After watching both games this weekend...some quick thoughts.

First, on Sunderman....Disco Stu just wrote a couple posts on the New Ohl Open Forum - highly recommended for getting league news long before the individual teams put the skinny out on their websites.

I'm not some team shill but when you say you could do a better job at GM than Costa and then you claim MacDonell was our BEST DEFENSIVE DEFENCEMAN, your credibility takes a massive hit.

This is hardly a "character attack" because I think Stuart is a knowledgable hockey fan with generally solid opinions, but not a lot of inside insight. He'd probably concur with that.

He laments the release of MacDonell and describes him as Saginaw's "BEST defensive defenceman"....and criticizes the pickup of Sunderman. I can't understand where you're coming from on either count, Stu. First off, at the start of the season, you suggested MacDonell's skating had improved "night and day" from last season. I don't know how you got to this conclusion in the pre-season, but clearly his skating had not improved, and if anything the extra size (yes, mostly bulk) he acquired and maybe a half-inch of height slowed him down. He was the Spirit's slowest and weakest skater, and always was going to be. True, he did do a couple things well, but the team knew his future was limited, and they also knew his desire was as well.

Here's a question, Plymouth wanted him to come right away and skate for them and probably join their team. Plymouth is in Michigan, some might argue a little more centrally-located to life as we know it than Saginaw (not a criticism, but closer to Canada, closer to Detroit), and they're ALWAYS a contender.

So why isn't he there? Wouldn't a guy who really cared about playing hockey and finishing his career out, potentially with a lengthy playoff run, be there right now? The fact he's in Georgetown, hanging out at the cinema with his girlfriend says a lot about how much he still wants to play in the league.

Now as for him being the best d-man in Saginaw's own end. I can't imagine how that's possible. If he's the slowest to get to loose pucks (and can you possibly disagree he isn't), if he can't handle their puck-carriers one-on-one (and he can't most of the time), it's hard to make any kind of case.

Bissonette. Much better in his own end, check the 6-on-3 against Sudbury. Biss was brilliant. He still can play better but the best thing he knows it and works his ass of to achieve it.

Sturgeon. Better in his own end than MacDonell. Suggesting otherwise is lunacy.

Gibson. I won't go as far as to suggest his defensive game isn't still sometimes a liability. The two goals Owen Sound got Saturday, he wasn't able to keep the puck in and got caught badly on odd-man rushes. Having said that, he's the nicest surprise, offensively this season, and I think his control with the puck has been great on our power play.

MacNeill. Plays like he was born for this league and he's making VERY few rookie mistakes. He's clearly better at every aspect of the sport than MacDonell other than the ever-popular "clearing guys out in front".

Misharin. Rough weekend but better than Big Mac. He'll get better game by game, his road games in Windsor and the Sault were very solid.

Look - the best 6 defencemen are still on this team. Sunderman is here so that Bissonette won't fight, Sturgeon will fight less, and Dix won't have to fight guys 5 inches taller than him and 30 pounds heavier.
He's not SUPPOSED to score goals, yet you see it as a flaw in his game. You know who's supposed to score goals? Rizk. Raszka. Gimblett. Borges. Other than Platt and Suggs, who's meeting expectations putting the puck in the net. So Sunderman won't score so he's a bad pick-up. OK....

You knock the acquisition of Lees. Amazing! How many 16 and 17 year olds do you want to count on THIS YEAR? Some aren't ready to play in the league. Breaking the bank?????

An 8th next year and 3rd in 2005 after we should be coming off a pretty good season...that pick should be 13th-14th in the 3rd round. BREAKING THE BANK? That's the best. It must have been very late at night when you wrote this. You're brighter than that.

And Stu, how can you rip on Scotty Bowman for carrying Grimson on the team. That team set a regular-season record before running into a young team in New Jersey that was to become a virtual dynasty over 8 years time (albeit an up-and-down one).

I like how this team looks. Once a coach is in and proper practices are run, you'll see improvement. Again, I'll say it, we need to get points where we can. Logically, getting a point against those teams this weekend isn't a lost weekend. Two points would almost have been overachieving. We need to beat the Spits, the Otters, the Greyhounds, and get points from the weaklings out East. Do it - we're finishing 7th or 8th. Don't - we're 9th or 10th.

By the way...you wrote this about Costa 7 months ago.

"He seems to know exactly what he's talking about and he is doing his best to execute the team's plan for the future to the best of his ability.".

Just a comment. The paper said we bood the players off the ice in the second period on Saturday night.

This isn't true. What the fans were booing at was the Match Penalty call on Sunderman.

I wish Mark Constantine would get his facts straight before he rights stuff like this!

Mark constantine wrote that????holy crap!!! not really a surprize coming from him. he's a jerk. HEY MARK BEFORE YOU WRITE , MAYBE YOU SHOULD ASK US OUR OPINIONS BEFORE HAND. how would you like it if we put words in your mouth??????

How would I like it if Bill put words in my mouth?

I don't.

Also, I posted these comments on the NOOF. If Bill wants to discuss them, he can discuss them there ("to my face," in a way). Ripping on me here is pretty much the same as talking about me behind my back, so I won't respond to them here.

I guess the only thing the team did well when Mac was in the lineup was win. You do the math, with Mac in the line up 3 wins, since he was put on waivers 0 wins. I like 3 wins better than 0 wins. There is no sense debating the skating thing with you Bill, you never liked Mac and you see what you want to see. Stu's point was that this season our hottest defenseman was Alex MacDonell. He's not wrong. In fact I think the best defensive pairing was Mac with Gibson. I think they complemented each other very well. I don't think Gibson has played as well with out him. So far, I am not impressed with Sunderman. That may change, but I understand Stu's point about the move. We lost more than we gained and we can't afford that. It's that simple.

All I have to say (since I know how everyone values my input) is that I agree with BP on the Mac issue. I was talking about the win/lose situation right away after the first game we lost without him. Also, getting rid of him got rid of our best plus/minus rating. For the things that people said about him, it's hard to believe he was plus 7 when we got rid of him.

Which words did I put in your mouth. Don't you read what you write? Holy sensitive, ace! It's not ripping you if it's all true. I know you read all that's posted on this board, so it's hardly behind your back. Next time, a lollipop will be left behind when I point out hypocrisy.

And BP, fair enough - good points. You're right about him and Gibson. What else could the team do - cut Dix? I just don't think that would have played well in the room. Just trust me, Dix is thought of as hard-working and stand-up, Mac was not. He played soft for his size and as many merits as you think he has, you can't deny that. I'd love for him to hit like a truck and have a mean streak. Was never going to happen!!!

I didn't realize MacDonell was the key to all three of those victories. Couldn't have anything to do with playing 3 weak teams all at home and other players playing well.

Their problem is SCORING goals all season - not keeping them out. Nobody's scored more than FOUR on them in any loss this season - not too many teams you can say that about. If any.

AAYYYYYYYYYY!

also...not impressed with Sunderman yet either. He's an intimidating presence but needs to stay in hockey games and skate to intimidate. We'll see if he does.
But he is going to intimidate. Let's not pretend that doesn't help win hockey games, Stu-ie.

The skating thing with MacDonell - that's fine if others have an opinion about it. Who's a worse skater? BP - I KNOW you love a good debate - so tell me who puts left in front of right on that time more awkwardly than the guy who didn't show up to play for Plymouth when they called for him?????