans, players, coaches who was part of the insane run. I want to congrats Matt as a rookie commissioner who did an amazing job throughout the missing GMs. I want to wish best of lucks to the last 4 standing. Anything is possible at this point!

We will be ready to discuss transactions as a small list of available players in coming out!

I learnt a lot as a rookie GM and now I am hunger for more!

State of the Loons; End of a Miserable Season

 Finally! This first year of our rebuild is thankfully over. After making the playoffs our first two years, the Loons finished worst in the league with a 22-51-9 record. Honestly, we did not expect to even win 22 games prior to the start of the season. But at least we will draft in the top of the lottery - WRONG! Just a painful reminder of possibly the worst trade in our short Loons' history: Cap trades Pelech, Zajac and CAP 1st-21 to NIA for Kessel and SEA 3-20. But if I was going to try and be an optimist, this looks like the draft to lost a top 3 pick in. Our binky this year, local boy Matt Beniers, is projected to be in that top 3 but only projects to be a 2nd line NHL center. Even still we will make a valent run at being in a position to make Beniers a Loon. 

So where do the Loons stand after finishing dead last? How is the rebuild going? Are we still heading towards bankruptcy? Since the future is our best hope let's take a look at where our prospects are at.

Dec 31 2020                    

1. Zegras                                                

2. Boldy                           

3. Stutzle                       

4. Bean                           

5. Oettinger                     

6. Wahlstrom                    

7. Chinakhov                

8. Lapierre

9. Afansyev

10 Reichel

Mar 29 2021

1. Zegras : He has been called up to a terrible Ducks team and has just 5 points in 15 games. Our hope was for Zegras to spend a lot more time in the AHL getting stronger and adjusting to the pro game. Zegras has held his own and Anaheim appears willing to let him learn on the fly.

2. Stutzle : During a recent broadcast Pierre McGuire called Steutzle "the most ready and exciting player to join the NHL right from the draft in years, he will be a superstar." 19 points in 33 games for a bad Ottawa team isn't bad! Not sure if we are convinced on Tim being a superstar but a top line wing seems a definite. 

3. Wahlstrom: I won't lie, I was starting to have doubts on Wahlstrom. However, Oliver has made a dramatic jump over the past month for the Islanders. He has become one of the top offensive forces for a strong Islanders team with 14 points in the last 17 games.

4. Boldy : He demolished the NCAA this year with 31 points in 22 games. He became a much stronger 2 way player at BC this year and might make the jump to pro hockey now that BC's season is over.

5. Bean: Jake had a lot of doubters due to the strong D core in Carolina. Jake got a chance and forced Carolina's hand and he has been in the lineup ever since. 11 pts in 23 games and staying out of the negative plus minus sounds good to me!

6. Oettinger: Due to an injury to Bishop , Jake is getting a lot of time in Dallas this year and has not disappointed. 2.34 and .909 are not spectacular, but are definitely strong for a rookie goalie. Ups and downs are expected for young goalies so we are trying not to get too excited.

7. Farrance: David had an amazing year at BU with 16 points in 11 games often showcasing a blistering shot from point. Today he signed his ELC and expects to report to Nashville immediately. 

8. Pinto: 32 points in 28 NCAA games for Pinto says enough, looks to be the next young prospect heading up to Ottawa.

9. Reichel: Reichel's strong two way game in thriving in Germany and may be ahead of schedule for a North American arrival.

10. Lauko: Picking #10 out of Rathbone, Kaiser, Commesso, Vladar etc was tough, but when in doubt always go with a Bruins prospect. After overcoming a series of injuries, Lauko is having a very successful second AHL season in Providence with 13 points in 14 games. Jakub might get a look soon for the offensively struggling Bruins.

It appears that the rebuild is ahead of schedule with a possible 7/10 prospects being eligible for the Loons roster next year. All those rookie deals just might keep us out of bankruptcy. 

Going forward we plan on making a strong effort to add Beniers to our prospect pool. Not sure if it will happen but we will give it a shot. Like always we will explore the trade market for over achieving veterans like Doonskoi, Dzingel and Granlund with hopes of adding draft picks. We also plan to do whatever it takes to not even look at UFA lists and be tempted to spend more money. 2021-22 might be an even lower point total for the Loons with the large infusion of rookies, but at least it will be more fun.

Siberia's CCHL Playoff Analysis – The Corfield Conference

 

Hello sports fans. The Corfield Conference certainly provided us with some heart stopping series. 3 of the 4 series went the full distance. How will this extended set of games impact these teams?

                The first team to advance in the Corfield semifinals were the Seattle Reign. GM McCurdy had his team ready to go against GM Yip’s Calgary Chinook. Seattle started strong and finished strong, defeating the former Kehler Cup champions 4-1. While GM Yip is likely disappointed by the results, he is absolutely ecstatic at the results of the draft lottery, landing the first overall pick for the second straight year. That’s quite the luck for the Chinook!

                The defensing Corfield Conference champion Fort Erie Falcons got off to a rocky start against the ever-feisty Parry Sound Orrsmen. GM Connor has certainly had his team ready to go out of the gate as they stormed out to a 2-0 lead, before the Falcons took the next 3 games. It seemed that the Falcons would take the series 4-2 but the Orrsmen fought back with a win in game 6 to force the tense game 7. The strength and experience of the Falcons ultimately prevailed. In the next round they will face…

                The Portland Owls gave us the first upset of these finals, defeating the powerful Wisborg Donuts in 7 games. This was a very tough series and it looked like the Donuts would easily advance after taking the first 2 games. GM Zoladz’s Owls stormed back to take the next 3 before the Donuts tied the series in game 6. The Owls were just too determined and upset the Donuts 5-2 in game 7. GM Kallum is likely upset but is already scouting Swedish players for the upcoming CCHL draft.

                Finally, the former champs, the Bismarck Ibex, also went the distance against the tough Tampere Lynx. New GM, Scott Smith, and his Lynx performed admirably as they pushed the favored Ibex to 7 games. If early indications mean anything, GM Smith’s team will be competitive for many years to come. GM Condon’s team will face off against the Seattle Reign, who lost in the Corfield Conference finals last year to the Fort Erie Falcons.

                Who will come out of the Corfield Semifinals and advance to the conference finals? Only time will tell! Stay tuned sports fans!

Siberia's CCHL Playoff Analysis – The Canosa Conference

 

                Hello sports fans. The regular season is over, and the second season has started. We had a wild finish to the regular season as the Fort Erie Falcons once again led the league in points with the Sudbury Miners trailing only by 1 point, and the Siberia Icecats trailing by 2. Now comes the exciting time of the year where legendary moments can be made!

                Let’s look at the playoff race in the Canosa Conference. In round 1, the Sudbury Miners faced off against a team that was red hot at the end of the year, the Georgetown Millers. GM Kash put quite a scare into the Miners after taking the first 2 games of the series. The Miners rebounded quite strongly by taking the next 4 games to win the series. This was a heck of a fight! The Miners certainly look strong.

                The Miners will face the Springfield Isotopes. GM Stacey hopes that his acquisitions of Tavares and Carlson can help him get the edge over the conference-leading Miners. Springfield had a long series with the Aces, with the series going the full 7 games. Will that extra day of rest help the Miners or will the Isotopes build off of their game 7 performance to advance to the Canosa Conference finals? Can Captain Giordano lead his team to an upset of the Miners?

                The Siberia Icecats faced off in a matchup of the last 2 Kehler Cup champions. The Icecats played tough and defeated the Norsemen in a sweep, but not before the Norsemen knocked out Colton Parayko for some time. It appears that Parayko will be able to return early in the next series against……

                The darlings of the Canosa Conference, the feisty Amos Comets. The Comets overcame a 2-1 series deficit to storm back to win the series 4-2 against the Long Island Express. This will be a tough but familiar matchup for these two teams. Captain Jonathan Toews vs. Captain Connor McDavid. Should make for an exciting series!

                Who will come out of the Canosa Semifinals and advance to the conference finals? Only time will tell! Stay tuned sports fans!

CCHL Playoff Thoughts and Coaches?

 It's Sunday and you know what that means?  It's another blog from yours truly, the crown prince of the hockey ramble, the CCHL Commissioner is back putting pen to paper with some thoughts.

That really was quite the opening round of the playoffs.  This is the first year we did the expanded playoffs with seeds seven and eight but all the concerns about those teams being competitive in a playoff environment were definitely proven wrong.  

It was exciting and for the top two teams, far more exciting than playing 82 games to get into the dance only to wait a week because you have a bye.  

Parry Sound gave Fort Erie all they can handle it the series really came down to depth as the Orrsmen had players like MacKinnon, Rask and more playing quite fatigued as the series concluded.  They can play but their impact will be minimized when playing at less than 99/100 fatigue and I think that really became the difference.  

Portland was able to pull off the upset of Wisborg as well in a thrilling seventh game.  Portland is really riding their top line to success thus far in the playoffs but at some point, some of the others will have to step up if Portland wants to continue their impressive post-season run.  

In the Canosa Conference, Sudbury found themselves down two games to open the playoffs only to roar back with four straight wins to send the hot Millers home in the first round.  

Springfield and Las Vegas were expected to be very competitive but in the end, the team with the better goaltending came out on top in the series.  

It's been a pretty fun opening round and we are in for some tremendous series in the second round as well.  

Switching gears, as many of you know I'm in a league with 31 teams using the Simon T simulator and that league uses coaches.  

We have held off on using coaches in the CCHL for some time while everyone gets used to the sim, but I'm wondering if it might be time to add coaches into the mix for us.  

The reasons are simple in a lot of ways.  Who doesn't want to fire a coach when their team becomes a dumpster fire (see;  Sabres, Buffalo)?  The other reason is with a coach at the helm, they can actually impact the way your team is built based on roster construction.  

It could be fun to see the effect John Tortarella or Jon Cooper could have on your team's play on the ice.  Or how about the Mike Babcock redemption tour in the CCHL?  Would be interesting to hear thoughts on coaches because they can enhance your play on the ice based on using a coach designed to help your roster construction.  

In any event, that's all for this week.  Enjoy round two of the playoffs.