One wonders who the Ice Dogs ticked off in the schedule department. In a five week span the Ice Dogs play four, count 'em four three games in three nights and two back to backs. Now I know that back to backs and a weekend heavy schedule are a part of life in the OHL, but that it is a heavy schedule. Plus, it must be tough to set your goaltending rotation with such a schedule, especially considering that Mario Cichillo is giving both John Cullen and Mark Visentin equal opportunity to grab the brass ring, that is the number one spot. Or perhaps the coach will not declare a number one and split the work evenly. Heck, for a time in the 1980's the Montreal Canadians employed three goalies evenly! Who could forget the three-headed monster that was Denis Herron, Bunny Larocque and Richard Sevigny? My guess is that both goalies will get work until the scheduling normalizes.
Right Back on the Horse
Last Thursday Mark Visentin let in a bit of a softy in OT to Kory Nagy in a 3-2 defeat. The very next night Visentin was between the pipes. That was a good move by the coaching staff as they let the young goaltender know that they had faith in him. Last night against Belleville John Cullen allowed a late goal and then got beat three out of four times in the shootout. THe guessing here is that Coach Cichillo and his staff will employ a similar thought process and put Cullen back in net against the Majors.
Juggling the Defense
It would not surprise me if GM Dave Brown was keeping a vigil on Geneva Street looking to see if Scott Fletcher Josh Day or Alex Pietrangelo were exiting off of the 406 in Ice Dog uniforms. Last night the young defense acquitted themselves well for the most part, save from some miscues that can only be attributed to youth. David McMullen dove on a puck with about 3 minutes to go with no one around him, garnering a delay of game penalty. Then the defensive zone coverage broke down in the last 30 seconds of regulation allowing Belleville to tie the game. Plus, poor Reggie Traccito dropped to block a shot and caught one right in the cashews, which I'm sure every red-blooded male in the arena felt. If you are wondering, there really is no proper way to broadcast that other than to let the visuals tell the story.
Steve Clark
Right Back on the Horse
Last Thursday Mark Visentin let in a bit of a softy in OT to Kory Nagy in a 3-2 defeat. The very next night Visentin was between the pipes. That was a good move by the coaching staff as they let the young goaltender know that they had faith in him. Last night against Belleville John Cullen allowed a late goal and then got beat three out of four times in the shootout. THe guessing here is that Coach Cichillo and his staff will employ a similar thought process and put Cullen back in net against the Majors.
Juggling the Defense
It would not surprise me if GM Dave Brown was keeping a vigil on Geneva Street looking to see if Scott Fletcher Josh Day or Alex Pietrangelo were exiting off of the 406 in Ice Dog uniforms. Last night the young defense acquitted themselves well for the most part, save from some miscues that can only be attributed to youth. David McMullen dove on a puck with about 3 minutes to go with no one around him, garnering a delay of game penalty. Then the defensive zone coverage broke down in the last 30 seconds of regulation allowing Belleville to tie the game. Plus, poor Reggie Traccito dropped to block a shot and caught one right in the cashews, which I'm sure every red-blooded male in the arena felt. If you are wondering, there really is no proper way to broadcast that other than to let the visuals tell the story.
Steve Clark
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