Guelph Storm 2024 - 25 Season Thread, Part I

[frontsfan67]

Josh Brown's 21 article today is suggesting a fire sale including Gillespie, Luchanko, Allen, Karabella and Alriksson.
I would be surprised if contenders are not also interested in Budnick being an OA shutdown Dman.
Doubtful all are moved, but probably 3 or 4 for a significant haul of young players and picks.

I predict Luchanko and Allen are gone for sure.

Probably not in a package but I wouldn’t rule it out if some team wanted to go 1 stop shopping like Oshawa or Barrie(but I don’t see Allen going to Barrie- maybe Karabella and Vaughan going other way for him and Luchanko)

Alriksson goes to either Kitchener or Sudbury.

karabella they keep until the final few days and when teams start to panic because oh this team got his and this team got this he may go for more than expected.

Gillespie stays and Ellsworth learns from him before taking over as starter next year.

 

[MidwestStorm]

Josh Brown's 21 article today is suggesting a fire sale including Gillespie, Luchanko, Allen, Karabella and Alriksson.
I would be surprised if contenders are not also interested in Budnick being an OA shutdown Dman.
Doubtful all are moved, but probably 3 or 4 for a significant haul of young players and picks.

OA's Karabella and Budnick are out 4 weeks with injuries.
Incredible that we haven't had a full lineup once again this year.

 

[StormWatcher]

I've actually considered trading Gillespie given this season is probably a write-off. He will be an overager next year and I always thought its a waste of an OA spot on a goalie. I would let Ellsworth, Jovanovski or Newton play the remainder of the season and get playing time to help in a year where we have a meaningful team.

This. I hope Gillespie is moved by next season, no use keeping him as an OA - it would hinder development of our other goalies. This year he should be being used as a mentor, not a workhorse. Ellsworth was scratched against Peterborough, but I would expect him to get a start a week.

 

[StormWatcher]

OA's Karabella and Budnick are out 4 weeks with injuries.
Incredible that we haven't had a full lineup once again this year.

That knee into the boards play with Karabela was stressful to watch, my kiddo kept looking to the bench, but I knew off the bat it would be another long stretch with injury.

Well, our young forwards will continue to get a lot of ice, but I agree with others sentiments that our young D has not fared well with the added responsibility.
Our top 4 on D is:
Budnick/Allen
Skvortsov/Beauchesne (even though both are 17, this is our 2/3)
Have we been able to play these top 4 more than a game or two though??

 

[StormWatcher]

This. I hope Gillespie is moved by next season, no use keeping him as an OA - it would hinder development of our other goalies. This year he should be being used as a mentor, not a workhorse. Ellsworth was scratched against Peterborough, but I would expect him to get a start a week.

That being said, I could see Gillespie being a player that benefits from the new NCAA rules, perhaps he goes the college route if there isn't much interest in the O, I can't see him being an OA candidate given the tenders in the league now/next year.

 

[StormWatcher]

Yeah... that D.

 

[stormfollower]

You guys love him (the coach) but I cannot for the life of me understand his decision making process….

 

[StormWatcher]

You guys love him (the coach) but I cannot for the life of me understand his decision making process….

Can you be more specific?

I wouldn't say I love the guy, but it's hard to argue that he's not an improvement over Wiseman, who was awful.

Last night was bound to be an uphill battle given the top two D being out and two callups on forward. It would be nice to see McLean find a linemate he can click with, perhaps that will come with an '08 post deadline. McFadden has also slowed down his production, but this is common with rookies/sophmores, they can be streaky, especially when the lines (by necessity with injuries, addition of Katzin) have to keep getting juggled.

 

[MidwestStorm]

Hard to win consistently needing to score 5 goals a night. 4 or more goals against in 15 of 24 games and less than 3 goals allowed in only 4 games. That's a lot of pressure and expectations for a young team to overcome.
Time to let Ellsworth get some on the job training

That being said I look forward to and will be happy to watch an even younger roster after the trade deadline.

I still believe this coaching staff can and will develop our young players.

 

[stormfollower]

Can you be more specific?

I wouldn't say I love the guy, but it's hard to argue that he's not an improvement over Wiseman, who was awful.

Last night was bound to be an uphill battle given the top two D being out and two callups on forward. It would be nice to see McLean find a linemate he can click with, perhaps that will come with an '08 post deadline. McFadden has also slowed down his production, but this is common with rookies/sophmores, they can be streaky, especially when the lines (by necessity with injuries, addition of Katzin) have to keep getting juggled.choices for power play units, who he had out when the goalie is pulled and they’re looking to score. You said it yourself…. “Rookies/sophmores can be streaky”.

You said it yourself “sophmores/rookies can be streaky”. The second power play unit hasn’t worked in a long time yet he refuses to change it. The choices made for end of game goalie pulled situation is the same…. He doesn’t seem to be able to adapt to a game by game situation. What worked 10 games ago isn’t necessarily going to work now.

 

[MidwestStorm]

I am more disappointed with our veteran forwards. Not one is at a point per game pace and only Alriksson has 10 goals almost half way into the season. 5 of Max's 9 goals came during his 2 game streak.

My expectations for all of these players was so much greater. Perhaps you can argue this is on the coach?

This probably explains why I am ok with more rookie and sophomore development issues. Short term pain for long term gain.

 

[thenumbersguy]

Something that doesn’t seem to be mentioned is that there should be a bit of criticism applied to the scouting staff. I think in the last couple of years there have been more misses than hits. Some of the 21 and 22 draftees haven’t shown improvement year after year that you like to see. Even the 23 draftees are not taking jumps, part of that can be attributed to the fact that they aren’t getting quality playing time.

In the old days, Mike Kelly would throw the draftees into the fire giving them 1st and 2nd line play on a consistent basis with support from veteran players. The draftees would be forced to elevate their game against the opposition’s best players and therefore, show marked improvement year after year.

 

[StormWatcher]

OK, so I looked up some stats so we can deal with facts here. PPG last year vs this year for the veteran ('04/'05 forwards):

Max 0.81 PPG this year vs. 0.74 PPG last.
Paquette 0.57 this year vs. 0.51 last.
Alriksson 0.92 this year vs. 0.49 last (most improved)
Karabela 0.65 this year vs. 0.85 last (only decrease, albeit large)

Obviously many things, including coaching, can factor into this.

Also checked the sophmore forwards as they got called out re: coaching and development previously.
Snelgrove: 0.36 this year vs. 0.16 last.
McFadden 0.39 this year vs. 0.20 last.

 

[stormfollower]

OK, so I looked up some stats so we can deal with facts here. PPG last year vs this year for the veteran ('04/'05 forwards):

Max 0.81 PPG this year vs. 0.74 PPG last.
Paquette 0.57 this year vs. 0.51 last.
Alriksson 0.92 this year vs. 0.49 last (most improved)
Karabela 0.65 this year vs. 0.85 last (only decrease, albeit large)

Obviously many things, including coaching, can factor into this.

Also checked the sophmore forwards as they got called out re: coaching and development previously.
Snelgrove: 0.36 this year vs. 0.16 last.
McFadden 0.39 this year vs. 0.20 last.

Is there any way of calculating ice time? Or pp time? The overagers all have much more ice time this year.(understandably so) wouldn’t that or shouldn’t that result in more ppg?
For example ice time for Alriksson this year vs last year? He is being used on the pp vs last year he wasn’t .
I would argue at least a couple of the 07’s have made better improvements. Snelgrove for example is not on the pp and perhaps a little more ice than last year yet has shown a big improvement on ppg . McFadden just isn’t being used like he was last year.( for the most part) yet still is showing improvement. What would happen if they were given more opportunities? Same can be said for McKenzie.

 

[MidwestStorm]

Something that doesn’t seem to be mentioned is that there should be a bit of criticism applied to the scouting staff. I think in the last couple of years there have been more misses than hits. Some of the 21 and 22 draftees haven’t shown improvement year after year that you like to see. Even the 23 draftees are not taking jumps, part of that can be attributed to the fact that they aren’t getting quality playing time.

In the old days, Mike Kelly would throw the draftees into the fire giving them 1st and 2nd line play on a consistent basis with support from veteran players. The draftees would be forced to elevate their game against the opposition’s best players and therefore, show marked improvement year after year.

I don't have many complaints with their drafting. I follow the draft very closely and most picks are right in line with the so called prognosticators. Off the top of my head Poitras, Luchanko, Beauchense, Buchinger and even Karabella were good recent late first / second round picks. Topp and Paquette were solid picks although not NHL drafted. We have 5 guys on this years NHL watch list. Selections in the top 4 rounds are critical to success.

Storm have tended to play their top 3 or 4 draft picks each year. Last year all 4 played regular shifts and this year both McLean and Stevens are even playing on the PP. This is a disadvantage when playing veteran heavy teams like the Knights.

 

[StormWatcher]

Is there any way of calculating ice time? Or pp time? The overagers all have much more ice time this year.(understandably so) wouldn’t that or shouldn’t that result in more ppg?
For example ice time for Alriksson this year vs last year? He is being used on the pp vs last year he wasn’t .
I would argue at least a couple of the 07’s have made better improvements. Snelgrove for example is not on the pp and perhaps a little more ice than last year yet has shown a big improvement on ppg . McFadden just isn’t being used like he was last year.( for the most part) yet still is showing improvement. What would happen if they were given more opportunities? Same can be said for McKenzie.

You would be hard pressed to find another OHL team with youth getting more opportunity than the Storm. Snelgrove has slotted top 6 several times this season, from now until the end of the year they will get ++ ice time as vets are moved. T

McKenzie is a third line checker, he is in the right spot in the lineup. He missed time with injury, he will have ample time over the WJC to show that he deserves more ice if warranted.

his is a development year, if next year they're still last, then you can make an argument that development is lacking. Even then, our '07's will have one more year (or two) left in the league, meaning that '2027 is likely our next year of going for it, depending on how the roster looks January 10th.

I'm hoping that Vaughan is in the cards in our future as that would give more options on RW moving forward, and would be a great addition to the young core.

 

[stormfollower]

I’m am curious to see what the roster looks like after the deadline. Vaughan would be an excellent pick up if it happens. The team would end up in the same position of Peterborough…. Short term pain for long term gain. My question is would this help development? Peterborough at long last seems to be making gains.

 

[stormfollower]

With off that’s been discussed the past few days, looks like the rookie/sophomore talent will be tested tonight!

 

[MidwestStorm]

Call me crazy but last nights game gave me hope for the future starting January 11th. Our rookies and sophomores were outstanding and never gave up or back down against a veteran laden Memorial Cup champion. In fact they accounted for 15 of the 17 points scored(incl Paquette and Topp).

No Luchanko, Allen, Karrabella and Budnick and some ugly, soft goals against did not deter them.

Katzin continues to amaze and has brought Paquette's game to a new level with points in his last 5 games and 9 points almost matching Katzin's 11.

Another tough game today with an all in veteran Kingston team.

 

[stormfollower]

Call me crazy but last nights game gave me hope for the future starting January 11th. Our rookies and sophomores were outstanding and never gave up or back down against a veteran laden Memorial Cup champion. In fact they accounted for 15 of the 17 points scored(incl Paquette and Topp).

No Luchanko, Allen, Karrabella and Budnick and some ugly, soft goals against did not deter them.

Katzin continues to amaze and has brought Paquette's game to a new level with points in his last 5 games and 9 points almost matching Katzin's 11.

Another tough game today with an all in veteran Kingston team.

Good to see the rookie/sophomore kids out there and score on the 6 on 4 at the end of the game.

 

[frontsfan67]

Wow katzin has been good so far