I’ve played on both size ice surfaces but in reverse order. It might not look like it but it’s a huge difference. I would imagine it’s a big adjustment for Euro’s too. Fortunately for them, the OHL isn’t old school NA hockey anymore.
Erie Otters 2022-23 Season Thread
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Moving on from the what if with Molnar...
Given the likelihood we are in playoff contention, not a contender for the cup and with or without Molnar but a 6th to 8th seed what do we have in the cupboard for trade to help us make a deeper run? Management has made it clear from the early moves they are all in so where do we go if we slide in OR even get a top 6 finish in the conference?
I know if we are slipping the trade block likely consists of Kyrou and Cohen to try and get draft capital back as well as a player or two to finish out this season.
Has our management gutted us so much in acquiring Alfano and Gilmartin that we won't have the ability to land another top piece?
Given the likelihood we are in playoff contention, not a contender for the cup and with or without Molnar but a 6th to 8th seed what do we have in the cupboard for trade to help us make a deeper run? Management has made it clear from the early moves they are all in so where do we go if we slide in OR even get a top 6 finish in the conference?
I know if we are slipping the trade block likely consists of Kyrou and Cohen to try and get draft capital back as well as a player or two to finish out this season.
Has our management gutted us so much in acquiring Alfano and Gilmartin that we won't have the ability to land another top piece?
I know for certain Kulakov is currently having a great experience here as an import -
Such a great opportunity for them here and these 2 would most likely be here next year as well -( Kulakov POTENTIAL OA )
Can confirm...he is always up at the sports bank watching hockey and helping the kids when he isn't with the team.
6th to 8th finish and you want to add for a “deeper run”? Deeper how? If you’re a 6-8 seed, what’re you gonna get to Game 6 of round 1? Not giving a talented young Import top 6 minutes because some 19 and 20yo’s who won’t be here next year have chemistry so you can win a few more games? Those are the EXACT type of decisions that have put Erie in a never-ending rebuild with no playoffs. There’s finally a little light at the end of the tunnel for the Otters and doing things like adding Gilmartin shrink that.
I'm not disagreeing with you but we are talking about a management group that added Kyen Sopa to a team that was possibly going to slide out of the 8th position if not for Covid in the 2019/2020 season and only held onto 8th because they finalized standings. If they are 6-8 I fully expect management to try to add another piece thinking it will propel them past the first round.
Who pissed in his cheerios!??! Haha...at least we go into the 2nd down only 1 after the back to back penalty kills.
20 minutes...
The Otters forecheck is on fire tonight!
Bressette and Saganiuk with 5 points combined, Gilmartin with a goal.
Downey is not playing poorly by any means.
Downey jumped so high when that 5th goal was scored. It was logical to play him against his former team tonight.
Buzzing tonight...Downey also played pretty well against the top team in our conference. 2nd line buzzing again!
Not sure why Spence left the first line towards the end because for at least a few lines it was Sedore, Cohen, and Tereance. Maybe BJ recognizes Sedore needs some confidence and sent Spence back to 3 for right now?
Either way, that was a statement game. If we play like this tomorrow we could be sitting close to the top of the table.
Huge night for line 2!
Spence made a few mistakes, but mistakes typical for a 16 year old. Nothing that was overly critical.
Sedore has been absent lately. Hopefully once he gets his first goal this season he can get out of the slump.
I didn’t keep track of TOI, but it seemed like the 4th line played a lot more this game. Given it’s a 3-in-3 it’s a good call.
Officiating wasn’t overly terrible either.
We came out slow, but overall, it was a solid game. Good for Downey to take down his former team, good for the 2nd line who controlled most of the play, and good defense. We passed more and looked like a team.
Yes he’s helped out w my sons Erie JR Otters AAA and Select Team
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Well, for your sake and the sake of OHL hockey in the States, I hope they don’t try to add with the talent they have and the very limited draft capital. They’ve got a little bit of young talent to build around and this year they surely won’t get Drysdale’d and can move Kyrou, etc to really kickstart something. They should just ride this roster as long as possible and then sell. They’ll still have big wins like last night (Congratulations!) and look where they are (and have been) in the standings. Right now that looks more 4-5 seed than no playoffs or 7-8 seed. Sell. Fall a spot or two in the standings and hope Lalonde can carry you into Round 2. Unfortunately….that may mean job security for Brown (who I’ve been critical of for a few years) and BJ.
Good game last night, that was enjoyable to watch. Windsor was clearly tired and Onuska didn't play well, but credit to the Otters for taking advantage. I think they are starting to play how we hoped they could, in that 4-6 range. At least, I am cautiously optimistic about the direction of the team right now and I may have been wrong on Adams, but we obviously still need to see a lot more.
However, even with the potential addition of Molnar, I don't think this is a team that competes for a title, and they do not have the necessary assets to make a big add. I think selling Kyrou for future picks to use as ammo in 23/24 or 24/25 then riding with everyone else could be a good idea. Until then, I just hope they keep playing like this, because it is fun to watch.
However, even with the potential addition of Molnar, I don't think this is a team that competes for a title, and they do not have the necessary assets to make a big add. I think selling Kyrou for future picks to use as ammo in 23/24 or 24/25 then riding with everyone else could be a good idea. Until then, I just hope they keep playing like this, because it is fun to watch.
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And the point from @Savard18 is we should not just want that or accept that route because Brown has done it before?? That’s foolish if they do it and we should call him out for it even more so than the Sopa/Gilmartin trades. I think the Sopa/Gilmartin trades are to push the team towards the playoffs … but does that also translate to Brown being buyers in January? No. Those are two different things. Very much different circumstances with those trades and that’s obvious to see
Erie doesn’t even have the assets to be adding Gilmartin for this type of team or a 6th rounder for a goalie who is literally giving you the same exact production as Nicholls.. so why would they have assets to add even bigger pieces? And adding another Gilmartin does not move the needle or make them compete any more. They would need a big name to make a difference and they simply don’t have the assets nor the current team to consider that type of move. Just because we are winning some games now, doesn’t mean it translates in March or April. Other teams will eventually seperate and they will be the ones that do have the assets to add top end talent to put them over the top. Erie doesn’t have that ability for many reasons. Their only true hope of making noise is adding someone like Molnar, who is basically a “free” deadline type acquisition who has high upside and hope he is just a legit top end player. Even if he takes a few weeks to adjust, you just hope he’s that good and makes an immediate impact. Realistically (but maybe not) and best case scenario something like 40gp 25g 25a with obvious skill on display. But yet many posters seem to be turned off to that idea.. then they are asking about management adding something at the deadline to make a “run”??? It’s seriously confusing. Molnar IS that type of addition .. or at least the most realistic and affordable. But somehow people seem to think we can’t give him top mins since we got too much “chemistry” going on right now (even tho it’s a VERY small sample size). You are basically asking for the same thing when you are theorizing what they can add to making a deeper playoff run….. the answer is they don’t have the assets to add to their biggest needs or to make a big difference in their W/L column and what do they need most to potentially make a deeper run than just a first round exit? They need a top 6 forward. What’s the most realistic path to that? Molnar
I’ll admit, their win last night vs Windsor was very surprising to me and I didn’t think they could pull that off, especially with an offensive explosion. If they won, I would have guessed something like 3-2 with their goalie standing on their head. I still have doubts about the sustainability of their offense given the coaching/skill but in this game I expected, especially after their good night against KIT on the road, the team to fall flat against a team that was “undefeated.” It’s usually what we see anytime the team over the last 4 years seems to start building any type of momentum. So with all that in play and given their current record, this might be the best win since 2017? It could potentially propel more momentum and confidence and I think we can all agree that one of the issues in the last several years has been buy in or guys just not believing. This type of win and a 6-4-0-2 start can help that. Especially with Lalonde getting back into the mix.
The trick now is consistency and continuing to improve in other areas, like the PP and faceoffs. They still have work to do. But untimately if they are on that type of pace all year in the W/L column, then they are roughly a 34 win type of team which is exactly where they should be and frankly need to be to start turning this around. Anything in the 35-36 win range would be maximum imo, unless Lalonde is just that special and Molnar shows up. But as currently situated, they are probably maxed out in that general area of wins. Which is certainly fine by me and ok for them to be. That’s where they should have been 2 years ago and built off that. But at least there are some positives we are seeing
Now all that said.. Windsor, despite their record, was not some dominant team imo. That’s just based on what their stats and overall box scores tell you. With the exception of 2 blow out wins versus Niagara (a team that isn’t good), they really have just won a bunch of close games. Not saying that’s bad. They are good for winning those games. But doesn’t really show a lot of dominance either. I’m not taking away from Erie. They beat the best record team and that deserves praise. Just wanted to add some context. Curious how they respond today with a 3in3. Lalonde should be back which helps. If they really are turning a corner than at the least you are competitive in this game. In the past, this would smell like a 5-1 type of loss incoming. Let’s see if they can keep the momentum in at least playing a competitive game to give themselves a chance to win.
The trick now is consistency and continuing to improve in other areas, like the PP and faceoffs. They still have work to do. But untimately if they are on that type of pace all year in the W/L column, then they are roughly a 34 win type of team which is exactly where they should be and frankly need to be to start turning this around. Anything in the 35-36 win range would be maximum imo, unless Lalonde is just that special and Molnar shows up. But as currently situated, they are probably maxed out in that general area of wins. Which is certainly fine by me and ok for them to be. That’s where they should have been 2 years ago and built off that. But at least there are some positives we are seeing
Now all that said.. Windsor, despite their record, was not some dominant team imo. That’s just based on what their stats and overall box scores tell you. With the exception of 2 blow out wins versus Niagara (a team that isn’t good), they really have just won a bunch of close games. Not saying that’s bad. They are good for winning those games. But doesn’t really show a lot of dominance either. I’m not taking away from Erie. They beat the best record team and that deserves praise. Just wanted to add some context. Curious how they respond today with a 3in3. Lalonde should be back which helps. If they really are turning a corner than at the least you are competitive in this game. In the past, this would smell like a 5-1 type of loss incoming. Let’s see if they can keep the momentum in at least playing a competitive game to give themselves a chance to win.
Exactly this. Unless they are riding some magical 3/4 seed team in a league where there is no clear cut favorites (think 2010-11 season) that you think you can make noise because of your goalie, then your best bet is to sell. And imo the only person you have to sell is Kyrou. I think you could float out the idea of Gilmartin to recoup those stupid picks you spent early but I’ll hold my breath on Brown thinking that logically on this situation. But getting 2/3 high picks for Kyrou and/or a young player would be MASSIVE. Like you said, even if they are 5th seed, which still might be a stretch, I still want them to do a mini sell and try to hold on as a 6th seed type team. Not selling Kyrou this year would be so dang stupid but also so expected. I’ll be shocked if they sell. I hope I’m wrong but I don’t see it
I agree with both of you in that there is the route we SHOULD take vs the route we MAY take. It is this reason why I opened it up for debate in a sense. I think most of us agree, even if they are successful and land a 4 - 8 seed the SMART play is to let go of Kyrou and max it out the "Drysdale'd" that Savard speaks of.
My biggest concern is our brass has become so desperate (Gilmartin/Alfano/Downey) they fail to see the chance to make us even better next year. Because of the nearsightedness it will hurt us middle term with Spence and company to build on. I honestly don't know what trade value we get for Kyrou is, but I think that is the best path forward. I, however, believe management likely tries to find someone else to sell their soul once more in order to push us one more game or one more series.
Anyways, those were my thoughts on it...what management should do, and I think most of is agree to be patient vs what reality will be. I hope our voice is heard somehow and even if we are successful in a top 8 we are patient to realize it isn't our year to try to go all in.
Dunno, but Sedore puts his first in this season and that has to be an amazing feeling for him!
Was curious if they were going to try to put him top line again here or there to boost his confidence.
To answer your question, it’s been since 2015-2016. Feb 2016 to be exact. That was when the Otters won 2 at home before going on to win 1 on the road to cap off a perfect 3-0 in a 3in3. Since that time, they have played 29 three in three games and have never captured all 6 points - including in 2016-2017 where they were 0 for 5 in trying to accomplish that. So, it’s not an easy task. Many times they went 2-1 or 2-0-1, including in the rebuild years. It was actually somewhat rare, considering their rebuilds recently, for them to drop all 3 games or gain 0 points. But overall, it’s not common to win three straight like that especially because Erie often has it that they play them either A) all on the road or B) starting on the road or ending on the road. Tough task when you add travel into the mix
That’s why I said just being competitive in the game and giving yourself a chance to win today would be impressive because 3in3s are hard. They already got 4/6 points which is probably the goal. 5/6 would be great and 6/6 points would be very impressive and rare.
They do look flat today which is understandable with the 3in3, but Constantini is having a game and one of the big reasons we aren't tied or in the lead. . Put in another goalie today and I think this is a different game but it is what it is. Lalonde also is just off, but it's going to happen.
I think being at home could propel us in the 3rd and if we aren't going to win, snag a tie and secure one point is the next best thing for an obviously worn out group of kids.
I’m all for a Kyrou trade.
They’re exhausted and ready for a nap. They needed that 2nd period goal, but they need to be better in the 3rd.
Not to mention after the game, they have a meet and greet plus they have to pass out candy in the concourse.
They’re exhausted and ready for a nap. They needed that 2nd period goal, but they need to be better in the 3rd.
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