2017/2018 Rumours & Offseason nonsense

bb1

Well-Known Member
It's a tricky one, on the one hand on paper the other teams are alot tougher than us, we had the least amount of fights last year of all the significant teams (sorry Fife, Edinburgh, Braehead) but we won the league & did not at any point look bullied along the way.

I think we are tough enough in what we have, but also we don't really know the impact Bordeleau had without being at ice level ourselves.

I think if we do sign a tough guy it will be very very late on (Janssen, McGrattan, Bordeleau) as often the summer throws up some available players without contracts heading into September.
Your right it is a tough one as we have toughness but nobody really that's a deterrent. Bordy had an impact imo and scared the hell out of guys when he came steaming towards them and none of them reacted .

We had the least amount of fights because he was a major deterrent. Fitzy kept quiet as did many others.

That was imo one of the reasons we won 3 trophies. Guys played without fear and the few fights obviously ment our guys weren't in the bin.

Hopefully we get someone
 

Ocko

Well-Known Member
People are worried that Hotham is going elsewhere. Does anyone really think that with just under 2 weeks to go until players arrive we wouldn't have everything wrapped up?

Visas need to be sorted (that takes weeks), accommodation, cars, his equipment would need ordering (which is all personalised), his jersey (takes a few weeks). We wouldn't be leaving it this late. If we weren't in the CHL then we'd have another week or so but not a chance would we still be in the dark over our MVP coming back or not. If he doesn't come back then the whole make up of the team changes. Batch drops to D and we instantly lose 50 points from D and also have to find another import. Unlikely.
 

ASHIPP

Well-Known Member
People might be disappointed that Andrew Hotham might possibly be taking up another opportunity.....but I don't think anyone believes for a minute that the Club won't have planned for it.

The only issue delaying the process of any replacement is if the Club have not managed to secure one or more of their original targeted players and have had to either rethink or wait for another appropriate player to become available

If it's only one player joining a team late, a couple of weeks will not make much difference.
 
On the toughness front it seems unlikely that we will be getting anyone in who's on the same level as Rosehill et al, listen to Lordo's inter view when questioned on toughness, he's content that we have enough toughness in the side already. I'm still of the opinion that an out and out tough nut definately puts doubts in the minds of any players intent on taking liberties, yes we have Louis, Batch, Faryna, Paris, etc but they are predominently non enforcers, Rosehill etc will feel more inclined to take libertiers with the likes of Bordeleau absent. Big debate about us having less fights last season and winning the league, but never underestimate Bordeleau's influence on proceedings, his mere presence on the ice was a major factor in less fights last season, without a similar player this season I'm pretty sure we'll have more fights, just my take on things, oh and a bit more piss taking from opposition teams. One proper tough nut can be more influential that half a dozen semi-tough guys, most sports are much the same, having played rugby (similar sport to hockey in a toughness sense) we all played with more confidence when our big bruising prop was on the field as he tended to keep the opposition on their toes.
 
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Your right it is a tough one as we have toughness but nobody really that's a deterrent. Bordy had an impact imo and scared the hell out of guys when he came steaming towards them and none of them reacted .

We had the least amount of fights because he was a major deterrent. Fitzy kept quiet as did many others.

That was imo one of the reasons we won 3 trophies. Guys played without fear and the few fights obviously ment our guys weren't in the bin.

Hopefully we get someone

Could not agree more with this. People seem to forget that the reason we won so much silver ware last season, was that we were never bullied and our goal scorers played without fear. That was down to Bordeleau. He didn't need to fight because everyone was to scared to step up!

Yes we have toughness but nothing that will scare or stop Fitzgerald et al starting their nonsense again.

I would like a tough enforcer role filled; yes with someone who can also play, but someone who will make our rivals think twice about throwing a cheap shot.
 

august04

Well-Known Member
I've never subscribed to team toughness. Just remember the season before last when everyone was quoting team toughness - we had Andrew Hotham fighting regularly, our captain knocked out cold without as much as a hint of a response, Fitzgerald running amok etc etc. That can't be allowed to happen again. I hope we sign a tough guy, and run with a spare import.
 

ASHIPP

Well-Known Member
Anyone considered that, after last season, the Club might want a combination of toughness and the ability to play well?

An affordable player of the right calibrewho would be a good fit may not be available for whatever reason at the moment.

Steve said in an early off-season article that they would be looking for any players with toughness to contribute with skill as well. Get the impression that having to pay over the odds for pure deterrent rather than a combination of skill and aggression was not part of the plan.
 
watched Ice Guardians for the millionth time last night.

Paraphrasing - "These days, if you're just a fighter the team cant afford the space on the roster, you need to be able to play too."

something along those lines anyway....
 

august04

Well-Known Member
Anyone considered that, after last season, the Club might want a combination of toughness and the ability to play well?

An affordable player of the right calibrewho would be a good fit may not be available for whatever reason at the moment.

Steve said in an early off-season article that they would be looking for any players with toughness to contribute with skill as well. Get the impression that having to pay over the odds for pure deterrent rather than a combination of skill and aggression was not part of the plan.
We only paid over the odds because we went for a big name NHL enforcer. I'm sure there's plenty of younger guys out there without the big reputation, that can do the job.
 

d20

Active Member
watched Ice Guardians for the millionth time last night.

Paraphrasing - "These days, if you're just a fighter the team cant afford the space on the roster, you need to be able to play too."

something along those lines anyway....
have to say after all the hype of "Ice Guardians" I was disappointed I have seen better documentaries and they're are plenty on youtube ,I was hoping for a more recent story of the newer fighters but most are the old school fighters that have been in many before this one ,I guess for a newer fan that doesnt know much of this role it is good but it was nothing different to what is already out there.
 
have to say after all the hype of "Ice Guardians" I was disappointed I have seen better documentaries and they're are plenty on youtube ,I was hoping for a more recent story of the newer fighters but most are the old school fighters that have been in many before this one ,I guess for a newer fan that doesnt know much of this role it is good but it was nothing different to what is already out there.
Could you link / name some of the ones on YouTube you rate? Always keen to watch more hockey documentaries.
 

jenks33

Well-Known Member
have to say after all the hype of "Ice Guardians" I was disappointed I have seen better documentaries and they're are plenty on youtube ,I was hoping for a more recent story of the newer fighters but most are the old school fighters that have been in many before this one ,I guess for a newer fan that doesnt know much of this role it is good but it was nothing different to what is already out there.
Personally I preferred 'The Last Gladiators' which is on Netflix. A documentary about ex Montreal tough guy Chris 'Knuckles' Nilan.
 

d20

Active Member
take a while but there are loads on there just put in some of the old names like todd fedoruk,chris nilan,bob probert ,tony twist etc

"the last gladiators"
"punched out " derek boogaard
"tough guys"
"the code"
 
The sooner fighting is stopped the better, anyone who gets gratification in supporting fighting should read "Boy on Ice - The Life & Death of Derek Boogaard"
I totally agree. I've always been a fan of fighting until the last few years. If referees had more power to control the game, enforcers wouldn't be necessary.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

d20

Active Member
the only problem with banning it is that you would still get some idiot taking cheap shots because there's always gonna be that type of player out there.
 

SteveKing

Well-Known Member
As many of you know, I'm a big fan of physical, fast paced hockey. About the only thing that I was moderately disappointed in last year was the lack of physicality. In a strange way (and as many of you pointed out in this conversation) bringing in Bordy actually reduced the amount of physicality on our team because a) he was a deterrent, b) he was not willing to play the role he played in the NHL in terms of fighting and c) the other physical players in our lineup stepped back from that role since he was the one supposed to be filling it.

So in effect, we think that we will be far more physical this year by having a group of willing players who not only can play physical but can also play a high skill, high tempo game that ultimately wins championships in today's brand of hockey. Also, I'm not concerned about Rosehill and Fitzy doing crazy things. Nobody in our league, especially those two, are wingnuts that just run around and target skill players. Those guys respect the code of hockey ethics while playing a highly aggressive style. They know that there will be guys throughout our lineup that will hold them accountable - in fact far moreso than last year. I'm still not happy about the lack of response on several incidents last year.
 
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