Reason why spits are at Number 3 is I think Rychel is out to prove that will still be contending no matter what and I think he'll pull the trigger on a couple big deals.
East:
Barrie Colts - OK
Petrborough Petes - MAYBE
Bellevill Bulls - OK
Kingston Frontenacs - AAH NO!
Ottawa 67'ss - OK
Sudbury Wolves - OK
Oshawa Generals - LITTLE HIGHER
Niagara ice Dogs - WATCH OUT IF THERE IS A LOCKOUT
Brampton Battalion - CONTENDER FOR TOP 4
Mississauga Steeleheads - MEM CUP REBUILD STARTS NOW
West:
Plymouth Whalers - TOO HIGH
Kitchener Rangers - NOPE LOWER
Windsor Spitfires - OK
London Knights - TEAM TO BEAT
Sarnia Sting - MAYBE
Guelph Storm - YEAR 2 OF REBUILD
Sault Ste. Marie - ANOTHER YEAR OUT OF PLAYOFFS
Owen Sound Attack - TOP 4
Saginaw Spirit - IN THE PLAYOFFS
Erie Otters - TOO YOUNG
The Fronts and the Fish miss the playoffs in the east.
The Greyhounds and the Otters miss in the west
East:
Barrie Colts - OK
Petrborough Petes - MAYBE
Bellevill Bulls - OK
Kingston Frontenacs - AAH NO!
Ottawa 67'ss - OK
Sudbury Wolves - OK
Oshawa Generals - LITTLE HIGHER
Niagara ice Dogs - WATCH OUT IF THERE IS A LOCKOUT
Brampton Battalion - CONTENDER FOR TOP 4
Mississauga Steeleheads - MEM CUP REBUILD STARTS NOW
West:
Plymouth Whalers - TOO HIGH
Kitchener Rangers - NOPE LOWER
Windsor Spitfires - OK
London Knights - TEAM TO BEAT
Sarnia Sting - MAYBE
Guelph Storm - YEAR 2 OF REBUILD
Sault Ste. Marie - ANOTHER YEAR OUT OF PLAYOFFS
Owen Sound Attack - TOP 4
Saginaw Spirit - IN THE PLAYOFFS
Erie Otters - TOO YOUNG
The Fronts and the Fish miss the playoffs in the east.
The Greyhounds and the Otters miss in the west
Wait...London is the "team to beat", yet below Windsor? I'z confuzed.
I'll make a prediction closer to the opener. Way too much could happen between now and then.
I think Owen Sound won't be doing too many changes, they'll be a contender. I never seen Lindo play, but from what some people say about him on this board, he's supposed to be pretty good.
They also have most of the players back, (only 3 left... miss you Halmo )they have a very strong defense core not to mention the addition of Middleton. Maiden will be back. If Jordan Binnington has a good year, Owen Sound will be able to beat anybody.
As someone posted earlier much could change with the impending lockout and who gets returned to Junior, and camps haven't even opened yet so this is more just a fun exercise but ....
Should be interesting in the East this year, I think Barrie and Brampton will be tight for the #1 seed in the Conference, Belleville gets the 2nd seed as Division winner.
1. Barrie Colts
2. Belleville Bulls
3. Brampton Battalion
4. Ottawa 67's
5. Peterborough Petes
6. Kingston Frontenacs
7. Oshawa Generals
8. Sudbury Wolves
9. Niagara Icedogs
10.Missisauga Steelheads
Wait...London is the "team to beat", yet below Windsor? I'z confuzed.
I'll make a prediction closer to the opener. Way too much could happen between now and then.
I think he was just referring to the poster he quoted.
Owen Sound deserves more respect than most of the predictions given to them on here. I see them as a contender for the OHL.
Guelph will also be improved, I think they'll get a top 5 spot in the West. Erie and Windsor will be improved too and the Soo, Sarnia, and Saginaw will be worse than they were last year.
everyone really putting Barrie that high. Ye they get Schiefele back but im still not sold on Neiderberger and Fontinos is still young. Ekblad is still young and they will prolly lose Pearson to the Monarchs.
I don't get why people have Saginaw near the bottom of the west.Yes they will miss Saad and Shalla but beyond that they return everyone else. Their defense and goaltending will be very good. Think Brampton. The only problem will be offense and honestly if they are bad on offense I still think they are at worst 7th. They are going to be a team that wins alot of 2-1 games.
Last edited by Kingpin794: 08-23-2012 at 09:15 PM.
I think he was just referring to the poster he quoted.
Owen Sound deserves more respect than most of the predictions given to them on here. I see them as a contender for the OHL.
Guelph will also be improved, I think they'll get a top 5 spot in the West. Erie and Windsor will be improved too and the Soo, Sarnia, and Saginaw will be worse than they were last year.
How can the Hounds possibly be worse than they were last year? The only guys they lose are their OA's who were basically useless most of the year and trade a struggling Curcuruto for Gudbranson on D.
Now I don't think they'll be contenders this year but I don't see why they aren't at least as good or better than Erie, Sarnia, Saginaw, Windsor and maybe Guelph.
I don't get why people have Saginaw near the bottom of the west.Yes they will miss Saad and Shalla but beyond that they return everyone else. Their defense and goaltending will be very good. Think Brampton. The only problem will be offense and honestly if they are bad on offense I still think they are at worst 7th. They are going to be a team that wins alot of 2-1 games.
Having Greg Gilbert as HC for the entire year will certainly help!
How can the Hounds possibly be worse than they were last year? The only guys they lose are their OA's who were basically useless most of the year and trade a struggling Curcuruto for Gudbranson on D.
Now I don't think they'll be contenders this year but I don't see why they aren't at least as good or better than Erie, Sarnia, Saginaw, Windsor and maybe Guelph.
Because the majority of the players returning just aren't good. Gudbranson is nothing special either. Sorry, but we've heard 3 years in a row from Soo fans: "We have X amount of NHL drafted players, we return X amount of guys." If David Broll is your best winger, you're going nowhere. Even if I said Erie will improve, I still think the Soo is better. But that is debateable. The Soo are probably not a playoff team again.
Kingpin, the only reason I have Saginaw getting worse is because of the talent they are losing both up front and on the blue line. I feel they have a top 5 goalie in the O and I see a bright future with Gilbert as coach. I don't think it's unreasonable to say they'll finish below 5th in the Conference, moreso with teams like London, Plymouth, and Kitchener being favourites and Guelph, Windsor and Erie improving. I really like Saginaw's future over other teams who are re-building.
To Paco and Kingpin: The reason I would have Saginaw and Soo lower is for the simple reason the are playing in the Western Conference (there are good teams in the East too). Its just they have to play their majority of their games against teams that generally reload year after year instead of rebuild.
I sort of equate it to the AL East in Baseball. Great teams all the way through. If the Orioles, Jays were in another division/league then they would be playoff contenders most years.
With that said, I would never be surprised for a Plymouth, London or Rangers to $&!# the bed and have a bad season. But you have to play these teams up to 6,7 times a year. Tough road to travel. With that said, I still see Erie as the last place team (sorry to say) and the rest of the teams in a dog fight for 6th thru 9th spots.
Because the majority of the players returning just aren't good. Gudbranson is nothing special either. Sorry, but we've heard 3 years in a row from Soo fans: "We have X amount of NHL drafted players, we return X amount of guys." If David Broll is your best winger, you're going nowhere. Even if I said Erie will improve, I still think the Soo is better. But that is debateable. The Soo are probably not a playoff team again.
Who said David Broll was our best winger? Just because he may be playing on the top line doesn't mean he's the best winger on the team. Andrew Fritsch was playing at near a point per game pace last year before being hurt. Schumacher had 50 points in his first season on small ice.
Gudbranson certainly can't be as bad as Curcuruto, Rogalski and Schwindt were last year. Nurse has shown a good progression over the tail end of last season through the summer. Add in a assistant coach who might actually know a thing or two about playing defense and special teams it's hard to believe that they could be any worse then last year.
With all that said I realize they aren't going to be contenders and likely in a season long battle for anywhere between 6th through 8th but I just don't believe the gap is truly that big between them and the likes of Windsor, Saginaw, and Sarnia. Could they miss the playoffs? Sure but so could any of those three teams.
If Erie signs Oscar Dansk I think they are a playoff team for sure, that gives them strong goaltending, they could trade for a top 4 d-man then still have Pelech and Mcdowell. Also they should be better up front as Harper, Brown, Evans, Fox, Cairns etc, are all a year older. Then they still have Sondre Olden and they drafted McDavid. I am not saying they will have turn around like Barrie did last season but this team could easily finish 6 through 8.
Erie was coming on strong late last year, they'll make the playoffs this year. I'm rating them as the under-dogs that will surprise people.
My awnser is kinda biased obviously but the Petes will be much higher than 7th. Promising rookies + 2 added OA's who were 2nd in there team in scoring + a healthy Koekkoek.
How can the Hounds possibly be worse than they were last year? The only guys they lose are their OA's who were basically useless most of the year and trade a struggling Curcuruto for Gudbranson on D.
Now I don't think they'll be contenders this year but I don't see why they aren't at least as good or better than Erie, Sarnia, Saginaw, Windsor and maybe Guelph.
They were supposed to go all the way last year with all the returning players and then the addition of Campbell made them a lock!
Truth be told they sucked the life out of the franchise and their fan base and the GM and head coach made several questionable decisions.
Even with a major improvement they will still suck!
)they have a very strong defense core not to mention the addition of Middleton. Maiden will be back. If Jordan Binnington has a good year, Owen Sound will be able to beat anybody.
