Opinion :
think Raftis has done a good job.
Other then Dubas, probably one of the best GM hires in a long time, dating back to the
sherry basin days, Just look at other GM'S we have had and compare there records to
Raftis record as a gm.
Now, most likely would have won a Ohl championship if it wasn't for a guy named McDavid.
the one year that i believe really stings is when the Hamilton Buldogs beat out the Soo Greyhounds in
6 games. There was another year where hounds were real close.
i believe Covid never helped this franchise , because the year where season was cancelled, i believe
the hounds had another run in them also.
the draft lottery the following year never helped as the hounds picked later in the draft .
( the year where every team had a chance for a high pick )
Yes, there were errors on his part , like a few years when he should have sold older players but
decided to add.; one particular year i am referring to is when Sarnia was desperate to make a
deep run and they traded Porter Martone to Mississauga now Brampton. Hounds could have
done the same if they traded there top guys that year , i am sure Sarnia would have done it but
Mississauga out smarted Raftis and robbed martone from sarnia, now look at them this year,
primed to make a deep run.
i mean, if the basis of comparison is guys like Torrie, he's done good, sure.
but if you hoped he would continue the strong program Dubas rebuilt with "the Rising" (including that Dubas drafted the core of the 2015/2018 teams) then he's been a mediocre failure at best, an arrogant disaster at worst...
It began in 2018/19 where we should have had a sell off to recoup assets from legitimate championship runs in 2015 and 2018. we can argue until we're red in the face about it but imo we haven't iced a legitimate contender since. always an elite player or two short, but always a few high draft picks short of competing in the trade deadline arms race. champions add the best players available at the deadline.
Missing the playoffs or 1st/2nd round exits, shaky asset management, and now back to the old days of struggling to get players to report... it's sure starting to look a lot more like the Torrie days than the Dubas days imo.
As Schmo alluded to, Owen Allard seems to be off the Roadrunners roster... If he is sent back to junior, and refuses to report here as has been speculated, then what?
I know I'm negative, and some of you are probably sick of it, but until I'm given a reason to feel hope this is where I'm at as a hounds fan.... hopeless and fed up with the gaslighting about being perpetually competitive.
Hopefully my senators are better this year at least.
