Kingston Frontenacs 2024 25 Season Thread Part Iii

[ScoutLife4]

Would be nice if the league did something about that. Too late for that with the fronts though. Missing McGowan and burns will be hard to win a game without those two let alone refs or penalties

Yea, It's not all doom and gloom though.
You need to take a deep breathe and realize the organization is FINALLY showing some promising progress and slowly moving in a positive direction.
Understand you are upset they lost but it's not on the refs here.

 

[frontsfan67]

Yea, It's not all doom and gloom though.
You need to take a deep breathe and realize the organization is FINALLY showing some promising progress and slowly moving in a positive direction.
Understand you are upset they lost but it's not on the refs here.

Yeah only for the next 2 years to be rebuilding again. That’s the cycle.

losing burns was the kill shot. They could’ve won without McGowan. No burns? Good luck. If anything should’ve been 2 for tripping. Wasn’t a slew foot you even said yourself- just a reputation call. Dont know how you’re gonna play 2 sides saying oh it was a reputation call then say it wasn’t the refs?

I’m fine with them losing as I said. If they lost a 1 goal game no stupid penalties like that- fine by me you lost to the better team.

Losing a game with many questionable non calls on barrie and losing your captain and backbone on the back end to a slewfoot that you yourself said was not a slew foot alone with the barrie announcers on the tv you were watching. Thats the stuff that leaves a sour taste in your mouth regarding the season second round or not.

Since you weren’t at the game I would have to assume you didn’t see anything behind the play? I was at the game as I was for 1, 2, 5 and barrie got away with quite a few penalties that even colts fans were talking about. The nut jobs last night made Ferguson and Reid look like NHL refs with some of the missed calls.

 

[frontsfan67]

Gotta feel good some how! All the power to you.

WJ

Yep always someone having a worse time! That’s fine. Sudbury had an extra week to golf- they can show the fronts a thing or two now!

 

[Wolfman Jack]

Yep always someone having a worse time! That’s fine. Sudbury had an extra week to golf- they can show the fronts a thing or two now!

Ha no golfing in Sudbury yet!

WJ

 

[ScoutLife4]

Yeah only for the next 2 years to be rebuilding again. That’s the cycle.

losing burns was the kill shot. They could’ve won without McGowan. No burns? Good luck. If anything should’ve been 2 for tripping. Wasn’t a slew foot you even said yourself- just a reputation call. Dont know how you’re gonna play 2 sides saying oh it was a reputation call then say it wasn’t the refs?

I’m fine with them losing as I said. If they lost a 1 goal game no stupid penalties like that- fine by me you lost to the better team.

Losing a game with many questionable non calls on barrie and losing your captain and backbone on the back end to a slewfoot that you yourself said was not a slew foot alone with the barrie announcers on the tv you were watching. Thats the stuff that leaves a sour taste in your mouth regarding the season second round or not.

Since you weren’t at the game I would have to assume you didn’t see anything behind the play? I was at the game as I was for 1, 2, 5 and barrie got away with quite a few penalties that even colts fans were talking about. The nut jobs last night made Ferguson and Reid look like NHL refs with some of the missed calls.

I don't for a minute think Burns ejection was the reason they lost that's why i can play both sides.
Why go out and take 2 more undisciplined penatlies after losing you're best Dman?
That penalty Heyes took when the 2nd ended likely cost them the game.
Kingston was severely outplayed in every category last night.
TOA, OZP,Shots, Faceoffs. Literally everything.
They would have needed a miracle to win that game

 

[frontsfan67]

That penalty Heyes took when the 2nd ended likely cost them the game.

Heyes was horrible the whole series for pims. Imagine we got Wakely like how fronts had a deal in place then he said no

Kingston was severely outplayed in every category last night.
TOA, OZP,Shots, Faceoffs. Literally everything.
They would have needed a miracle to win that game

Yep. Colts got lots of their shots on the powerplay. Was 3-2 fronts and they started taking penalties and it killed their game.

 

[frontsfan67]

Heyes had 11pts this series lmao what the hell I just checked

20 pims too

If only the guy didn’t take penalties pretty much every game

 

[Donnie740]

Donnie. Regarding the fronts.. have you taken a look at the roster? Specifically the ages of certain players?

There you go. There’s no run for 2026 and there was never going to be.

Kingston had a bunch of good players this year but not really any great players. You’re not going to get to an OHL final or even a conference final with that kind of a roster.

Your two best forwards - - Battaglia and Hopkins - - were both going to be returning for sure. Likely Miedema as an OA, so that’s a very good first line. Kingston also had TWO (2) first round picks this year. I’d advocate for holding on to both players but trading one along with a couple high picks acquired at this year’s deadline would bring back a great player next year.

Look at what Owen Sound, Guelph and the Soo got for Konnor Smith, Cam Allen and Andrew Gibson. You don’t think Kingston could have got something similar for Burns?

The worst part for me was that Kingston had an absolute TON of high draft picks and just pissed them all away. The Saginaw fleecings were horrendous but the worst mismanagement was the goalie situation.

Kingston literally gave up 3,3,5,6,7 for three months of Chuck Schenkel. That’s absurd. I have no earthly idea what they were thinking. In comparison, London gave up a 5th for a full season of Austin Elliott.

Adding a bunch of high draft picks to the huge collection they already had would have given Kingston an absolutely MASSIVE amount. That’s when you make a few deals to defer some of them while also upgrading them - - a 2025 2nd and 6th for a 2028 2nd and 3rd. Do the same kind of deferrals a time or two next year and then you’re set up for a sustained run of success for several years.

Now you’re stuck with being forced to trade one of your two best forwards next year just to try and recoup some picks. Which is unbelievable, considering the wealth of high picks Kingston had before squandering them all away.

 

[zaluty]

Gotta feel good some how! All the power to you.

You know Wolfman if someone from here posted that in the Sudbury forum one of the crybabies would have reported us. Welcome to free speech and good luck to you next year.

 

[PuckLucker]

I don't for a minute think Burns ejection was the reason they lost that's why i can play both sides.
Why go out and take 2 more undisciplined penatlies after losing you're best Dman?
That penalty Heyes took when the 2nd ended likely cost them the game.
Kingston was severely outplayed in every category last night.
TOA, OZP,Shots, Faceoffs. Literally everything.
They would have needed a miracle to win that game

Spot on.
Maybe send in your resume as a consultant or special advisor because the Fronts Hockey Operations needs it.

For a coach who preaches about discipline, structure and playing to their identity as a team, I highlight doubt that having a player lead the OHL in playoff PIMs was wanted.

I do harp on the GM & Coach quite a bit but I will give credit that Coach Mann died on the sword playing who he thought would get the job done including his Trade Deadline acquisitions and reluctance to change up the PP when it was the worst in the OHL during playoffs

 

[ScoutLife4]

Spot on.
Maybe send in your resume as a consultant or special advisor because the Fronts Hockey Operations needs it.

For a coach who preaches about discipline, structure and playing to their identity as a team, I highlight doubt that having a player lead the OHL in playoff PIMs was wanted.

I do harp on the GM & Coach quite a bit but I will give credit that Coach Mann died on the sword playing who he thought would get the job done including his Trade Deadline acquisitions and reluctance to change up the PP when it was the worst in the OHL during playoffs

Haha I already give Troy enough complimentary roster advice.
In all honesty i probably know the make up of this team and what it needed almost as good as the people in that front office.
There unfortunately is not enough money working in the O unless you are the Coach or GM to motivate me to do it.
It's however great for young upcomers in hockey to build a name and work their way up.

I can see some how the criticism for the Saginaw moves but Hay did his job and they put their best foot forward that was made available for them to better the team in the all or nothing year.
At the end of the day Kingston was not able to get any of the big names to agree to come so they had to settle.
The kids and agents hold all the cards in these decisions now.
I do think showing they can compete this season will help their cause for future player movement though.

The PP is a tricky one because neither unit was doing much + the tweaks he made throwing Soto in there didn't really work.
Barrie deserves a lot of credit for shutting down the PP1 like they did. -They did a tremendous job keeping them outside and Hilly made big saves when they did get in.

 

[Donnie740]

There unfortunately is not enough money working in the O unless you are the Coach or GM to motivate me to do it.
It's however great for young upcomers in hockey to build a name and work their way up.

I didn’t realize there was so much money in scouting to motivate you.

 

[Donnie740]

Since you weren’t at the game I would have to assume you didn’t see anything behind the play? I was at the game as I was for 1, 2, 5 and barrie got away with quite a few penalties that even colts fans were talking about. The nut jobs last night made Ferguson and Reid look like NHL refs with some of the missed calls.

I applaud you for travelling up to Barrie to support your team - - that’s a six hour round trip from Kingston. You love to see that level of support from OHL fans.

As for the Burns penalty, Aitcheson pulled the exact same stunt last year against Oshawa. While the refs were reviewing it, we leaned over and could see Aitcheson standing in the tunnel laughing. Sure enough, the refs were duped into giving Oshawa a 5min major and he made a miraculous recovery to get right back on the ice to start the power play.

I love Aitcheson’s game and I rate him as the #2 defenceman in this year’s draft, a sure top 10 pick without question. But shenanigans like that are not going to fly in the NHL. He might fool the NHL refs once, but after that he’ll never get another call.

 

[ScoutLife4]

I didn’t realize there was so much money in scouting to motivate you.

I'm not sure what is so confusing about what I said.
IE: The GM and Coach are the only one's making bank.
it's very hard to make a career working in the OHL. -It's a stepping stone is what i meant.

 

[frontsfan67]

I do think showing they can compete this season will help their cause for future player movement though.

Hopefully you’re right! Imagine we got Wakely like we were supposed to.

The PP is a tricky one because neither unit was doing much + the tweaks he made throwing Soto in there didn't really work.
Barrie deserves a lot of credit for shutting down the PP1 like they did. -They did a tremendous job keeping them outside and Hilly made big saves when they did get in.

Any idea why Hopkins was taken off and replaced with Willis when for most of the year Hopkins was PP1?

If I had 1 question that may be the biggest one. Powerplay was not the same with Willis on it.

 

[leafs4life94]

I've said my piece about this year - at this point bitching and complaining does nothing so I'm hoping that Kingston can establish some kind of culture that will attract talent. My only concern, and it's a threat to almost every CHL team, is that Mann has goals to get back to the pros. I think it was said on here that there's a personal connection that'll keep him here at least another year, but the coach is a key factor in creating the culture.

Looking forward - these I believe are the players that I believe Kingston may have on the protected list going into the summer - assuming all signed '05s and both imports are gone, and all unsigned '06s have already been/will be released, I believe they'll have 55 players so they'll need to cut some, especially if they're going to be adding 2 or 3 imports to start the year.

I'm guessing we'll see a couple '07s dropped along with losing at least 4 of the '05s.

I've posted in the past about being fairly doom and gloom about depending on which OAs they keep, but looking at this list in totality they should have a pretty solid team, at least before the draft capital recouping begins.

Battaglia/Hopkins/??? should be a pretty solid first line, and I really like Dervin as 2C. Kelly showed quite well in his limited time, I liked McCuaig in training camp and didn't notice anything negative in the couple games he played. RW depth is very much lacking, especially if Wright keeps his commitment to UMaine for next year - I think they look there in the import draft.

Defense will likely be quite green - OAs aside, they're only returning 161 games of experience, and 121 of those are Williamson - which is why I get the feeling that even if the OA rule doesn't change, they'll return 2 OA defense.

Betts is locked into one of the goalie spots. It's possible Vaccari's back as an OA if goalies are omitted from the rule, but otherwise I think they'll pick up a goalie that can be a 1B to Betts and play 25-30 games.

 

[frontsfan67]

I applaud you for travelling up to Barrie to support your team - - that’s a six hour round trip from Kingston. You love to see that level of support from OHL fans.

More like 9 hours for the round trip!

As for the Burns penalty, Aitcheson pulled the exact same stunt last year against Oshawa. While the refs were reviewing it, we leaned over and could see Aitcheson standing in the tunnel laughing. Sure enough, the refs were duped into giving Oshawa a 5min major and he made a miraculous recovery to get right back on the ice to start the power play.

Not surprised. Just the way the kid plays. Need less of that.

I love Aitcheson’s game and I rate him as the #2 defenceman in this year’s draft, a sure top 10 pick without question. But shenanigans like that are not going to fly in the NHL. He might fool the NHL refs once, but after that he’ll never get another call.

Exactly. Big difference between nhl and chl refs

 

[frontsfan67]

I've said my piece about this year - at this point bitching and complaining does nothing so I'm hoping that Kingston can establish some kind of culture that will attract talent. My only concern, and it's a threat to almost every CHL team, is that Mann has goals to get back to the pros. I think it was said on here that there's a personal connection that'll keep him here at least another year, but the coach is a key factor in creating the culture.

Looking forward - these I believe are the players that I believe Kingston may have on the protected list going into the summer - assuming all signed '05s and both imports are gone, and all unsigned '06s have already been/will be released, I believe they'll have 55 players so they'll need to cut some, especially if they're going to be adding 2 or 3 imports to start the year.

View attachment 1020984

I'm guessing we'll see a couple '07s dropped along with losing at least 4 of the '05s.

I've posted in the past about being fairly doom and gloom about depending on which OAs they keep, but looking at this list in totality they should have a pretty solid team, at least before the draft capital recouping begins.

The way the Pete’s were fresh off the championship should be similar to the fronts before they sell. Lots of good talent still but can only keep 3- maybe 4 if a rule change happens. When they trade these impact guys they plummet in the standings.

Battaglia/Hopkins/??? should be a pretty solid first line, and I really like Dervin as 2C. Kelly showed quite well in his limited time, I liked McCuaig in training camp and didn't notice anything negative in the couple games he played. RW depth is very much lacking, especially if Wright keeps his commitment to UMaine for next year - I think they look there in the import draft.

Battaglia should be one of the top producing guys in the league. Kelly’s definitely going to break out as is Dervin and Hopkins. McCuaig should have a decent “rookie” year

Wright would be foolish not to put off UMaine for a year even if it means he gets traded or goes elsewhere from OHL. He is nowhere near NCAA ready.

I predict 16 year old rookies are Kulemin, Henderson(obviously) and then Robar and Snyder. Wonder what they do with import draft.

 

[beastintheeast]

I would like to see Snyder, Henderson and Kulemin make the team

The rest of the players would benefit from ice time on a Junior team OJHL CCHL. Kingston can bring some up at Christmas but these kids need minutes against older players not 4th line or 7-8 defemce

You have the first round Import that will be a starter and a 2nd round that might be oK

I think getting drafted players should be passed the Fronts need to build, and as we saw with Pienimini, there is no guarantee they are going to report here the first year.

 

[BobbyStokers9713]

Yeah only for the next 2 years to be rebuilding again. That’s the cycle.

losing burns was the kill shot. They could’ve won without McGowan. No burns? Good luck. If anything should’ve been 2 for tripping. Wasn’t a slew foot you even said yourself- just a reputation call. Dont know how you’re gonna play 2 sides saying oh it was a reputation call then say it wasn’t the refs?

I’m fine with them losing as I said. If they lost a 1 goal game no stupid penalties like that- fine by me you lost to the better team.

Losing a game with many questionable non calls on barrie and losing your captain and backbone on the back end to a slewfoot that you yourself said was not a slew foot alone with the barrie announcers on the tv you were watching. Thats the stuff that leaves a sour taste in your mouth regarding the season second round or not.

Since you weren’t at the game I would have to assume you didn’t see anything behind the play? I was at the game as I was for 1, 2, 5 and barrie got away with quite a few penalties that even colts fans were talking about. The nut jobs last night made Ferguson and Reid look like NHL refs with some of the missed calls.

why do you keep saying "without burns"? he was there the entire series and you actually won 1-0 when he left the game? the excuses are just crazy man.

 

[beastintheeast]

@frontsfan67

The bottom line is that the fronts got beaten by a better team.

If nothing else it was a goalies battle. Also add in that the Colts had a better second line and defence core

 

[OHL4Life]

I would like to see Snyder, Henderson and Kulemin make the team

The rest of the players would benefit from ice time on a Junior team OJHL CCHL. Kingston can bring some up at Christmas but these kids need minutes against older players not 4th line or 7-8 defemce

You have the first round Import that will be a starter and a 2nd round that might be oK

I think getting drafted players should be passed the Fronts need to build, and as we saw with Pienimini, there is no guarantee they are going to report here the first year.

why snyder?

 

[beastintheeast]

why snyder?

If Snyder is any good, then the USHL NDTP are also going to be looking at him. If you were an American kid who had a choice between the USHL NDTP or playing in the OJHL in Canada, which would you take?

Also, Snyder is RW, and there is a shortage there. Start the year with McCuaig, Kumelin, and Snyder as your 4th line. By Xmas or the deadline, they should be avail as a 3rd line, depending on who you can trade.

 

[OHL4Life]

If Snyder is any good, then the USHL NDTP are also going to be looking at him. If you were an American kid who had a choice between the USHL NDTP or playing in the OJHL in Canada, which would you take?

Also, Snyder is RW, and there is a shortage there. Start the year with McCuaig, Kumelin, and Snyder as your 4th line. By Xmas or the deadline, they should be avail as a 3rd line, depending on who you can trade.

the ntdp did not invite him to their camp. hes decent but no where near ohl ready. have you watched him?

 

[frontsfan67]

why do you keep saying "without burns"? he was there the entire series and you actually won 1-0 when he left the game? the excuses are just crazy man.

Cause our best defenceman left game 7? I don’t know but maybe that’s a reasonable thing to mention. Regardless it’s over so I don’t know why you guys keep mentioning me.