Just found out spitfire draft pick from 2010 USA born rw Tony Calderone who played this year with Victory Honda and impressed at Spitfire camp this season has committed to Princeton,he was a 94 born player
While competition for hosting the mem cup wont be easy,the fact the Knights have Domi and Horvat does not concern me
As it projects right now the Knights are built for this year and next
In 2014,while the Knights will be very strong upfront,the defence and goaltending are uncertain
Only Kevin Raine from this years team might be on the team as I expect Ollie Mataa to make the NHL at 19
The Spits meanwhile will probably have Ebert,Bateman,Devlin and maybe Bowen
The goaltending is uncertain as well but I expect DeKort to see more time then Patterson next yr especially if Houser returns,and as we know he plays alot
London was awarded in 2005,since that time the Spits have hosted various league and ChL events successfully,plus had a very strong bid last time
These things are taken into consideration plus the all important fielding a competitive team
I feel confident that Windsor will be successful in their bid
Time will tell
The draft is next Saturday so will teams be able to trade pics and unsigned prospects on Friday because the second round will most likely start Thursday or Friday. I think there is 8-9 spots open for this team going into next year.
2012-2013 Forwards: Koko, Rychel, Marchese, Johnson, Vail, Maletta are all locks to return with Czinder, Studnika, Clarke, Alone, Bilcke, McCann To Battle it out as Ho-Sang, 2012 Import Pick will be top 3 so basically 4 Spots for Forwards
Defence Braithwaite, Bateman, Devlin will be locks with Posa, Bowen, Ebert, McNaughton, both Schmaltz if all the rumors ar true to play for 3 spots
Goalie: Dekort and Kuchmey are locks as rumors have been going around for months that Pavelka is gone come summer so unless they get another goalie looks like it 2 rookies
Trade targets: Clarke, Ebert, Alonge, McCann, Bilcke, Czinder, Posa, Bowen, Pavelka. Clarke and Ebert depend on whats comming back. Posa, Czinder are OA's. Alonge, McCann, Bilcke are all expendable. Pavelka Import Goalie and we have 15th pick in import draft
Conclusion is that they need Help up front, on defence and in Goal witch all starts next Saturday with the OHL draft and lets Hope WR works his magic and gets us some top end players in the first 3 rounds
Also I know it is way to early to start worrying about the memorial cup but is anybody else concerned that the combo in london of Horvat and Domi may be enough to jeopardize our host bid?
Unless London is planning to bid on hosting, I fail to see why it matters.
Nick Schmaltz is a forward, older brother Jordan is a defenceman.
Spits and Knights won't poach each others "hard signs", because they don't want that war and don't want to burn bridges with agents who might represent a player who picks London down the line. If Schmaltz is Windsor or nothing, other teams might make a play, but it won't be London. Besides Windsor would grab Ryan MacInnis or something to keep him from London.
If I was a team picking in mid-second round I'd call up WR and say "Trade me your later second and a 3rd or I'm taking Nick Schmaltz at #32" to see if I could extort something out of Warren. But given Jordan didn't report for two years and would go NCAA route as planned if draft doesn't go as Schmaltz family wants it, teams will likely take Nick's NCAA threat more seriously and wouldn't want to waste a second rounder on the kid - especially in a deep draft. I think there is more risk Nick would be chosen late first, because then he could be traded and there would be a comp. system to exploit.
Unless London is planning to bid on hosting, I fail to see why it matters.
In the Windsor Star today it was reported that London is putting together a 2014 bid to host again. I can't imagine they'd get it after hosting it in 2005, but money ultimately talks.
Hi All.
Hope you are all well, despitethe teams exit...it was always going to be a tough ask, and made even worse when they lost Koko.
Still, with all the NHL graduates at the start of the Season, the Spits done well in being competitive, and there was some highlights along the way, Rychel with 40 goals sure repaid some faith in the GM, Bilkie, the talk of the OHL (and mentioned a few times in the NHL for his fearless pugilism...) youngsters Malletta and Johnson.
Reagarding next year, I hope they can pluck one of the Top Russian kids, whom I saw in the Windsor Tourney (thanks to a kind fan in Windsor who sent me the U-17s)
I know folk are rooting for Tolchinksy, but I thought the other kid, the much bigger, and suited to CHL, Valerie Nikushkin.
Can you imagine Koko having a young countryman to set up? wow...anyway.
Regarding the up coming Drafts, I was wondering if any one has dates/lists/prospects for both the OHL Draft and the Import Draft?
Many Thanks
Last edited by johnnydrum: 03-31-2012 at 04:54 AM.
This mock is showing 21 picks in the second round. Does London have a second of their own this year? If so then there is an extra one in there for someone not that it changes things too much.
London have Sudbury's 2nd/ Jenkins pick also....= 2 2nds and 3 3rds...although I have no idea where they plan to put them all. Maybe in B but they have a glut of kids waiting to come in already, and good ones too. I call it the Rupert draft that gave London a lot of depth then this past 95 also landed them some surprises....Jammes is going to be fun to watch now that he is finally coming.
The only worry you have about London's Mem Cup bid is " how high can it go " We already know Trevor Whiffen does these things and very well. Mark will likely submit a locked 1.5 bundle for the league making it very difficult to match....and that is the worry part. Your packages will be sky high in costs just to match the London bid if Hunter goes through. Everything & everyone is already in place in London, been down this road before and they now have great experience at it. Many of the media guys still talk about the 05 London Memorial Cup and how awsome it was put on.
London have Sudbury's 2nd/ Jenkins pick also....= 2 2nds and 3 3rds...although I have no idea where they plan to put them all. Maybe in B but they have a glut of kids waiting to come in already, and good ones too. I call it the Rupert draft that gave London a lot of depth then this past 95 also landed them some surprises....Jammes is going to be fun to watch now that he is finally coming.
The only worry you have about London's Mem Cup bid is " how high can it go " We already know Trevor Whiffen does these things and very well. Mark will likely submit a locked 1.5 bundle for the league making it very difficult to match....and that is the worry part. Your packages will be sky high in costs just to match the London bid if Hunter goes through. Everything & everyone is already in place in London, been down this road before and they now have great experience at it. Many of the media guys still talk about the 05 London Memorial Cup and how awsome it was put on.
The bar is set.
There is no way London gets the hosting gig nine years after their last one. I'm not worried about London's bid to tell you the truth. I'd be more worried if Plymouth was bidding because I could see the committee making that statement by putting it into the States. I think we're pretty much a lock unless our team under-performs greatly next season. Branch knows he screwed us with the Mississauga bid, because he made backroom promises to Melnyuk that he needed to deliver on more than promises he made to the Spitfires and Windsor when Windsor built the new arena.
I actually like the idea of London putting together a bid.
If you are another team considering putting together a bid and realize that these two organizations will go all out to win this bid as well as have rosters to back up their bid how likely are you to mortgage the future financially to beat them?
Most will not have what it takes to win that bidding war and at the same time London putting in a bid shows that this is not a "rigged' process since London will not do things half way, they will be all in or not in at all.
A bid from London I think actually helps Windsor out in this case since there may be a few teams willing to challenge what Windsor could have bid but not many that can challenge what London could put on the table. Windsor is one of the few that would challenge what London can put out there so with London in the bidding it ensures that Windsor is not just "given" the hosting duty.
Just to put this into perspective, assuming Windsor has a good team, and absolutely nothing would say this isn't going to happen, is there a person alive with big enough stones to award the cup to London over Windsor? (maybe another team but not London)
NOBODY is that stupid. If there is, take the 401 to Huron Church, go through the toll booth, stop in the middle of the bridge and jump off. Save someone from throwing you over.
Folks here mentioned the Spits would want to expand seating at WFCU if they got the host gig. I don't know where there would be time for that given the hosting decision will not be made until May of next year - so there would only be June, July, August next year before the season started to do the construction - and that's assuming nothing else is booked for the main bowl over the summer - music acts, cirque du soliel etc.
WFCU should get rid of the restaurant and seats there all the way up to the wall like the other end. But that's maybe 500 new seats max.
Folks here mentioned the Spits would want to expand seating at WFCU if they got the host gig. I don't know where there would be time for that given the hosting decision will not be made until May of next year - so there would only be June, July, August next year before the season started to do the construction - and that's assuming nothing else is booked for the main bowl over the summer - music acts, cirque du soliel etc.
WFCU should get rid of the restaurant and seats there all the way up to the wall like the other end. But that's maybe 500 new seats max.
They would have stuff pre-made and then cemented together, add the seats, raise the roof a bit, have people work 24 hours to get it done would be my guess. they had the plans at the start to make it 880 but went with 6800
They would have stuff pre-made and then cemented together, add the seats, raise the roof a bit, have people work 24 hours to get it done would be my guess. they had the plans at the start to make it 880 but went with 6800
I'm not civil engineer but do you realize how long it would take to raise the room? I can guarantee more than 3 months.
I am doing a mock draft in 2 parts for Windsor only
The 1st part is from rds 1- 8
next week closer to the draft I will add rds 9-15 along with any additional info I can dig out
Here is my list
Rd1- Cen/rw-Joshua Hosang 6' 165
from Toronto Marlboros
Rd2-Cen-Joe Manchurek-6 170
from Sun County Panthers
Rd3-LW- Nick Schmaltz-5'11" 170
from Chicago Mission
Rd3-Def- Kyle Summers-6'1" 180
from Ottawa Valley
Rd5-Def-Max Watson-5'10" 160
from London
Rd5 LW-Connor Cobbold-5'9" 175
from Ottawa Valley
Rd6-Goalie Daniel Potter-6'4" 176
from
Rd8-LW-Brandon Lemeiux-6'180
from Toronto Red Wings and son of Claude Lemeiux
If the Nick Schmaltz rumor is based in fact, I don't think I risk not taking him with our second round pick - hell I'd move up in the second to make sure we got him. Some places have Schmaltz as a Top 10 talent if he had committed to play in the OHL. And then you bring over Jordan Schmaltz for a year - that is a coup and I don't want WR getting too cute by half pushing his luck. Last time he did that, Kerby was drafted by Barrie because WR traded down in the second round.
Does drafting one Manchurek mean we have to draft them all?
If the Nick Schmaltz rumor is based in fact, I don't think I risk not taking him with our second round pick - hell I'd move up in the second to make sure we got him. Some places have Schmaltz as a Top 10 talent if he had committed to play in the OHL. And then you bring over Jordan Schmaltz for a year - that is a coup and I don't want WR getting too cute by half pushing his luck. Last time he did that, Kerby was drafted by Barrie because WR traded down in the second round.
Does drafting one Manchurek mean we have to draft them all?
