Not surprised by this as I said preseason that it was a strength and we all knew it should be. I might go look at data for franchise record on defensive production in a season because this year has a chance to break it I imagine, especially if Kyrou stays which is likely if the team is around or above .500. Currently, the D has 16 goals and 46 points. On pace for 64 goals and 184 points.
Erie Otters 2022-23 Season Thread
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Not surprised by this as I said preseason that it was a strength and we all knew it should be. I might go look at data for franchise record on defensive production in a season because this year has a chance to break it I imagine, especially if Kyrou stays which is likely if the team is around or above .500. Currently, the D has 16 goals and 46 points. On pace for 64 goals and 184 points.
DCruickshank
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- Jan 8, 2022
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Kulukov deserves his suspension and there’s no debate about that. The refs should’ve broke it up before it got to the way it did. They let the game get out of hand. There’s 4 refs on the ice and you can see Holomego and OS Brennan both standing around watching which would allow the refs to break up the 4 other scruffs.
Here's my take...
As with any sport there is a certain amount of sportsmanship and integrity everyone should play with. When the fight hit the ground it SHOULD be over regardless of the refs, period. Kulakov had already proved his point but out of sheer frustration kept going even when the OS kid was visibly hurt and unable to defend himself. To me, that goes against the honor of the game. 6 games isn't enough IMO as a message should have been sent, but I respect their decision.
The linesman was holding Kulakov back, out of the fray, 10 ft from the penalty box door. Instead of getting him off the ice he let him go .
The refs let everything go in the 1st , that's when things should have been reigned in .
Steen is back skating, no practice, no contact .
He easily could’ve thrown him in the box to seperate him. Once they were separated and 50 seconds into the video of the match penalty, Steen was walking just fine. It doesn’t excuse what Kulukov did, but that could be why it wasn’t a 10 game suspension.
Kulukov should’ve stopped when they got to the ground. No one did anything to stop it. They shouldn’t have let the game get out of hand. The refs need to make their appearance known to set the tone.
Glad Steen is back skating. It could’ve been much worse. Hopefully he feels better soon.
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I was at the game, he wasn't just fine. He got up, staggered around a bit for 10/15 seconds, saw that he was bleeding and bent over and looked to be staggering. The trainer and another player had to help him off the ice from the red line.
Amazing what happens when you are just slightly competitive. This trend should continue if they can be around .500, slightly above, and get to a decent mid seed in conference. An extra 365 seats a game, over the course of a full season, even if you are only making $10 per seat, comes in at nearly 125k. This is the main reason why I don’t think they want to sell someone like Kyrou. They need all the money they can get. An extra 100k this year is significant and can’t be overstated for a team that hasn’t made the playoffs in 5 years and had a pandemic to deal with. If you had even 3 home playoff games, you might get another 100k since ticket prices are more expensive and no promotions or BOGO nights. Let alone if this team gets to round 2 and plays 4/5 home games. As much as I want them to sell someone like Kyrou because I think the assets are needed if they want a real run in 2 years, the money is the money. Doesn’t mean they don’t sell off on Kyrou and I’m sure they entertain offers .. but it’s a difficult conundrum and imo adds more weight to the significance of someone like Molnar showing up here. Maybe that gives you more wiggle room to sell Kyrou but remain in a similar spot in the standings. I’m just fascinated to see how they handle it
Thanks for posting this. It is certainly encouraging to see that the fans are coming back in some measure, even for so marginal a team.
I certainly understand the concern about finances. However, I think this is, to at least to some degree, a very unpleasant and understandable hangover from the Bassin years. For years on end we had to endure rumors about the team being sold or moved, and how the team was operating on a very thin shoestring.
We now know from the bankruptcy filing that Bassin was far more overextended than anyone knew. He simply did not have the financial wherewithal to own and properly operate an OHL team. With perhaps a couple exceptions, OHL teams do not generate tons of free cash flow. The value in the franchises has been primarily from their appreciation in value.
Bassin borrowed a very large amount of money to buy and operate the team, The cash flow simply was inadequate to pay the debt service on those borrowings and properly run the team at the same time. Eventually, the major creditor lost patience with Bassin's futile efforts to sell/move the team, and precipitated the bankruptcy by moving to collect on its debt.
Fortunately, the franchise ultimately sold to Jim Waters for an amount that was sufficient to pay all creditors and the costs on the bankruptcy proceeding. Everyone got paid what they were owed. But the psychological trauma of all this on Erieites, was, I think, profound. There were similar rumors about the SeaWolves for a number of years. I think we all had good reason to be a little paranoid about keeping our teams.
Jim Waters, though, is not Sherry Bassin, Waters is, by all accounts, one of the wealthiest owners in the OHL. His offer to purchase the Otters out of the bankruptcy proceeding was not contingent on any financing. I have no insight into the operational aspects of the Otters, or their profitability from a cash flow perspective. However, I am unaware of anything in how the Otters are currently being operated to suggest that there is a money issue. Nor am I aware of any rumors about the team being sold or moved since Waters took over. From what I can see, he has been an ideal owner who recently signed a long term lease with the Convention Center Authority.
I am hoping I am correct, and that a decision to move Kyrou or not move Kyrou, will be solely a hockey decision, rather than one with financial motivations.
Of course, who will be making those hockey decisions, and their track record, is an entirely different subject. If I were pressed to criticize Jim Waters, it would be his apparent tolerance for the performance of the hockey operations staff. But again, that is for another post.
Great insight and well written. Really strong points here and I can see now how my OG post reads. I certainly dont want to assume they have money issues if they don’t. But that said, I vaguely recall reading something in the last few years about their finances which suggested they were barely scraping by. Now to be fair and to your point - I think that is most of the OHL. With the exception of 4-5 teams, most teams are breaking even or slightly above/below. But a city like Erie is not going to be sustainable long term without success on the ice. It’s not a hockey town by definition. There is a following but that is largely contingent on team success. You could say that for most places but the difference is just the size or scale that Erie is working with. They have a lot of things against them that even occurs when they are winning - such as the regional football/basketball market. You throw in a pandemic on top of their recent lack of success and it has to be tough sledding.
For what it is worth, I hope you are right. Certainly we can all agree that Bassin mismanaged a lot and I would like to think Waters, who has more money, is smarter with it. But so far the direction of the team has been disappointing. We can blame the GM or coaching but who does that all fall back on? Waters. I appreciate him more than most and I don’t want to bash him by any means. He has done so much for the city and fans. But the current trajectory of the whole organization needs to change. I agree Kyrou should not be tied to financials but how can it not be and how do we not just look at recent precedent on this? Brown already added Gilmartin / Downey for REAL assets. My guess is because the owner is saying “we need some playoff games.” They need more interest / buzz because that leads to money and long term success. All ties together, especially when you are trying to recruit guys like Molnar here.
I know this goes with being in the OHL, but within the last two weeks, they have done so much for the community.
Season Ticket Holder event, tying blankets for the homeless, reading to inner city youth, Shriner’s sledge hockey practice, food drive for Thanksgiving, and now at The Caring Place.
It’s impressive how much they do for the community in a short time. The impact they’re making is incredible.
Season Ticket Holder event, tying blankets for the homeless, reading to inner city youth, Shriner’s sledge hockey practice, food drive for Thanksgiving, and now at The Caring Place.
It’s impressive how much they do for the community in a short time. The impact they’re making is incredible.
Games are postponed this weekend. Bummer but both Ottawa and Saginaw would travel to Hamilton for their game after us. It’s for the best.
That sucks we had like 20 people and 4 families going tonight
But I understand - Buffalo might get 4 ft of snow ,etc
They knew the weather was coming...
Leave a day earlier? They already rescheduled one of the games for Monday which we will be forced to miss because of other obligations, not happy.
I’m not happy either, but Ottawa plays in Hamilton tonight. They had no way to come a day earlier since they would’ve traveled here after the game.
Saginaw played in Niagara last night. They could’ve left last night to make it here on time, but then they’d have to postpone Hamilton for their Sunday game.
My guess is it was easier to cancel both of our games with both of our opponents already in Canada to play 2/3 of their games this weekend.
Saginaw played last night in St Catharines so how could they leave early especially when the snow arrived during the Icedogs game.
Expect the snow arrive during the Icedog game.
Also this is the OHL… These teams don’t have the time or resources to leave 1/2 days early for a regular season game. That’s not realistic. Like even NFL teams leave Saturday morning for a Sunday afternoon game. No chance in hell OHL teams could afford or justify staying an extra night or two in another city because of pending snow. Not to mention the schedule conflict for those teams
He was the “odd man” out because they spent a 6th rounder on a guy who can do the same
I hate the positive spin. They simply didn’t want Nicholls and I don’t blame them. I don’t think he’s good enough but Downey is so far not much if any upgrade. At least he’s a year younger but with Gibbons in the system, you don’t necessarily need a backup option next year..
Let’s hope Downey improves and Nicholls doesn’t become a steady backup in the Q. Bad look yet again for Dave if true
He was the “odd man” out because they spent a 6th rounder on a guy who can do the same
I hate the positive spin. They simply didn’t want Nicholls and I don’t blame them. I don’t think he’s good enough but Downey is so far not much if any upgrade. At least he’s a year younger but with Gibbons in the system, you don’t necessarily need a backup option next year..
Let’s hope Downey improves and Nicholls doesn’t become a steady backup in the Q. Bad look yet again for Dave if true
He was the “odd man” out because they spent a 6th rounder on a guy who can do the same
I hate the positive spin. They simply didn’t want Nicholls and I don’t blame them. I don’t think he’s good enough but Downey is so far not much if any upgrade. At least he’s a year younger but with Gibbons in the system, you don’t necessarily need a backup option next year..
Let’s hope Downey improves and Nicholls doesn’t become a steady backup in the Q. Bad look yet again for Dave if true
Nicholls was off to a good start this year. One bad game against Flint when the defense let him out to dry. Poor kid was never given a chance to develop with the Otters - not given consistent playing time and when they did play him last year it was the third game in a 3-3. BJ’s first interview of the season he said he noticed how much Marshall improved over the summer. He had a great game against Owen Sound a few weeks ago and then never saw the ice again. I don’t understand the thought process with goalies and the Otters. They don’t give the backups enough playing time. They trade away for draft pick to get another goalie when we could have ridden out Lalonde’s injury with Nicholls and Gibbons. I hope Marshall goes on to have a lot of success with his QMJHL team.
The timing just is odd when they made the trade for Downey. To be fair, I’m not at practice so who knows but I just felt in his 6 games, he was solid or gave you a chance in 4. That’s about as good as Downey can probably be…
Hope he can catch on elsewhere. I’m sure he’s a good kid and worked hard just didn’t work out here. Let’s hope Downey can be a more reliable steady back up. Let’s also hope the weekend off doesn’t make them rusty but instead they can use the time to get healthy / regroup.
He's an '03...
He wasn't good enough to keep as his time was done no matter what after the season. Gibbons at the same skill level would have played more so it was a no brainer to let him go elsewhere and try to play.
Exactly.. Gibbons will be the backup next year. So why did we waste a 6th rounder on a goalie to give you the same production Nicholls can give you?
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