State of the Loons; Filling out the Roster

 With free agency coming to a close and no picks til round 7, it seems like now is a good time to check in on the Loons before they head into hibernation for the summer. 

Last year the Loons worked hard to keep the payroll down in order to get the team back in solid financial shape. Combine that with some expansion money and the Loons were able to use free agency to strengthen the roster. The Loons threw some cash at a couple of local guys in Brian Dumoulin and Johnathan Quick. Dumoulin gives the Loons another shutdown defenseman, boasting a showtime D rating of 90. Brian turns 31 later this year, making a 4 year deal a pretty safe bet for the Loons. Quick has seen a resurgence this past year and will provide the Loons with a mentor for Oettinger and a 1B in net. Riley Sheahan resigns for one more year to help the penalty kill and Martin Jones comes in on a 3 year deal to provide organizational goaltending depth at a reasonable $2m per.

Our biggest regret in free agency definitely was not gauging the market correctly when it came to Logan Thompson. After watching a lot of Vegas games this year Thompson was one of our top targets heading in. Knowing that as a young goalie Thompson at best was going to have average ratings - the Loons really thought we could steal him and have Logan at an affordable contract for years to come. Come to find out we are not as smart as we hoped and lost out by being too cocky. Lesson learned.

Even though the CCHL is in a trade freeze I am sure it is no shock to anyone that the Loons have made a series of trades. Even though some deals may not be official til later in the summer, State of the Loons has em! Coming to Capeside next year are Brandon Carlo, Cam York, Jonas Brodin, Brock Boeser, Jared McCann, Hampus Lindholm and Tyler Toffoli. Heading out of town are Werenski, TVR, F. Gaudreau, Gibson, Hot Dog Phil, Perreault and all of our good draft picks through 2024. Our roster remains full of players in their early to mid 20s with a few veterans sprinkled in. This has made moving draft picks possible and easier to swallow. The Loons should for the first time in our short history have some scoring depth to go along with a strong blue line. Even though we are still a year or two away from competing for the cup our two year playoff drought should come to an end this year - we hope!

Come September the Loons should line up like this

Kreider        Eichel        Boeser

McCann      Zegras        Toffoli

Farabee      Hayes        Garland     

Sanford      Sheahan      Boldy

McAvoy        Brodin

Carlson        Dumoulin

Hanifin          Carlo

Oettinger

Quick

And our updated top 10 prospects is not looking too great

1.        Matty Beniers            C

2.         Ian Mitchell               D

3.        Drew Commesso      G

4.        Jack Rathbone          D

5.        Lucas Forsell           RW

6.        Henry Thrun              D

7.        Oscar Jellvik            LW

8.        Jakub Lauko            LW

9.        Jay O'brien                C

10.      Josh Lopina              C

CCHL Off-season getting underway!

 Welcome back to the Commissioner’s Corner, and now that the expansion draft is a thing of the past, we can review a whole bunch of stuff related to it and the upcoming months.

First, full credit to each CCHL General Manager for their expansion protection lists.  With all due respect, when we made the expansion rules, we could not have imagined how well each team would manage those rules and use them to their advantage.  It created a situation where so many UFA players were exposed, the teams could not fill out a roster without the exemption of allowing them three UFA player re-signs for this season only.  This was important for roster numbers but to also avoid making these teams completely disadvantaged coming into the season.

On that note, I think the expansion teams did a very good job of taking the best players available to them.  It presents them with an opportunity to be in a lot of games next year, or to move those players for future assets.  It has set them up nicely for the future in my humble opinion. 

Trading will remain closed for another week, and we’ll announce exactly when it opens later in the week.  The reason for the trade freeze right now is to give Bobby an opportunity to switch over team payrolls for the upcoming season so we are not in full scramble mode after an off-season of trading.  Once it does open, it will only open for a week as we get into the free agent season after that where rosters must be frozen to manage the process.

RFA/UFA re-signs are due to the league by April 23^rd so we can process and drop players available for free agency at that time with the expected round one to be due by May 3^rd. 

There is a lot happening over the next few months and I love this time of year (despite the work involved).  There might be a summer freeze so I can dedicate some time to doing some web stuff to potentially make things easier for the league, but it’s hard to say at this point if this is a real goal or a hypothetical goal. 

All in all, a lot of stuff happening including the closing of our financial season this week when midnight hits on Thursday night. 

Keep checking regularly as the offseason is going to be in full swing shortly!  

State of the Loons; 2021 Wrap up

 For the second year in a row the Loons missed the playoffs. Even after a series of transactions that made the team more competitive, it is important to remember that the Loons are still in the midst of a rebuild. 2020 was a complete tear down of an overpaid, aging team. 2021 saw us take the assets that we acquired in 2020 and moved them for established players in their early 20s like McAvoy, Eichel and Farabee. After a strong start to 2021 the team came back to earth. A lack of offensive depth and being toward the bottom of the league in goal differential did us in. Our captain was a -26, our top defenseman was a -17; you just can not win that way.

So what is next for the Loons? "We will continue to stick to our plan - we need to remember that their were successes this year." 

Our top priority was staying out of bankruptcy. That was a success - we finished the year +$18m and that is before a $30m influx of cash from expansion, and another $5m or so from a year of perfect lineups and riveting blogs/tweets. 

2021 saw us continuously working on making our roster ready for the looming expansion. Many times we had to fight the urge to acquire reinforcements on the back end, only to then risk losing the player for nothing during the expansion draft. I can say that this was another success. This past Sunday we submitted our official expansion lists to the league office - we can only apologize to the Campers and Nuggets. A loss of UFA's Sheahan, Forbort, Pitlick or fringe roster players Vesey, Nosek and Smith will not make much of an impact on 2022.

So what can we expect for 2022? Our best guess is it will be a fight to make the playoffs once again. in 2021 we saw steps forward from out top prospects in Zegras and Boldy. Both should make much greater impacts for the Loons in 2022. For the first time in Loons history we will likely have a 50 goal scorer in Chris Kreider. The blue line of McAvoy, Brodin, Carlo, Hanifin, Lindholm and Carlson should be our stength. 

However, it's not all sunshine and unicorns. There will be question marks that will need to be addressed. Will a goaltending tandem of Oettinger and Petersen be good enough? How much will the time he missed hurt  Eichel's production? When will Wahlstrom take a consistent step forward? Will the new expansion team's inexperience in the bidding process and the influx of expansion money for established teams make free agency unaffordable?

After a lot of research into the 2022 draft - we decided to pass. Our draft picks went to the gamble that Boeser can rebound and become a top line RW. And our man crush on Beniers took us out of the 2023 draft - so this is the roster that we will live and die with for the foreseeable future. See ya in September

WIS playoffs 2021-2022 retrospect

 The Donuts entered the playoffs as divisional winner and second best overall record. All players healthy for the playoffs and 3 goalies qualified for action, so the table was set.

First round was set against Portland Owls. During regular season we had met 6 times and it was a 4-2 in my favor. Jumping to a fast 2-0 lead in my home games and was then bombed in 4 game, chasing Kahkonen from the game. Game 5 at home and late in second period Lindholm scored to make it 5-3. Third period Portland got a goal midway through but soon after Draisatl scored a powerplay goal which was the last of the game and series. WIS advance due to 4-1.

Second round against Parry Sound Orrsmen who just had swept division second seed team, Fort Erie Falcons.  Again the regular season record was 4-2 in my favor. Again gaining a 2-0 lead in my home games via 2 one goal victories. Those close defeats broke the back of the Orrsmen and resulted in 2 easier wins away and a sweep of the series, WIS advance 4-0.

Division finals against Niagara Falls Thunder and this was scary as the regular season record was 1-5 in favor of Niagara and had improved during the season by getting Kane, Nurse and Petry before the deadline. All fears where realized as Niagara was awesome for 4 periods then Donuts evened it up but was down 0-2 after the inital home games. Third game was won but we lost Elias Pettersson after 3 min playing time in first period. In the fourth game Niagara jumped to a 3-0 lead and won the game easily with 3-1 and leading the series by 3-1 while regular season best player Pettersson was on injury list. It looked bleak for The ´nuts. Captain McDonut, sorry McDonagh rallied the team and told them one game at the time. Game 5 at home and Donuts jumped to a 5-0 lead and took a win by 5-2. Game 6 was a goaltending game and Niagara Binnington took 45 of 46 shots but Ullmark took the shout out. The series suddenly tied at 3-3, last game at home and Niagaras Stamkos was starting to look tired after being used heavily. Game 7 became a nail biter, Niagara in the lead after 2 periods, two quick goals by Donuts turned the table to 4-3 and a mid period power play goal scored by Marchand made it a 4-4 game after regulation time. So into overtime in game 7!

Hamition looked like a villain taking a hooking call 5 min into OT, but the Donuts managed to hold off. After 9 minutes Klefbom intercepted a pass in own zone and passed it up to Hamilton who slipped into Niagara zone and saw Draisatl beating his defenseman. The pass was made and a quick shot by Draisatl into the net, and the home crowd goes absolutely nuts! OT win in final game for the win, while being out shot 7-6 in the OT period. WIS advance to finals via 4-3 and a comeback from 1-3.

The Sudbury Miners had best record so Donuts had to start on road for first time. During regular season Donuts was 2-0 against the Miners, so there was hope. Donuts had Pettersson back in action and at the 6 min it is 1-1 and Kopitar takes a face off in own zone and in the ensuing battle he is hit by Wheeler and his knee buckles. Kopitar is taken out on a stretcher and looks to be out for rest of season. Donuts respond to the loss and penalize Niagara for taking penalties by doing 3 unanswered powerplay goals before the first period ends and then cruise to a 6-3 win. Game two was won in similar fashion with 4 unanswered goals over first 2 periods and ending 4-1. So 2-0 lead after two road games. A sell out crowd saluted the team and wanted them to finish the series at home ice. Game 3 was low scoring but Kaprizov and Rakell gave the Donuts a lead and a later Wheeler goal was not enough. 3-1 in games and a chance to to win the Kehler cup for first time in front of home crowd.

Fourth game, no goals in first period but Sudbury was not giving it up and scored first, in early second period. Two later goals by Draisatl and Hamiton turned the tables so the Donuts where leading at the end of the second period. At the start of the third period Draisatl intercepted a pass from Josi in neutral zone and found an advancing Kaprizov who went into Niagaras zone and took the shot, a 3-1 lead! Donuts could then hold onto the lead in front of a crazy crowd at the Bag in Wisborg. Matthews and Lindholm scored later and the game ended 4-2 and the Donuts could raise the Kehler Cup in front of a frantic home crowd.

A few fact to round it out.

Draisatl had an injury during regular season making him only have around a 6% shot procent during the season but at playoffs he doubled the shot procent and lead the playoffs in goals, assist and points, as well as most minutes played by any forward in playoffs. Second best %-rating in face of with 57%. But the most important was the goal in overtime in game 7 in front of the home crowd.

Hamiton lead all defenders in points and scored the most goals in playoffs with 8. 7 of the goals was powerplay goals and 2 better than any other player in playoffs. But best remembered in same game 7 OT for first taking the penalty and later finding Draistl with a pass for the clicher and securing the win with a goal in game 4 in finals.

Lehner also deserves a mention with most wins during playoffs and best GAA at 2,54 per game. So outstanding team members on all positions but a team effort riding out being down and almost out, injuries to key players Lindholm, Pettersson and Kopitar.

The powerplay was until the last 7 games by far the worst of all teams in the playoffs south of 10%. The last 7 games had a near 30% powerplay and resulted in 7 straight wins in the last games!

WIS regular season 2021-2022 retrospect

 The Donuts went into the season with high hopes as the player material suddenly felt pretty combatable. But that is what most GMs think at start of season.

Here is a retrospect of the regular season and some facts and awards.

The season ended with first place in the division and second overall after the Sudbury Miners. We trailed Miners by one point and was 17 points ahead of Fort Eire in the division. We had one mayor injury during the season to first line center Leon Draisatl who was out for 11 games. But the team more or less kept up the pace without him during the injury. Oscar Klefbom was also out for 6 games.

Significant trades where made during the season, which isn't very common for the franchise. Dough Hamilton and Alex Pietrangelo was added via trades during the season. Early in the season we could see that the defense needed a few pieces to match the offense on the team. Dough was mostly plugged into top pairing while Alex was put on second pairing.

The team strung together a six game long winning streak during the season, and the overall record was 82 56 20 6 118 (Gms-W-L-OTL-Pts)

Second line Center Elias Pettersson was top point player with 89 points in 82 games. One goal behind topscorer Elias Lindholm who had 39 goals in 82 games.

The management has spent some money on a new reward, the Golden Donut! It has the shape of a donut and is said to be made of pure gold.

This years winner is Elias Lindholm for his season in all aspects of the game. He had most goals on the team, played all games and most forward minutes, played on PK where his 3 short handed goals was top on team and third overall in the league.

A bit disappointment was first line center Leon Draisatl with only 23 goals and a 7% shot procent.

A follow up with follow over the playoffs, once the playoffs ends.

CCHL Bonus Cash - An Early Look

 Welcome back to the annual state of the CCHL Bonus Cash blog where I, your friendly yet stunningly good-looking commissioner, lays out how things look for bonus money.  

While we still do not have the blog money or twitter funds tabulated (that runs until April 15th), we do have all of the CCHL season bonus cash based on performance and lineups accounted for at this point in time.  

The biggest difference this year is that our bonus money for lineups being valid and accurate dropped about five million dollars and declined for the first time in four seasons.  Our record bonus payout was last season at $52.5 million as a league whereas this year we are paying $47.25 million dollars.  

We had five teams that did not qualify for even a cent of bonus money based on having nine-plus illegal lineups, while seven teams maximized the $4.75 million dollar bonus by having a perfect lineup for the season.  

In reality, the number isn't as stark as it seems, as two teams made up approximately five percent of all illegal lineups this season.  

Overall the lineups received were down 41 total lineups in total, but it did mark the fifth straight year of decline in lineups received.  The bright side is that while there has been a decline, the reality is last year we did set a record level of bonus cash for lineup validation, so there doesn't seem to be a true correlation between the lineups received and bonus money paid out.  It was also only down about two lineups per team in 2021-22 as well, so we're not really far off the pace we had last year when we set a record. 

Sudbury paced the overall bonus money thus far with eight million, while Siberia finished second with a solid $7.75 million and Fort Erie finished third with $6.75 million.  Wisborg also joined the six million club with that mark even as well.  

Full details will be posted in the coming weeks once our blog money and twitter participation has been accounted for.  Stay tuned for that and if you are interested in knowing your current total, please feel free to reach out to ask.  

State of the Loons; Changes on the Way

 After 4 years it is finally looking like the Loons' on ice product finally has a direction; however off the ice we have been facing some major issues as of late. Out of no where the Minnesota State Lottery filed a lawsuit against the Loons for copyright infringement. It appears that our current logo is strikingly close to the Minnesota lottery logo. We are not ready to point the finger of blame, but we seem to think a fellow GM with ties to Minnesota might be to blame. It is well known that this GM has a love of scratch tickets and the lottery advertised throughout that Minnesota barn. We can not prove anything yet, but I am sure someone is about to receive a influx of scratch tickets by dropping the dime on the Loons! To rectify the situation and avoid a lawsuit we have agreed to change the Loons' logo on our primary jerseys while paying a fee in order to use the old logo on our third jerseys. 

Four and a half years ago we relocated the Ottawa Barracudas to Capeside. A state of the art arena was built to serve as the home for the Loons - the Nest. Makes sense right?  - in the wild a loon's home is its nest. However, the same goes for an owl. A fellow CCHL team in the northwest also uses an arena known as the Nest. According to our CCHL commissioner he has been received a lot of negative feedback from Ticketmaster due to confusion between the two Nests. To get the commissioner off of our backs -  beginning next year the Loons' barn will be known as Loon Pond in Capeside. Our publicity team will not be happy but we are including a sneak peak at our sophisticated blue prints. As you can see we have spared no expense!

Our final bit of off ice business is relocating our minor league affiliate from Northampton, MA to Dawson Creek, British Columbia. As great as it is to have been in such close proximity to Northampton, covid has made Northampton very difficult to work with. The final straw was last month when our favorite local frozen yogurt shop closed down. Without the natural frozen yogurt topped with mini marshmallows and fresh raspberries there just is no reason to stay in NoHo any longer. We are thrilled to introduce the Dawson Creek Loonies and Charlie Conway as their coach.