Sudbury Miners Weekly Report Vol. 6

A Weekly Look at the 2018-19 Sudbury Miners:  Volume 6

CANADIAN PRESS (Sudbury, ON):

Miners Weekly Record: 2 wins, 1 loss, 0 OT loss.

Miners League Standing:  11 wins, 10 losses, 2 OT Loss = 24 points total.  Currently sit in 9th place in the Canosa Conference, 16th overall in the CCHL.

Miners Special Teams:  Power Play – 24.2% (9th); Penalty Kill – 79.2% (8th)

Miners Scoring Leader:  Center Vincent Trocheck (7G – 21A = 28pts; 27th Overall in the CCHL)

The Sudbury Miners kept status quo this week, and continue to remain in the thick of the playoff race in the Canosa Conference.  Despite posting a 2-1-0 record this week including wins over conference rivals Springfield and Hamilton, the Miners were unable to gain any ground and still remain two points back of Victoria for 6th place and the final playoff spot.

“Our goal at the start of the season was to be in contention for a playoff spot”, stated Miner's winger Travis Konecny.  “But now that we are here, we want more. We want to make the playoffs. We want that for the guys in this room and for our hard-working fans back home in Sudbury.  It’s going to be a battle every game for us if we want to remain in this thing”.

The Miners have a chance to make up some ground this week with four, very important games this week  - all with teams they are battling with for the final playoff spot in the Canosa Conference. They open up the week versus Fonthill on Monday, followed by a big game versus Victoria on Wednesday night.  They close the week with a home and home series with Reykjavik. Anything less than a .500 record could spell disaster for the Miners.

MINERS PLAYER PROFILE OF THE WEEK:  Andy Greene

Signed as a free agent in the summer, Greene is a skilled, heads-up puck mover with quick, soft hands and a good passing range.  He does lacks elite startup speed but is balanced, compensates with efficient footwork both forwards and backward, with solid lateral agility.  He has skilled stick work as a defender and does have a physical element, using his short, stocky frame to close gaps and finish checks. He is strong in 1-on-1 battles and absorbs forecheck pressure and creates space for outlets.  He has brought that veteran savvy and stability to a young Miners blueline so far this season.

MINERS PROSPECT NEED TO KNOW:  Jusso Valimaki

Drafted 14th overall by the Miners in the CCHL Entry Draft, Valimaki was taken primarily because of his size and defensive-zone play.  After his last two seasons in the WHL, the point-per-game two-way defender has rounded his game out to new heights. Possessing top-notch skills and a CCHL-ready hockey sense, it was only a matter of time before this top prospect reached his potential.  He’s a strong skater who doesn’t shy away from physicality at every opportunity and has already proven that he’s ready to take the next step. He will be a welcome addition when he arrives in Sudbury. Expected CCHL arrival: 2019-20.

Trader Sam breaks down the latest trades/signings in the CCHL!!!

Good day everyone - Trader Sam is back again!

I hope you are all giving Thanks on this American long weekend and I for one am thankful a few more trades were made this week!  Let's review the transactions of the week, shall we? 

(11/24/18) NIA awarded Z. Girgensons via waiver claim... 

Niagara loves Girgensons (for some reason) but the mighty Z has seen his stock drop a lot over the years and now the former first rounder is a waiver pickup in the CCHL.  It's a nice depth addition but Girgensons likely shouldn't play on a playoff team in the CCHL. 

(11/23/18) GEO trades D. Ryan to VIC for VIC 3rd-19...  

Victoria pays a decent price to acquire the veteran Ryan.  Ryan is a useful player but a third might be a touch high for him.  GM Canosa must see something ol' Trader Sam doesn't in Ryan but Georgetown should be happy with the return. 

(11/20/18) CGY trades S. Crosby & R. Suter to DAY for Travis Sanheim, Gabriel Vilardi-p, Olli Juolevi-p, Ukka Pekka Luukkonnen-p, DAY 1st-19, DAY 2nd-19 & 5M in cash... 

Trader Sam saw this deal and couldn't believe it at first.  It's a bit of a head-scratcher until you look further into the move. 

Calgary acquires a player with massive back issues in Vilardi, a video game addict in Juolevli and a quality goaltender in Lukkonnen who is enjoying a great season in Sudbury. The picks also help a lot, along with the five million in cold hard CCHL dollars. 

The bigger picture here is that Calgary's payroll was draining the bank account in a large manner and something had to be done.  GM Eugene Yip decided that he'd move his two UFA players but you can't help but wonder if he could have got more had he let the league know they were available. 

At the end of the day, Dayton should get a lot better and Calgary have the depth to sustain the loss of these two studs while also helping restock for the future. 

(11/19/18) NIA signs J. Jagr to a 1 yr, $525K contract...

Trader Sam was just a kid when Jagr started playing professional hockey and when I saw this transaction I couldn't believe it.  Niagara signs the Crown Prince of the Mullett for his leadership ability and to teach the others how to do it the right way but I'm not sure that Jagr will be able to contribute offensively at all in the fast-paced CCHL given he's competing like Fred Flintstone in a Nascar race with his wheels. 

(11/18/18) FOR signs D. Seidenberg to a 1 yr, $525K contract... 

Trader Sam sees Fort Erie make a desperation signing by trying to change the chemistry on the blueline and add some leadership quality to his really young lineup. Seidenberg will help but I'm not sure how much he'll help given his known durability issues. 

 That's it for Sam this week folks!  Enjoy the rest of your turkey leftovers and keep trading so I can make another triumphant return next week! 

Victoria Ronin Prospect Review: The Forwards...

This is the second part of the Ronin coverage of forwards in the system. This time we review the winger eligible players who hope to skate for Victoria in the future. With the recent major move sending original draft pick Evgeni Kuznetsov to Dayton the prospect depth at wing has improved significantly. Not to be overlooked is the deal with Minnesota involving Carl Soderberg. So the pro club has taken a hit in the talent level and hopes to somehow muddle through the balance of the season and make the playoffs. However, as dim as the current season for the top club looks, the kids appear to be coming and in a big way.

Starting with Dylan Sikura who was a somewhat surprising cut by the Hawks to start this NHL season. He has not lost focus and is a top scorer in the AHL so far this year. With the change of coach in Chicago perhaps we will see Dylan in Chicago sooner rather than later. He is projected to play on the RW which is a major team need.

Left-wing Keiffer Bellows is currently a rookie in the AHL for the Islanders farm team. There appeared to be a bit of an adjustment to start the season for him, but as of late he has found the back of the net which is exactly what the Ronin are hoping for him. His game should continue to improve as he becomes more familiar with the competition at the minor league level before making the jump to the big leagues with Victoria on the west coast of Canada.

Next up is Filip Chytil who seems to have found his game with the NYR with goals in 5 straight games. Having watched most of his games I can tell you that this kid looks to be blossoming into a special player. He is still only 19 years old and now that NY has put him into a top 6 spot, better things should be coming. Drafted as a center, he is currently playing on both wings.

Jonah Gadjovich might not have the name recognition as some of the others on the list but he is a 2nd round pick with Canucks in 2017. Described as a team-first player he is currently a rookie in the AHL and is clearly having some adjustment issues with the club. With good size and speed h,e adds more depth to the LW cupboard for the Ronin.

Maxime Comtois is another promising young left winger who was just sent back to juniors by the Anaheim Ducks. The hope is that he will get a chance to play in the world juniors for Team Canada. He did put up some decent numbers in his short stint with his NHL club. The left winger plays a strong pro game and should be back in the NHL as soon as next season.

Taylor Raddysh projects to right wing or center in the NHL. He is currently playing in the AHL for the Syracuse Crunch where he has 7 goals in 15 games played. Like Gadjovich he is also a 2nd round pick by Tampa in 2016. With luck, he might make the big club before the end of the season and Victoria is hoping to see both Taylor and Dylan skating on the right side for them in the near future.

Another 2 right wingers are also in the system both drafted by Edmonton in Ostap Safin and Kirill Maksimov. Safin is probably the lessor known of the two but he is a big body who skates very well and in fact played with Zadina and Chytil in the 2018 worlds for the Czechs. He could surprise to the upside and Victoria would love to plug him onto the 3rd line. Kirill Maksimov can score and is having a fine season for Niagara in the OHL with some luck he could push one of Raddysh or Sikura down the depth chart if the Oilers can actually find a way to properly develop prospects. Until then both of these kids have more of an outside shot at the NHL, but there is always hope.

The last kid on the list is Andrei Svechnikov currently playing for the Hurricanes in the NHL. A left shooting right wing he currently has 5 goals and 11 points in 22 games played. He has boatloads of talent and barring a trade or injury will get some big minutes for the Ronin next season.

So the future looks bright for the team in Victoria. Next up will be a review of the defense.

AROUND THE CCHL (What we know and don't know at the 20 game mark...)

As team reach the 20 game mark, the CCHL finds itself at roughly the 25% mark of the regular season. It's been a challenge for all of us to figure out Simon. Quite different from APBA, for sure.


Some teams like Capeside, Minnesota and Dayton started pretty strong and have had good success early on. Other teams like Springfield, Fort Erie and Georgetown have had a frustrating start. Are teams like the Loons, Musicmen, Falcons and Isotopes where they because of small sample size madness or are they for real?

I don't know....anymore than anyone else does.

I continue to see and fear frustrations from a handful of GM's.

Each week I try and impart something useful in terms of the new Simulator.

I'm the kind of guy that when I get a new piece of musical equipment or home electronics, computer, etc... I unbox it, throw the plastic bag with the instructions across the room (because what red-blooded adult male needs INSTRUCTIONS????) and set about setting up my new toy.

Without fail, I will run into some roadblock where I can't figure out what the hell to do. Usually, my wife then hands me the instruction booklet/owners manual, turned to the correct page and then I see what I need to do.

Sound familiar, gang?

If you haven't read the Simon Manual, do so. More than once.

Dig around the Simon User Forum and if you find something helpful, share it with the rest of us.

Other news:

We've relocated the Reserve Player info away from Simon and added a dedicated link on the left side of the CCHL homepage. It's also viewable on our team payroll pages.

A reminder that if your player becomes fatigued, Simon will automatically pull him from your lineup for the next game until his endurance is back above 95. I see some teams letting players who aren't tired any more sitting on the bench sometimes. Another reason to stay on top of things.

New habits, for sure...

A little birdie tells me they are expecting a new baby in their family! I won't disclose who, but hopefully Dad will share a proud picture of himself and the newborn over the next week or so!

(It's not me!!!)

Till next week!

Someone took the ‘Spring’ out of Springfield

The 2018/19 season has not been kind to the Isotopes.  They currently in 11th in the Canosa Conference and 20th overall in the league and have no spring in their step.  Do you remember when GM Stacey predicted a run at the finals this year? Do you remember a time when that seemed possible? Do you even remember having dreams that weren’t nightmares?

The team is stacked with NHL talent that is clearly not ready for the rigours of the CCHL season.  The team overall rating is 73, tied for highest in the league, at some point the finger has to be pointed not at the players but at the GM/Coach who can’t seem to put those players in a winning position.

One of the biggest areas of concern is the powerplay. I want you to look at these numbers, if you are an Isotopes fan please look away as the stats may make you vomit:

Powerplay Opportunities / Powerplay Goals

4   /  0

3   /   0

5   /   0

8   /   1

2   /    0

2   /    1

2   /    0

5   /    0

No, this is not fake; the Isotopes have scored 2 powerplay goals in the last 8 games.  For those keeping score, that is a rate of 6%.  When the top teams are scoring on more than 30% of their powerplay chances it makes you wonder what is going on.  The rest of the season isn’t much better with Springfield sitting in second last place for powerplay percentage at 13.3% while below the league average of 23%.

The Isotopes are expecting to field a different look for the powerplay tonight against the Puffin but it is starting to seem like the team is missing more than a spring and is looking like a team that may need to blow up a theoretically championship caliber team that can’t seem to score any goals when it is supposed to be the easiest time.

Spring(less)field Times reporter, name without out of embarrassment.

--------------------------

Spring(less)field ;)

State of the Loons; Claude Giroux

In our last article we mentioned that GM Czepiel owed it to the team and to the fans to try and win now. Well... He did it.

This past Friday, the Loons were in Fort Erie to play the Falcons. It seemed odd that Czepiel joined the team on a mini one game road trip, and the rumors increased when Czepiel was seen at the local Happy Jacks with Falcon's GM Matt Young. Later that night Czepiel watched from the owner's suite as the Loons pulled off an impressive 6-4 with over the Falcons. Normally the press is allowed into the locker rooms 30 minutes after the game, however on Friday night both locker rooms remained locked and word began to circulate that the Loon's flight back to Capeside had been delayed. At 10:27pm Czepiel emerged from the visiting locker room and announced that he and Young had agreed on a trade. "We have agreed to send Anthony (Beauvillier), Quinn Hughes and the rights to Vegas' 2019 first round pick to Erie for Claude Giroux" Czepiel announced. Czepiel went on -  "Matt and I have been having ongoing discussions over the past few days and I think tonight's result sped those talks up. With both Claude and Wheeler being unrestricted free agents at the end of the year, I had hoped that we might have a slim chance at getting our hands on a superstar like Giroux which our roster was missing. And luckily for us it worked out. Though, I would be lying if I said I am not having second thoughts already. Quinn will be a dynamic player in the league and Anthony is already having success at 21 years old, not to mention we now will not pick until the 5th round in this years draft and not til the 3rd in 2020. Coach Janney and these players have forced me to change our philosophy and we need to try and take advantage of what we have going here because you can't take winning for granted."

As exciting as this trade is for the Loons and their fans, it does create a lot of question marks for the future. With the current CCHL rules, a team is only able to resign one UFA . Capeside will likely risk losing both of their goaltenders along with top defenseman Matt Niskanen. Czepiel has emphasized the need for young talent, Giroux is already 30. When Hopkins was dealt away it was said to be because 25 was past this team's window. Has this first 20 games really changed things that drastically? How will Czepiel restock his prospect pool after losing Hughes, Beauvillier,  Tychonick, McKeown and Dipietro with no draft picks? Will Vrana, Puljujarvi, Donato and Carlo be able to take the next step in order to continue Capeside's winning culture? All these questions will not matter if the Loons can continue to win and make a serious bid at the Kehler Cup, but will the additions of Giroux, Sedin and Neal be enough to compete with the likes of Minnesota, Siberia and Calgary? Time will tell.

A Weekly Look at the 2018-19 Sudbury Miners: Volume 5

A Weekly Look at the 2018-19 Sudbury Miners:  Volume 5

CANADIAN PRESS (Sudbury, ON):

Miners Weekly Record: 2 wins, 1 loss, 0 OT loss.
Miners League Standing:  9 wins, 9 losses, 2 OT Loss = 20 points total.  Currently sit in 8th place in the Canosa Conference, 15th overall in the CCHL.
Miners Special Teams:  Power Play – 25.0% (8th); Penalty Kill – 79.2% (8th)
Miners Scoring Leader:  Center Vincent Trocheck (6G – 19A = 25pts; 20th Overall in the CCHL)

For the Sudbury Miners to remain in the thick of the playoff race in the Canosa Conference, it goes without saying that they need to win those important intra-conference games.  After sporting a 2-1-0 record this week including wins over conference rivals Minnesota and Siberia, the Miners have jumped up to 8th spot in the Canosa Conference.  They now sit just two points back of Victoria for 6th place and more importantly, the final playoff spot.

“It’s fun actually playing meaningful games in November”, stated Miners winger Sam Reinhart.  “Most of the pundits didn’t give us much of a shot going into the season, but we have always had a belief in this room that we could compete for a playoff spot”.

Some of the Miners success this season can be attributed to their much improved Special Teams play.  Both the Power Play and Penalty Killing units are currently sitting in the Top 10 of the CCHL, and that trend will need to continue if the Miners have any hope of claiming a playoff spot.
“We made a strong effort to address some system issues with our Special Teams, and so far the results have been positive”, stated Miners Coach Derek Sutton.   “We are trying to use players in certain roles that will maximize their contributions and so far, the results have been positive.  It is something that we can continue to build on”.

MINERS PLAYER PROFILE OF THE WEEK: Chris Tierney

In his short time in the CCHL, Tierney has developed into a multi-dimensional forward that is reliable in all situations.  He is creative with good hockey sense in every zone and his anticipation and adherence to system structure set him apart as a forechecker.  While he does battle physically along the boards, he is not a punishing player but is slowly learning how to use his size to his advantage.  His skating is one of his best assets, as his first step explosiveness translates into high-end top speed.  Along with his playmaking capabilities, his wrist shot has solid velocity and torque and appears to “jump off the blade”.  In his short time, he has matured into a steadfast penalty killer and his ceiling is viewed as a depth, but skilled and dangerous pivot.

MINERS PROSPECT NEED TO KNOW:  Jared McIssac

McIssac is a fantastic skater who does everything at an above average level.  He has already represented Canada at the WU18 tournament twice. It was not too long ago that McIsaac was considered the best offensive defenseman in the QMJHL (even ahead of Noah Dobson) in scouting circles.  With Halifax expected to ramp up as they prepare to host this year’s Memorial Cup, expect McIsaac to put up plenty of points and gain even more experience in the spotlight.  If his development continues, he has a realistic shot at becoming a future first pairing defender.  Expected CCHL arrival:  2021-22.