….we’ll see around 9:30 tonight who showed up to play the Firebirds and who got detained at customs. The Hounds play a crucial game tonight and if there are any passengers like there were on Wednesday night, we’ll see how tough coach Dean can be.

What I mean by that is that motivating is everything and if you can’t motivate you shouldn’t be in this business. Years ago it was not unheard of for a good player to “sit” out a game here and there and by coincidence it was when they were not playing up to their potential.

In this time of woke and being soft we do not see that just as we don’t see coaches “calling out” their players individually in the media to send a message. Those things are not “proper”; so to be fair coaches have a tougher time when it comes to lighting the fire under the kids to perform.

On another note, I received some messages regarding my article from the other day showing the stats on both Tucker Tynan and Samuel Ivanov and the messages were clear in my assessment that Ivanov should be playing right now and playing until he loses. If he plays poor but the team wins; keep him in between the  pipes.

For whatever the reason the opposite has been true for Tucker Tynan. He has played pretty good hockey and brilliant hockey at times, but for whatever reason the team hasn’t played well and they have lost many games. Numbers don’t lie and his numbers are nowhere near good for a starter on a top hockey team.

On the other hand it doesn’t matter that it is Samuel Ivanovs’ junior debut season. The fact is the wins come more frequently for the team when he plays. It is no secret that some of the coaches of yesterday and a couple from today will play the sh*t out of a rookie or young goaltender if the team is winning and on a streak. To these coaches politics and political correctness take a backseat to the overall prize of winning the hockey game.

Here are the numbers again; Ivanov 17-7 (3.39 GAA, .880 save %) and Tynan 12-15 (3.54 GAA/.879 save %).

Also numbers to ponder are that the Hounds have a winning percentage of .708% when Sammy starts as opposed to .429% when Tucker gets the nod. In this case numbers don’t lie. The fact is confusing because I think Tynan deserves a better record on paper for his good play but for that exclusive reason…. he doesn’t.

tale of the tape

FLINT FIREBIRDS

Coach Ted Dent

GM Ted Dent

Record 35-16-1-3

Top scorers are Brennan Othmann (78pts), Riley Piercey (56), and Amadeus Lombardi (48). Last 10 games the Firebirds are 8-2 and have a home record of 13-11.

SOO GREYHOUNDS

Coach John Dean 

GM Kyle Raftis

Record 31-18-6-1

Top scorers are Rory Kerins (94pts), Tye Kartye (63), Cole McKay (58).  Last 10 games the Hounds are 5-5.

We know Jack Thompson will show up tonight and we need players like Keegan McMullen, Owen Allard, and Kalvyn Watson to step up as we can’t count on power plays and the top line to win us games.

On another note; Hounds will be without forward Tyler Savard who will be sitting out a couple games due to a suspension for getting into his 4th fight of the year on Wednesday night against the Sarnia Sting.

Go Hounds GO