Owen Sound Attack 2018 Offseason Thread

[platers fan]

Fatigue at the later stages of the games could also be stemming from their lack of conditioning. Their practices are a joke.
Barely any skating drills. Some passing and shooting on net. Worth about 35 minutes most days.

 

[OSattackfan]

Let's face it, the coaching for this team sucks. these kids are burning out ( 1st and 2nd Lines) over played. The team played better when Friend wasn't not playing. Start playing Guzda more, he can't do any worst than #34. I'm a true Attack fan, but its embarassing see how these kids are been coached.

 

[OHL insideout]

Did anyone notice the line changes that the Sting made heading into the 3'rd period? Did anyone notice that the Sting were putting the puck on net from all over the offensive zone? Did anyone notice that the Sting were beating our tired Attack team to every loose puck in the Attack zone and OS was just chasing the Sting players around like school yard kids playing tag?
So if we noticed these things, that pretty much means that the Sting players were actually coached. They were shown ways to generate scoring chances and shown ways to give them a better chance to win a game that they were behind 3 goals in. Now let's look at the final outcome... Coached on the fly, see it can actually happen!!!

 

[AttackSound]

Realities are starting to seep to the surface with this club and holes are being revealed in big ways of late hopefully Gill has the roof patched before the post-season arrives or rain-barrels will be need

 

[Millpond]

The Attacks top line plays a regular shift, power play and penalty kill.

In fact the best five forwards have been playing 60 % of each power play , and doing a damn good job of passing the puck around the perimeter.

Unfortunately there is little to no scoring on the pp.

Im sure the other teams know all of this full well, let the Attack play their brains out for 40 minutes , then strike an exhausted group. That is evident in recent weeks, where the team surrenders multiple goals in the 3rd, and many times giving up the lead in the process.

The team has reached the goal of making the playoffs. . Management satisfied.

I've supported them since 1989, and I highly doubt they can beat the Knights in the playoffs.

I'd be surprised if they win one game, and I won't he surprised to see Guzda in a few games altho not as the starter. I somewhat jokingly mentioned some months ago the Attack should change goalies at the halfway mark of games, each tender can play well for about 30 minutes.

These guys can score. They just can't keep the puck out of their own net.

The longer Durzi is out, the more it appears they go into the playoffs with five dmen, one a 16 yr old.

That simply won't hold up. 8 dmen on the roster is a good thing if you plan on moving forward in the post season .

 

[INTENTIONALLYOFFSIDE]

The frustrating thing is, the mgr knew in the summer McNiven wasn't coming back, yet refused to pay the price ( Aiden Dudas) for a top goalie. Di Pietro last year, Helvig, Wells all dangled for the Attack.

He traded for Propp, but flipped him to North Bay. Never found anyone as good as him.
Guzda better be ready to start next year, or Im afraid the goaltending spiral will continue cause I don't see mgr suddenly upping his price.

I think there may be a couple 20 yr old goalies offered up for next season so as long as your GM gets out in front of it you will be fine.
As far as Dipietro goes, he was not worth what they were asking and I believe Rychel and Dipietro have both shot themselves in the foot by not trading this year. His value has dropped already, will still garner picks but not like this year.

 

[Noofgoof]

The fans around here kill me lol we go on a mad streak with the best record in the O for a month and a half or so and then lose two games and the sky is falling and the gm should be canned... one against a team that by stats should of beat us before ot and not been down 3-0 and the other was a starving team thats been playing medicore hockey losing 8 straight and getting beat by flint and embarrased for 2 of the 3 periods the night before...they had obviously had some sole searching as the came back from down 5-1 to lose 6-5 in ot in that game and didnt likely want to be embarrassed on national tv much like we did to Kitchener not so long ago.. I called it on the way to the game just had that feeling said to the wife we are probably going to get beat bad today they are desperate and we better be on our game.. we weren’t.. although for the first period or so we were the much better team..oh well we lost 2 we still have the second best record in the last 10 games other then the sault.. Im not saying everything is perfect we have had some pretty rough goaltending and major collapses in the third period all to many tiimes this year.. however I still say when Durzi gets back this team will be a whole different team.. which should be soon he has been skating for a few weeks now hes gota be close. Up until last weekend which I should point out we still managed 3 of 6 points we really have not needed to rush him we have been winning hockey games. But fans need to realize we can’t win them all... Yes we can be better oh man we could be alot better but it isn’t nearly as bad as you think... The schedule is tough the rest of the way and will be a real test but we need to focus on the task at hand take it one game at a time and just worry about what we can control. If we cant pass london oh well we gota win on the road at some point.. Fans have every right to be bitter but realize that we have been one of the best teams in the league over the past month or so while missing our top Dman even though we dont win games the easy way. We have beat many teams who are ranked either in the chl top ten or at very least higher then us in the standings.. its Junior hockey it happens any team can win on any day and any team can throw a stinker on any given day. Enjoy the ride folks playoffs are coming thats when the games will matter most and what happened in the regular season wont mean squat.

 

[OSattackfan]

The fans around here kill me lol we go on a mad streak with the best record in the O for a month and a half or so and then lose two games and the sky is falling and the gm should be canned... one against a team that by stats should of beat us before ot and not been down 3-0 and the other was a starving team thats been playing medicore hockey losing 8 straight and getting beat by flint and embarrased for 2 of the 3 periods the night before...they had obviously had some sole searching as the came back from down 5-1 to lose 6-5 in ot in that game and didnt likely want to be embarrassed on national tv much like we did to Kitchener not so long ago.. I called it on the way to the game just had that feeling said to the wife we are probably going to get beat bad today they are desperate and we better be on our game.. we weren’t.. although for the first period or so we were the much better team..oh well we lost 2 we still have the second best record in the last 10 games other then the sault.. Im not saying everything is perfect we have had some pretty rough goaltending and major collapses in the third period all to many tiimes this year.. however I still say when Durzi gets back this team will be a whole different team.. which should be soon he has been skating for a few weeks now hes gota be close. Up until last weekend which I should point out we still managed 3 of 6 points we really have not needed to rush him we have been winning hockey games. But fans need to realize we can’t win them all... Yes we can be better oh man we could be alot better but it isn’t nearly as bad as you think... The schedule is tough the rest of the way and will be a real test but we need to focus on the task at hand take it one game at a time and just worry about what we can control. If we cant pass london oh well we gota win on the road at some point.. Fans have every right to be bitter but realize that we have been one of the best teams in the league over the past month or so while missing our top Dman even though we dont win games the easy way. We have beat many teams who are ranked either in the chl top ten or at very least higher then us in the standings.. its Junior hockey it happens any team can win on any day and any team can throw a stinker on any given day. Enjoy the ride folks playoffs are coming thats when the games will matter most and what happened in the regular season wont mean squat.

 

[OSattackfan]

I agree on most of your comments
Yes this is junior hockey
Yes we're missing Durzi big time but he is only 1 player
Yes we can't win them all.
Yes the fans should be bitter, when game in and game out we see bad decisions made by our coaching staff. This team has talent so we can't really blame the players for the poor out come of some of the games we have lost and should have won.
Ex. you send Friend /Bourque out against the top line of Sarnia !!! Really
You don't pull your goalie after letting in 3 straight goals in the middle of the 3rd period after been up 3 zip. You don't call time outs when the team really needs a time out to settle things down.
Winning against Guelph and hoping to get a win against Sarnia was key this past week-end to keep us on top of London and getting home ice advantage in the play-offs.
Getting home ice is not going to happen now with the schedule we have and the schedule London has.
Hopefully they prove me wrong as these kids deserve better than what they have been dealt.

This is just my opinion, the coaching staff is not top notch coaches so it reflects on players.
I'm doubting we get past the first round, but praying we do

 

[Noofgoof]

I agree on most of your comments
Yes this is junior hockey
Yes we're missing Durzi big time but he is only 1 player
Yes we can't win them all.
Yes the fans should be bitter, when game in and game out we see bad decisions made by our coaching staff. This team has talent so we can't really blame the players for the poor out come of some of the games we have lost and should have won.
Ex. you send Friend /Bourque out against the top line of Sarnia !!! Really
You don't pull your goalie after letting in 3 straight goals in the middle of the 3rd period after been up 3 zip. You don't call time outs when the team really needs a time out to settle things down.
Winning against Guelph and hoping to get a win against Sarnia was key this past week-end to keep us on top of London and getting home ice advantage in the play-offs.
Getting home ice is not going to happen now with the schedule we have and the schedule London has.
Hopefully they prove me wrong as these kids deserve better than what they have been dealt.

This is just my opinion, the coaching staff is not top notch coaches so it reflects on players.
I'm doubting we get past the first round, but praying we do

I do agree completely with most of that post. Our coaching to me has been probably one of our biggest issues we seem to get out coached most games.. we dont usually get out worked or out shot or but he fails to make decisions that most fans could even figure out such as when to call a timeout or when to pull a goalie thats got as many holes as swiss cheese that particuar game and who to have on the ice at important moments. It has hurt us thats for sure. Yes 1 player does not make a team but he will definitely improve it if nothin else give us some fresh vetran legs back there so were not counting on a 16 year old as much or some of the vets who have under performed. No offense to Chibrikov hes gunna be great but right now hes no Durzi and no one on the back end even comes close. I think we shlould play Cameron more hes great also. But Im just a fan not a coach lol and probably for a good reason.

 

[leafsrdue]

If you have watched this team closely this year the issues are pretty obvious. Unreliable goaltending, a shortage of OHL level defensemen and questionable coaching. All of these issues could have been fixed, so what we have now is a pretty good team that once looked like a great team. At this point, we can hope we get #5 back, the scoring can overcome the goaltending issues, and we win maybe one round of the playoffs. Funny thing is, pre 2011, this would have been an awesome year. Interesting how the fan and franchise mindset has changed since.

 

[AttackSound]

This team is like going to a firing range with a blindfold on.

For most of the time you squeeze the trigger and it hits the target but as we all know sometimes you miss the goal completely and shoot wide from all angles.

This seems to be Gill's gameplan headed into the post-season this year. On a good night the team can play well enough to scrape out wins and chew time of scoreboards but in the playoffs it's a whole different animal and the coach has to prepare himself and the club to adapt when the gameplan doesn't go as planned.

 

[OHL insideout]

Some interesting posts on the Sarnia Sting thread about our Sunday game and what some outsiders think of our current situations in OS.

 

[Pond Hockey]

Knights at home to Guelph tonight. London goes into the 3rd trailing 2-1 and put up 4 goals to win 5-2.

If the Attack can't fix their 3rd period game, it's going to be a short series.

 

[OSMike]

I travelled down to Sarnia with my 2.5 year old daughter for her first away game. My parents live in Sarnia so we tied the game into a visit. It was my second time seeing a game in Sarnia. I like the rink a lot. I'd love to watch a game from the restaurant. The people are friendly. We left after the 2nd period up 3-0 only to listen to the collapse on the radio driving home. The Attack made some adjustments on the lines to start the game. Campbell was up on a 3rd line. Dudas-Sushko-Szypula were not together. 5 forward PP was ineffective, but I really think this is to give rest to the D more than anything and trust on the 2 forwards at the back. Regardless nothing on the PP is working. I didn't watch the collapse but I think from what I heard and highlights, most people here are spot on that we were tired, out coached (take a timeout), could have used a timely save, but not that any of the goals were terrible. But give credit to Sarnia that they are a GOOD team and can do what they did to us to anyone anytime.

If Durzi is not back tonight / we don't win tonight I think home ice is gone. I really want to see what this team is like when Durzi's back.

#4 didn't get a shift in the first 2 period of the Sarnia game that I could tell. He's not terrible why not give him a couple shifts near the end of the first to rest a few guys.

I bought tickets to the first playoff games. My hope is with Durzi back it will be some exciting playoff hockey. It always is against London and they have a good/fast/young team with a solid goalie.

 

[OSMike]

No Durzi :-(

 

[Pond Hockey]

Hoping to see Szypula back on the Dudas-Sushko line. He's had by far his most success this year playing with those two.

Also hoping to see the McKenzie-Lazer-Robinson line back together. They looked good together, IMO, and were rather effective. Good combination of speed, skill, and size.

Other than Roberts who is out for the season, the forward group is fully healthy, and has been for a bit now. We've all seen what line combos work best. No need to keep shuffling lines.

 

[OSMike]

Hoping to see Szypula back on the Dudas-Sushko line. He's had by far his most success this year playing with those two.

Also hoping to see the McKenzie-Lazer-Robinson line back together. They looked good together, IMO, and were rather effective. Good combination of speed, skill, and size.

Other than Roberts who is out for the season, the forward group is fully healthy, and has been for a bit now. We've all seen what line combos work best. No need to keep shuffling lines.

Agreed. Robinson playing up on the 2nd line tonight... With Szypula on the 2nd line you have 2 guys, him and Dudas, who can take faceoffs. You want that on your top 2 lines atleast.

Now Dudas - Szypula - Lazer coach keeps mixing. AND they score!

 

[HLLYWD99]

5-3 after 2 periods, scary.

 

[Pond Hockey]

Agreed. Robinson playing up on the 2nd line tonight... With Szypula on the 2nd line you have 2 guys, him and Dudas, who can take faceoffs. You want that on your top 2 lines atleast.

Now Dudas - Szypula - Lazer coach keeps mixing. AND they score!

Dudas and Zippy reunited (with Lazer...Sushko bumped off Dudas's line??) in the 2nd and they connect off the faceoff for a goal! Then, of course, Zippy put back with McKenzie right after. Finally saw Dudas-Sushko-Szypula for the last shift of the 2nd.

Except for the top line, it was non-stop line juggling in the 2nd. Dudas centred Groulx and Doherty at one point.

Barrie's 2nd goal looked to be on the soft side.

Let's go Attack! Hold the lead and put this one to bed.

 

[Pond Hockey]

Also, Barrie resting T.J. Fergus tonight. If only we had that luxury with our blueline.

 

[OSMike]

That collapse was fast :-(

 

[HLLYWD99]

49 seconds into the 3rd and its 5-5

 

[Pond Hockey]

49 seconds into the 3rd and the 5-3 is blown.

Wow.

 

[Pond Hockey]

Guuuuzda!!!