Time to rebuild - I'm tired of it

Some say you must rebuild every 3 - 4 yrs - Why not reload

I look today - London - 1st place - # 4 in the CHL

Guess what they have no Del Zotto or J T - NO Christian Thomas or Valentine others I can't name

What do we need to do to get there

They have a 9,000 seat barn to fill - if they stink the joint out no one will come

We have a 6,000 seat barn - and where is our attendence going ---

London has more than triple the population of Oshawa, and fewer people dependent on the automotive industry for employment. Any team in that situation will make alot of money with a loyal fan base.

London is a big town. They also have an international airport.

am i missing ur point? we are rebuilding

i'l confused

The point is that it's easier to attract high-end talent, particularly OA's to London than it is to Oshawa. In addition, London has only been "reloading" since 2004 so that's five years - not exactly an eternity. In 2003, London was a .500 team and were absolutely terrible for the decade before that where they usually finished in last place. This period includes the 1996 team that went 3-60-3. London fans waited it out quite a bit to get to this mini-dynasty era.

hockeybeats wrote:The point is that it's easier to attract high-end talent, particularly OA's to London than it is to Oshawa. In addition, London has only been "reloading" since 2004 so that's five years - not exactly an eternity. In 2003, London was a .500 team and were absolutely terrible for the decade before that where they usually finished in last place. This period includes the 1996 team that went 3-60-3. London fans waited it out quite a bit to get to this mini-dynasty era.

Beats et al, this is Junior hockey, kids come and go all the time. This is not like the NHL where players stick around and a "Dynasty" can be built. To have a dynasty in Junior hockey, you have to have excellent ownership, scouting, management and coaching; the player change is to dramatic all the time. Are the Gens on their way there? Do they have all the right people in place? Only time will tell. Lets hope they do.

Go Gens Go!!!

With a hard salary cap and 30 teams, I think it's just as hard to achieve a dynasty in the NHL now as it is in junior. It takes the same combination of excellent ownership, scouting, management and coaching because when your young players develop, the cap doesn't allow you to keep them anymore. That being said, I know what you're saying. Usually in junior, you build for one year of a four-year cycle so it is very hard to pull off what London is pulling off right now over a five-year period. I was just making the point that London hasn't been constantly winning forever. They were terrible for a long time and timed their most recent rebuild saw arguably the greatest team ever assembled at the same time that they were opening a new rink. It couldn't have worked out any better.

Beats, I am not even going to respond. One day you will look back and understand.

ogf wrote:Beats, I am not even going to respond. One day you will look back and understand.

Enllighten me as I don't get your post and thougt Beats was correct.

I responded to the post regarding London having a 'mini-dynasty'. To have a dynasty in Junior hockey, you have to have the ownership, management, scouting and coaching all top notch and on board. The players come and go quickly and it is difficult to have a dynasty. The NHL players are in the league for many years and although the salary cap will play into creating a dynasty, it is more possible as the players are still there. The players aren't there that long in the Juniors.

To rebuild, you need the right ingredients and the team has not brought in the right players in the last four years..or traded them off, some for legitimate reasons, some questionable. Go back to the 2005 draft: after Tavares and Mitchell, not a lot of real talent chosen. Nagy eventually turned out okay and Cowick (after being traded away) blossomed. 2006 Good first selection in Del Zotto but not much after: ex. Howard never looked like a 2nd rounder; Peters was a waste (poorly handled) and traded but might blossom this year with another team (his third). Franchini was traded and is no longer in the league and Leeming etc..2007: Shugg did not look like a 1st rounder while he was here and is just now coming around to star with Windsor, ditto for Corrente (minus the star part) and Esposto and Andreoff are decent but are not building blocks. This years crop looks hopeful, no pun intended, but we may have wasted a pick on Biggs (we'll see!) and it appears we lost a 2nd for Lessio. Our successes have been "no brainers" like Tavares, Del Zotto and de Haan (all highly rated). Poor drafts, trading away some talent, taking risks on players not likely to show (Jeremy Price, Brian Rufenach and Biggs) that might have been building blocks have really hurt the ongoing development of this team in recent years although hindsight is a wonderful thing! It's going to take a couple of years to rectify this so we will have to be patient. If Biggs shows up next year and Lessio (doubtful) the process will be expedited!

ogf wrote:I responded to the post regarding London having a 'mini-dynasty'. To have a dynasty in Junior hockey, you have to have the ownership, management, scouting and coaching all top notch and on board. The players come and go quickly and it is difficult to have a dynasty. The NHL players are in the league for many years and although the salary cap will play into creating a dynasty, it is more possible as the players are still there. The players aren't there that long in the Juniors.

OGF, you are out to lunch. Success breeds success. Winning teams create more winning teams. In other words, players that grow up in a winning environment will pass this onto the newcomers. When you combine the winning attitude that the Hunters have installed in the players, along with the ability to attract high talent, you can create a dynasty in junior hockey.

Since the Hunters came to London they have been a better

run orginization - Since they won the mem Cup a few yrs ago

they still win - How is that - not just luck

As far as fan base goes - ours is not just Oshawa but the

surrounding area - 50 -75 km radius

I THINK YOU GUYS HAVE INDIRECTLY PERHAPS SUMMED IT UP .......it takes excellent ownership and management to build a top franchise that is in the mix year after year , london has had it for awhile , windsor has had it recently one of the best examples of a top run organization is kelowna in the west , same ownership and management for years ...........something the gens have not had since the 90"S , and i'm not convinced they have it now !

mygens - thanks, that is what I said.

Generalizations - I am far from out to lunch, not so sure about you though. Go back and read my post

Would it be silly to solve this debate by saying that my use of the term "mini-dynasty" as opposed to dynasty implies that I agree that it is extremely unlikely to have a dynasty in junior hockey?

In the end, I think we can all agree that London is a great success story over the last five seasons, whatever you want to call it.

here are some observations after 10 games into the season
1- i believe this is the best skating gens team we've seen in quite some time
2- this group of defensemen will be the best defensive squad we have had in maybe 10 yrs
3- we will have solid goaltending this year , not just relying on one guy ..depth
4- if parnham plays for the gens , we will make some noise in the playoffs , why wouldnt he want to?, this is going to be an exciting young team
5- would be nice to pick up a real tough heavyweight , terreri doesnt quite have it , clark is a keeper
6- if biggs and or lessio signs, with the team next year ......look out !

i'm more excited about this team than i have been in a long time

I don't want to rain on the parade but Erie and Belleville are weak teams and I don't think Kingston is as good as they are made out to be. I like what I'm seeing but it's cautious optimism. That being said, the Gens are beating the teams that they should beat and there isn't anybody in the division that is particularly strong so the #2 seed is theirs for the taking and that would mean they avoid Barrie or Mississauga until at least round two.

If they can win on the road against teams like the Soo and Guelph, that should be a good indicator of where they really are. If they were to win in London, that would be a bonus but London and Windsor are on a level that even if the Gens lose 5-0, I'll think nothing negative about the performance unless the effort was lacking. By Halloween, we'll have a better barometer of where this team is.