Saginaw Spirit 2023-24 Season Thread (Part One)

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Kingpin794

Smart A** In A Jersey
Apr 25, 2012
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Again they need to be sending this kind of stuff to Charlie Trethewey. Want to be the next skilled D man to play for the Laz? Want eyes on you in your draft year? Come on in.
 

TcNorth

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Jan 25, 2015
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Been busy with work, my wife, and my non-stop 9 year old here in Traverse City, but like to check in now and then. Really glad to see how outstanding the Spirit are playing. Keep up the great work!
 

Poster man

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May 5, 2015
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Ontario
The boys are in town.
1708287904743.jpeg
 

swoopster

Politally incorrect
Dec 10, 2015
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I can't understand the mindset of Spirit opponents. Yes, the idea is to play a strong physical game against them. Most of the time the opposition plays a STUPID physical game instead. Case in point this afternoon's Battalion game. They have given up 3 power play goals on 10 attempts, a recipe for disaster. That equates to one whole period of the game playing man down. Give Saginaw that many opportunities at what they do best and you are ( fill in the blank ).
 

dirty12

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Mar 6, 2015
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I can't understand the mindset of Spirit opponents. Yes, the idea is to play a strong physical game against them. Most of the time the opposition plays a STUPID physical game instead. Case in point this afternoon's Battalion game. They have given up 3 power play goals on 10 attempts, a recipe for disaster. That equates to one whole period of the game playing man down. Give Saginaw that many opportunities at what they do best and you are ( fill in the blank ).
Therrien made a bad and costly mistake. The non-call on VanSteensel’s SH partial break away at 2-0 was probably the next biggest determining factor in that game.
There was not a chance for the Battalion to play physical in the first period as it went from bad to worse.
 

swoopster

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A stupid check from behind play by Therrien cost them 3 goals right off the bat. they spent 20 minutes in the penalty box. Great way to win a game.
 

dirty12

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A stupid check from behind play by Therrien cost them 3 goals right off the bat. they spent 20 minutes in the penalty box. Great way to win a game.
It was 2 goals to start. A non-call allowed the spirit the opportunity to score a third goal during that 5 min major. That non-call was like a dagger in heart of the battalion, and arguably the determining factor in the outcome of the game.
 

dirty12

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All I am saying dirty is that you best play clean aggressive hockey against them and not take stupid penalty's.
That was a big mistake that won’t soon be forgotten by the 17 yr old.

And yeah you missed something; a surprising and possible game altering non-call on a SH partial break away at 2-0. Saginaw should not have had an oppurtunity to score 3 times on that 5 min major.
 

swoopster

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So the best team in the OHL plays a Russian Roulette format , ... we spot you a lead, lets make it interesting, we come back late and win in overtime. A true crowd pleaser... A recipe for failure.... cocky, overly confident, thinking that this can happen every single time. It can't.
 

twinsdad

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Dec 1, 2014
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I really don't think any team's gameplan is to spot an opponent a lead and then come back and win. It is really just a matter of deciding not to do that anymore? Shoot, easy fix.
 
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BThumme

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Oct 2, 2023
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They outshot the Bulldogs 58-26 and at one point, it was I think 31-7. That is a recipe for success, and I will take that any day. Go look at the comments from the Bulldogs' fans on the board saying they were lucky they were winning.

This has been a constant theme this year for the team and leads to more wins than losses.

There's a reason that Laz said that game was the best of the year for the team on the post game show (and he for the most part tells it like it is when asked).

I also liked their game, especially Saturday night, and knew it was a matter of time before they broke through.
 

donjohnson

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Jan 29, 2013
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So the best team in the OHL plays a Russian Roulette format , ... we spot you a lead, lets make it interesting, we come back late and win in overtime. A true crowd pleaser... A recipe for failure.... cocky, overly confident, thinking that this can happen every single time. It can't.
I get what your saying here but it's not like we're playing fancy hockey or keepaway. We had 25 shots on goal in the first period and 58 for the game...the pucks just weren't going in the net.

The other big thing is that we were missing Oke for the two big games on the weekend. Nothing against Lalonde, he's been playing very well but Oke is our #1 goalie and there's a reason that he's been getting the starts against the better competition.
 

Kingpin794

Smart A** In A Jersey
Apr 25, 2012
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I get what your saying here but it's not like we're playing fancy hockey or keepaway. We had 25 shots on goal in the first period and 58 for the game...the pucks just weren't going in the net.

The other big thing is that we were missing Oke for the two big games on the weekend. Nothing against Lalonde, he's been playing very well but Oke is our #1 goalie and there's a reason that he's been getting the starts against the better competition.
Couldn't catch the game. Did anyone mention why Oke was out? Injury or was he sick?
 

donjohnson

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Jan 29, 2013
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Dillon said on Saturday night that he was out with an illness. Didn't specify what or how long he will be out. Hopefully he's back for the road trip this week!
 

BThumme

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Oct 2, 2023
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Mangone not being part of the lineup the last week hurts too, he's been out the last couple games but heard he is supposed to travel with the team this week.
 

swoopster

Politally incorrect
Dec 10, 2015
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The main reason for my post was a post that Kingpin made on another forum.

'"To really drive this point home, in 55 games this year, we have been tied or trailing going into the 3rd 30 times. We have scored first in 24 of 55 games. We have scored first and carried a lead into the 3rd only 18 times all year. 17-1. In those 17 wins our GAA is 1.82...."

I thought is was a telling observation. I am not talking about one game, but a trend.

My point being that statistic is not a recipe for consistent success.
 

donjohnson

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Jan 29, 2013
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Few things:

1) Totally agree that it's not a recipe for success when you're spotting a lead and then trying to claw back.

2) When you're outshooting a team 25-6 in the first period, I don't think that you're spotting a lead or playing russian roulette. The best goalies have say a .925 sv %...by that math we should have scored 2 goals on those 25 shots, we just didn't.

3) The concern is still the play at the blue line and how it will translate to close games in the playoffs. If we aren't making the right play at the blue line (getting it deep when pressured) and we are dancing with the puck, it's going to continue to lead to those odd man rushes we give up (seemingly) more than any team out there.

As far as Kingpins stats go...it's really interesting but I'd like to see what it is since the trades were made. There were a lot of stinkers early in the season during the bad stretch that probably skew the stats a little from the team that we currently have on the ice.
 
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Kingpin794

Smart A** In A Jersey
Apr 25, 2012
3,984
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209 at the Van
Few things:

1) Totally agree that it's not a recipe for success when you're spotting a lead and then trying to claw back.

2) When you're outshooting a team 25-6 in the first period, I don't think that you're spotting a lead or playing russian roulette. The best goalies have say a .925 sv %...by that math we should have scored 2 goals on those 25 shots, we just didn't.

3) The concern is still the play at the blue line and how it will translate to close games in the playoffs. If we aren't making the right play at the blue line (getting it deep when pressured) and we are dancing with the puck, it's going to continue to lead to those odd man rushes we give up (seemingly) more than any team out there.

As far as Kingpins stats go...it's really interesting but I'd like to see what it is since the trades were made. There were a lot of stinkers early in the season during the bad stretch that probably skew the stats a little from the team that we currently have on the ice.
I didn’t hold onto that data set but IIRC we are maybe a touch under 50/50 on scoring first and probably a bit better with carrying leads into the 3rd since the deadline. I’ll have to double check.

We typically outshoot/out posses teams so we are executing well. Puck just hasn’t been kind to us at times. Same thing that was happening early in the year. Big difference is that early in the year we looked super tight and anxious. We were in our own heads. Once we broke through in NOV, you could see us loosen up. And I mean loose in the sense that we stopped overthinking stuff and just played. Had fun out there. Stopped worrying about being hosts and what kind of expectations went along with that. Now if they have to come back, it’s not a huge deal. They already know what they are/can do. Just keep playing their game. It’s more of a weird stat that’s followed us more than anything. I guess in a sense, we’re never truly out of a game.
 

donjohnson

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Jan 29, 2013
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It's just so tough because the one wild-card for us is still goaltending. As solid as Oke has been this year (and his numbers prove that), he has ZERO playoff experience and we just face so many breaks that he can't stop them all. If we had Lennox I wouldn't even be blinking twice on this season and I'd take a pretty good stack of money to bet on us winning it all. I just really wish that Oke could have appeared in a game during last year's playoffs but Lennox played so well, there really wasn't an opportunity. I was hoping maybe game 4 of the Sarnia series since it was likely over anyway but it's tough to bench Lennox in that situation and send a message to the team that it's over.
 
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