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London Knights 2023-24 Season Thread (Part One)

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Gaz..had his best game as a Knight. He was engaged every shift, McCue also played very well making some great passing plays. Cowan seems a little lost but this happens after a sniff in the bigs.
 
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Ken Yates said:
Gaz..had his best game as a Knight. He was engaged every shift, McCue also played very well making some great passing plays. Cowan seems a little lost but this happens after a sniff in the bigs.
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Gaz played well, but he is so frustrating at times. He oozes skill, but he is scared to get hit. When that big fellow came to hit him tonight and he actually knocked him down I think was a big boost to his physical confidence. Maybe keeping him with McCue makes sense to help open up space for him with his play.

The OT goal was a typical Cowan play IMO. Move the puck and use your smarts/speed to get open. Since he came back he is trying to be more than what he is I think, almost like he has too much confidence. Just do what got you drafted in the first round very well ( skating, Hockey sense, Puck movement, winning wall battles, be tough to play against), no need to try to beat 3 or 4 guys in the corner by yourself. He seems to be trying to do too much on his own but we know that he will get there and find the proper balance.

Crane - Can someone please go light a firecracker up his ass please. The kid has a great shot, and great speed. He shows flashes of it every now and again but he is the laziest SOB on the ice every game. Some intensity is going to go a long way for him playing any more serious hockey after this season.
 
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I am still intrigued by the Knights getting a true PF. Someone like Gavin Hayes would fit well on this squad and help our top 6.
 
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LDN said:
I am still intrigued by the Knights getting a true PF. Someone like Gavin Hayes would fit well on this squad and help our top 6.
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What I'd like to see is the acquisition of a top 6 centre who is adept at the faceoff dot. Either that, or get our present centres working at IMPROVING their performance at winning faceoffs.
Faceoffs lost means the team starts play without puck possession, and time & energy are spent in puck recovery and defensive play....as opposed to offensive chances being generated. Faceoffs are a team weakness, and should be a priority to address.
 
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Purple Phart said:
What I'd like to see is the acquisition of a top 6 centre who is adept at the faceoff dot. Either that, or get our present centres working at IMPROVING their performance at winning faceoffs.
Faceoffs lost means the team starts play without puck possession, and time & energy are spent in puck recovery and defensive play....as opposed to offensive chances being generated. Faceoffs are a team weakness, and should be a priority to address.
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I think this is something the team will address internally, but agreed would be nice to bring in a faceoff ace
 
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Purple Phart said:
What I'd like to see is the acquisition of a top 6 centre who is adept at the faceoff dot. Either that, or get our present centres working at IMPROVING their performance at winning faceoffs.
Faceoffs lost means the team starts play without puck possession, and time & energy are spent in puck recovery and defensive play....as opposed to offensive chances being generated. Faceoffs are a team weakness, and should be a priority to address.
Click to expand...
Would have thought Owen Beck would be a great target but the more I think about it, makes me think we won’t have the assets compared to other teams to compete for his services.

Would really like them to take a shot at Filip Mesar. He is genuinely one of the most skilled players in the OHL. He might not cost as much as an Owen Beck. Maybe Mesar costs us Gazizov, 2nd, 3rd and 5th.

That would really help us get some secondary scoring.
 
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tjziel said:
Would have thought Owen Beck would be a great target but the more I think about it, makes me think we won’t have the assets compared to other teams to compete for his services.

Would really like them to take a shot at Filip Mesar. He is genuinely one of the most skilled players in the OHL. He might not cost as much as an Owen Beck. Maybe Mesar costs us Gazizov, 2nd, 3rd and 5th.

That would really help us get some secondary scoring.
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Why would Kitchener even unload any pieces now? They are looking better than last year and have a good mix of young and old players.

dino200022 said:
I am not convinced secondary scoring is the issue...It seems to be team defence at this point. Bringing in more scoring is always nice but come playoff time you rarely see any 7-6 games. Tighten up defensively before anything else gets done. But that is just my opinion
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Scoring seems to be a tiny bit of a problem. I think we need to see a bit more from the secondary guys. We need to improve faceoffs and defensively can improve. All can be done internally…. Might just need some time with Dale working on this stuff with the boys and e should be alright
 
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The way I view it is that junior teams have the chance to win every three or four years. London went for an OHL championship last year (2023) and had a chance in the cancelled year (2020). Won four years prior to that (2016). Won three and four years prior to that (2012 and 2013).

So there are many ways this season could unfold. I am hoping for internal improvements made by staff and players as discussed by posters already. Whether there is external help remains to be seen but it is good news that the team signed a sixth round pick from the recent draft. Good work.
 
LDN said:
Why would Kitchener even unload any pieces now? They are looking better than last year and have a good mix of young and old players.
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Lack of draft Capital. Have one second round pick in the next 3 drafts. Once you guys, Saginaw, Soo, Owensound add pieces, they are likely not making it out of round one.
 
Krangers08 said:
Lack of draft Capital. Have one second round pick in the next 3 drafts. Once you guys, Saginaw, Soo, Owensound add pieces, they are likely not making it out of round one.
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I'm sure Rangers fans are loving their team this season and hey if they kept their team as is might surprise some in playoffs...long term the lack of capital can be detrimental but it's not to say it is not possible to still build a team without 2nd round picks...the Soo hasn't had a 2nd round draft picks in YEARS and by chance had one in the last draft
 
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LDN said:
Why would Kitchener even unload any pieces now? They are looking better than last year and have a good mix of young and old players.


Scoring seems to be a tiny bit of a problem. I think we need to see a bit more from the secondary guys. We need to improve faceoffs and defensively can improve. All can be done internally…. Might just need some time with Dale working on this stuff with the boys and e should be alright
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I don't see London with any difficulties scoring this season, we see a lot of confusions by some new players to Dale's system, they will adjust give them some time. London will still be the team to beat comes January or February, there are too much talent for the players not to see it through. This team is closer to the 2012-13 version the year Bo scored in the last second of game 7 final, lets just hope this version will not wait for a game 7 final heroic goal again. Cheers. This team is good !
 
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SSMHoundsFan said:
I'm sure Rangers fans are loving their team this season and hey if they kept their team as is might surprise some in playoffs...long term the lack of capital can be detrimental but it's not to say it is not possible to still build a team without 2nd round picks...the Soo hasn't had a 2nd round draft picks in YEARS and by chance had one in the last draft
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Agree with this. Sarnia had a stretch of 5+ straight years of horrible 2nd rd picks that never panned out in this league or contributed to any team success. Not sure I would sell off one of the hottest teams in the league just to hope for a few future 2nd rd picks to pan out..... especially after last years result. I get that it's a conventional thing to do in this league, but if the team is still making this type of noise come Christmas break, how could you sell? Not sure many teams can add enough to match this insanely good Ranger offense at this point. Just my 2 cents.
 
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LDN said:
Will Gerber get in the lineup for a game or two soon?

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No maybe at World Junior time if we lose a few players. Let him develop where he is see what he had next year no need to rush not every player signed is going to play immediately
 
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