Thoughts from the Commish!

 It is just before the season's halfway point, so I decided to look at a few things happening around the league thus far.  

This week, the Simon T simulator had to be updated.  In season's past it has created some significant issues with doing an upgrade during the season but I'm happy to report it was an easy upgrade.  With that being said, if you submit your lineups using the downloadable client, you will need to upgrade your software in order to submit lineups.  Several of you have already done this successfully, but if you haven't noticed yet - you probably are playing with invalid lineups and should upgrade soon.  

Speaking of invalid lineups, I did a review of participation on Saturday morning prior to games being played.  

Thus far, 858 lineups have been submitted this season which when reviewed over an entire season, puts us right on track for the average number submitted.  Last year's 1790 was such a massive increase over the normal number (by 500), so it appears we have reverted back to our normal numbers.  That's not a bad thing as long as lineups are being monitored.  

In terms of invalid lineups, we have had 98 so far, which is about an 11% invalid lineup rate.  It seems a bit high but when you factor out the three teams that have already forfeited lineup bonus money this season, it's sitting around three percent which is a very solid number.  

One solid number I will point out is that 11 teams at this point are perfect when it comes to lineups being valid.  I don't think we've ever had half of our teams perfect at this point in the season so those GMs are doing a great job at staying current and engaged.  I cannot thank you enough for that, as it means we do the work running the league for people who care.  

An early look at the Christmas time schedule shows me looking at doing early mid-morning games on December 23rd, December 28th and December 29th.  Please be aware of the change and it will be noted on the website.  

At this point, the plan is to not run games on Christmas - December 25th - but the 24th and 26th will be business as normal.  December 24th will probably be sometime around 1:00PM but there will be games.  

I think that's it for now.  I hope everyone has a great holiday season.  

Millers Musings

 Georgetown made 2 transactions in the last couple of weeks. Chronologically speaking, the first one saw LW Eric Robinson signed to a 2 year contract. This was a signing for next season, as the club’s current depth chart and Robinson’s tepid 23-24 NHL performance makes him unlikely to contribute this year. However Robinson is off to a great start in the 24-25 season and could make a good bottom 6 winger or depth option. 

The big move came with regular trading partner Amos, as the Millers gave up a big chunk of their youth in Marco Rossi, Ridley Greig and David Jiricek to acquire RW Martin Necas, D Alexander Alexeyev and prospect D Jackson LaCombe. 

Alexeyeev is a former 1st round pick who’s settled into a 7-8 Dman role and offers almost no offense when he’s seen the ice. He’s strictly a deep depth option and could hit the waiver wire if the Millers need his roster spot, since they are currently at the maximum of 30. 

LaCombe is a former NCAA and USA World Junior blueliner who was known for his offense and skating as an amateur. His ratings are solid and he could probably hold down a bottom-pairing role right now. He’s currently no higher than 9th on the Millers D depth chart, and his presence could allow one of the other D ahead of him to be included in a deal to improve other areas of the team. 

The big get is Necas, a 25 year-old offensive stud who can fly and can play physically when needed. His defense is a work in progress, and the club is currently teaming him with staunch defensive forwards Andrew Copp and Logan O’Connor at even strength. Necas is seeing time on the 1st power play unit, and could move up the lineup as he acclimates himself to the team and the system, although he’s produced well with his current line mates. Having Necas on the 3rd line distributes the scoring and doesn’t allow any easy matchups for the opposition. 

While pleased with Copp and O’Connor’s early chemistry with Necas, it’s believed that Georgetown would like to upgrade the 3rd line Center spot, bringing in a more well-rounded pivot who can play responsible defense and serve as a dynamic offensive partner with Necas. To that end the club put out feelers about moving a Defenseman for a Center, with only K’Andre Miller and Shayne Gostisbehere currently considered off-limits as they search for that upgrade. 

Wisborg Wisdoms

 After the move to the Swedish mainland it gives a chance to see some SHL action. Living in Malmö it is time to see some live hockey from an NHL farm league.

Yesterday I went to scout at a heated derby between the two most southern SHL teams in Sweden, Malmö-Rögle. Malmö is a so-so team and has not shown much life in about 20 years while Rögle comes from a small market but has big success in recent years. Rögle has historically had a good success at development talents while Malmö usually revert to buy finished products.

So this big southern derby filled the stadium to the max. It was a remarkable big crowd from the visiting team, who loves to beat up Malmö. To spice it up Malmö has two Donut-prospects so was also a scouting trip to Malmö Arena, to see Nicola Pasic (NHL draft 2019 #189) and Dominik Badinka (NHL draft 2024 #34).

The crowd was up to it and the teams were at it from start, with 3 goals in the first 5 min of the game. The visitors Rögle took the lead three times during the game to see Malmö tie it up each time. The game ended 3-3 at end of regulation and went to shoot out where Malmö was cooler in front of the exited crowd. Ending score 4-3 to Malmö, a long awaited derby win.

Nicola Pasic (F) scored the second tying goal from his wing. A nice toe drag around the defender and a top shelf shot was a treat. Nicola is a good skater and a good stick handler. A bit undersized at 5 10 but that is showing less and less importance. He is now 24 years old and is drafted by New Jersey. He will surely be a top line player in Sweden in a few years but will have to step up a bit further to have a chance to get to the NHL, but he could be a nice fit in New Jersey if he is given a shot.

Dominik Badinka (D) is a young defender at 18 years old. He plays top minutes in a second pairing. He is a good passer, good skater and offensive instincts. He could use some more muscle and use his body more as many young defenders. He will be NHL ready in about 5 years. He is drafted by Carolina and might have a challenge to crack the line up there, but they drsfted him high so they probably have faith.

Millers Musings November 17, 2025

 On Tuesday the Millers welcomed back F Jordan Martinook, signing the vet to a 2 year contract. He’ll make his debut on Sunday, taking the spot of Logan O’Connor on the 4th line. It’s hoped Martinook can bring some stability to the bottom 6, which has cycled through O’Connor, Ridley Grieg, Andreas Athanasiou and the departed Yanni Gourde as wingers in a desperate attempt to bring the right mix of steady defense and enough offense.

O’Connor joins Mario Ferraro as a player expected to be a steady contributor who has instead found himself as a healthy scratch.  O’Connor has been strong on the penalty kill but his even-strength work has been atrocious, with just 4 points and a minus 9 in 20 games. Unlike Ferraro, whom the Millers are willing to eventually turn back to either later this season or next year, O’Connor has been rumored to be on the trading block.

Ferraro may return to the lineup soon, as the team is increasingly losing patience with Jake McCabe. After abandoning the pairing with K’Andre Miller and placing him with Shea Theodore, a run of spotty defensive play has the Millers now ready to try McCabe with Sean Walker. If the results aren’t there expect Ferraro to come back in and McCabe to sit or be traded.

It’s believed that the Millers would like to package McCabe and O’Connor together to bring in a winger who can play with Malkin or Larkin. The first line of Larkin-Coleman-Moore was broken up recently, with Coleman moving down to help Malkin, who has only 12 even-strength points in his 28 games. Mallkin, along with Coleman and Jake Neighbours, has been moderately better since the move, but the Larkin-Moore line has struggled as Dylan Guenther doesn’t appear ready for consistent top line minutes just yet, as he has a paltry 2 goals on 69 shots during even strength. The youngster is tied for the team lead in power plays goals so he’ll stay in the lineup even if a top 6 winger is brought in.

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.