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Ontario Reign 2018-2019

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regulate said:
Has as much to do with overall team defense too. Forwards kept leaving the zone without the puck when they presumed it was coming out, defense kept pinching and going in deep, leading to what seemed like relentless 3 on 2 breaks for Stockton. He's going once again with the same D tonight, team needs to shape up. Reddekopp and Strand have been scratched all 4 games.
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.......any ideas as to why Reddekopp and Strand have been healthy scratches...? I thought they were high on Strand.....(?)
 
Rekingsfan17 said:
.......any ideas as to why Reddekopp and Strand have been healthy scratches...? I thought they were high on Strand.....(?)
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I thought Strand looked pretty good in preseason, so I don't know, just going with experience I guess. Obviously not good for these guys to just sit every game in a development league. It's not exactly like the D men have been shutting down the opposition either. I noticed last game in the 3rd period he switched the pairings around substantially. Tough game tomorrow too against Milwaukee who is 3-0-1.
 
Not sure what the Reign are doing here with there video highlights, in 360p despite the HD feed, every other frame skipping, trendy music instead of PBP is terrible. And so was blowing the lead. Brickley -3 again (not all his fault, but he is really pissed, broke his stick when the OT goal was scored Quickie style on the post). Brickley is now -7

 
regulate said:
Not sure what the Reign are doing here with there video highlights, in 360p despite the HD feed, every other frame skipping, trendy music instead of PBP is terrible. And so was blowing the lead. Brickley -3 again (not all his fault, but he is really pissed, broke his stick when the OT goal was scored Quickie style on the post). Brickley is now -7

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Has Brickley's defensive play been bad? Or a by-product of an overall high goals against?
 
Master Yoda said:
Has Brickley's defensive play been bad? Or a by-product of an overall high goals against?
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Flashes of really good, followed by flashes of not respecting the opponents speed or poor coverage. He's really learning you have to be one step ahead of the play at this level (Clague too). They are getting burned coming out of the zone because they are playing either too aggressively in the offensive zone without support, or are giving too much room in front of the net. I thought he had one really good game where he was aggressive along the boards and wanted the puck in the offensive zone, but overall I expected more. He's adjusting to the pace, he has work to do. You can see though that there is a skill set that should be a very good NHL player, but you cannot take anything for granted at this level. Sometimes you see guys that were so dominant at their previous league (Clague and Brickley are good examples), they have a tough time adjusting, but eventually the talent SHOULD win out. He's been a bit snakebit, and last night was an example of that, but things really need to start evening out.
 
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Austin Strand has been sent to the Manchester Monarchs in the ECHL. He, along with Reddekopp, have been a healthy scratch every game so far this season, so at least he'll get to play. Disappointed as most of us thought he looked good in the rookie tourney prior to the taking a puck off the head.
 
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Reign have Budaj back from the Kings and have recalled Spencer Watson from the Monarchs. Kehler and Strand sent to Manchester (official).

And Justin Auger finally got a job, with the Florida Everblades in the ECHL.
 
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regulate said:
Austin Strand has been sent to the Manchester Monarchs in the ECHL. He, along with Reddekopp, have been a healthy scratch every game so far this season, so at least he'll get to play. Disappointed as most of us thought he looked good in the rookie tourney prior to the taking a puck off the head.
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I figured that would happen eventually. He'll be Manchesters #1.
 
regulate said:
Flashes of really good, followed by flashes of not respecting the opponents speed or poor coverage. He's really learning you have to be one step ahead of the play at this level (Clague too). They are getting burned coming out of the zone because they are playing either too aggressively in the offensive zone without support, or are giving too much room in front of the net. I thought he had one really good game where he was aggressive along the boards and wanted the puck in the offensive zone, but overall I expected more. He's adjusting to the pace, he has work to do. You can see though that there is a skill set that should be a very good NHL player, but you cannot take anything for granted at this level. Sometimes you see guys that were so dominant at their previous league (Clague and Brickley are good examples), they have a tough time adjusting, but eventually the talent SHOULD win out. He's been a bit snakebit, and last night was an example of that, but things really need to start evening out.
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Yeah, sometimes guys can just skate so well at previous levels that they can just cover their mistakes and thus play aggressively no matter what. Some guys figure it out and anticipate better, some never do. Brickley seems like a sharp enough guy to catch on, he's got a great IQ.
 
The organization no longer has a structure on the ice. The "System" seems to be: "make it up as we go".
 
damacles1156 said:
The organization no longer has a structure on the ice. The "System" seems to be: "make it up as we go".
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That just shows that Lombardi and Sutter are gone, and they are now trying to do something different. It's no longer shoot the puck on net possession hockey, which may lack creativity, but it masks deficiencies.
 
The Reign have similar problems to the Kings, they give up ice way too easily, zero sand paper in the their game.
 
damacles1156 said:
The Reign have similar problems to the Kings, they give up ice way too easily, zero sand paper in the their game.
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Not sure sandpaper is the primary issue here. MacDermid, DeVane and even last night Reddekopp have been going on physical rampages, and while it's appreciated by the fans and the coach, it's killing the team with PP goals against. Our PK is bottom five in the league and I think we are the most penalized team in the entire AHL. MacDermid leads the league in PIMS. The issue first and foremost is team defense (positioning, being on the right side of the puck and puck management). The team defense has been atrocious and the defensemen are going on some sort of crazy mission to drive the play deep into the offense zone. Now that's always been Walker's game, but he makes up for it way more than the other D men with his skating and his scoring, but I'm regularly seeing Lintuniemi, MacDermid, Brickley even Roy (known for being a more stay at home guy), consistently down as low as the opponents goal line and even behind there net. We have a lot of new pro forwards who are undersized and not physical players who are being beat with bigger, stronger players defensively and not properly peeling back for coverage when the D men are on attack. When they improve that should help as outnumbered attacks are the norm. Petersen was actually pretty solid last night despite the 4 goals against as he made almost 40 saves.

I do like some progress I'm seeing out of Clague, and he seems to be playing smarter every game. Roy, MacDermid and Lintuniemi has not been very good (especially Lintuniemi IMO). Brickley was scratched last night, unknown if it is coaches choice or injury. I'm not sure why Strand never got a look here as he went down and scored a goal in his first game. Judging by the preseason, I would take him every day of the week over Reddekopp who does not handle the puck well. Must be something they see in practice, but having another RHD would do this organization wonders.

We are about two forwards short of being a good team IF the defense can get it's act together. Having players like Herr on the 3rd line and missing Mitchell and Rempal with no depth to fill in the lines is hurting the team.
 
regulate said:
Not sure sandpaper is the primary issue here. MacDermid, DeVane and even last night Reddekopp have been going on physical rampages, and while it's appreciated by the fans and the coach, it's killing the team with PP goals against. Our PK is bottom five in the league and I think we are the most penalized team in the entire AHL. MacDermid leads the league in PIMS. The issue first and foremost is team defense (positioning, being on the right side of the puck and puck management). The team defense has been atrocious and the defensemen are going on some sort of crazy mission to drive the play deep into the offense zone. Now that's always been Walker's game, but he makes up for it way more than the other D men with his skating and his scoring, but I'm regularly seeing Lintuniemi, MacDermid, Brickley even Roy (known for being a more stay at home guy), consistently down as low as the opponents goal line and even behind there net. We have a lot of new pro forwards who are undersized and not physical players who are being beat with bigger, stronger players defensively and not properly peeling back for coverage when the D men are on attack. When they improve that should help as outnumbered attacks are the norm. Petersen was actually pretty solid last night despite the 4 goals against as he made almost 40 saves.

I do like some progress I'm seeing out of Clague, and he seems to be playing smarter every game. Roy, MacDermid and Lintuniemi has not been very good (especially Lintuniemi IMO). Brickley was scratched last night, unknown if it is coaches choice or injury. I'm not sure why Strand never got a look here as he went down and scored a goal in his first game. Judging by the preseason, I would take him every day of the week over Reddekopp who does not handle the puck well. Must be something they see in practice, but having another RHD would do this organization wonders.

We are about two forwards short of being a good team IF the defense can get it's act together. Having players like Herr on the 3rd line and missing Mitchell and Rempal with no depth to fill in the lines is hurting the team.
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I am talking about overall "Hard to play against" The forwards have zero sand paper to their game, many of the defenders as well. It's just no longer a Kings priority organization wide. That leads to lots of 50/50 puck battles lost and conceding prime ice to opposing teams if they never have to pay for the ice.
 
People wanted Lombardi fired, and a change in style. This is what you get without the talent that Lombardi traded.
 
damacles1156 said:
I am talking about overall "Hard to play against" The forwards have zero sand paper to their game, many of the defenders as well. It's just no longer a Kings priority organization wide. That leads to lots of 50/50 puck battles lost and conceding prime ice to opposing teams if they never have to pay for the ice.
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I think it was the first year they made the playoffs under Lombardi. Early season home game. Pittsburgh. So many 50/50 battles won. It was the moment where it was like, "We have something here"

A huge part of their fade back into irrelevance has been losing every board battle. Pearson might be the biggest example.
 
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Another disastrous game for Lintuniemi, Brickley, Roy and MacDermid. Besides Walker this season on D, only Clague is showing signs of responsible play, and seems to improve game to game. Clague has 6 points in 8 games and is even for the season, an accomplishment considering the Reign's porous defense.

I've never been a Lintuniemi fan, but I had to give him kudos for definitely improvement in his game last year. However, I'm not sure how he could be any worse this season so far, his game, along with Roy's, have regressed so far from last season it is but a faded memory. Roy is -7 through 8 games, and while Lintuniemi is putting up points, his defense and careless play with the puck has been atrocious. He was minus 4 tonight. Brickley is a whopping -10 through 7 games, including a healthy scratch last game. Certainly I would think Strand at least deserves a look after what the Reign has displayed so far this year. It's just bad overall team defense, and not so good goaltending either.

On the bright side, Matt Luff looks much more comfortable this season and has 9 pts in 7 games, including 4 goals and is +2. These are the kind of numbers we needed to see from him in his 2nd pro season to get a look at the next level. Rempal did not look good tonight upon his return from the Kings, but was lights out prior to his call up. Eyssimont has looked decent and has 6 points in 8 games and is even but I don't see the NHL close at this point. No other prospects have a prayer at the AHL level.

Moulson and Sutter have been solid pros as usual, particularly Sutter who is playing well at both sides of the ice.

Petersen's confidence seems shaken if not obliterated, and Budaj is also a mess. Reign were shorthanded 8 more times tonight and last I looked led the league in PIM's.
 
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@regulate, would you mind summarizing, based off your knowledge and observation, what the issue is with the Reign? You said many players are regressing.

Is it that they seemingly have given up? Lack of focus? Has Stothers tried to change how they play? Accountability?

When you have a bottom 5 NHL AND AHL team, there is something very wrong.
 
King'sPawn said:
@regulate, would you mind summarizing, based off your knowledge and observation, what the issue is with the Reign? You said many players are regressing.

Is it that they seemingly have given up? Lack of focus? Has Stothers tried to change how they play? Accountability?

When you have a bottom 5 NHL AND AHL team, there is something very wrong.
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Can't say that anyone has given up. They did start 0-6 last year. Lack of focus among some players if a very fair statement, especially Lintuniemi and Roy. Just hap hazard coverage, horrible decision making with the puck, making risky plays, etc, not limited to those two players by any stretch of the imagination. Maybe the Reign are trying to play a more up tempo style to adopt to the new thinking, but you have to have the talent level that goes deep into the 4 lines to be able to do that safely, and that is not the case here. Tucson's passing and puck movement last night was a good example. More skill distributing the puck. Accountability is a bit tough when you don't have the extra bodies to dress. Right now they only have 6 D on the roster since Walker was called up and they only had 1 game this weekend (last night) so they risked it. They have had a couple games this year with no extra forwards too, due to injuries or call ups/demotions (last night DeVane and Imama were scratched).

Hard to say if Stothers is completely undressing them with a smack down in the locker room or not. I have not seen him lose it on the bench yet, and his post game comments are trying to remain positive. A lot of first year pros out there, with Morrison, Rymsha, Eyssimont, Rempal, Brickley, Clague and Reddekopp. AHL vets Herr and Bauman have been bad, NHL/AHL vet Mitchell was -4 yesterday, Moulson -3, so it's not just the kids. Petersen played well last weekend facing a barrage of shots (they still lost), and last night two goals right off the bat against him, neither which he had a fighting chance on (player all alone 5 feet in front of the net, a 2 on 1 break poorly defended).
 
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