Belleville advance to the OHL finals against Kitchener due to their 11-0 win over Oshawa tonight. 11-0 !!!! I am sure glad I passed on my free ticket tonight as I hate games like that. Summary looks like the Generals were more intent on adding PIM's to their totals so I can only presume that was the cause of such a debacle.
And does anyone know where the Dukes goalie Pasquale landed after going to the Bulls earlier?
Why? Absolutely no one thought the Generals were going to win that series anyways. The Bulls are a great team. Kitchener is the only that team that most people would consider to be better. A conference final appearance for the Generals will be considered a successful year. Don't read too much into the blowout. There will be no "housecleaning".
First of all congratulations to the Bulls for making it to the Memorial Cup. This team has been steadily built up over the last few seasons to get to this point. Kingston minor product and former Vee Mike Murphy, the OHL goaltender of the year has been rock solid for them this season but has yet to make the NHL draft list????
Whatever Oshawa does to "clean house" is their business of course but they were beaten by a much better team. The most telling stat is that their offense lead by Tavares and MacLean managed a mere 9 goals in 4 games.
A strong regular season is one thing but the playoffs are another thing entirely.
Also, Michael Neuvirth, Oshawa's starting netminder was injured in the previous series and didn't play which was a contributing factor in the losses. Again, the two teams expected to be in the final are.
The Bulls goalie Mike Murphy a Kingston Vees product got the same number of scoring points in the series as Tavares, 2 (two). That will be a piece of trivia.
Thanks Wex for the info on Pasquale as I had lost track.
Right on Craig, we all know that Sellwood has been fired and I heard from a pretty reliable source tonight that coach DePiero and his staff is next. I'm sure that speculation on who will be moving into the Oshawa organization will be running rampant over the next few weeks.
Hey 1Dukester I wasn't going to mention that stat but it stands out like the wart on a witch's nose. Is Tavares over-rated? I have always thought the hype about him was a bit over the top especially when he went to the Generals as an under-ager. In minor hockey he always played on stacked teams where he could be showcased without exposing any short comings. In his first season in the OHL he played so much on the PP an never killed penalties which continued the trend.
I'm sure he will go high in the 09 draft and good luck to him but he has much to learn about becoming a complete hockey player. Just look at Stamkos this season (who played with Tavares in the spring/summers of minor hockey), he genuinely deserves to go #1 overall and will become a franchise player in time. It is just too bad that he will have to endure the circus that is the coaching staff in Tampa Bay.
sometimes when you spead enough manure you may get grass. still not a lawn. you can tell so many people and hope they regurgitate your excrement. maybe one or two will fall for it.
i just see the crazy old man sitting in his rocker on the porch yelling at the kids to stay off "his" sidewalk.
Congrats to the Bulls on the East title. If at first you don't succeed try try again. A heartbreaker loss last year has resulted in an East title this year as well as a 2nd (I think) trip to the Memorial Cup.
I still think that Tavares will go first overall next year. This year, I think he spent a lot of time working on the things that need improvement in his game. He is an incredible offensive talent. Remember, he scored 72 goals last year as one of the yougest players in the league. That's more than Stamkos who is older. Right now I think Stamkos is the better all around player but that may change. Tavares will tear it up next year, his draft year, IMO and might even set a few records along the way.
