Rebuild really just a reload for the Attack

The rebuild has begun for the Owen Sound Attack who shipped veteran defensemen Matt Petgrave and Geoffrey Schemitsch to Oshawa on Saturday for blue liner Kyle Hope and two second-round picks.

Hope is a year younger than the two departing blue liners and gives Owen Sound a 20 year old, a nineteen year old, an 18 year old, two 17 year olds, and a 16 year old on the blue line.

That’s good for the future but tough for this year so look for Jay Gilbert and Keevin Cutting to play a lot of minutes for the next three months.

Owen Sound may not end up trading overage goalie Scott Stajcer now as it needs solid goaltending with such a young blue line.

And it means that the rebuild could be over in a season as everyone but three players can return next year.

 

End of 1

Brampton 1 Owen Sound 0

Goals: B – Matt Carrick.

Goaltenders: Scott Stajcer OS (10/11): Keegan Wilson B (8/8)

Shipley deserves a championship ring – for leaving

My money says Steven Shipley deserves an OHL championship ring from the owen Sound Attack.

If the Ilderton native and his father didn’t demand a trade, Owen Sound wouldn’t have been forced to move him to Niagara at the start of last season.

And the Attack would not have had Andrew Shaw and Matt Petgrave in their lineup last season. Both were key contributors and Owen Sound likely wouldn’t have won an OHL championship without them.

Shipley isn’t as good as those two nor does he have the grit that Shaw displayed in being named to the Memorial Cup all-star game.

So spend the money and buy the poor kid a ring. It’s likely the only one he’s going to get in the OHL.

End of the First

Owen Sound 0 Niagara 0

Goalies: Scott Stajcer OS (7/7); Christopher Festerini N (7/7)

Poor point play killing Attack power play

Don’t be surprised if the Owen Sound Attack lobby the Ontario Hockey League for a rule change.

Soon.

The Attack are going to be wanting to decline power plays after allowing 12 shorthanded goals this season.

Some of it is bad luck, such as Chris Tierney’s goal late in the first period when a clearing attempt took a bad bounce off the boards and kicked right out to him as he raced down the ice untouched.

But a lot of it is the players on the point, or that place where pucks go to die after repeatedly being fired into the other team’s shin guards.

The players on the Attack points don’t get the puck moving back and forth and don’t move themselves either.

When you stand still and shoot, what you get is shots blocked by players who have a head of steam going by you untouched.

That’s why you see a lot of teams work the puck down low and fire passes across the ice and not shoot it from the point.

What Owen Sound needs to do is get the puck deep, work it out from the corners, and crash the net.

But for the love of Pete, please don’t send it back to the point any more.

 

End of 1

London 3 Owen Sound 0

Goals: L – Bo Horvat, Seth Griffith, Chris Tierney.

Goaltenders: Jordan Binnington OS (13/16); Michael Houser L (6/6)

Attack taking Erie lightly, to it’s own peril

This is the type of game that will prove whether or not the Owen Sound Attack will be a seller or a buyer come the Jan. 10 trade deadline.

With the woeful Erie Otters in town, the Attack has a chance to bank what should be an easy two points.

Easy, that is, for a team that will be tough to beat in the post season.

Yet it’s 0-0 after 20 minutes tonight and Owen Sound looks like it’s playing one of the worst teams in the league. They’re taking Erie lightly and not playing the style that earned Owen Sound two wins on the weekend.

And you can’t take these Otters lightly. You can’t take any team with Ramis Sadikov lightly because he’s capable of stealing a game on his own.

 

End of 1

Owen Sound 0 Erie 0

Goaltender: Scott Stajcer OS (12/12); Ramis Sadikov E (12/12)

 

The bad blood remains for St. Mike’s and Owen Sound

The Ontario Hockey League final was six months ago but the animosity remains in high gear as the St. Mike’s Majors is here to face the defending champion Owen Sound Attack.

And those two words are reason for the Majors grumpiness.

St. Mike’s expected to waltz through the OHL playoffs last season and go into the Memorial Cup as both the host and the league champion.

But Jarrod Maiden’s overtime winner in Game 7 prevented that from happening.

And the SeaDogs made St. Mike’s dreams of a Memorial Cup fade away with a convincing win in the final.

So despite several big names moving on after last season, the Attack and the Majors still have the ugly on for each other.

This game is chippy, it’s tough, and it’s a lot more entertaining that you’d expect to see out of a November contest.

End of 1

Owen Sound 0 St. Mike’s 0

Goaltenders: Binnington OS (14/14); Anderson SM (10/10)

Lack of killer instinct could hurt Attack

Putting a team away is a skill most teams need to learn at some point in their development.

Such is the case for the Owen Sound Attack. Up 4-1 over Oshawa at the midway point, the Attack sat back and allowed Oshawa to slowly gain momentum.

An Oshawa goal on a shot that should never have gotten past Jordan Binnington now makes it 4-2.

And the Gens have all the momentum going into the third.

The lesson to learn is that when you’re up on a team and they look in disarray, that’s when you go for the kill.

And don’t play with them. Bury them.

Exciting finishes look good on TV, not in real life.

End of 2

Owen Sound 4 Oshawa 2

Goals: OS – Artur Gavrus, Cameron Brace, Jarrod Maidens, Gemel Smith. OSH – JP Labardo, Cole Cassels.

Goaltenders: Jordan Binnington OS (15/17); Dan Altshuller OSH (24/28)

Attack showing depth on D

Depth is a luxury most teams would love to have and it’s something that the Owen Sound Attack has on defense.

The Ontario Hockey League squad has lost two regulars to injuries but keep rolling along defensively.

Matt Petgrave is listed as day-to-day with an eye infection while rookie Chris Bigras suffered a broken jaw in practice almost two weeks ago and he’s likely out until late November.

Yet Brayden Rose has seen more ice time while rookies Kurtis MacDermid and  Jake Dotchin have both looked solid in a more regular role.

End of 1

Owen Sound 2 Oshawa 0

Goals: OS – Artur Gavrus, Cameron Brace.

Goaltenders: Jordan Binnington OS (4/4); Dan Altshuller OSH (13/15)

It should be Stajcer’s goal for now

 

The days of rotating the goalies should be over for the Owen Sound Attack.

With Jordan Binnington struggling and Scott Stajcer seemingly rounding into form, the Ontario Hockey League squad can not afford to put in Binnington until he finds his game again.

It worked in the playoffs last year.

Binnington was benched for a month and he returned to help Owen Sound win the OHL championship. He went on to be named the top goalie at the 2011 Memorial Cup.

It would also let Owen Sound pump up Stajcer’s trade value before they deal him elsewhere in the next month or two.

It’s also necessary because Owen Sound is almost a quarter of the way through the season and the Attack can’t let things slip away. Sitting below .500 is not acceptable if this team wants to do anything in the playoffs this year.

 

End of 2

Owen Sound 0 Sudburry 0

Goaltenders: Scott Stajcer OS (17//17); Mattsson S (19/19)

Not the same Attack as last year

It’s time to admit that the Owen Sound Attack is not the same team team that thrilled local fans last season.
Gone along with 206 goals are the players who kept fans on the edge of their seats.
And gone too is the consistent play which turned into wins.
Instead the new version of the Attack is young and prone to mistakes.
And it’s one that has been getting inconsistent goaltending at a time where the Attack needs its goalies to be the best players on the ice.
The 2011-2012 Ontario Hockey League season might not be the best season wins wise, but it likely won’t be boring.

End of 1
Owen Sound 0 Sudbury 0
Goaltenders: Scott Stajcer OS (7/7); Johan Mattsson S (13/13)

Bring on the back to backs

Back to back’s might be one of the best ideas in hockey.

Especially when the second half of the double dip takes place the very next day.

Facing a team twice in such a short period of time really lets teams build up an ugly for one another.

That leads to more intensity and more emotions which guarantees that the players aren’t simply going through the motions in what is a long season.

Now if we could only try three in three  … OK, maybe that would be too much of a good thing.

End of 2

Kitchener 5 Owen Sound 2

Goals: OS – Daniel Catenacci 2. K – Michael Catenacci, Brandon Francisco, Tobias Rieder, Ben Thomson, Andrew Crescenzi.

Goaltenders: Scott Stajcer OS (20/25); Franky Palazzesi K (21/23)