With respect, you don’t understand my point. I will try to be more clear because I am not making my point clear enough. It is my fault.
There are two approaches to viewing the best teams, most successful people or successful businesses.
1> Respect for their accomplishments. People view them with reverence and look at the positives.
or
2> Disrespect or discount their accomplishments. People don’t understand why they are where they are and they try to discredit their standing mostly because of preconceived expectations. People look for reasons to discredit a team, person or company by pointing out advantages or others entities disadvantages to diminish their success. Essentially saying it is unwarranted.
This is a situation where when speaking about Ottawa, what I see a lot of is, “Sure, Ottawa is tops in the league but…
Insert reason one
Insert reason two
Insert reason three
Positives:
1> We have the best 16-17 year old core in the league. Hands down. That is demonstrated by our standing and the impact those players have on the results of our games. That is not to say we have the individual best player etc. Just the best collection.
2> We have two strong goalies as evidenced by their Goals Against Average
3> We have 8 OHL D-Men that have all contributed to a fairly high level. The combination of strong and consistent goaltending, a good returning core of D-Men and dedication to overall puck control has led to reduced scoring opportunities and positive results in the defensive zone
4> We are close to the league lead in Goals For and don’t have anyone in the top 25 in scoring which means we don’t rely on one line or a couple players to carry the load
5> We have an accomplished Head Coach that has demonstrated success in the past. He just came off a WJHC Gold Medal this summer. They’ve also made a strong investment in a supporting staff on and off the bench
6> They’ve faced adversity this season with injuries, suspensions, sickness and players lost to International Tournaments. No one can say we’ve benefitted from “good fortune”
7> They made sacrifices at the beginning of the season trading away four 19 year olds and one 20 year old to give way to the younger players who have found success
8> They still have an OA spot as well as an Import slot. They have found success without filling key roster spots
9> Of their 6 losses, only one game was by a wider margin than 2 goals. They’ve been in all games other than one.
10> Since the end of last season (2022 Priority Draft), the team has moved expendable players with no spot to play plus a 6th and have netted a balance of a 2nd, five 3rds, a 5th and an 8th. These picks can be used to strengthen this seasons roster at the deadline without using any picks they didn’t have at the beginning of April last year.
Negatives:
1> They’ve had an easy schedule (not something they can control)
2> Only 6-4-1 against what we’d consider the top teams. 3 losses and SO loss all on the road. Only one of those losses on home ice. That makes them 4-1 on home ice against the stronger teams
On balance, there seem to be a lot of positives and very few negatives. The fact the team has a great group of younger players provides two significant advantages. First, they can use some of those players in deals for more experienced players. Second, if they add players and those younger players move lower on the depth chart, they have tried and tested substitutes to step in during times of injury. They don’t need to catch up to the competition. They are already ahead. They have all the core elements in place. They play strong defence and score goals. The scoring is spread out which means they don’t rely on a handful of players. They’ve accumulated a lot of picks that can be used to improve further if they choose to do so.
They don’t have control over their schedule. Their losses have mostly been on the road in a league that usually benefits the home team. It is not unusual for the stronger teams to lose to the other stronger teams when they play on the road.
They’ve faced a lot of adversity with player games lost and don’t have the benefit of a team that has had the advantage of consistent health. Teams can’t point to them having that advantage.
I think on balance, it is unfair to focus on schedule. They don’t have control over their schedule. London is 10-5 and North Bay is 9-4 when I use the same criteria for strength of opponent. Clearly a better outcome for sure but they’ve had more opportunity as well. Strength of schedule may result in maybe a 4 point boost for Ottawa (assuming they would have lost two additional games of four which is below their current win% against stronger teams). That puts them at par with London and North Bay at 49 points.
I stand by my assertion that Ottawa gets discredited for a small handful of reasons while their positives are ignored or misunderstood.
