Kingston Frontenacs 2023-24 Season Thread (Part 2)

[beastintheeast]

Forgot to mention this but Nathan Villeneuve is replacing an injured player in the top prospects game. Battaglia definitely snubbed.

Last 10 games Battaglia- 8 goals, 9 assists 17pts in 10 games.

Points for the season 41 in 39 games

Last 10 games Villeneueve- 4 goals, 8 assists 12 pts in 10 games

Points for the season 31pts in 38 games

Confusing move made there by the chl

I'm not sure it is the CHL that chooses the team. Everything I read is that the NHL usually chooses through the fall draft list.

Villeneuve does surprise me but as you can read he is not the only surprise

https://thehockeynews.com/news/breaking-down-the-chl-nhl-top-prospects-game-roster-and-who-was-left-out

 

[AttackSound]

Any Frontenacs fans will be in attendance today Owen Sound will have a fan bus in attendance.

 

[frontsfan67]

Any Frontenacs fans will be in attendance today Owen Sound will have a fan bus in attendance.

Enjoy the game guys!

 

[beastintheeast]

Enjoy the game guys!

I think they enjoyed it more than the Kingston fans did.

Thank god for Barrie and Niagara. If them and the petes ever got their act together Kingston might be fighting for a play off berth again this year.

Defence????????
Goaltending??????????

 

[frontsfan67]

I think they enjoyed it more than the Kingston fans did.

Thank god for Barrie and Niagara. If them and the petes ever got their act together Kingston might be fighting for a play off berth again this year.

Defence????????
Goaltending??????????

Defence and goaltending wasn’t the problem tonight beast if you watched the game. The offence which is on and off sometimes was the problem.

 

[beastintheeast]

Defence and goaltending wasn’t the problem tonight beast if you watched the game. The offence which is on and off sometimes was the problem.

You still have to win those games, and that is goaltending; if one is hot, yours has to be just as hot, and the defence has to be on them.

This is a team that needs to find itself as the season is not going to get any easier with all the 3 3 weekends coming up.

 

[ktownfan]

I thought we played ok, Holmes served up a pass to OS for their 2nd goal. And our offense was absent. Their goalie is very good. Nice to see Stewy back in Ktown. It's obviuos his ex teammates still love the guy

 

[Handcuffhockey]

I didn’t think the team played with enough urgency. There were some excellent shifts where Owen Sound got pinned in and although we controlled the play we really couldn’t get the puck to the blue paint. It really appears they are trying to get Dubois going, he has had a ton of ice time since coming in but hasn‘t been able to produce yet. I do think it’s coming at the cost of all the lines as they seem out of sorts. Big loss without Schmidt in the line-up.

I think this team plays its best when they are rolling all four lines, that really hasn’t been the case since the deadline. Also some very long shifts last night from some guys, McNammara, and Thibideau especially, these guys were out there for what felt like an eternity, any momentum we would have had playing a tired team is lost because of being selfish. Not sure why a message wasn’t sent to these guys by having them take a seat on the bench to think about the team game.

Since the trade deadline some surprising plus minus results.

Thibideau -7
Frasca -7

Every forward besides the three below on the team are minus.

Poole +2
Heyes +2
Cavelin +2

on Defence

Holmes -6
Burns -5

Williamson the only d who has played in all the games who is -0-.

 

[Logosarejusttargets]

I didn’t think the team played with enough urgency. There were some excellent shifts where Owen Sound got pinned in and although we controlled the play we really couldn’t get the puck to the blue paint. It really appears they are trying to get Dubois going, he has had a ton of ice time since coming in but hasn‘t been able to produce yet. I do think it’s coming at the cost of all the lines as they seem out of sorts. Big loss without Schmidt in the line-up.

I think this team plays its best when they are rolling all four lines, that really hasn’t been the case since the deadline. Also some very long shifts last night from some guys, McNammara, and Thibideau especially, these guys were out there for what felt like an eternity, any momentum we would have had playing a tired team is lost because of being selfish. Not sure why a message wasn’t sent to these guys by having them take a seat on the bench to think about the team game.

Since the trade deadline some surprising plus minus results.

Thibideau -7
Frasca -7

Every forward besides the three below on the team are minus.

Poole +2
Heyes +2
Cavelin +2

on Defence

Holmes -6
Burns -5

Williamson the only d who has played in all the games who is -0-.

I honestly think that 1 of Thibodeau, Miedema, McNamara probably should take a seat in the suite for a game each and let Cavallin who has outscored Poole and Hayes in the past 10 games play - it's silly he's been the only healthy scratch.

 

[frontsfan67]

You still have to win those games, and that is goaltending; if one is hot, yours has to be just as hot, and the defence has to be on them.

This is a team that needs to find itself as the season is not going to get any easier with all the 3 3 weekends coming up.

Vaccari had his best game in a while. George was just even better. Also no powerplays for the fronts to get stuff going so that plays a part too(#4 in league, #1 in east by a wide margin). They’ll be fine but I really wish they would’ve won yesterday because they’ll likely be going 0-2 this week and a 4 game losing streak

I honestly think that 1 of Thibodeau, Miedema, McNamara probably should take a seat in the suite for a game each and let Cavallin who has outscored Poole and Hayes in the past 10 games play - it's silly he's been the only healthy scratch.

I want them to break up the top line personally.

Switch Soto for miedema or thibodeau(both of which need to wake up- and on the top line with battaglia and ludwinski think they would have the best chance of doing so)

 

[frontsfan67]

I didn’t think the team played with enough urgency. There were some excellent shifts where Owen Sound got pinned in and although we controlled the play we really couldn’t get the puck to the blue paint. It really appears they are trying to get Dubois going, he has had a ton of ice time since coming in but hasn‘t been able to produce yet. I do think it’s coming at the cost of all the lines as they seem out of sorts. Big loss without Schmidt in the line-up.

I think this team plays its best when they are rolling all four lines, that really hasn’t been the case since the deadline. Also some very long shifts last night from some guys, McNammara, and Thibideau especially, these guys were out there for what felt like an eternity, any momentum we would have had playing a tired team is lost because of being selfish. Not sure why a message wasn’t sent to these guys by having them take a seat on the bench to think about the team game.

Since the trade deadline some surprising plus minus results.

Thibideau -7
Frasca -7

Every forward besides the three below on the team are minus.

Poole +2
Heyes +2
Cavelin +2

on Defence

Holmes -6
Burns -5

Williamson the only d who has played in all the games who is -0-.

Plus minus is a meaningless stat. Holmes and burns are playing against the top forward lines consistently where guys like Williamson are playing 4th line guys a couple times a game

 

[beastintheeast]

Looking at the rest of the games, really, the Fronts only have 5 "easy" games. Should they, instead of trying to get higher in the standings, take the time to get healthy and prepare for the playoffs?

If the team is not top 4 in the conference is it a bad season?

Just wondering

 

[dirty12]

Plus minus is a meaningless stat. Holmes and burns are playing against the top forward lines consistently where guys like Williamson are playing 4th line guys a couple times a game

Plus/minus is not a meaningless stat. Like most stats, it needs context.

 

[frontsfan67]

Looking at the rest of the games, really, the Fronts only have 5 "easy" games. Should they, instead of trying to get higher in the standings, take the time to get healthy and prepare for the playoffs?

If the team is not top 4 in the conference is it a bad season?

Just wondering

In my opinion the only 2 teams I don’t want the fronts facing in round 1 are north bay and Sudbury

I do believe they could take out Ottawa, Oshawa, brantford and missisauga in the playoffs. It would all be close series but that’s just my opinion. Wouldn’t be optimal earning the 5th or 6th seed but that could be how it goes if they struggle here the rest of the season.

Absolutely love they have Hopkins on the top line. He has earned it the last 5-10 games, been effective just not producing goals with the line mates.

Where is Soto? Sick?

 

[leafs4life94]

No Soto this afternoon but they've moved Hopkins up to the first line with Ludwinski/Battaglia - excited to see him get a chance to show what he can do further up the lineup, will definitely be a tough test against Saginaw though.

 

[dirty12]

In my opinion the only 2 teams I don’t want the fronts facing in round 1 are north bay and Sudbury

I do believe they could take out Ottawa, Oshawa, brantford and missisauga in the playoffs. It would all be close series but that’s just my opinion. Wouldn’t be optimal earning the 5th or 6th seed but that could be how it goes if they struggle here the rest of the season.

View attachment 807544
Absolutely love they have Hopkins on the top line. He has earned it the last 5-10 games, been effective just not producing goals with the line mates.

Where is Soto? Sick?

No one should want to meet up with Brantford giving up home-ice advantage. The unique dimensions of their rink give them a clear advantage imo.

 

[OMG67]

No one should want to meet up with Brantford giving up home-ice advantage. The unique dimensions of their rink give them a clear advantage imo.

100%. That is a tough as nails rink to play in. Softer ice and narrow neutral zone. Speedy teams have a tough time. You need to dump and chase a lot. You need heavier players.

 

[dirty12]

100%. That is a tough as nails rink to play in. Softer ice and narrow neutral zone. Speedy teams have a tough time. You need to dump and chase a lot. You need heavier players.

And they play an excellent trap game with the lead since McKee has been coach. With the smaller dimensions, the bulldogs are an even tougher team to come back against.

 

[frontsfan67]

todays game was absolutely brutal. Worst reffing crew of the year gave Saginaw a billion soft powerplays to take kingston out of the game then ludwinski got a 5 min penalty followed by another kingston penalty so they had a full 2 min 5 on 3 and after that we just didn’t play the same.

ferguson needs to get a talking to from the ohl on how to call penalties.

Despite the shitty refs putting them on the pk for half the game they played pretty well. Only scored 2 but saginaws goalie came up clutch time and time again after that second goal was scored. Had he not had a good game like that kingston could’ve came back with the momentum but he kept shutting the door on that.

Lots of room for improvement, however horrible refs like that take you out of the game.

So further review- shitty refs, lost ludwinski but played alright otherwise

 

[leafs4life94]

Well... onto Niagara I guess. Not a big fan of the schedule makers this weekend - 7PM Friday night at home then 4PM in Brantford on Saturday? Seems unnecessarily tight.

I had the game on in the background so I wasn't completely paying attention but based on what I saw I'm assuming Ludwinski will be sitting a couple games?

Mann didn't mince words about the reffing afterwards either, and he also laid into Burns a little bit for the lack of discipline - whether or not they were the right calls 8 PIMS and an early shower is especially bad considering they had no Schmidt.

It might be early and it could just be a bad stretch but damn these last couple weeks are not giving me any kind of confidence for next year - I'm getting close to throwing my "Vaccari will be fine" hat in the trash...

 

[ktownfan]

Plus minus is a meaningless stat. Holmes and burns are playing against the top forward lines consistently where guys like Williamson are playing 4th line guys a couple times a game

not meaningless, like the pass for the assist by Holmes for a goal on Friday against OS. That was a great pass. Seriuosly though, it is a good stat when used properly. Otherwise it isn't used as a statistic

We are too soft. Schmidt would certainly have helped but we basically got run over yesterday. They are a good team, but can also push you around, Hache, Dionicio, Hay, donavan at times. We just don't have the answer for the physical stuff. We have some guys with size, but don't have it in them to play the physical side. On to the next game

 

[Logosarejusttargets]

not meaningless, like the pass for the assist by Holmes for a goal on Friday against OS. That was a great pass. Seriuosly though, it is a good stat when used properly. Otherwise it isn't used as a statistic

We are too soft. Schmidt would certainly have helped but we basically got run over yesterday. They are a good team, but can also push you around, Hache, Dionicio, Hay, donavan at times. We just don't have the answer for the physical stuff. We have some guys with size, but don't have it in them to play the physical side. On to the next game

I would disagree on that. I think the guys stood up and took care of themselves quite well. Hay is/was playing like a weasel out there. When challenged he skated away to the bench and yapped. I will say Dionicio is actually very soft for a big man. He cuts an imposing figure, but he wasn't intimidating. Hache is a big man an uses it -- the problem is that he was acting like an complete idiot yelling and taunting all game long. It's also no surprise that what was very clearly a charging penalty wasn't called - but hey without sounding like one of those "blame the refs guys" it's not a shock that the worst reffing display I've seen at least this year coincidently occurs on the same night that Hache and his dad are back in town. For those not aware Hache's dad is the head of officiating for the OHL.

 

[ktownfan]

we are all entitled to our opinion i guess

 

[Logosarejusttargets]

todays game was absolutely brutal. Worst reffing crew of the year gave Saginaw a billion soft powerplays to take kingston out of the game then ludwinski got a 5 min penalty followed by another kingston penalty so they had a full 2 min 5 on 3 and after that we just didn’t play the same.

ferguson needs to get a talking to from the ohl on how to call penalties.

Despite the shitty refs putting them on the pk for half the game they played pretty well. Only scored 2 but saginaws goalie came up clutch time and time again after that second goal was scored. Had he not had a good game like that kingston could’ve came back with the momentum but he kept shutting the door on that.

Lots of room for improvement, however horrible refs like that take you out of the game.

So further review- shitty refs, lost ludwinski but played alright otherwise

As I said in a post a few minutes ago -- you can't be too shocked about the reffing when Mr Hache was back in the house.....not #6 either. I'm sure you are aware that Braden's dad is the head of OHL officiating. It's quite clear that Saginaw is talented enough to not need a hand from the refs either. McGowan's "trip" was horrible, the non-call on Hache's charging, the constant coincidental penalties when it should have been only a Saginaw penalty, and Hayes getting the GM-Misc yet Bloom got to slink back onto the bench....

we are all entitled to our opinion i guess

We sure are --

In my opinion the only 2 teams I don’t want the fronts facing in round 1 are north bay and Sudbury

I do believe they could take out Ottawa, Oshawa, brantford and missisauga in the playoffs. It would all be close series but that’s just my opinion. Wouldn’t be optimal earning the 5th or 6th seed but that could be how it goes if they struggle here the rest of the season.

View attachment 807544
Absolutely love they have Hopkins on the top line. He has earned it the last 5-10 games, been effective just not producing goals with the line mates.

Where is Soto? Sick?

Soto apparently was sick with stomach virus.
I don't think Kingston matches up with anyone ahead of them in the standings right now...Just not good enough to do anything. I don't think it will be a sweep, but will be shocked if they win more than 1 playoff game.

 

[Kingpin794]

I would disagree on that. I think the guys stood up and took care of themselves quite well. Hay is/was playing like a weasel out there. When challenged he skated away to the bench and yapped. I will say Dionicio is actually very soft for a big man. He cuts an imposing figure, but he wasn't intimidating. Hache is a big man an uses it -- the problem is that he was acting like an complete idiot yelling and taunting all game long. It's also no surprise that what was very clearly a charging penalty wasn't called - but hey without sounding like one of those "blame the refs guys" it's not a shock that the worst reffing display I've seen at least this year coincidently occurs on the same night that Hache and his dad are back in town. For those not aware Hache's dad is the head of officiating for the OHL.

We have the sixth most penalty minutes. If the league is fixing officiating in our favor, I don't ever want to be on their bad side.