Flint Firebirds 2024 - 25 Season Thread, Part I
- Thread starter SoupNazi
- Start date
Fun game last night. They played really well. Day continues to make the big saves to keep them in games. Zurawski is really starting to find his way. Martin has been skating his butt off the last 3-4 games and despite the fact he didn’t have a point until last night he’s played well lately. Positive comments all done, I don’t think this is the year. They’ve had a relatively soft schedule to start and they’re under .500. This looks like a team that’s a 5-7 seed right now and I’m betting we see a repeat of 22-23. Middle of the pack team down the stretch that occasionally shows flashes of greatness, GM wastes picks on an inconsequential player that doesn’t move the needle and they get bounced in the first round. If they want to prove me wrong I’m all for it.
I think that as the '23 deadline approached, the firebirds were not seen as being one of real contenders by the players they hoped to acquire. Kind of a catch-22.
Flint is really just a couple of very good 19 yr olds shy of seriously contending for a top seed imo. The team has the picks and young, very replaceble later players to get a game changer like Musty.
Last year we debated about whether Flint should go for it in 23-24 or 24-25. I stated that you were wrong about 23-24 and I was proven right. I posted I might be wrong too and it very much appears right now I was. They’re currently in 8th. I’m sure the players they want to acquire don’t view them as contenders right now either. Nobody on this team can finish right now and they’ve had a relatively soft schedule so far. The only player who has been consistently good is Day. They need a D that can generate offense. They need a 1C and they need a LW that can finish. They don’t have the assets to acquire all that. I don’t think mgmt has the foresight to realize they are a first or second round exit at best right now and they repeat 22-23 where they waste assets on another ineffective Nolan Dann/Oliver Peer type player. They don’t really have guys that will garner a ton if they sell either but I think they should. They’ve been playing decent D with great goaltending but OHL games aren’t won 2-1. I will gladly admit I was wrong if they get rolling but I’ve been far from impressed so far.
I think what was proven is Flint has been unable or unwilling to acquire all the players needed. I’m not really sure what is the point of Flint acquiring Clattenburg, Collins, Konyen, Mania, Thibodeau; but not get a LW/C and settle for Podrekar and Frolov at LD.
Yeah. You got me. I’m hoping they start producing a little more offense and go after a Pinelli/Foster/Musty etc. Podrekar and Frolov have both been good but they are not Brian Leetch. I imagine mgmt was expecting Mania to produce more offense than he has and be that guy but it hasn’t happened and his decision making has been rough so far.
Mania appears to have it all, but rarely able to use it all. He has 1.8 years remaining though.
That’s a really good description of him. D almost always take a bit longer to come into their own but I was hoping being a drafted 19yo he’d be a bit further along.
…..Central Scouting rankings are out. Jimmy Lombardi currently a B Grade (2nd/3rd Round) with Jeremy Martin getting a W (6th/7th Round). C’mon Jeremy. You’ve shown you got the tools. Get on a roll and keep finding the back of the net. I was a bit surprised to not see Frolov on the list at all. I think that’ll change over the next couple rankings. I’d love to see Fellinger make the list too but I don’t think it happens. I don’t know that he has the tools to impress NHL scouts but he does have the tools to become a pretty damn good shutdown D in the OHL over the next couple years and I do expect that.
Good game tonight.
Hopefully Pitre is okay. McGuire is a cheap piece of shit.
Hopefully Pitre is okay. McGuire is a cheap piece of shit.
Let’s see if they can string two together. I imagine Pitre will be ok. He was angry but didn’t act concussed or anything leaving the ice. We’ll see I guess. That Zurawski-Thibodeau-Aspinall line looked good. They’ve had their moments over the last few games. Maybe they’re just now starting to click. Gonna need to finish their chances tomorrow against one of the best netminders in the O.
See you at the Dort tonight.
A few Attack fans in Michigan for the weekend
Toldyaso
Tragic Poster
- Apr 13, 2015
- 862
- 522
As he should be. Hope he gets 10. Probably be like 5, he's got a history.
Congratulations to Nathan Day and Karlis Flugins! Pretty good weekend for the ‘Birds but to keep things in perspective, Guelph and OS are currently at the bottom of the West so…. Still, it’s a step in the right direction. Day continues to be lights out and still isn’t getting the respect he deserves. Flache has been finding some line combinations that work and the D has been pretty good at getting sticks in lanes, getting pucks out of the Dzone and playing well along the boards. As to the previous question, both Podrekar and Frolov have been good. They both show a bit of skill and offensive potential although it hasn’t materialized on the scoreboard yet. Other than one huge misstep by Frolov last night, they rarely make mistakes. Both are smart with the puck and have few turnovers which is huge and priority #1 for a D in my book. Thibodeau continues to impress me every night and the on-ice and bench optics make it seem like he’s a great teammate and well liked too. Big weekend for Aspinall and if Zurawski continues to perform like that, he’s going to have the best 16yo season of any Firebird ever. The kid has been impressive over the last couple weekends. 4g 4a 8pts and +7 over the last 7 games. For a 16yo? That also plays physical, is strong on his skates and backchecks? Works for me. So they can beat the teams struggling in the West. Now let’s see what they can do next weekend against the top of the Conference.
Yes, I had a hard time when ice dogs traded frolov glad the change of scenery is doing him well
Does every Western Conf game have to go to OT with both teams getting points? It was like that last year, or the year before where a couple teams had like 10 loser points more than Flint. I’m not advocating for a change, I’m ok with the system but every time I look it seems like everybody is going to OT.
Bender seems like a lateral move from Brown. I wasn’t ready to give up on Brown just yet. He had a rough outing but showed potential at times last year. I don’t see him in practice on a daily basis but the kid has barely been given a chance this year or last year. Not to mention they have 6’7 Sutherland in the system and he had solid numbers in Jr. B last year. I don’t think it’s wise to play Day quite as much as they have last year and so far this year. Hopefully they allow Brown (and Bender) at least enough ice time to battle for the back-up position. Bender had decent numbers last year but he also had an OHL Finals team in front of him.
Not surprising. Both had an incredible week and I expect both will repeat this accolade at least once more this season. Congrats Boys!
