Owen Sound Attack 2024-25 Season, Part I

[Millpond]

You guys will love him

We do already and he hasn't shot a puck.

They've assembled a large, cranky blueline

Konnor Smith 6'6 217 -20
James Petrovsky 6'3 190 - 19
David Bedkowski 6'5 215 - 18
Brayden Rogers 6' 180 18
Gabriel Smith 6' 3 198 17
Max Bleicher 5'10 189 17
Elliott Arnett 6'1" 198 16

 

[HuntersAreOverrated]

We do already and he hasn't shot a puck.

They've assembled a large, cranky blueline

Konnor Smith 6'6 217 -20
James Petrovsky 6'3 190 - 19
David Bedkowski 6'5 215 - 18
Brayden Rogers 6' 180 18
Gabriel Smith 6' 3 198 17
Max Bleicher 5'10 189 17
Elliott Arnett 6'1" 198 16

This is something I never put into perspective until recently. Yes, the team lost their (arguably) 6 best players in the off-season (3 OA’s, Barlow, Petrovsky, Guindon) but … only 1 of those guys was a defender (Sedley) + Bleicher played men’s 3rd div hockey in Germany last year so realistically they only have 1 guy who hasn’t played some semblance of Jr. Hockey ( Arnett) until now and that has stood out quite a bit to me (in a positive way). 4 returning D, 1 rookie, 1 import who’s played mens / jr. (Bleicher) and 1 young player with quite a bit of OHL experience for his age (Bedkowski). The offence however is a different story but seeing guys like Crawford and Nansi for example take that next step is really the pivotal factor in this team making the playoffs or looking in from the outside come April.

 

[Donnie740]

Delisle has been great for the Attack, today is playing 2C in North Bay.

We can't wait till Bedkowski is ready. The Attack blueline is coming together nicely.

People are finally starting to realize what I was explaining since this fleecing was first rumoured - - that Oshawa made a brutal overpay.

Owen Sound got a 2nd line centre for at least THREE (3) years - - possibly four years - - along with a 2nd pairing defenceman for at least two years, with the slim chance of a third year.

And then there’s a boatload of top draft picks also included. Plus the cash windfall for Owen Sound if and when they get drafted.

Meanwhile, one-and-done Colby Barlow is pointless through five games with a -5 rating and looking like his skates are filled with concrete.

What a fleecing by Owen Sound. Who knew!

 

[Millpond]

People are finally starting to realize what I was explaining since this fleecing was first rumoured - - that Oshawa made a brutal overpay.

Owen Sound got a 2nd line centre for at least THREE (3) years - - possibly four years - - along with a 2nd pairing defenceman for at least two years, with the slim chance of a third year.

And then there’s a boatload of top draft picks also included. Plus the cash windfall for Owen Sound if and when they get drafted.

Meanwhile, one-and-done Colby Barlow is pointless through five games with a -5 rating and looking like his skates are filled with concrete.

What a fleecing by Owen Sound. Who knew!

I can't speak to players who are not part of this team anymore , but absolutely love our new team members, who both seem to enjoy Owen Sound .
The future hasn't been so promising for a very long time .

 

[Greys]

People are finally starting to realize what I was explaining since this fleecing was first rumoured - - that Oshawa made a brutal overpay.

Owen Sound got a 2nd line centre for at least THREE (3) years - - possibly four years - - along with a 2nd pairing defenceman for at least two years, with the slim chance of a third year.

And then there’s a boatload of top draft picks also included. Plus the cash windfall for Owen Sound if and when they get drafted.

Meanwhile, one-and-done Colby Barlow is pointless through five games with a -5 rating and looking like his skates are filled with concrete.

What a fleecing by Owen Sound. Who knew!

Colby Barlow is a great young man with terrific hockey skills and plays with a lot of heart. He was drafted by the Jets for a reason. He will get there. Time to move on.

 

[leafsrdue]

Colby was a great player for the Attack and hopefully will have success in the future. That being said, Dale Degray did a good job under the circumstances and has set the Attack up well for the future. I'd be ok if this trade is a win-win but time will tell.

 

[Stellar29]

We knew George was going to have to be our best player some nights for this Attack squad to have a chance and boy was he great tonight. Got them a key point and the boys nearly finished it off with a couple breakaways in OT. Gutsy effort all around to hang with a very good Barrie team.

 

[Millpond]

This very young upstart Attack team has 6 of 10 pts in their last 5 games.


Key is T-E-A-M

 

[AttackSound]

The team has done a very impressive job early on this season at working on the defensive side of the game.

Even in the games where we didn't have the greatest starts they have competed there way back, and showed that the development has taken massive steps forward early on in the season.

Tonight showed that in a big way, Barrie seemed to carry the play for big stretches and we never seemed to let the Colts pull ahead of us on the scoresheet even though the shot total showed a heavy side in favor of the Colts our defense play as a whole kept the game close seemed to pay off with getting it to extra time. This team buckled down and kept the score tight right to the end, once we got to the shootout it was more of a gamble which isn't an uncommon thing in this league.

Either way will take that point and move ahead into Saturday versus the Spitfires knowing that this team can battle back even when the game looks to be an uphill battle some nights.

 

[Stellar29]

The team has done a very impressive job early on this season at working on the defensive side of the game.

Even in the games where we didn't have the greatest starts they have competed there way back, and showed that the development has taken massive steps forward early on in the season.

Tonight showed that in a big way, Barrie seemed to carry the play for big stretches and we never seemed to let the Colts pull ahead of us on the scoresheet even though the shot total showed a heavy side in favor of the Colts our defense play as a whole kept the game close seemed to pay off with getting it to extra time. This team buckled down and kept the score tight right to the end, once we got to the shootout it was more of a gamble which isn't an uncommon thing in this league.

Either way will take that point and move ahead into Saturday versus the Spitfires knowing that this team can battle back even when the game looks to be an uphill battle some nights.

To your point on "didn't have the greatest starts", with this team those starts have been about execution vs past teams where they come out flat with lower energy/compete. I don't think we've really seen any of those "flat" starts to games this year which is great. Execution issues I think is to be expected at times with a group this young but the compete level hasn't been an issue at all. I'll take that all day long while the team improves on execution over the course of the season.

 

[Donnie740]

Colby Barlow is a great young man with terrific hockey skills and plays with a lot of heart. He was drafted by the Jets for a reason. He will get there. Time to move on.

I met Barlow last year, and I agree 100% that he’s a very personable and well spoken young man. He’s also obviously very intelligent, based on being the scholastic player of the year.

But Barlow is not good enough to carry a championship contending team. And that’s what Oshawa is relying on him to do now that they’re left with little to no forward depth. They’ve got guys playing on the 1st and 2nd line who belong on the 3rd and 4th line and Barlow is nowhere close to good enough to make up for that glaring lack of depth.

Disregard whatever laughable nonsense you’ve heard from the Oshawa pom pom wavers - - Bedkowski is a solid 2nd pair defenceman on a championship level
team and Delisle is a fantastic 3rd line forward on a championship level team.

 

[Millpond]

Well the Attack hung with top rated Spits for 20 minutes .
The second period they were mostly dominated.

I was proud of the response in the third, surrendering an empty netter at the end .
This season I'm not concerned about the result, but more the response.

What was concerning was the absence of two key forwards, one down with illness, the other with an upper body injury.

The rebuild carries on .

Of note Walters return to the Bayshore was un noticeable.
He said all the right things in the media , and behaved himself on the bench .

Hes a good coach and hopefully this is behind him for good.

There is still the residue from his time here .

 

[PensFan101]

Totally out of left field, the Attack have acquired Alec Leonard from London.

Only thing I can think of is maybe there's an offer for Konnor Smith that DeGray couldn't refuse?



And per Greg Cowan, Smith is injured.

 

[Stellar29]

Totally out of left field, the Attack have acquired Alec Leonard from London.

Only thing I can think of is maybe there's an offer for Konnor Smith that DeGray couldn't refuse?



And per Greg Cowan, Smith is injured.

No information on the injury or recovery timeframe on Konnor but with Bedkowski also on the shelf, they only have 5 healthy D. Bedkowski is still around two weeks out. Just too long to cover with 5D and Leonard came at the right price. I'd imagine Konnor gets moved around the deadline and Leonard could possibly stick around as the third OA and eat minutes for the Attack.

 

[PensFan101]

No information on the injury or recovery timeframe on Konnor but with Bedkowski also on the shelf, they only have 5 healthy D. Bedkowski is still around two weeks out. Just too long to cover with 5D and Leonard came at the right price. I'd imagine Konnor gets moved around the deadline and Leonard could possibly stick around as the third OA and eat minutes for the Attack.

I'm leaning more and more towards Smith stays the whole season (especially now if this injury ends up being anything long term) so Leonard could be a true stopgap there.

But obviously very timely with Bedkowski still week to week to get an experienced player who's no doubt hungry to stick around the OHL.

Tough year for overagers though, holy. Feels like a deep year for Overagers and lots of quality players being pushed out.

 

[Millpond]

An astute move by Degray.

Any Knights player we've acquired has improved our club.

Well done .
Welcome to the Bears Den Alec.

 

[Stellar29]

I'm leaning more and more towards Smith stays the whole season (especially now if this injury ends up being anything long term) so Leonard could be a true stopgap there.

But obviously very timely with Bedkowski still week to week to get an experienced player who's no doubt hungry to stick around the OHL.

Tough year for overagers though, holy. Feels like a deep year for Overagers and lots of quality players being pushed out.

At the very least, Leonard buys you some time. The Attack don't really have any internal options to pick up on a B card for injury coverage so an external move needed to be made. With how young our D core is, getting someone with Leonard's experience in the league is a shrewd move.

We'll have to wait and see on Smith to learn what he's dealing with. Hopefully it's nothing long term.

 

[PensFan101]

Owen Sound Attack Acquire Alec Leonard From London Knights

The Owen Sound Attack have added another overage defenceman after an injury to the captain. The Attack announc...

www.bayshorebroadcasting.ca

Matt Hermiz interviewed DeGray and it's six-eight weeks for Smith... Tough break. Big opportunity for the blue line which has been extremely competitive so far.

 

[Ferguson Jenkins]

Alec is a good young man and a serviceable d-man in a 4-6 role. He can move the puck, skate well, and he can throw big checks. Glad to see him land in the O with a good organization.

 

[Stellar29]

Owen Sound Attack Acquire Alec Leonard From London Knights

The Owen Sound Attack have added another overage defenceman after an injury to the captain. The Attack announc...

www.bayshorebroadcasting.ca

Matt Hermiz interviewed DeGray and it's six-eight weeks for Smith... Tough break. Big opportunity for the blue line which has been extremely competitive so far.

Not ideal having him out 6-8 weeks but at least it's not a season ender. Puts him in line for returning around Christmas. Leonard should be a good injury replacement and the D will be further reinforced when Bedkowski is ready.

 

[Stellar29]

Greg Cowan with some injury updates. Konnor Smith with a cast on his hand...

https://x.com/i/web/status/1849131267247530094