2014-2015 roster

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Originally Posted by Moonergroupie

I would be absolutely amazed if the reason behind this drop in winning has anything to do with the injury to Polei. I know he picked up the odd goal by going to the net and having somebody find him in the slot, but as a teammate, watching the lack of back checking, lack of taking the body, and overall general floating around, I can't see how you say to yourself, Polei is out now so there is no point in playing anymore as we don't have a chance of winning.

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I am just saying that when he went down with an injury, it was like flipping a switch. They are young guys, who knows how their minds work! :confused:

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Originally Posted by Moonergroupie

You look at Brandon who have had some significant injuries in their lineup and they continue to play the system and win games. Compared to what they showed they were capable of, most of these Rebels players have lost interest.

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Brandon had about 4x the scoring depth of Red Deer, before they improved their team with trades. You can't even compare the two.

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Originally Posted by calcheyup

The best point SectionN brought up is how disappointing Pawlenchuk and Musil have been for most of the year. Those are two guys that I didn't think 40-50 points was an unrealistic expectation from this year, especially Musil.

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Musil is used in a lot more situations where he can generate offense. Hard to question a guy that plays defensively as well as Pawlenchuk, but he cashes in on a very low number of the quality scoring chances he gets.

I must've attended different games , SectionN;) I caught a few away games whilst working and it wasn't quite that calm on the bench. It does look a bit different when back in Red Deer. Truit always keeps his composure , home and away, so does O'Rourke. The fact that he has a kid in the system the same age as some of these players , probably helps him to keep perspective.
It wasn't my intention to accuse Gay of not being able to play Sutter's systems.He just obviously played better in Regina where it is very offensively minded. Regina and Brandon will play each other in their division the next few years delivering offensive showcases second to none. Gay strikes me as more of a creative player than a defensive one. Same with Burke. He is very skilled and creative but not very defensive and Sutter has been quoted in numerous interviews saying that skill is overrated and that it is going that extra mile that'll make the difference....We'll have to wait and see if these players have it in them to go an extra mile.
I agree with you that Doetzel would have been an excellent captain. Nothing against Bleackley , he has picked up his game and the team certainly misses his contribution on the score sheet , but the fact that he was made captain last season as a 17 year old , was very strange. Older players don't like such a move as simple as that.

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Originally Posted by Newice14

I agree with you that Doetzel would have been an excellent captain. Nothing against Bleackley , he has picked up his game and the team certainly misses his contribution on the score sheet , but the fact that he was made captain last season as a 17 year old , was very strange. Older players don't like such a move as simple as that.

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Not really that strange at all, when you consider the politics--It was him or Fleury if you know what I mean. Two situations really stand out for me with Doetzel, and why he should have been captain. The first was when he stepped up and took Mackenzie Stewart to task for a greasy hit last season, and just a few games ago when he completely busted his ass to get back into the play and pick up his man, while Fleury floated around and let his man retrieve the puck and score. The latter play just made me sick, and is representative of everything that is wrong with the team this season.

Nice to see Fluery decided to show up tonight and take over the game in the third period. Something you expect a high 1st round draft pick to do and we definitely haven't seen enough of it this year. Toth steals another one as the Rebels are outshot 2 to 1. Would like to say their play is improving, but not so sure you can as they were dominated by an average Oil Kings team everywhere but on the score clock. Hopefully the good feeling of getting the two points can aid on getting them rolling again. Nothing out of Gay again tonight. He is playing himself off a memorial cup team next year.

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Originally Posted by Moonergroupie

Nice to see Fluery decided to show up tonight and take over the game in the third period. Something you expect a high 1st round draft pick to do and we definitely haven't seen enough of it this year. Toth steals another one as the Rebels are outshot 2 to 1. Would like to say their play is improving, but not so sure you can as they were dominated by an average Oil Kings team everywhere but on the score clock. Hopefully the good feeling of getting the two points can aid on getting them rolling again. Nothing out of Gay again tonight. He is playing himself off a memorial cup team next year.

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Like you said... just because they got 2 points doesn't necessarily inspire hope. Edmonton is not a great club and they were lucky to get the win.

As for Gay...you're right, a complete bust so far, considering what he was brought here to do. When he arrived, it seemed as if it, emphatically, ended Presten Kopeck's chances to be a Rebel next year. But with the way he's played, he hasn't set himself apart from Kopeck or Johnson in the forward group and if he doesn't start putting up numbers similar to those he had in Regina, he's not going to be on this team this time next year.

Bottom line: a welcome two points, but sure as hell not an inspiring two points.

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Originally Posted by calcheyup

As for Gay...you're right, a complete bust so far, considering what he was brought here to do. When he arrived, it seemed as if it, emphatically, ended Presten Kopeck's chances to be a Rebel next year. But with the way he's played, he hasn't set himself apart from Kopeck or Johnson in the forward group and if he doesn't start putting up numbers similar to those he had in Regina, he's not going to be on this team this time next year.

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I have a feeling that the overage players next season will be Doetzel, Johnson, and a player that isn't on the team yet. :/

Gay looks unmotivated, like a few of the others on the team right now. He has an opportunity to play for the Memorial cup next season--if you can't get up for games leading up to that, then I am not sure if there is anything that can be done to motivate you any further.

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Bottom line: a welcome two points, but sure as hell not an inspiring two points.

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There were a few bright spots, Fleury competed in his 5th game this season, Toth had a great night in goal, and just an amazing pass by defenseman-turned-forward Mario Grman for Fleury's second goal. Reese Johnson didn't look out of place in the lineup either, great hockey sense like his brother.

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Originally Posted by calcheyup

Like you said... just because they got 2 points doesn't necessarily inspire hope. Edmonton is not a great club and they were lucky to get the win.

As for Gay...you're right, a complete bust so far, considering what he was brought here to do. When he arrived, it seemed as if it, emphatically, ended Presten Kopeck's chances to be a Rebel next year. But with the way he's played, he hasn't set himself apart from Kopeck or Johnson in the forward group and if he doesn't start putting up numbers similar to those he had in Regina, he's not going to be on this team this time next year.

Bottom line: a welcome two points, but sure as hell not an inspiring two points.

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Edmonton may not have the fire power they had last year but they have a world class goaltender and their back end is very good. Red Deer was missing four starters and played as expected with the tools they had. As for Gay I am not sure what happened to his game watched what he had to say on Shaw last night and he sounded as perplexed as everyone else. Would not expect him on the team next year without a big push going towards playoffs. Hopefully they get a good draft pick back for him to use as trade bait.

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Originally Posted by Red celtic

Edmonton may not have the fire power they had last year but they have a world class goaltender and their back end is very good. Red Deer was missing four starters and played as expected with the tools they had.

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I'm not saying the Oil Kings are a pushover, but for what Sutter has assembled on this team and what we have seen they are capable of, they are not a team that should be outplaying them and outshooting them 2 to 1. Don't get me wrong, two points are two points, and considering they could barely beat the Saskatoon MF'ing Blades lately, it's a positive sign. But Toth stealing a W doesn't exactly fulfill be with confidence that the team is going to get back to where it was.

PA and Lethy this weekend; again, teams they should dominate, especially on home ice. Four must-have points coming up, not necessarily just because they need them (they do), but they need a little string to get them feeling good about themselves again.

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Originally Posted by calcheyup

I'm not saying the Oil Kings are a pushover, but for what Sutter has assembled on this team and what we have seen they are capable of, they are not a team that should be outplaying them and outshooting them 2 to 1. Don't get me wrong, two points are two points, and considering they could barely beat the Saskatoon MF'ing Blades lately, it's a positive sign. But Toth stealing a W doesn't exactly fulfill be with confidence that the team is going to get back to where it was.

PA and Lethy this weekend; again, teams they should dominate, especially on home ice. Four must-have points coming up, not necessarily just because they need them (they do), but they need a little string to get them feeling good about themselves again.

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If you watched the game, as I have a few Oil King games this season, the shots are rarely a reflection of the game. The OK's basically just throw everything at the net, from anywhere (outside the blueline). While this may seem like a good idea, it stiffles creativity and can necessitate scoring chances.

Listen, anytime you take 3 top 9 forwards out of your lineup, and arguably a top 4 dman, you are going to feel the effects. No team in junior has that depth. Save for the wheat kings, however they were the benefactor of a strange Lethbridge relationship I still dont understand. 4th liners become 2/3rd liners, 3rd liners become first liners. It's a big headache. MH has lost 8 of 10, and are missing their top d man and had Cox out for 3 games.

Regarding other teams, there are no easy games this time of year. Bad teams always play better (Oilers!!) when games dont matter. Look at Saskatoon, they have beaten CGY, MH, KTN (twice), and SC in the last month. Lethbridge no different. It's junior, they are kids, bound to take teams lightly.

Regarding next season, I see doetzel, johnson, kopeck as our 20's. Both fwds will likely put up 60pts, johnson maybe more. Looking around the league, not many available players are better. Rather have those guys that compete than some small-ish players for a mem-cup run. Musil and Pawlenchuk are 17 years old, one will finish with 40 points this season, the other close to 30, that's not bad haha. Puts both players in the 50+ point trajectory next season. Both play physical and have size, things you need for a championship team. Altogether, without including a potential Euro (fwd??) along with any other players Sutter plans on acquiring with those picks, you've got Bleackley, Johnson, Kopeck, Musil, Pawlenchuk, Polei (??), that will all have 50+ points as fwds. Defense of Doetzel Fleury Nogier, Bobyk, Mahura, Strand, Grman, looks pretty good to me!

....forgot to mention, last night gives them 4 wins out of 6 with this lineup, including a dominating should-have-won game in SC! So they are def on the up, throw in those banged up players over the next couple games, and things are looking good for the playoffs!