Time to Give Credit Where Credit is Due

We are now approximately one third of the way through this OHL Season.  So as I was driving alone in my car one day I heard Bob McCown on the Fan 590 elaborating once again an idea that he feels is long overdue in the NHL.  And the more I thought about it, the more I thought, why not try it out in the OHL.

 

Simply put, it is an idea that hockey purists (hello Ed Burkholder?) out there are bound to hate.  But it is one I think, that is worthy of serious consideration.  It should give credit ultimately to true success in League Play.

 

For a number of years now, in an attempt to keep teams from playing ultimately for a tie in the dying minutes of a close game, we have seen the advent of sudden death, four on four overtime for five minutes.  The idea of course is that both teams will go all out in an attempt to gain one extra point in the standings by winning in OT.  Fewer players on the ice should provide extra skating room and more offence.  At least that is the theory.

 

Furthermore, if a win is not produced in OT, then we send it to the dreaded Shootout, which goes on until a winner is finally decided.  Losers in OT or Shootout shouldn't go home empty handed, so the loss is rewarded with one point in the standings.

 

In my mind, I agree with Bob McCown.  Why should a loss be worth only one fewer point than a win, just because the game could not be decided in Regulation Time?  Let's really encourage teams to go all out to win in 60 minutes.  And the way to accomplish this you ask, is to change the way we reward wins and losses.

 

Let's award 4 points for a win in Regulation Time, 3 points for a win in OT and 2 points for a win in the Shootout.  If you still must provide a reward for surviving sixty minutes, then you can still award one point for a loss in OT or by Shootout.

 

I would suggest that you will see fewer teams simply "hanging on" for OT or a shootout, because I think you will see more offensive creativity from coaches in the dying minutes or during extra time.  The reason of course would be the extra incentive of more than just a one point difference.  This would be especially true I would suggest in tight playoff races late in the season.  And in the end, this would be more fun for the fans.

 

Listed below are the current standings (at the time of writing) compared to the 4-3-2-1 format.  I would love to hear you the fans on this, so I encourage your comments.

 

And yes Ed Burkholder, Bob and I just might be crazy!

	Current Standings As Of
	November 12, 2008
	Eastern Conference
Rank	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	SL	Pts
1	Brampton Battalion	20	14	6	0	0	28
2	Belleville Bulls	21	13	6	1	1	28
3	Ottawa 67's	21	11	9	0	1	23
4	Sudbury Wolves	18	9	7	1	1	20
5	Oshawa Generals	20	9	10	0	1	19
6	Peterborough Petes	21	9	11	0	1	19
7	Niagara Ice Dogs	21	6	8	3	4	19
8	Barrie Colts	19	8	10	1	0	17
9	Mississauga St.Mike's Majors	18	7	10	0	1	15
10	Kingston Frontenacs	21	5	12	4	0	14
	Western Conference
Rank	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	SL	Pts
1	Windsor Spitfires	21	19	2	0	0	38
2	London Knights	20	14	5	0	1	29
3	Guelph Storm	21	12	7	1	1	26
4	Saginaw Spirit	18	12	6	0	0	24
5	Sault Ste.Marie Greyhounds	19	10	8	1	0	21
6	Erie Otters	20	10	9	1	0	21
7	Sarnia Sting	19	9	8	1	1	20
8	Owen Sound Attack	19	7	8	3	1	18
9	Kitchener Rangers	18	7	9	1	1	16
10	Plymouth Whalers	19	6	11	2	0	14
	Revised 4-3-2-1 Standings
	As of November 12,2008
	Eastern Conference
Rank	Team	GP	W	OTW	SOW	L	OTL	SOL	Pts
1	Belleville Bulls	21	12	0	1	6	1	1	52
2	Brampton Battalion	20	11	1	2	6	0	0	49
3	Ottawa 67's	21	11	0	0	9	0	1	45
4	Sudbury Wolves	18	8	0	1	7	1	1	36
5	Peterborough Petes	21	7	2	0	11	0	1	35
6	Oshawa Generals	20	7	1	1	10	0	1	34
7	Barrie Colts	19	7	1	0	10	1	0	34
8	Niagara Ice Dogs	21	6	0	0	8	3	4	31
9	Mississauga St.Mike's Majors	18	6	0	1	10	0	1	27
10	Kingston Frontenacs	21	4	1	0	12	4	0	23
	Western Conference
Rank	Team	GP	W	OTW	SOW	L	OTL	SOL	Pts
1	Windsor Spitfires	21	17	1	1	2	0	0	73
2	London Knights	20	11	3	0	5	0	1	54
3	Saginaw Spirit	18	10	1	1	6	0	0	45
4	Guelph Storm	21	8	2	2	7	1	1	42
5	Erie Otters	20	10	0	0	9	1	0	41
6	Sarnia Sting	19	8	1	0	8	1	1	37
7	Sault Ste.Marie Greyhounds	19	5	4	1	8	1	0	35
8	Owen Sound Attack	19	5	1	1	8	3	1	29
9	Kitchener Rangers	18	5	1	1	9	1	1	27
10	Plymouth Whalers	19	4	0	2	11	2	0	22

DO THE DOGS NEED A VETERAN 'TENDER?

During Saturday's our local roundtable entitled Between the Bluelines, Al, Ed and I debated whether or not it was time to trade for a veteran goaltender.  Ed was very direct in saying that it was time to make a move for a veteran tender, while I agreed with Ed but was not quite as vociferous.  I pointed out the 6 games (now 7) in which the Ice Dogs have gone to either a shootout or OT.  The Ice Dogs, by the way, are a dismal 0-7 in those games.  While people will point out that the Ice Dogs get a point in those games, do you really see the Ice Dogs high-fiving over an OT loss or a shootout loss?  Bottom line is those are losses and points taken off the board for the Ice Dogs.  Win half of those games and questions about whether or not the Ice Dogs get a veteran 'tender likely are not raised.   Of note in those losses I would consider at least 2/3 of the OT goals scored against the Ice Dogs as "softies" while between them John Cullen and Mark Visentin have allowed 9/13 goals in the shootout.  You can spin them any way you want, but those are pretty dismal.  Both goaltenders have had their shining moments in net.  Poor John Cullen was brilliant on Thursday but the lasting image is of him being woefully out of position on the OT winner and then throwing a bit of a temper tantrum on the ice that may have done John McEnroe proud.
 
Back to the original question of whether or  not the Ice Dogs need a veteran goaltender.  Certainly the goalie landscape changed with the trade of Trevor Cann to Peterborough.  Now teams have a sense of what personality their team will take on.  This is of course, thrown out the window if you are the Osahawa Generals who got pounded 10-2 by Peterborough and then beat Kitchener 5-3 on the road and then thumped Barrie 5-0 at home, which I'm sure has their Coach Chris DePiero scratching his head.    Bottom line for the Ice Dogs is that they are not far away from being in the upper echelon of the conference.   Outside of Belleville and Brampton, teams are bunched up and a goaltender can be a difference maker.  The Ice Dogs know that all too well when they got Sebastian Dahm from Sudbury last year.  
 
Thanks to the advent of fantasy sports, everyone thinks that they can be a GM and the pulse of the Ice Dog nation seems to lean toward demoting Visentin and making Cullen the back-up.  Sounds good on paper, but what you are doing is telling two young goaltenders that their roles have been reduced and they are demoted.  What does that do for the make-up of a young goaltender?  On the other side of the coin, the OT and Shootout losses are piling up and there has got to be a measure of frustration on the team that they have not closed the deal in OT or the Shootout.
 
If you are truly developing a young team, then you ride it out and stick with the young 'tenders knowing that there will be some long nights at the office.  If you feel you have a shot at the upper part of the conference, then it is imperative to grab a veteran goalie.  That much you owe to your veterans, and you need to pull the trigger on that deal sooner rather than later.. 

Dave Brown, over to you.
 
Steve Clark
TV Cogeco   
 

Crunch Time

It may seem that we are well into this year's hockey season.  And yet the reality is that it is still early days.  Despite this, the season has already arrived at a critical juncture for a number of players selected last June in the NHL Draft.  NHL Teams can keep their picks in the lineup for nine games before their salaries kick in against the cap.  Hard as it might seem to believe it is "crunch time" already for these young men.

 

At the time of writing, Sarnia's Steven Stamkos, Peterborough's Zach Bogosian and Guelph's Drew Doughty all have seven games under their belts with Tampa, Atlanta and L.A. respectively.  WHL graduate Luke Schenn has put in eight games with Toronto already and Alex Pietrangelo has logged only three games due to being placed on the Injured Reserve List by St.Louis.

 

None of these players show any signs that they are about to return to their Junior alma matre.  In fact, the Leafs have announced that they plan to keep Schenn in Toronto.  Of the remaining four, it is probably a pretty safe bet their careers in the NHL are now secure.  Thus, the NHL's gain is Junior Hockey's loss.  A loss for Canada that is, come this December, when it is time to select this year's edition of Team Canada.  How great would this fearsome five look with a red maple leaf on their chests?

 

One might also say "Crunch Time" has arrived for the Ice Dogs as October draws to a close.  Niagara has just come off a huge victory against the Spirit this past Saturday.  They got a solid effort from everyone, despite being out shot 38 to 28.  The defence needs to tighten up and allow fewer Shots on Goal.  The good news was that Mark Visentin came up with some tremendous saves when called upon and that was a very welcome sign that perhaps the fortunes of the Ice Dogs are about to turn in their favor.  But to win consistently, the team collectively must play better in support of their young netminders.

 

Niagara can score.  No doubt about that.  They currently sit with the second highest total "goals for" in the East with 52.  Only Oshawa with 57 has more.  But, they have allowed the highest "goals against" in the East with 64.  If the Dogs are to win more  frequently they need to continue to be the creative offensive team they have demonstrated themselves to be this year, while at the same time cutting down on the goals against.

 

This young Niagara Team can still easily move up in the standings and compete with virtually any team in the League.  But to do so, they must start now before losing any more ground on the leaders in the standings.

 

Crunch Time is here indeed!

 

IceDogs Goals v Saginaw

TV Cogeco would like to apologize for the technical difficulties experienced in the 

St. Catharines/Thorold area during the game on October 25th. We will be working to correct these issues shortly.