Erie Otters 2022-23 Season Thread

[Mata]

I’m all for a Kyrou trade.

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.

I do like how BJ and company are trying to move around some of the bottom 6 (Sedore especially) to other lines trying to build some confidence. It has to be especially frustrating for Sedore playing line 3 in his last season with us.

Period 3 so far seems to have got them coming to life, as predicted. The adrenaline of 6 points in a 3in3 and in front of the home fans helping to pick up their energy.

 

[NOA]

I do like how BJ and company are trying to move around some of the bottom 6 (Sedore especially) to other lines trying to build some confidence. It has to be especially frustrating for Sedore playing line 3 in his last season with us.

Period 3 so far seems to have got them coming to life, as predicted. The adrenaline of 6 points in a 3in3 and in front of the home fans helping to pick up their energy.

But I thought we couldn’t mess with the chemistry of the top 6

I’m joking but in all seriousness, even the best forwards have tough stretches. It’s okay to have your standard lines but it’s also okay to adjust in game or between games if you think it will spark something different. In an ideal world, guys learn to play with multiple players and on multiple lines. Especially with the type of skill level they have where they really have about 9 forwards that are of similar quality overall. Some more skilled (Spence) but some much more experienced (Sedore). It all leads to similar production. So not being afraid to adjust lines when things are stale is okay so long as the players embrace it. Easy to do that when you win and have confidence

 

[OttersFan]

They really did it. 6 pt weekend nothing gets better than that.

Goes to show if they want it, they’ll fight for it. Now time for some rest, and back to the drawing board for the weekend.

 

[NOA]

Wow. Okay that was impressive this weekend and unexpected. What in the world are we seeing with this team? Is this the start of something or is this just a one hit wonder? All the excuse in the world to be tired in this 3in3, especially coming off a dramatic win last night and certainly not uncommon to see even the best teams fold in that spot after a 3-1 deficit but this team is competing. 6 unanswered goals. The compete level is just not something we saw the last 4 years and certainly not early this year. Maybe BJ is actually starting to get through? Again, question marks still remain and I’ll be cautiously optimistic like EON but that said .. when you start winning these types of games like they have this weekend then your coaching staff starts to get more buy in and players believe in the system. That leads to confidence and future success. It’s all connected and it’s all a cycle.

One thing to note that is really a positive sign - Smith has 6 points in his last 3 games. I always felt like one of him or Lowe was going to pan out to be a decent 3rd line player and always compared the two. Lowe was a recent release and maybe that boosted Smith’s confidence because he too felt the comparisons. Not sure. But he’s put together 3 really good games in a row. We talk so much about player development and someone from the 2004 and 2005 groups need to step up beyond just their 1st rounders. Smith maybe is starting to find his role and gaining confidence. Good to see.

This is now a team that has gone 7-2 in their last 9. Or 6-1 in their last 7. That has to be their best 7/9 game stretch since 2016-17. I’m amazed it has happened and how they seemingly are getting better and better. Idk what the hell happened after the 0-2-2 start. I wonder if there was some closed door meeting or something that occurred to really spark things. Or if they just finally started putting it together. But the first 4 games it looked like classic Erie and now they look so much more exciting. Complete 180. I’m not going to completely jump on the BJ train and do want a larger sample size. But he’s making me eat my words with the way he has these kids playing

Also the OHL is so wide open and fun right now. There is actual parity. This is why I wish trading was limited. I think you still allow trades but I think you limit how much teams can sell / add in a given year. Would probably help the parity even more.

They really did it. 6 pt weekend nothing gets better than that.

Goes to show if they want it, they’ll fight for it. Now time for some rest, and back to the drawing board for the weekend.

First time since Feb 2016

 

[Mata]

But I thought we couldn’t mess with the chemistry of the top 6

I’m joking but in all seriousness, even the best forwards have tough stretches. It’s okay to have your standard lines but it’s also okay to adjust in game or between games if you think it will spark something different. In an ideal world, guys learn to play with multiple players and on multiple lines. Especially with the type of skill level they have where they really have about 9 forwards that are of similar quality overall. Some more skilled (Spence) but some much more experienced (Sedore). It all leads to similar production. So not being afraid to adjust lines when things are stale is okay so long as the players embrace it. Easy to do that when you win and have confidence

If he was doing it all game, then 100% it's messing it up a little, but half a period here or there when having the lead to help build confidence is different. I actually half wondered if he was going to play Sedore up on 1 and drop Spence to 3 to start but he's been consistent with starting lines.

 

[OttersFan]

If he was doing it all game, then 100% it's messing it up a little, but half a period here or there when having the lead to help build confidence is different. I actually half wondered if he was going to play Sedore up on 1 and drop Spence to 3 to start but he's been consistent with starting lines.

It’s been relieving to look at the line up each night and not have to figure out who is missing. The consistency has been appreciated.

 

[Mata]

It’s been relieving to look at the line up each night and not have to figure out who is missing. The consistency has been appreciated.

Also, if they have noticed something with Sedore to help him (they are doing it with Smith too) and they start producing, it will only help us. They already saw something with Spence and it helped him. This is definitely something Hartsburg would have never done.

They played 2 below average periods and turned it on in the 3rd with Lalonde playing how we need him to play and make the big saves.

 

[Mata]

Wow. Okay that was impressive this weekend and unexpected. What in the world are we seeing with this team? Is this the start of something or is this just a one hit wonder? All the excuse in the world to be tired in this 3in3, especially coming off a dramatic win last night and certainly not uncommon to see even the best teams fold in that spot after a 3-1 deficit but this team is competing. 6 unanswered goals. The compete level is just not something we saw the last 4 years and certainly not early this year. Maybe BJ is actually starting to get through? Again, question marks still remain and I’ll be cautiously optimistic like EON but that said .. when you start winning these types of games like they have this weekend then your coaching staff starts to get more buy in and players believe in the system. That leads to confidence and future success. It’s all connected and it’s all a cycle.

One thing to note that is really a positive sign - Smith has 6 points in his last 3 games. I always felt like one of him or Lowe was going to pan out to be a decent 3rd line player and always compared the two. Lowe was a recent release and maybe that boosted Smith’s confidence because he too felt the comparisons. Not sure. But he’s put together 3 really good games in a row. We talk so much about player development and someone from the 2004 and 2005 groups need to step up beyond just their 1st rounders. Smith maybe is starting to find his role and gaining confidence. Good to see.

This is now a team that has gone 7-2 in their last 9. Or 6-1 in their last 7. That has to be their best 7/9 game stretch since 2016-17. I’m amazed it has happened and how they seemingly are getting better and better. Idk what the hell happened after the 0-2-2 start. I wonder if there was some closed door meeting or something that occurred to really spark things. Or if they just finally started putting it together. But the first 4 games it looked like classic Erie and now they look so much more exciting. Complete 180. I’m not going to completely jump on the BJ train and do want a larger sample size. But he’s making me eat my words with the way he has these kids playing

Also the OHL is so wide open and fun right now. There is actual parity. This is why I wish trading was limited. I think you still allow trades but I think you limit how much teams can sell / add in a given year. Would probably help the parity even more.


First time since Feb 2016

Agree on all fronts...cautiously optimistic, but it’s starting to feel different.

Couple things to add:

In addition to Smith, McDonald is also a sleeper IMO that is producing more and more. With Guelph, Kitchener, and London having "rebuilding" seasons it is quite possible this team sits in a 4 - 6 comfortably. That being said, with how London reloaded this offseason, it could be short lived and the Gilmartin, Alfano, and Downey deals could make going forward harder UNLESS management sees this opportunity to offload Kyrou and/or Cohen and try to fill the cupboards again.

It is very refreshing to see our youth producing AND getting better each week. I'm curious to see how Artichuck, Messier, and Edwards improve as well as Alboim. At least George is getting a ton of minutes with Johnston out but that 4th line is so absent. If they do bring in a big player (Molnar) and Alfano gets healthy it only further limits their time as well as possible tenure here as I could see our top 9 players really separating themselves.

 

[OttersFan]

Agree on all fronts...cautiously optimistic, but it’s starting to feel different.

Couple things to add:

I'm addition to Smith, McDonald is also a sleeper IMO that is producing more and more. With Guelph, Kitchener, and London having "rebuilding" seasons it is quite possible this team sits in a 4 - 6 comfortably. That being said, with how London reloaded this offseason, it could be short lived and the Gilmartin, Alfano, and Downey deals could make going forward harder UNLESS management sees this opportunity to offload Kyrou and/or Cohen and try to fill the cupboards again.

It is very refreshing to see our youth producing AND getting better each week. I'm curious to see how Artichuck, Messier, and Edwards improve as well as Alboim. At least George is getting a ton of minutes with Johnston out but that 4th line is so absent. If they do bring in a big player (Molnar) and Alfano gets healthy it only further limits their time as well as possible tenure here as I could see our top 9 players really separating themselves.

With 2024 Memorial Cup being held in Ontario, I’m sure that’s the larger end goal. I know this year their motto is “Enough is Enough”. With that being said, I wish they would offload Kyrou to get picks back. I heckle about him, but he would be good for an eastern conference team needing an extra powerhouse, or a western conference team who needs a strong candidate to enhance their back end. I’m no scout, but if we want to make it to 2024, we need some assets to make a trade.

We’ve mentioned we need to be in the playoffs for experience. This could finally be their year for experience to take it into next season. Making the playoffs is their short term goal this season. We finally have a good goaltending duo in Lalonde and Downey (Gibbons down the road) all we can hope is they stay healthy.

I agree with how our youth have progressed. Smith is finally clicking and deserves more mentions. Good to see them getting better instead of relying on bad habits.

Alfano is day to day so hopefully he’s good for this weekend. I’d assume he’s trying to get stronger with being out for so long. His billet house got hit with the crap going around.

 

[NOA]

With 2024 Memorial Cup being held in Ontario, I’m sure that’s the larger end goal. I know this year their motto is “Enough is Enough”. With that being said, I wish they would offload Kyrou to get picks back. I heckle about him, but he would be good for an eastern conference team needing an extra powerhouse, or a western conference team who needs a strong candidate to enhance their back end. I’m no scout, but if we want to make it to 2024, we need some assets to make a trade.

We’ve mentioned we need to be in the playoffs for experience. This could finally be their year for experience to take it into next season. Making the playoffs is their short term goal this season. We finally have a good goaltending duo in Lalonde and Downey (Gibbons down the road) all we can hope is they stay healthy.

I agree with how our youth have progressed. Smith is finally clicking and deserves more mentions. Good to see them getting better instead of relying on bad habits.

Alfano is day to day so hopefully he’s good for this weekend. I’d assume he’s trying to get stronger with being out for so long. His billet house got hit with the crap going around.

Let’s not go too far ahead… This is not a realistic title run team next year. Depleted assets and an overall lack of high end talent will make it very hard. Spence could be that guy down the road but it’s early and even at 17, it’s not the most likely path for him. The 2025 season is a better timeline for them imo. Which is why trading Kyrou, adding Molnar, and still getting younger this year is super important. Either way.. let’s just focus on this year and building success. Yes they had a great weekend but it’s far too early to tell how consistent they will be, what their floor is, or even what their ceiling is. The next 2-3 weeks will better tell the story.

 

[Mata]

With 2024 Memorial Cup being held in Ontario, I’m sure that’s the larger end goal. I know this year their motto is “Enough is Enough”. With that being said, I wish they would offload Kyrou to get picks back. I heckle about him, but he would be good for an eastern conference team needing an extra powerhouse, or a western conference team who needs a strong candidate to enhance their back end. I’m no scout, but if we want to make it to 2024, we need some assets to make a trade.

We’ve mentioned we need to be in the playoffs for experience. This could finally be their year for experience to take it into next season. Making the playoffs is their short term goal this season. We finally have a good goaltending duo in Lalonde and Downey (Gibbons down the road) all we can hope is they stay healthy.

I agree with how our youth have progressed. Smith is finally clicking and deserves more mentions. Good to see them getting better instead of relying on bad habits.

Alfano is day to day so hopefully he’s good for this weekend. I’d assume he’s trying to get stronger with being out for so long. His billet house got hit with the crap going around.

The only thing that worries me is we gave up a lot to get those 3 kids this year. How quickly London, Guelph, and Kitchener take to rebound will be a huge factor. Flint SHOULD drop after this season and enter a rebuild.

Saginaw has the momentum with an exceptional player in Misa kind of like the wild card we appear to have in Spence. Misa has been off to a superb start which will make recruiting a tad easier for them IMO and we need to hope people will want to ride the next 3 seasons with Spence.

Given the number of 04s on Sarnia's roster I'd have to imagine the go all in this season and next season as well as the Attack.

SOO appear to possibly be 2 years out on a run.

A Kyrou trade and possibly a Cohen trade to pick up an above average 04 and/or 05 would go a long way if we can obtain good 2nd and 3rd round picks as a bonus.

Outside of those two, I'm not sure we have much to send out for decent to good returns.

If our management decides this is a do or die season, as is expected by a bunch of us, sliding into the playoffs as a 7 or 8 this season after an offload at the deadline, as some have mentioned, would be the best route. If they decide to keep all current assets and push a higher seed then we have to rely heavily on development of our current roster and hope Holomego and Henry do well with their development as well as others.

 

[NOA]

You all are getting too far ahead of yourselves. Just enjoy the current success and hope they can give us a mid seed type season. It’s been 5 years since we had a competitive team. We will never see a 2013-2017 run again and given the way they botched the asset situation the last few years, it’s a huge uphill battle to make a championship run in the next 2-3 years. The ONLY way that happens is if their own drafted players sign/develop which is still not anything we have seen consistently here. We aren’t going to be a team that can add 2-3 top end players at one deadline anytime soon.

It would be remarkable if they even made a 5th seed push this year and yet somehow you folks are making it seem like a formality. I’m not saying they can’t but let’s not act like it’s a given either…

I would suggest fans just enjoy some wins for now and stop worrying about 2024, let alone some type of memorial cup run or the landscape of the division / conference. How about we just get above .500, complete in a playoff round, and then go from there. Let’s be realistic. The assets and current roster construction will limit this team the next few years regardless of their wins and losses. But I’m okay with that. I’m okay with 2-3 years of just solid consistent hockey, winning around 40 games and being a 3-4 seed team. That’s all I want given what these last few years have been. And honestly anything more means we sold the house again for one small run at things which can set us back another 2-3 years with basement level play. BE REALISTIC. They aren’t in that window yet and also they need stability. Not a championship run

 

[Mata]

You all are getting too far ahead of yourselves. Just enjoy the current success and hope they can give us a mid seed type season. It’s been 5 years since we had a competitive team. We will never see a 2013-2017 run again and given the way they botched the asset situation the last few years, it’s a huge uphill battle to make a championship run in the next 2-3 years. The ONLY way that happens is if their own drafted players sign/develop which is still not anything we have seen consistently here. We aren’t going to be a team that can add 2-3 top end players at one deadline anytime soon.

It would be remarkable if they even made a 5th seed push this year and yet somehow you folks are making it seem like a formality. I’m not saying they can’t but let’s not act like it’s a given either…

I would suggest fans just enjoy some wins for now and stop worrying about 2024, let alone some type of memorial cup run or the landscape of the division / conference. How about we just get above .500, complete in a playoff round, and then go from there. Let’s be realistic. The assets and current roster construction will limit this team the next few years regardless of their wins and losses. But I’m okay with that. I’m okay with 2-3 years of just solid consistent hockey, winning around 40 games and being a 3-4 seed team. That’s all I want given what these last few years have been. And honestly anything more means we sold the house again for one small run at things which can set us back another 2-3 years with basement level play. BE REALISTIC. They aren’t in that window yet and also they need stability. Not a championship run

Talking hypothetical outcomes is hardly signed sealed and delivered, so there's that

 

[NOA]

Talking hypothetical outcomes is hardly signed sealed and delivered, so there's that

People are talking about the memorial cup in 2024 and the rebuilds / direction of other division teams for next year. Those talks weren’t happening prior to the season starting and rarely if at all since 2018.

 

[Mata]

People are talking about the memorial cup in 2024 and the rebuilds / direction of other division teams for next year. Those talks weren’t happening prior to the season starting and rarely if at all since 2018.

What's the problem with it? It's a discussion board and it's what people do. People talk about what happened 5, and 10 years ago as if it's relevant today with a whole new team and coaching staff. As long as it relates to the team, talk about whatever you want to talk about..

 

[HockeyPops]

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.

Great win vs. Windsor Saturday. Prior to that game though, Windsor was not undefeated; they had lost 3 times already. Still a great win.

SOO appear to possibly be 2 years out on a run.

Soo are certainly hoping on going on a run next year, submitted an intent to bid on the Mem Cup hosting rights and have 9 x 2004s on the roster.

 

[Mata]

Unfortunate news for Jamie Drysdale as he will likely be out for 4-6 months as he recovers from a torn labrum (left shoulder).

Hopefully a speedy and successful recovery to him.

 

[NOA]

Great win vs. Windsor Saturday. Prior to that game though, Windsor was not undefeated; they had lost 3 times already. Still a great win.

Which is why I put “undefeated” in quotes. Trust me, I’m not that stupid or blind. Nobody managed to beat them in actual regulation hockey - that was my point. Was just trying to emphasize their impressive record to start the year

 

[NOA]

What's the problem with it? It's a discussion board and it's what people do. People talk about what happened 5, and 10 years ago as if it's relevant today with a whole new team and coaching staff. As long as it relates to the team, talk about whatever you want to talk about..

No problem with it.. if it’s realistic. But it’s pretty delusional thinking especially when the reason is because they are on a few game win streak just a month into the season? It matters how things are being brought up here and the context. If I said in August that this team would win 45 games this year, almost everyone would have called me out for being crazy and hyperbolic. Just two weeks ago we wanted Dave Brown fired because the team looked incompetent. It’s not realistic to think they can actually compete for a memorial cup next year and actually it’s laughable to think they have any shot to

 

[EON]

Nothing wrong with fans discussing their opinions and thoughts, even though I may disagree with them. For me, this turnaround the past two weekends has moved me from "if it keeps going this way, fire everyone" to "maybe they will turn it around and be a competent 4-6th place team". And honestly, given how things have been since 2017, I will happily take that for the time being.

 

[Mata]

Nothing wrong with fans discussing their opinions and thoughts, even though I may disagree with them. For me, this turnaround the past two weekends has moved me from "if it keeps going this way, fire everyone" to "maybe they will turn it around and be a competent 4-6th place team". And honestly, given how things have been since 2017, I will happily take that for the time being.

Except it obviously does matter to some people who try to silence others because opinions don't line up with well, whatever really...EVERY SINGLE TIME.

 

[GetOutDaKitchin]

Will be without Spence tonight, as he's at the WHC U17s in BC. Quite the assist he had on this play from last night's game:



Does anyone know if Alfano is close to returning?

 

[OttersFan]

Will be without Spence tonight, as he's at the WHC U17s in BC. Quite the assist he had on this play from last night's game:



Does anyone know if Alfano is close to returning?

He’s a day to day decision. Erie is playing short handed tonight. They moved Sedore up to the first line and kept the second line together. Smart moves on the line up. I’m surprised they don’t have someone to jump in the 4th line.

 

[OttersFan]

Sova is running out of gas.

Kyrou has been benched for the first period.

 

[OttersFan]

And just like that London brings out the cheap garbage.