London Knights 2024 - 25 Season Thread, Part VII

[M21]

Watching the qmjhl final Moncton look really strong. They look really dangerous on offence and move the puck really well.

 

[crowncarrier]

Watching the qmjhl final Moncton look really strong. They look really dangerous on offence and move the puck really well.

They are big and they use it. I watched game 7 of Shawinigan/Rimouski and there was little to no checking even though Rimouski seemed much bigger. I then watched Rimouski/Moncton and this time Rimouski seemed to be the smaller team and Moncton was hitting like crazy. Moncton looks big, physical, fast, and skilled.

 

[rve24]

It’s only a problem when London does it, I barely saw 61, 14 and 12 on the ice if at all before the end of the game. London does it, it’s goon hockey. Any other team does it, It’s resting their stars.

Exactly. And why I brought it up. Hunter threw out only 2/3 of the 4th line to start. Shwa wanted to flex, then Bolts came on. But LK is the bad guy lol. Love it.

 

[Fastpace]

As I am living here in Quebec, I can say with confidence that the QMJHL is still a weak league again this year

The Memorial Cup week will tell us how good Moncton is, they won't be really tested until then. This June, the league will finally have a strong crop of draft prospects. Their previous two were not as promising, and it will require a few additional years to regain their competitiveness with the other leagues. Moncton does appear stronger than the Voltigeurs were last year, so they could win some games, are they good enough to win it all. I have my doubts

 

[Matt93]

For those in attendance for games 1 and 2, did anybody else notice how much Oster yells. He’s directing traffic and helping his team out. He yells so loud I heard him in the top of the 300 section.

I’ve never heard a goalie that vocal before.

 

[superdee]

Obviously nobody can question the world’s greatest coach, but…..wtf is Hunter doing? So all playoffs, giving shifts to the 4th line creates a physical presence, gets guys looking over their shoulders and gives the 1st and 2nd line more rest time. This has worked all playoffs.
For some reason, they now get barely any shifts which tires out your scoring lines quicker and there is very little physicality.
Did the Knights get blown out 10-1 game one and it was the 4th line to blame for all the goals? Is that why the change? I was sure that I saw the game and that didn’t happen.
Knights strength this season has been their depth. But sure, shorten the bench. It worked so well during the memorial cup last year. Also worked well in Shawinigan. Got lucky in 16-17 as it took OT to get the cup.
I whole heartedly disagree with what’s happening right now. If the Knights end up in the memorial cup they’ll get smoked by Moncton rolling 2.5 lines.
Gotta get there first.

It happens every final series and Mem Cup when TSN does the games because of the extra tv timeout and they are longer. 3 instead of two. That’s why I can’t go to Thursday final games because I start work in St Thomas at 11.00 o’clock

 

[GoKnightsGo44]

I’ve never been busier so behind on my posting. It is abundantly clear that the Knights as suspected are the better team 5 on 5.

I completely understand the short bench strategy but it would be nice to roll all 4 lines at some point but it’s not looking like either teams top line is tiring out because of the time outs. Maybe we see the depth play a factor on Tuesday.

Elliot has been solid when called upon, nothing flashy but covering pucks a limiting rebounds.

Brzustewicz has a rough game 2 and I’d like to see a bit more Allen/Fimis.

Can’t wait for puck drop!

 

[Fastpace]

London did play with more discipline in game 2, they need to stay out of the penalty box. The Knights are being caught in retaliation, and they must maintain their composure with these referees. Their initial penalty was a retaliation, and it resulted in Oshawa's first goal of the game.

 

[ohloutsider]

Martin is one of the worst players I’ve seen in the OHL this year. Somehow Windsor swindled a 3, 4, and a player out of Oshawa for him. At least Boulton can skate a little and finish checks. Other fans love to bring up London ripping teams off in deals but Bowler sure has done it with Wright, Dionicio, Costanzo, Martin, etc. But that’s never framed that way.

Your point is 100% accurate. Which is why I’ve changed my tone on here. London fans need to stick up for their team. As biased as we can be, the other 19 franchises are just as bad, if not worse, with their London hatred. to those fans.

Not sure how Windsor/ Bowler got dragged into who plays the last minute of a game in the final series but hey at least you are getting them talked about during the finals, lol. It's all good, enjoy the finals .

 

[Otto]

For those in attendance for games 1 and 2, did anybody else notice how much Oster yells. He’s directing traffic and helping his team out. He yells so loud I heard him in the top of the 300 section.

I’ve never heard a goalie that vocal before.

I was only at game one. All I am hearing is the stupid old man behind me and his continously bad takes

 

[LDN]

I’ve never been busier so behind on my posting. It is abundantly clear that the Knights as suspected are the better team 5 on 5.

I completely understand the short bench strategy but it would be nice to roll all 4 lines at some point but it’s not looking like either teams top line is tiring out because of the time outs. Maybe we see the depth play a factor on Tuesday.

Elliot has been solid when called upon, nothing flashy but covering pucks a limiting rebounds.

Brzustewicz has a rough game 2 and I’d like to see a bit more Allen/Fimis.

Can’t wait for puck drop!

Agreed. Roll them in Oshawa and see what happens. I think sometimes Dale rides the top guys almost too much especially when we have too many PK opportunities

 

[Otto]

Agreed. Roll them in Oshawa and see what happens. I think sometimes Dale rides the top guys almost too much especially when we have too many PK opportunities

Except those 3 players on the 4th line account for over 20% of the Knights PIM in the playoffs..

In one breath this board is talking about benching Cowan because he's a "defensive liability" and in another the board is saying reward the 4th liners even though they are causing the Knights to play shorthanded

 

[GoKnightsGo44]

I don’t think they should roll all four lines unless we get out to a good lead, up 3-0 roll the 4th.

It would be nice see them get more time as that would mean we are in a good position in the game and The Shwa is on the back foot…. Or we are getting blown out

 

[KnightWatcher]

With back to back games maybe Dale will roll four lines a little more often (at least two of the 3 )

 

[Ferguson Jenkins]

You can’t put Boulton’s line out there when Oshawa is using 2-2.5 lines with tv timeouts. Sure fire way to lose a game with that logic.

 

[Fastpace]

Agreed. Roll them in Oshawa and see what happens. I think sometimes Dale rides the top guys almost too much especially when we have too many PK opportunities

I think Dale and his staff knows his players best !

Besides, Malone has been double shifting Sennecke, Barlow and Richie a lot throughout their 2 games, London has to be careful who they are putting against them, it kind of puts a wrench into Dale's fourth line plans

 

[Ken Yates]

Griffin is brutal for grabbing onto our stick and going to the ice. It is pretty obvious, hopefully karma comes to haunt him and he finally gets an embellishing penalty that costs them a goal, maybe even a game winner

The old Dino Ciccarelli move

 

[Ken Yates]

Last night was Corey Perry's first 2 goal game since December 5th 2021 against Philadelphia and his first 2 goal playoff game since September 26th 2020 in the Finals against Tampa Bay

Not too many Hockey fans had him scoring 19 goals this year...most had him not playing another NHL game

 

[Ken Yates]

Van Gorp, Read ..Hawery..4rd line Sim, Cowan..OReilly 1st line. Nurmi,Montgomery,Halttunen 2nd line Julien,Nicholl..Aboflan 3rd line...Play all 4 lines with two games back to back.
My take won't be the same as Hunter.

 

[Otto]

Not too many Hockey fans had him scoring 19 goals this year...most had him not playing another NHL game

Betcha Mike Richards never scored two goals in a playoff game in September

 

[dino200022]

You can’t put Boulton’s line out there when Oshawa is using 2-2.5 lines with tv timeouts. Sure fire way to lose a game with that logic.

You Nailed it Fergie. Oshawa was using 8 Forwards and the odd time would throw out Rogowski as their 9th centering their 3rd line when Ritchie needed a quick breather. Ritchie would center line 1, then center line 3 as well. Their 2nd line would go on every other shift. Oshawa's 4th line did not see a shift until the last minute of play, just like London's 4th line. London can't play their 4th line when Barlow, Ritchie or Sennecke are on the ice, they just can't! Especially when half way through the game they moved their players around.

1 - Torrance-Ritchie-Barlow
2- Powell-Griffin-Sennecke
3 - Sinivuori-Rogowski(A)/Ritchie(B)-Buckley

Their rotation looked like this...1-2-3(A)-2-1-2-3(B) TV Break

 

[dino200022]

Van Gorp, Read ..Hawery..4rd line Sim, Cowan..OReilly 1st line. Nurmi,Montgomery,Halttunen 2nd line Julien,Nicholl..Aboflan 3rd line...Play all 4 lines with two games back to back.
My take won't be the same as Hunter.

Not happening. Oshawa has bonfide NHL potential stars in their lineup and their top two lines can score at anytime. PLUS they get last change at home. If we go putting out our 4th line the Gens will say thank you very much and cash that shift all the way to the bank! We forget that pound for pound Oshawa is just as good as us and may have just as many if not more NHL players on their current roster.

London - Cowan, Haltunnen, O'Reilly, Dickinson, Bonk - Barkey is a maybe.
Oshawa - Ritchie, Sennecke, Marelli, Danford, Gibson - Barlow and Griffin are maybes.

 

[Buttsy]

Oshawa has 6 goals so far in the series. 1 empty net goal and 4 power play goals. Seems pretty straight forward what we MUST not do?

 

[Otto]

Oshawa has 6 goals so far in the series. 1 empty net goal and 4 power play goals. Seems pretty straight forward what we MUST not do?

Stick with just 3 lines?

 

[Buttsy]

Stick with just 3 lines?

Or pull the goalie?