Connor Clattenburg Not In Lineup Tonight As Per Suspension (Updated 6:58 pm)
I guess Connor Clattenburg will not be in the lineup. I based my below assessment on the Ontario Hockey Leagues website which has not been updated as of yet for some reason.
As the title suggests, I feel that time has run out and the early season prediction by Saultite and London Free Press writer Ryan Pyette is coming to fruition. Unless there is a miracle the Soo Greyhounds are going to miss the playoffs for the first time in quite a few years. So below are just a few notes and comments.
- Connor Clattenburg got robbed the other night; that was not a slewfoot. I can’t believe with two refs, two linesmen, and a video review they could not get the call right. This kid is underestimated and the Hounds lost his services for a game and a half based on terrible officiating. Coach Dean should be up in arms but they (coaches/players/management) are not allowed to question calls in the media in this woke day and age.
- The Hounds beat Sarnia 7-3 during their last meeting so this game is going to be a doozy. It is going to get really heated and chippy if Clattenburg does exactly what he did the previous game & the Hounds grab a lead. I think Sarnia may try and goat him into a fight to get him off the ice or out of the game. He needs to play the line and piss off the Sting players and not get caught and not retaliate. This is the only hopes for the Hounds to win tonight. He reminds me of Theo Fleury and to an extent Sean Avery; his scoring will start to come next year.
- Owen Allard has shown flashes of his dominance and he is coming around.
- Hopefully the Hounds get some more bodies back in the lineup and Andrew Gibson would be like striking gold if he returns tonight or soon.
- Speaking of defenseman…. I have seen my favorite player and MVP in his own way Kirill Kudryavstev way too many times show offensive maturity and intelligence but whenever he gets in a lane to shoot……..he passes the puck. If I were the coaching staff, I would be telling him to start shooting; he has a good shot and he should use it more.
- This year the Hounds have had way too many too many men on the ice penalties and from what I remember; Coach John Dean (I think) referred to those as a coaching errors in the media earlier in the year or last…I can’t remember, but that has to be worked on because it is ………well I don’t need to explain.
- On another coaching note; I don’t like all of the empty net goals we are allowing and I think that pulling the goalie with 2 or 3 minutes left has merit but not always. I believe recently the goalie was pulled with 4 minutes or just under it left in the game. That needs to stop in my opinion and if Coach Dean is going to do it with that much time on the clock he might want to do it with 6 Forwards on the ice since it is a gamble anyway. Dale Hunter started the 5 forwards on the PP many years ago and it makes sense. If you are going to leave your net empty where a shot from the opposite end of the ice can result in a goal…why not have 6 guys on the ice that have an offensive mindset.
- Mix-up the line combinations for the rest of the year; you never know who is going to click. Playing the same lines and systems hasn’t worked yet.
- Charlie Schenkel has stood on his head and is the only reason the Hounds are still mathematically in contention; no slight to Sammy Ivanov as he has played great, but Charlie has been 100% consistent and has only let in a handful of goals that he would want back this year.
** Nothing personal to the coaching staff; I will be writing about some of the great achievements they have made this year in a future article** Go Hounds Go !!