Absolutely Pathetic !

Absolutely Pathetic... In almost every way imaginable. We've been out coached, out hit, out smarted and out played thus far. Our power play has been atrocious, our break out has looked worse then a pee wee house league teams, and are forecheck has been none existent.
DJ Smith.. Coach of the Year ? While his systems may work, he has trouble adjusting mid game when things don't work. You may say if its not broke don't fix it.
Or it's worked all year an we finished 1st in the East. Well this is the playoffs an if your losing, you need to adjust your game an adjust it quickly.

The Power Play.. We've consistently given up odd man rushes on the power play, that's just pathetic. I wouldn't say it's time to abandon the 5 forward power play, but I would say its time we adjust. It blows my mind that Vande Sompel is not playing the point on the power play. He is the best power play quarterback we have and is a defensemen.. Despite his rather solid play as a forward. Chris Carlisle is not the answer, his hockey iq is non existent he moves the puck to slowly and constantly gives up odd man rushes. Desrocher despite his 2 points should not be on the power play. With such a aggressive penalty kill by North Bay he simply does not have the foot speed or lateral movement necessary. In my opinion we need Smith-Cassels-Dal Colle with Vande Sompel & Laughton on the point. Smoskowitz-Harding-Latour with Sterk & Sullentrop on the point on PP 2.

Vande Sompel, the kid has been really impressive at forward. Great on the forecheck, creating plays, penalty killing and throwing checks.... But, he needs to be playing defense. His foot speed, skating, and puck moving ability from the back end is what the Generals need to beat the North Bay forecheck & trap. I have not seen a generals d-man cross their own blue line with the puck. You can't make 100 foot passes through a trap.

The forecheck, it's been bad because they dump the puck in every time or try an stick handle through 5 guys. It's called chip an chase.. Try it out. Soft chip
Behind the d-man, retrieve the puck an go from there. The Gens are doing this stupid stretch pass tip in from centre, all that's been doing is giving the battalion the puck. It has not worked once. If they don't do that they're slapping it in from centre with zero purpose. They shoot it hard around the boards but the only
Player there is a battalion d or forward. Yes dump an chase is the simplest break in, in hockey. But it still needs to be executed properly to work. The Generals need to support the puck better. The D need to have better gap control as they're often a zone away from where they need to be.

The Generals D has been brutal, I think it's time to sit Carlisle he's been brutal all playoffs and most of the season. He is supposed to be an offensive d-man but he provides no offence. He constantly gets beat in one on one battles, turns the puck over and just makes stupid mind blowing errors. Brown.. This guys play has been horrid, he's slow, he takes forever to make simple decisions with puck and takes stupid penalties. Yeah he's a physical presence and what not, but when you get beat out of the corners every time you need to readjust your play. We have Brown-Lepkowski-Sullentroup & Peteshnig who all play similar an Desrocher who's is just as slow as the previous 4 guys. You need Vande Sompel on D, period !

Shake up the lines for god sakes it just isn't working. I'm listening to DJ Smith in the post game interview an he's saying the Gens didn't hit enough.. Well he took the only guy who hits out of the lineup in Dundas!

The Generals lines in my opinion should be
Dal Colle - Laughton - Smith
Sterk - Cassels - Latour
Wallace - Harding - Smoskowitz
Dundas - Busch - Manchurek

Lepkowski - Sullentrop
Vande Sompel - Peteshnig
Carlisle - Desrocher (Limited Minutes)
Brown - Desrocher (when Brown returns)

Very fed up with the direction of this series

The 1 st mistake was not starting the series on Wed and Friday - Wed was the 1st day the series could have started BUT someone was more interested in BUTTS in the seats - too many people go to Easter family functions thus the low crowd 2 night

We should have played them as soon as possible - sure looks like an uphill battle and missing Brown for the 1 st game up north

Sure is hard for me 2 buy Friday nights game - looked like - can't say - what I feel - out hit - outskated - outcoached - out scored

What is left - How did Niagara win 3 and Barrie 2 and we look worse than Mississauga out there

Maybe some of our guys are looking to the American League to earn $$$ the rest of this yr as sure not in the game here

D J states we quite hitting - it should read you can't hit what you can't catch

I agree, we should have started Wednesday. The 8 day delay really looks to have impacted the Generals on top of the things I mentioned. I mean I can only imagine the arena would have been just as packed Wednesday as it was tonight...
If DJ wants more hitting, maybe he should play his energy guys a bit more. Dundas has his faults, but he's been playing good hockey these playoffs, often actually creating scoring opportunities. Will he potentially take a charging or roughing penalty.. Sure, but I'd rather him swing the momentum with a big hit that results in a 2
Minute elbow/rough/charge, the Carlisle take a 2
Minute interference or something of that nature. There are good an bad penalties in hockey an sometimes a big hit or a scrap resulting in a instigator penalty are necessary. Ben Thomson runs wild all game an know one but Hunter Smith pushes back. We have a big physical
Team who is looking like a bunch of scared baby's right now. I really wish the Generals would have went 6 or 7 in round 2, they seemingly don't know how to deal with the rough physical riggers of playoff hockey right now. If by some miracle they get by North Bay they will get eaten alive by Guelph or Erie in the finals

Well for us to now win 4 out of 5 and 2 in North Bay seems like a stretch - however if we lose that is 1 thing BUT it's how we are losing

You would think this was a 1 vs 8 seed - The last 3 times North Bay has been here in Oshawa 3 wins -

Boy it would be a sad way to remember your last GENS game of the year - 2 shorthanded goals in a 5 - 2 loss

Most thought this would be a long series - now it could be over on Wed night up north

I am still find this hard to believe

Hopefully we can fight and push back - DUNDAS should be in the lineup - is he hurt or what

The Gens Power Play, while highly effective against weaker opponents is extremely risky against solid penalty
kill units. I know it can improve, but as cliche as it may sound I believe they just need to keep it simple, get shots
From the point through an bang in rebounds. Smith is a
Smaller goalie and traffic in front will reak havoc on him.
I watched the majority of the Niagara Vs North Bay series an that's how Niagara was successful, same with Barrie.

As for Dundas he was simply a healthy scratch. He's definitely in DJ's dog house. I know Dundas can be an idiot sometimes an take careless/stupid/selfish penalties at times, but when the kid plays hockey (like he has been all playoffs) he can be highly effective. Dundas was at San Jose Sharks Rookie Camp an showed very well, it's hard for me to understand why a 4th year player that Doug Wilson saw potential in is being scratched in favour of rookies. Joe Manchurek, I hate to say it has be completely invisible an the fact he doesn't really serve a purpose at this point in my mind would make him the healthy scratch.

Speaking of invisible how about Dal Colle, Cassels & Sterk, completely invisible. At least Hunter Smith has been throwing the body around and getting a few opportunities. Smoskowitz has been good on the PK and Forecheck and to be honest it sucks he doesn't get more ice, because he is a great all around hockey player.

Here's a thought, instead of having Laughton Matchup against Paul-Goodrow-Thomson line, how about Wallace-Harding-Smoskowitz be the checking line as those guys while not overly offensive are very good checking forwards. This frees up the top 2 lines to play against a
The Battalions weaker lines.

It's harder to get the matchups u want on the road and do you really want harding , Wallace to get that much ice. I like those guys but they aren't our core guys this year.

Stan has found something in the generals game to take advantage shorthanded. I've never seen that many clear cut breakaways and 2 on 1s.

It's a long way from over people, you have to win 4 not 2. Yeah its a very poor start obviously. But I agree its how they lost, outplayed, outhit and outshot, which the generals haven't seen much of this year. Dundas has to be in the lineup, the kid can play, he's been more disiplined this year.

They can turn it around. Let's support these boys, win or lose.

I agree it's tougher to get match ups on the road and while Harding, Wallace & Smoskowitz are capable of playing a decent amount of minutes, if you do line match them with the Goodrow Line, the top two lines will lose ice time. On the road I don't mind the Laughton-Smith-Latour line matching up but at home I think they should use a line like Wallace-Harding-Smoskowitz to free Laughton-Dal Colle and Smith from the Goodrow line.

I understand DJ likes to have strength throughout the lineup, but I feel if we played Smith-Laughton-Dal Colle as line one & Sterk-Cassels-Latour as line 2 we would still be strong an able to role 3 lines consistently as a line of Wallace-Harding-Smoskowitz would still be very capable.
Why I think Dal Colle need to play with Laughton & Smith... He benefits from being the 2nd option and Smith benefits from being the 3rd. Also smith and Laughton are better in the corners and at puck retrieval and that frees dal Colle up a lot more.

The Battalion PK simply forces you to make the toughest pass & are aggressive on the PK, that couple with good hockey instincts from Goodrow and Paul more often then not an that causes the 2 on 1s. If the Generals used better hockey instinct and made the simple play it wouldn't create as many turnovers. They're flustered with aggressive PK. They're rushing and that leads to pucks of shin pads an low percentage passes.

To me these are all simple fixes and the Generals are know where near done, but these simple fixes need to occur. In the regular season you can ride out a 2,3,4 games losing streak. In the playoffs if you lose back to back things need to change in a hurry.

I do agree that Butler has out coached Smith but part of that is the North Bay are just plain difficult to play against. They do not give the Gens any time or space to make things happen. The Gens have not been able to adapt to that.

I was surprised to see that kind of thing continue last night after Friday. I thought changes would have been made in the Gens play. I wonder if those changes are possible.

Taking Justice out of the line up is confusing to me. He has played much better during the playoffs and for the most part stayed out of the box. He brought energy to the game.

I thought Altshuller let in some softies last night as well that did not help. He was outstanding on Friday which perhaps flattered the Gens.

My simple solution would be try and get more pucks on the net but that is not easy because North Bay are on top of the shooters leaving no space.

Losing Brown to the slew foot hurt as well. I did not see it happen. Brown had been playing very well.

No one should give up on this team as frustrating as last night was. Lets hope for a 2-2 series when they come back to Oshawa.

Well I think we can all agree that Oshawa has been brutal these first two games. Game 1, although Oshawa was very rusty the game was right there for the taking. They just couldn't pull in off. Last night was just ugly. Brown will get the automatic 1 game plus a league review for more games. Ideally he just gets the 1. Hopefully they can turn the tables on the Battalion and win 2 games in their building.

well where do i start ????

the only guys playing with any energy are the young guys , wallace , busch , manchurec , vandesomple

our vets trying to be too cute , dispsy doodle , instead of working hard every shift , Cassels , laughton , dal colle , no energy for the game right now , Dal colle looked like he really didn't want the puck ? wtf his draft year ???? he's blowing it .

we are simply being out worked all over the ice , altshuler is the only reason this hasn't been more of a blow out .

our whole offence revolves around the point with Laughton , its become too predictable , they have taken away the point , our guys are lost , two SH goals as a result , brutal !

worry about Dundas being undisciplined ??? is the coach not seeing how undisciplined Laughton has become ? another stupid move last night

our guys are frustrated obviously , they need to regroup , and work much harder than they have if they care at all .

to be honest our guys really don't like to expend more energy than they need to , we won a lot of close games the second half of the season , on skill alone , never really outworked anybody

well North bay is a solid team , but they skate harder , seem more motivated

so far we have definitely been out coached , Butler has a tonne more experience than Smith , and his team as a result has taken away our offensive game completely .

coach Smith may want to watch the videos of the niagara series , may shed some light , we need to adapt and recover or its over very soon

have these guys lost their pride ???? looked like it the last two games , our compete level was brutal , we got 3 shots on net the third period last night ???? who does that at this stage of the season ?

too bad its been a very good season , sad to see it fizzle out this way with this kind or performance

do i think we have the talent to win ? yes I do ! but not with this effort so far , north bay is too good and too well coached for that !






the coach is right our guys are generally not competing for the puck , avoiding body contact , not hitting

strategy ? stop cycling the puck behind the net ,for so long , stop forcing the play to the point , get action in front of the NB net , stay up at the blue line on D , take the body , keep your feet moving ( Cassels notorious for reaching rather than skating ) , move the puck more quickly , motion , motion , motion .

next time Thompson runs Peshneg( our most effective D man ) into the boards and there is no major called , Hunter needs to go after Thompson and really give it to him !

the one thing going for us at this point is NB shitty PWP , our guys have to be physical even at the risk of taking some penalties !

send a message !

well where do i start ????

the only guys playing with any energy are the young guys , wallace , busch , manchurec , vandesomple

our vets trying to be too cute , dispsy doodle , instead of working hard every shift , Cassels  , laughton , dal colle , no energy for the game right now , Dal colle looked like he really didn't want the puck ? wtf his draft year ???? he's blowing it .

we are simply being out worked all over the ice , altshuler is the only reason this hasn't been more of a blow out .

our whole offence revolves around the point with Laughton , its become too predictable , they have taken away the point , our guys are lost , two SH goals as a result , brutal !

worry about Dundas being undisciplined ??? is the coach not seeing how undisciplined Laughton has become ? another stupid move last night

our guys are frustrated obviously , they need to regroup , and work much harder than they have if they care at all .

to be honest our guys really don't like to expend more energy than they need to , we won a lot of close games the second half of the season , on skill alone , never really outworked anybody

well North bay is a solid team , but they skate harder , seem more motivated

so far we have definitely been out coached , Butler has a tonne more experience than Smith , and his team as a result has taken away our offensive game completely .

coach Smith may want to watch the videos of the niagara series , may shed some light , we need to adapt and recover or its over very soon

have these guys lost their pride ???? looked like it the last two games , our compete level was brutal , we got 3 shots on net the third period last night ???? who does that at this stage of the season ?

too bad its been a very good season , sad to see it fizzle out this way with this kind or performance

do i think we have the talent to win ? yes I do ! but not with this effort so far , north bay is too good and too well coached for that !






the coach is right our guys are generally not competing for the puck , avoiding body contact , not hitting

Stats are not just for baseball!

I would like to respond to the various challenges that the Generals are facing and suggest that the writing has been on the wall, from the very first game played this year but highlighted in the play-off run. However, we have failed to see it.

We as fans and the coaches didn’t see it because we enjoyed the emotion of a high powered power play, however misguided that may have been. High potent power play teams do not win championships because they can become cold with less opportunity and greater pressure that comes at play-off time. We see padded stats with players during the year but it doesn’t necessarily tell you how someone truly is playing.

Hockey critics say that the new generation of hockey is played on special teams however; I believe the game is still actually won at even strength (5 on 5). This truly proves how deep a team is, especially in play-offs. Normal play-off hockey is tighter checking, with less room between the top of circles and more discipline in penalty taking. Therefore, we should look at stats that inform us on how well a team is playing by goals scored at even strength and +\-.

Here is Oshawa’s high powered offense at 10 games (8 – 2 record) that reflects both even strength scoring ( - minus PP scoring) and defensive capabilities with plus\minus. It is worth noting how PP stats bloats a player’s regular season totals, and even more so with the unique year of having such a high powered PP in a weak conference.

Therefore, when you look at the games played below, and consider the average minutes per game the player plays, look at the goal totals on the list for even strength. Are you surprised at who and how many goals that the generals have scored even strength. Its 18 goals in 10 games at even strength at 1.8 GPG, is that a high powered offense? Oshawa Generals goal tending is at 1.69 GA with a PK of over 90%, which is great. However, the variance between the goals for and against, is very close but you can't win scoring 1.8 goals a game in the 3rd round of the play-offs? Comparatively, if you do the same math for the Battalion, they score more at even strength and more so disadvantage, as we have seen.

The list is in order of most points however, I did not add complete point totals since I did not go through the exercise of subtracting PP assist for each game but for many players its most of their points.
 
       Name                          POS    GP      Goals         +\-
71    MDC                            LW    10        3              +1
19    Cole C                         C       10        3              +1
34    Hunter S                      RW     10       1              +4
20    Josh S                         C        10       2               -1
21    Scott L                        C          7       1               +3
23    Dylan S                       RW      10       1              +1
14   Brad L                         RW       10       2 (1en)        0
13   Justice D                       LW         9      1              +4
37   Stephen D                      D        10       1             +1
58   MVS                               D        10       1             +3
10   Aiden W                        LW       10       0 (1 en)    +5
28   Jacob Bush                   RW         9        2             +4